On the ground floor was the shop, which occupied the entire breadth and
nearly the entire depth of the house, a silk and cloth business, large,
according to the ideas of the time, which was managed by my father and
grandfather together until my eleventh year, when Father began to deal
wholesale on his own account. It was nice in the shop, because when you
went down the assistants would take you round the waist and lift you
over to the other side of the semi-circular counter which divided them
from the customers. The assistants were pleasant, dignified gentlemen,
of fine appearance and behaviour, friendly without wounding
condescension.
Between my fifth and sixth years some alterations were done at the
shop, which was consequently closed to me for a long time. When it was
once more accessible I stood amazed at the change. A long,
glass-covered gallery had been added, in which the wares lay stored on
new shelves. The extension of the premises was by no means
inconsiderable, and simultaneously an extension had been made in the
staff. Among the new arrivals was an apprentice named Gerhard, who was
as tall as a grown man, but must have been very young, for he talked to
me, a six-year-old child, like a companion. He was very nice-looking,
and knew it. "You don't want harness when you have good hips," he would
say, pointing to his mightily projecting loins. This remark made a
great impression upon me, because it was the first time I had heard
anyone praise his own appearance. I knew that one ought not to praise
one's self and that self-praise was no recommendation. So I was
astonished to find that self-praise in Gerhard's mouth was not
objectionable; in fact, it actually suited him. Gerhard often talked of
what a pleasure it was to go out in the evenings and enjoy one's
self--what the devil did it matter what old people said?--and listen to
women singing--amusements which his hearer could not manage to picture
very clearly to himself.
It soon began to be said that Gerhard was not turning out well. The
manner in which he procured the money for his pleasures resulted, as I
learnt long afterwards, in his sudden dismissal. But he had made some
slight impression on my boyish fancy--given me a vague idea of a
heedless life of enjoyment, and of youthful defiance.