The Herr Kammerrath answered by return post; there was no question of
board, the hundred dollars were for tuition, and with that he had
nothing to do, that was Habermann's business; if he thought best, let
him take the young man, and welcome.
This was a great joy to Habermann; nothing more was said of board or
tuition money, for he could now discharge a small portion of the great
debt which he owed to the Pastor and his wife.
So Fritz Triddelsitz came, and in such a way! He was his dear mother's
only son,--to be sure she had a couple of daughters,--and she fitted
him out for his new place, so that he could represent an apprentice, a
travelling agent, an inspector, or a farmer and landlord, according to
the occasion, or as the whim took him to play at farming, in this
manner or that. He had dress-boots and working boots, laced boots and
top-boots; he had morning shoes, and dancing shoes, and fancy slippers;
he had button-gaiters, and riding-gaiters, and other gaiters; he had
dress-coats, and linen frocks, and cloth coats and pilot-coats;
overcoats and under-jackets, and rain-coats, and a variety of long and
short trousers, too numerous to mention.
This outfit for a gentleman farmer arrived at Pumpelhagen one fine day,
in several large boxes, with a fine, soft bed, and a great clumsy
secretary; and the carrier volunteered the news that the young
gentleman would soon be there, he was on the way, and was merely
detained by a struggle with his father's old chestnut horse, who would
come no further than the Gurlitz parsonage, because that had been the
limit of his journeys hitherto. How the contest terminated he did not
see, because he came away; but the young gentleman was coming. And he
came, and as I said before, in what a guise! Like an inspector over two
large estates belonging to a count, and who has the privilege of riding
to the hounds with his gracious Herr Count, in a green hunting-jacket,
and white leather breeches, top-boots with yellow tops, and spurs, and
over the whole a water-proof coat, not because it was likely to rain,
but it was new, and he wanted to hear what people would say about it.
And he came upon his father's old chestnut, and, from the appearance of
both, it was evident that their present relations were the result of a
contest. The horse had come to a stand in the middle of the great
puddle before the Pastor's house, with a fixed determination to go no
further, and Fritz had exercised him for a good ten minutes with whip
and spur, to the great dismay of the little Frau Pastorin, before he
could persuade him to advance; so when he dismounted at Pumpelhagen,
his rain-coat looked as if he had been pelted with mud.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account