Translations from the German (Vol 3 of 3): Tales by Musæus, Tieck, RichterCarlyle, Thomas
General
Translations from the German (Vol 3 of 3): Tales by Musæus, Tieck, Richter
Carlyle, Thomas
German fiction -- Translations into English
As more than one person now felt inclined to sleep, but I, on the
contrary, as was proper, to wake, I freely offered my seat of honour,
the front place in the coach (meaning thereby to abolish many little
flaws of envy in my fellow-passengers), to such persons as wished to
take a nap thereon. The Legations-man accepted the offer with eagerness,
and soon fell asleep there sitting, under the Titan.[4] To me this sort
of coach-sleeping of a diplomatic _charge d'affaires_ remained a thing
incomprehensible. A man that, in the middle of a stranger and often
barbarously-minded company, permits himself to slumber, may easily,
supposing him to talk in his sleep and coach (think of the Saxon
minister[5] before the Seven-Years War!), blab out a thousand secrets,
and crimes, some of which, perhaps, he has not committed. Should not
every minister, ambassador, or other man of honour and rank, really
shudder at the thought of insanity or violent fevers; seeing no mortal
can be his surety that he shall not in such cases publish the greatest
scandals, of which, it may be, the half are lies?
[Note 4: _Titan_ is also the title of this Legations-Rath Jean
Pierre or Jean Paul (Friedrich Richter)'s chief novel.--ED.]
[Note 5: Bruehl, I suppose; but the historical edition of the matter
is, that Bruehl's treasonable secrets were come at by the more ordinary
means of wax impressions of his keys.--ED.]
At last, after the long July night, we passengers, together with Aurora,
arrived in the precincts of Flaetz, I looked with a sharp yet moistened
eye at the steeples: I believe, every man who has anything decisive to
seek in a town, and to whom it is either to be a judgment-seat of his
hopes, or their anchoring-station, either a battle-field or a
sugar-field, first and longest directs his eye on the steeples of the
town, as upon the indexes and balance-tongues of his future destiny;
these artificial peaks, which, like natural ones, are the thrones of our
Future. As I happened to express myself on this point perhaps too
poetically to _Jean Pierre_, he answered, with sufficient want of taste:
"The steeples of such towns are indeed the Swiss Alpine peaks, on which
we milk and manufacture the Swiss cheese of our Future." Did the
Legations-Peter mean with this style to make me ridiculous, or only
himself? Determine!
"Here is the place, the town," said I in secret, "where today much and
for many years is to be determined; where thou, this evening, about five
o'clock, art to present thy petition and thyself: May it prosper! May it
be successful! Let Flaetz, this arena of thy little efforts among the
rest, become a building-space for fair castles and air-castles to two
hearts, thy own and thy Berga's!"
At the Tiger Inn I alighted.
_First Day in Flaetz._
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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