Yes, by birth; But cosmopolitan in spirit. For fortune such as I’ve enjoyed I have to thank America. My amply-furnished library I owe to Germany’s later schools. From France, again, I get my waistcoats, My manners, and my spice of wit,— From England an industrious hand, And keen sense for my own advantage. The Jew has taught me how to wait. Some taste for _dolce far niente_[75] I have received from Italy,— And one time, in a perilous pass, To eke the measure of my days, I had recourse to Swedish steel. TRUMPETERSTRÅLE. [_Lifting up his glass._] Ay, Swedish steel——? VON EBERKOPF. The weapon’s wielder Demands our homage first of all! [_They clink glasses and drink with him. The wine begins to go to his head._ MR. COTTON. All this is very good indeed;— But, sir,[75] I’m curious to know What with your gold you think of doing. PEER. [_Smiling._] H’m; doing? Eh? ALL FOUR. [_Coming closer._] Yes, let us hear! PEER. Well, first of all, I want to travel. You see, that’s why I shipped you four, To keep me company, at Gibraltar. I needed such a dancing-choir Of friends around my gold-calf-altar—— VON EBERKOPF. Most witty! MR. COTTON. Well, but no one hoists His sails for nothing but the sailing. Beyond all doubt, you have a goal; And that is——? PEER. To be Emperor.[76] ALL FOUR. What? PEER. [_Nodding._] Emperor! THE FOUR. Where? PEER. O’er all the world. MONSIEUR BALLON. But how, friend——? PEER. By the might of gold! That plan is not at all a new one; It’s been the soul of my career. Even as a boy, I swept in dreams Far o’er the ocean on a cloud. I soared with train and golden scabbard,— And flopped down on all-fours again. But still my goal, my friends, stood fast.— There is a text, or else a saying, Somewhere, I don’t remember where, That if you gained the whole wide world, But lost _yourself_, your gain were but A garland on a cloven skull. That is the text—or something like it; And that remark is sober truth. VON EBERKOPF.