The stirring life of this festival made a feverishly exciting impression upon Blanden after his long retirement; his pulses throbbed, his heart beat, the undecided need for mental occupation as for a life transfigured by soul and beauty, became so overpowering within him, that he felt physically oppressed and often gasped for breath. All others here possessed some certain object in life, and rejoiced in the pleasures of communion of labour; only he in the midst of these thousand jubilant beings was a solitary man, yes, he even fancied that his college friends avoided him, that the friendliness of their greetings was somewhat constrained. Towards evening he went across the bridge of the castle lake. There a varied scene prevailed: gondolas filled with men singing, passed up and down and frightened the proud swans as they sailed along; rockets and balls of light ascended from the more distant gardens, while those nearest began to gleam in a fairy-like manner, so that not only the shade of the tree tops, but also the reflection of their radiance floated in the water. Blanden entered the _Börsengarten_; here too a dense, gay crowd prevailed. Hardly had he forced his way past several well-filled tables, before he encountered Dr. Kuhl, in the cheeriest, most excited mood. "Welcome, welcome--I should never have expected you to be here; this alone converts the festivity into a thorough jubilee!" "You have not allowed me to see anything of you for a long time," said Blanden, reproachfully, "if even our friends forget us, we must become perfect savages yonder in our Masuren desert." "I have too much to do, new chemical discoveries and divers other elective affinities! But the main thing is that you are here! To-day it is delightful! Walpurgis for all authorities, and there is no lack of charming witches. It is true that little red mice do not leap out of their mouths as they did from that of the blessed Lilith, but to-day most unguarded declarations escape the custody of their lips. All the world is infatuated; the closest men of learning permit a glance into their empty waistcoat pockets, and even the most prudish girls expand a little to-day." "But where shall we sit?" "I am to sit by Dr. Reising, and shall be able to obtain a seat for you." "Dr. Reising is here?" "How could he fail at the University Jubilee? besides, he is now a special professor; his father-in-law has provided for him." "And which daughter did he marry?"