"Pressed? Why, I'm fixed in a vice--in a vice, I say! That Jew, Herr Amtshauptmann, that thrice cursed Jew!" "What Jew is it?" asks the Herr Amtshauptmann. And the Miller twirls his hat between his finger and thumb, looks cautiously round to see that no one is listening, draws closer to the old gentleman, and, laying a finger on his lip, whispers: "Itzig, Herr Amtshauptmann." "Whew!" said the old Herr. "How came you to be mixed up with that fellow?" "Herr Amtshauptmann, how came the ass to have long ears? Some go to gather wild strawberries, and get stung by nettles. The sexton of Gägelow thought his wheelbarrow was full of holy angels, and when he had got to the top of the mountain and expected to see them fly up to heaven, the Devil's grandmother was sitting in the wheelbarrow, and she grinned at him and said: 'Neighbour, we shall meet again!' In my troubles, when the enemy had taken everything I had, I borrowed two hundred thalers from him, and for the last two years I have been obliged to renew the bill from term to term, and the debt has crept up to five hundred thalers, and the day after to-morrow I shall be forced to pay it." "But, Miller, did you sign?" "Yes, Herr Amtshauptmann." "Then you must pay. What's written is written." "But, Herr Amtshauptmann, I thought...." "It can't be helped, Miller; what's written is written." "But the Jew?..." "Miller, what's written is written." "Then, Herr Amtshauptmann, what shall I do?" The old gentleman began again to walk backwards and forwards in the room, tapping his forehead. At last he stopped, looked earnestly in the Miller's face, and said: "Miller, young people get out of such difficulties better than old ones; send me one of your boys." The old Miller looked once more at the toes of his boots, and then turning his face away, said in a tone which went straight to the old Amtshauptmann's heart: "Sir, whom shall I send? My Joe was ground to death in the mill, and Karl was carried off to Russia by the French last year, and he's not come back." "Miller," replied the old Amtshauptmann patting him on the back, "have you then no children at all?" "I have," said he wiping a tear from his eye, "a little girl left." "Well, Miller, I am not particularly fond of girls myself, they are always fretting and crying." "That's true, sir, they _are_ always fretting and crying." "And they can be of no use in a matter like this, Miller." "But what will happen to me then?" "The Jew will put in an execution, and will take away everything." "Well, Herr Amtshauptmann, the French have done that twice already, so the Jew may as well try it now. At any rate he will leave the millstone behind.--And you think I'm too old to be made bankrupt?" "Yes, Miller, I fear so." "Well, then, good day, Herr Amtshauptmann." And so saying he went away.