Das landhaus am Rhein. English by Berthold Auerbach
CHAPTER IV.
A DIFFERENT ATMOSPHERE.
After the first days, the Mother understood what her son meant when hecomplained of the difficulty of maintaining a steady and firm hold uponthought, in the midst of the distractions with which he had to contend,like those upon a journey. In such a house as this, with extensivepossessions and a great variety of duties, that devotion of the mind,which is so necessary for the thorough acquisition of any branch ofknowledge, is continually interfered with, and it is even difficult, insuch relations, not to lose one's self. Without laying out anyprogramme, at any rate without any announcement of one, she resolved toregulate her own method of living; only when one possesses himself canhe have anything to supply to the calls of others.
Eric and Roland went every day to bid her good-morning, and aconsecrated sphere soon encompassed the mother; whoever approached heracquired, in a degree, a nobler bearing, and pitched his conversationto a musical and well-tuned key. She had sterling good sense, withoutany claim to originality or genius either in her own eyes or those ofothers; her mind was not intuitional but logical, and what shecomprehended and discovered by investigation appeared to her to benecessarily true; she made as little show of knowledge as of dress, forit is a matter of course that one should be neatly dressed.
Chasteness, in the highest and purest signification of the word, wasthe impression which the Mother made, both in regard to her externalappearance and her inner being; she was pure in thought, and pure infeeling; she had been for thirteen years a lady of the court, and knewthe world; but she retained something of an ideal atmosphere; she knewvice and believed in virtue; she was quick and cautious, ready toaccept the gage of battle and nobly yielding, at the same time.
If she were externally and superficially compared with Bella, the olderlady would be at a disadvantage; but on a nearer consideration, she hadsomething satisfying in her presence and conversation, while Bella wasonly exciting.
Bella not only desired to excite attention to her personal appearanceand her sentiments, but she was also fond of proposing subjects fordiscussion, and propounding the most difficult questions; she wasalways putting something forth and making a stir. She gave very cursoryand off-hand replies to what was said to her, and could set out in goodstyle what she heard, so as to be extremely taking at the firstacquaintance, but a longer familiarity with her showed that it wasmerely fluent talk.
The Professorin, on the other hand, made no demands, was grateful forall that was offered, and was ready to lend it serious thought.
Externally, the ladies could hardly be compared, for the personalappearance of the Professorin was not what would be calleddistinguished; she was somewhat plump in figure, of a pale blondcomplexion, and that fresh purity of look which one sees portrayed inthe pictures of well-preserved women of Holland. Her strongestcharacteristic was a uniform reserve; she could listen quietly to everycommunication, and she could withhold her reply, if she had any opinionto express, until she had patiently heard all that was to be said.
When questions were addressed immediately to her, to which she did notwant to give a direct reply, she had the faculty of not seeming to hearthem; and if she were pressed to give a decided reply, she answeredonly just so far as she thought best, never allowing herself to beurged beyond a prescribed limit.
She soon became the centre of the circle. The fundamental trait whichcharacterized all that she said and did was truthfulness; she neverspoke for effect, she never smiled when there was nothing to smile at;she gave to every utterance of her own the natural tone, and to everyutterance of others the requisite degree of attention. Thistruthfulness was not compromised in the least by her reserve, for shenever violated the truth in the smallest particular, and it is notnecessary to speak out everything that one knows and thinks. This isnot craftiness; it is rather the simple dictate of prudence, andprudence is a virtue too; it is the same thing as goodness; natureherself is prudent, that is to say, veiled.
She was very happy to indulge and cultivate her fondness for botany bymeans of Sonnenkamp's splendid collection of plants, and hisessentially valuable communications.
The Mother and Aunt lived together in perfect harmony, and yet werevery different in character; and as they had very different spheres ofknowledge in which they found enlivenment, so also they had differentspheres of life. Their amateur-pursuits were the two most beautiful inthe whole circle of sciences. The Professorin was a botanist. AuntClaudine an astronomer, sedulously avoiding, indeed, every appearanceof the bluestocking; she passed many silent evenings in the towermaking observations of her own, generally through a small telescope,without any one's being aware of the fact.
The Professorin took delight in spending several hours every day in thehot-houses, and among the rare imported plants; and when Sonnenkamp oneday showed her his method of training fruit-trees, she did not expressadmiration and astonishment as other people did, but exhibited a greatproficiency in the knowledge of the new French art of gardening, andremarked how peculiar it was that the restless French people, when theywithdrew from the whirl of active life, should devote themselves withsuch tender and persistent care to the cultivation of fruit.Sonnenkamp's countenance gleamed with pleasure, when she maintainedthat in orcharding, as he practised it, there was the unfolding of atalent for military generalship, inasmuch as he was called upon todecide what part of the fruit should be allowed to mature, and whatshould be sacrificed and removed in its unripe state in order that therest might thrive.
Sonnenkamp expressed himself as very much obliged for the compliment,but he smiled inwardly, thinking that he saw through the fine courtlybreeding; that this lady, before she came there, had read up in hisfavorite pursuit, in order to render herself agreeable to him. Hereceived this homage in an apparently natural way, as if he regarded itas sincere; but he determined not to allow himself to be taken in byany such arts.
He meant to offset politeness with politeness; and he hastened to placeeverything in a friendly way at the disposal of the Mother and AuntClaudine.
Towards Frau Ceres the Professorin soon established a definite line ofconduct, allowing her to claim but a limited portion of her time; andnow Frau Ceres went into other rooms than her own apartments, which shehad never done before, and she frequently sent to ask the Mother if shemight pay her a visit; the request was sometimes granted and sometimesrefused.
Frau Ceres soon felt her mental influence, for she was alwaysinterested in some thought or other; she was like a priestess whosevocation it was to cherish perpetually a little flame upon an altar.When Frau Ceres was eager to make this and that inquiry about life atCourt, the Professorin was able, in an unlooked-for way, to arouse herto think, and take an interest in general matters.
The Aunt, who was very reserved in her manners, brought a new elementof life into the house. The grand-piano in the music-saloon, that hadlain so long idle, now sent forth clear and brilliant tones; andRoland, who had wholly neglected musical practice, entered into it withzest, and became the aunt's scholar. The house, formerly called dry byEric because it was void of music, was now refreshed and steeped inharmony; it was a cheerful time with the new guests. Sonnenkamp'scountenance acquired an expression of satisfaction such as it had neverworn before, when Frau Ceres, sitting by him in the music-saloon,said--
"I cannot conceive how it used to be before these noble ladies werehere."
One day, after Aunt Claudine had played beautifully, and had repeated apiece twice at Eric's request, Frau Ceres said to the Mother:--
"I envy you, that you can so comprehend and enjoy all this."
She evidently plumed herself upon this little formula learned by heart,but the Professorin unintentionally stripped off this pretty adornmentby saying:--
"Each one has his own satisfaction, either in nature or in art, if heis only true to himself. It is not necessary to understand and know athing thoroughly before one can derive pleasure from it. I take delightin these mountain
No one imagined, not even Frau Ceres herself, that she went out of themusic-saloon to-day a different being; for no one is able to say whatword will have a direct influence upon a thirsting, aspiring, andreceptive heart and mind. Frau Ceres was not conscious of the realchange in herself; without learning, without acquirements, one canenter into the joys of life and of knowledge through one's own naturalsusceptibilities.
The quiet, healthful life of the house was suddenly broken in upon; acarriage rattled on the gravel of the courtyard; a silken trainrustled: Bella and her husband made their appearance.