The Breaking of the Storm, Vol. III.Spielhagen, Friedrich
General
The Breaking of the Storm, Vol. III.
Spielhagen, Friedrich
Fiction
Let it! What does one more discomfort signify to us, as we hurry along
the pavement? We are accustomed to discomforts of every sort; and if a
tile or a slate falls down occasionally at our feet, we have not been
struck yet, thank goodness! And if a chimney should be blown down, or a
new house fall in, or anything of that sort, we shall read about it in
the papers to-morrow. We have weightier matters to consider, truly! The
storm which raged through the Chambers to-day during the debates, will
also unroof many a fine edifice on the Stock Exchange in quite another
fashion, and many a great house which appeared this morning to stand
firm enough, and command the market, will be shattered to its
foundations, and will drag others down with it to disgraceful failure.
Like this one here for instance; it is just finished after years of
labour, having cost untold sums, and its magnificence having roused the
astonishment of everybody who was favoured with a view of it, and the
eager curiosity of the many who were obliged to content themselves with
a sight of the lofty scaffolding. Was it not to be opened to-night with
a great ball, of which for the last fortnight such wonders have been
related? To be sure! And it is really a curious coincidence that it
should take place just to-day, when the lightning has struck the
neighbouring houses, that stand upon the same insecure foundations,
have been erected from the same disgraceful materials, and are in every
respect the same miserable swindle from basement to roof. I should not
like to stand in that man's shoes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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