The Harvard Classics Shelf of Fiction - German

front room Frau Nimptsch sat as usual by the hearth, while to-day again the whole D?rr family had grouped themselves around her. Frau D?rr was kn

chair. Every morning he was up by cockcrow, so to-day he had once more fallen asleep through weariness. There was but little talk, and so nothing was to be heard but the clicking of the need

rden path and in spite of the twilight she could

t. You are just like a chimney to-day, puffing and smoking all day l

lub, and said, as he took Frau Nimptsch's hand: "Good evening, mother. I hope all is well with you. Ah, and Frau D?rr; and Herr D?rr, my favorite old friend. See here, D?rr, what do you say to the weather? Specially ordered for you and f

, had meanwhile risen, and with the blue fleecy mass trailing after her, she called out to her stepson: "Will you get up! I say, now. If there is nothing in him, it's no use to expect anything from him." The poor boy sto

h Lena still had ready for him, beside

r fireplace that I am as fond of; there is always fire, always

an. "This is the best place! I

. And a washerwoman too. Do you know, Mutterchen, that here in Berlin

t pos

w what he said at the end? He said that he wished he could liv

old woman to herself once

yourself. But just look about you here. How do you live? Like the good Lord in France. In the first place, you have you

was a carafe of water and some cider, for which the Baron had a preference not e

, it tastes best that way. And now give me your little hand, and let me stroke it. No, no, the left one; that is nearest the heart. And now sit right th

lau

ething from the fine party that we had yesterday. And when one has a little present to bri

D?rr is all for scraping and saving. That is the way with gard

ear Frau D?rr might think I have brought a golden slipper or

m which, unless all signs failed, the fring

pping bonbons and the

one, Lena. Hold on tig

t doesn't hurt, Lena, I know it doesn't. It is just like a bride who pricks her finger. I used to know one who

not notice and went on: "And n

is what

get themselv

angels rej

nds. "That is just like something out of

Come, dear Frau D?rr, let us pull one

pulled aga

s dart has

and both hea

you say to that? It sound

s different. But I don't quite l

el

hell to come out, I don't want to

something to start with, I mean to begin a conversation with, for the beginning is always the hardest, just as it is with writing letters. And I simply

as you think. It is really quite easy. If you like

that they would like to hear it

a little Countess. And I have just escorted you to the tabl

ll. But

ut every day now and we might almost say that it is fit for travelling. Have you made any plans for the summer, Countess?' And now you answer, that unfortunately

y is," la

e grander aspects of nature, and clamber and get out of breath all the time. But Saxon Switzerland! Heavenly, ideal. There is Dresden; in a quarter or a half hour I can be there, and I can see pictures, the theatre, the great gardens,

s the way

to my left-hand neighbor, that is, the Countess Lena, I turn to

ed that she slapped her

roness D?rr? And what shall we talk abo

oms. About mushrooms, Herr

a friend in Poland, a comrade in my regiment and also during the war, who lived in a great castle; it was red and had two huge towers, and was so fear

t pos

r there were a couple of boards lacking, there was a mushroom bed, and

and added: "Mushrooms! But one cann

ot the red castle in Poland it is Schloss Tegel or Saatwinkel, or Valentinswerder. Or Italy or Paris, or the city railway, or whether the Panke should be

k is so empty, I am surprised tha

harp. And anyway, it does not last long, so that you still have a chance to make up for lost time at the club. And at the club

is

are such affectionate pet names. But listen, the concert is beginning over there. Can't we open the windows, so as to hear it better? You are already tapping with your foot. How would it do

h declined, the latter because she was too old, the

na, give him the tray and a spoon. And now come, ladies.

-faced boy looked about mechanically and allowed himself to be shoved here and there, but the three others danced as if they knew how, and old D?rr was so delighted that he jumped up and beat time on his

poor awkward boy did not know what he ought to do with her. But that suited Botho exactly, for when the music at the

D?rr would not hear of such a thing and said, the fine people were all wild about fresh air, and many of them so much so that the bed coverings froze to their mouths in winter. Their breath was just like

nch, or better still, I have the cherry brandy, that you gave M

ll according to their own desire. And now Lena went around, the black kettle in her hand, and poured the boiling water into the glasses. "Not too much,

y at the club that tasted like this. Hurrah for Lena! But the chief credit of it all belongs to our friend, Frau D?

roup together, and old D?rr began to t

d bottles, which have been standing in the hot sun, in shop windows, ever since Shrove Tuesday. But cherry brandy was something wholesome and

want things to go too far, perhaps because he knew his wife's pet we

proper time, in order to keep the upper hand," merely said: "Never mind, Lena, I know him; he wants to go to b

ho looked after her departing friends amiably, nodding her head,