Courts and courtiers -- Fiction; German fiction -- Translations into English; Germany -- Fiction
Charming anecdotes of the signs the Prince gave of interest in the
lectures went about and had their due effect. Towards the end of one
course on Nature Study (for Klaus Heinrich attended these courses also
"for general information") the Professor, by way of illustration, had
filled a metal shell with water and announced that the water, when
frozen, would burst the shell by expansion; he promised to show the
class the pieces next lecture. Now he had not kept his word on this
point at the next lecture, probably out of forgetfulness: the broken
shell had not been forthcoming--Klaus Heinrich had therefore inquired as
to the result of the experiment. He had joined in asking questions of
the professor at the end of the lecture, just like any ordinary student,
and had modestly asked him: "Has the bomb burst?"--whereupon the
Professor, full of embarrassment at first, had then expressed his thanks
with glad surprise, and indeed emotion, for the kind interest the Prince
had expressed in his lectures.
Klaus Heinrich was honorary member of a student's club--only honorary,
because he was not allowed to fight duels--and once or twice attended
their wines, his Stürmer on his head. But since his guardians were well
aware that the results the influence of strong drink had on his highly
strung and delicate temperament were absolutely irreconcilable with his
exalted calling, he did not dare to drink seriously, and his comrades
were obliged on this point too to bear his Highness in mind. Their rude
customs were judiciously limited to a casual one or two, the general
tone was as exemplary as it used to be in the upper form at school, the
songs they sang were old ones of real poetry, and the meetings were, as
a whole, gala and parade nights, refined editions of the ordinary ones.
The use of Christian names was the bond of union between Klaus Heinrich
and his corps brothers, as the expression and basis of spontaneous
comradeship. But it was generally observed that this use sounded false
and artificial, however great the efforts to make it otherwise, and that
the students were always falling back unintentionally into the form of
address which took due notice of the Prince's Highness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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