The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 08: Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English
General
The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 08: Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English
German literature -- 19th century -- Translations into English; German literature -- 20th century -- Translations into English
If it were the fashion, I should have nothing to
say against even old people wearing curls, for it looks very nice in
some ancient pictures, but there are two remarks I should like to make
while on this subject, and these are: a man with thin legs ought never
to wear tight trousers, and he whose hair does not curl naturally should
cut it short. Our poor Godfrey's hair, which hung down his back, was
burnt to a sort of dun color by the sun, and as he liked it to look
smooth and tidy, he put a good deal of pomade on it, which greased
his coat-collar considerably.
[Illustration: THE BRIDAL PAIR AT THE CIVIL MARRIAGE OFFICE _From the
Painting by Benjamin Vautier_]
Beneath this wealth of hair was a small pale face with an expression of
suffering on it, which always made Bräsig ask sympathizingly what
shoemaker he employed, and whether he was troubled with corns. The rest
of his figure was in keeping with his face. He was tall, narrow-chested,
and angular, and that part of the human body which shows whether a man
enjoys the good things of life, was altogether wanting in him. Indeed he
was so hollowed out where the useful and necessary digesting apparatus
is wont to show its existence by a gentle roundness of form, that he
might be said to be shaped like the inside of Mrs. Nüssler's
baking-trough. For this reason Bräsig regarded him as a sort of wonder
in natural history, for he ate as much as a ploughman without producing
any visible effect. Let no one imagine that the Methodist did not do his
full duty in the way of eating and drinking; I have known divinity
students, and know some now, with whom I should have no chance in that
respect. But the fact is that young men whose minds are employed in
theological studies are generally somewhat thin, as will be seen in any
of the numerous divinity students to be met with in Mecklenburg; when
they have been settled in a good living for a few years, they begin to
fill out like ordinary mortals. Bräsig remembered this, and did not
despair of seeing Godfrey a portly parson one of these days, though how
it was to come about was rather a puzzle to him. Such was Godfrey
Baldrian in appearance; but his portrait would not be complete if I did
not add that he had the faintest possible tinge of Phariseeism in his
expression. It was only a tinge, but with Phariseeism as with rennet, a
very small quantity is enough to curdle a large pan of milk.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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