Frederick the Great and His Family [269]
It is sufficient for my necessities, and will certainly keep me from want."
"It would be sufficient, professor, if we were not so extravagant. I am an old man, and you may very well listen to a word from me. I served your father for fifteen years--in fact, you inherited me from him. I have the right to speak. If it goes so far, I will hunger and thirst with you, but it makes me angry that we should hunger and thirst when there is no necessity. Have you dined today?"
"No, Conrad," said Gellert, looking embarrassed. "I had, accidentally, no money with me as I came out of the academy, and you know that I do not like to go to the eating-house without paying immediately."
"Accidentally you had no money? You had probably left it at home."
"Yes, Conrad, I had left it at home."
"No, sir; you gave your last thaler to the student who came this morning and told you of his necessities, and complained so bitterly that he had eaten nothing warm for three days. You gave your money to him, and that was not right, for now we have nothing ourselves."
"Yes, Conrad, it was right, it was my duty; he hungered and I was full; he was poor and in want, and I had money, and sat in my warm, comfortable room; it was quite right for me to help him."
"Yes, you say so always, sir, and our money all goes to the devil," muttered Conrad. "With what shall we satisfy ourselves to-day?"
"Well," said Gellert, after a pause, "we will drink some coffee, and eat some bread and butter. Coffee is an excellent beverage, and peculiarly acceptable to poets, for it enlivens the fancy."
"And leaves the stomach empty," said Conrad.
"We have bread and butter to satisfy that. Ah, Conrad, I assure you we would often have been very happy in my father's parsonage if we had had coffee and bread and butter for our dinner. We were thirteen children, besides my father and mother, and my father's salary was not more than two hundred thalers. Conrad, he had less than I, and he had to provide for thirteen children."
"As if you had not provided for yourself since you were eleven years old--as if I had not seen you copying late into the night to earn money, at an age when other children scarcely know what money is, and know still less of work."
"But when I carried the money which I had earned to my mother, she kissed me so tenderly, and called me her brave, noble son--that was a greater reward than all the money in the world. And when the next Christmas came, and we were all thirteen so happy, and each one received a plate filled with nuts and apples and little presents, I received a shining new coat. It was the first time I had ever had a coat of new cloth. My mother had bought the material with the money I had earned. She had kept it all, and now my writings had changed into a beautiful coat, which I wore with pride and delight. No coat is so comfortable as one we have earned ourselves. The self-earned coat is the royal mantle of the poor."
"But we need not be poor," scolded Conrad. "It is that which makes me angry. If we were careful, we could live comfortably and free from care on two hundred and fifty thalers. But every thing is given away, and every thing is done for others, until we have nothing left for ourselves."
" We have never gone hungry to bed, Conrad, and we need not hunger. To-day we have coffee, and bread and butter, and to-morrow I will receive something from my publishers from the fourth edition of my fables. It is not much, it will be about twenty thalers, but we will be able to live a long time on that. Be content, Conrad, and go now into the kitchen and prepare the coffee; I am really rather hungry. Well, Conrad, you still appear discontented. Have you another grievance in reserve?"
"Yes, professor, I have another. The beadle tells me that the university have offered you a still higher position than the one you now hold. Is it true?"
"Yes, Conrad, it is true. They wished me to become a regular professor."
"And you declined?"
"I declined. I would have been obliged to be present at all the conferences. I would
"It would be sufficient, professor, if we were not so extravagant. I am an old man, and you may very well listen to a word from me. I served your father for fifteen years--in fact, you inherited me from him. I have the right to speak. If it goes so far, I will hunger and thirst with you, but it makes me angry that we should hunger and thirst when there is no necessity. Have you dined today?"
"No, Conrad," said Gellert, looking embarrassed. "I had, accidentally, no money with me as I came out of the academy, and you know that I do not like to go to the eating-house without paying immediately."
"Accidentally you had no money? You had probably left it at home."
"Yes, Conrad, I had left it at home."
"No, sir; you gave your last thaler to the student who came this morning and told you of his necessities, and complained so bitterly that he had eaten nothing warm for three days. You gave your money to him, and that was not right, for now we have nothing ourselves."
"Yes, Conrad, it was right, it was my duty; he hungered and I was full; he was poor and in want, and I had money, and sat in my warm, comfortable room; it was quite right for me to help him."
"Yes, you say so always, sir, and our money all goes to the devil," muttered Conrad. "With what shall we satisfy ourselves to-day?"
"Well," said Gellert, after a pause, "we will drink some coffee, and eat some bread and butter. Coffee is an excellent beverage, and peculiarly acceptable to poets, for it enlivens the fancy."
"And leaves the stomach empty," said Conrad.
"We have bread and butter to satisfy that. Ah, Conrad, I assure you we would often have been very happy in my father's parsonage if we had had coffee and bread and butter for our dinner. We were thirteen children, besides my father and mother, and my father's salary was not more than two hundred thalers. Conrad, he had less than I, and he had to provide for thirteen children."
"As if you had not provided for yourself since you were eleven years old--as if I had not seen you copying late into the night to earn money, at an age when other children scarcely know what money is, and know still less of work."
"But when I carried the money which I had earned to my mother, she kissed me so tenderly, and called me her brave, noble son--that was a greater reward than all the money in the world. And when the next Christmas came, and we were all thirteen so happy, and each one received a plate filled with nuts and apples and little presents, I received a shining new coat. It was the first time I had ever had a coat of new cloth. My mother had bought the material with the money I had earned. She had kept it all, and now my writings had changed into a beautiful coat, which I wore with pride and delight. No coat is so comfortable as one we have earned ourselves. The self-earned coat is the royal mantle of the poor."
"But we need not be poor," scolded Conrad. "It is that which makes me angry. If we were careful, we could live comfortably and free from care on two hundred and fifty thalers. But every thing is given away, and every thing is done for others, until we have nothing left for ourselves."
" We have never gone hungry to bed, Conrad, and we need not hunger. To-day we have coffee, and bread and butter, and to-morrow I will receive something from my publishers from the fourth edition of my fables. It is not much, it will be about twenty thalers, but we will be able to live a long time on that. Be content, Conrad, and go now into the kitchen and prepare the coffee; I am really rather hungry. Well, Conrad, you still appear discontented. Have you another grievance in reserve?"
"Yes, professor, I have another. The beadle tells me that the university have offered you a still higher position than the one you now hold. Is it true?"
"Yes, Conrad, it is true. They wished me to become a regular professor."
"And you declined?"
"I declined. I would have been obliged to be present at all the conferences. I would