An Old Story of My Farming Days Vol. 2 (of 3).: (Ut Mine Stromtid)Reuter, Fritz
General
An Old Story of My Farming Days Vol. 2 (of 3).: (Ut Mine Stromtid)
Reuter, Fritz
Farm life -- Fiction
These two last guests were received with more cordiality by Alick than
the two first; he made them sit one on each side of him at dinner, and
was much pleased when he heard that Fred's father was the apothecary at
Rahnstädt, and that he understood chemical analysis. When uncle Bräsig
heard the word analysis, he said in a low voice to Hawermann:
"Annalissis! Annalissis! What in all the world is that? Is it an
insect?" Then, without waiting for an answer, he turned to Alick, and
said: "For that sort of thing, my dear Sir, you should get the
apothecary's son to bring you a pot of 'urgent Napoleon' (unguentum
Neapolitanum)."--Naturally enough Alick did not understand what he
meant, and even if he had understood he had not time to explain, for by
this time they were all seated and dinner had begun. The schoolmaster
looked rather uncomfortable, for he was seated on the extreme edge of
his chair.--Alick now introduced his favourite subject of conversation,
farming as it ought to be at Pümpelhagen. He told his guests that he
intended to manure the land with bone-dust, nitre and guano, and to
make a large hop-garden in the field below the flower-garden. Poor old
Hawermann listened to all these plans in silence, saying to himself
that he had never imagined that the new squire had such strange views
of agriculture, and that he wondered how Bräsig could laugh as he was
doing. But it was only natural that Bräsig should laugh, he regarded
the whole thing as a joke, and a very good joke too; it never occurred
to him that Alick could possibly be in earnest, and when he said in
conclusion: "But of course the ground must be thoroughly prepared
first," Bräsig answered with a hearty laugh: "Yes--and when we've had a
good crop of hops, we'll plant raisins and almonds there to feed the
pigs. And then, Madam," turning to Mrs. von Rambow, "you'll see what
capital pork a pig fattened on raising and almonds will produce."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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