How my heart throbs at it! [That is, at the meeting of the German
Peace Society set for the twenty-first of December.] How I rejoiced
over your _Habemus Papam_! Yes, that _is_ a Christmas deed!
Thus the long-desired formation of the Society had become an
accomplished fact!
-----
Footnote 1:
_Sitten_, like French _mœurs_ and Latin _mores_, has the double
meaning of “morals” and of “customs,” “manners.”—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 2:
_La Dame blanche_, opera by Adrien François Boïeldieu,
composed in 1825. Theodor Formes died in 1874, at the age of
forty-eight.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 3:
From the word “Past!” on, these inscriptions are in English. Of course
the fifteen-year-old German girl’s English is literally reproduced
here; it is much better than most of our schoolgirls could do in
German.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 4:
Pseudonym of Anton Alexander Graf von Auersperg, a distinguished
liberal Austrian epic and lyric poet, born 1806, died
1876.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 5:
Born 1791, died 1872; published his last drama 1840; began to be very
famous as a dramatist about 1850.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 6:
Pseudonym of Nikolaus Franz Niembsch Edler von Strehlenau, born 1802,
became insane 1844, died (in an asylum at Oberdöbling near Vienna)
1850.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 7:
Count Friedrich Heinrich Ernst von Wrangel, Prussian general, was
born 1784, was made Field Marshal 1856, died 1877; commanded the
troops of the Germanic Confederation against Denmark in 1848, and
the allied troops of Prussia and Austria against Denmark in 1864,
but withdrew from the command in May of the latter year. But
Lieutenant Field Marshall Felix Ludwig Johann Friedrich von
Schwarzenberg, Austrian statesman and general, died in 1852, before
Wrangel received the title of Field Marshal. I infer from this, and
from the following sentence, that these signatures did not
constitute a single inscription.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 8:
The joke is the same as in the story of the Englishman who mistook the
American ambassador in his plain evening dress for a waiter, and gave
him the order, “Call me a cab,” to which Ambassador Choate replied,
“You’re a cab,” and afterwards defended himself by saying, “He asked
me to call him a cab, and I did; and I would have called him a
han’som’ cab if he hadn’t been so ugly.” But in English the
troublesome words are a mere ambiguity; in German it is a case of
erroneously using for the one sense the forms that properly convey the
other sense, so that the interpretation which the father-in-law puts
upon the suitor’s words, strained as it looks in the translation, is
really the only interpretation which the words as spoken will
bear.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 9:
Observe that previous to 1870 it was patriotic, not unpatriotic, for a
Bavarian to speak of an Austrian as a fellow-countryman. It is quite
likely, however, that the land of Parnassus is here meant.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 10:
The centennial anniversary of Schiller’s birth.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 11:
Schiller’s birthday.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 12:
If the illegible word is a proper name, it should be a masculine name
of four syllables with accent on the third. If not a proper name, it
should be preceded by “the” in the translation.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 13:
Too great a reward for my poor labors is the sympathy of so courteous
and lofty a soul as is manifested in the letter which you have done me
the honor to write to me. In such a soul it is a matter of course that
indulgence also must find a place; and if in this case it is
excessive, this is one reason the more why it should arouse in me a
lively sense of gratitude. For the rest, excess in kindly feelings is
one of the least dangerous disorders in this world. May God preserve
and reward the noble inclinations which he has bestowed upon you.
Pray accept the respectful expression of my gratitude, and the
assurance of the high esteem with which I have the honor of signing
myself
Your most humble and devoted servant
Alessandro Manzoni
Footnote 14:
Compare the dates of the autographs in the preceding
chapter.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 15:
Both titles are “countess” in English; but in German _Gräfin_ is the
count’s wife or widow, _Komtesse_ his unmarried daughter.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 16:
Manoel Garcia del Popolo Vicente, a native of Seville, born 1775, died
1832, was successful as singer and composer, and supreme as music
teacher. The reputation of his book _Metodo di canto_ is high and
permanent. He had two daughters, Maria born in 1808 and Pauline born
in 1821. The elder, named Malibran by marriage, was one of the most
renowned singers of the nineteenth century; she died in 1836. Pauline
made her first appearance on the stage in 1837; married Louis Viardot,
at that time director of the grand opera at Paris, in 1840; remained
on the stage, with much success, till 1863; and settled in Paris as a
teacher of singing in 1871.—TRANSLATOR.
Footnote 17:
To wit, Heine’s verses:
Du hast Diamanten und Perlen,
Hast alles, was Menschenbegehr,
Und hast die schönsten Augen—
Mein Liebchen, was willst du mehr?
—TRANSLATOR
Footnote 18:
Later, and as a result of this visit, married to Prince Louis Murat,
Prince Achille’s youngest brother.
Footnote 19:
The stream mentioned above, the Tzkhenitz-Atzkhali—the Hippus of the
classic writers—forms the dividing line between Mingrelia and
Imeretia.
Footnote 20:
Or “Throw Down your Arms.” One translation bears the title “Ground
Arms,” but that does not convey the idea.
Footnote 21:
Chère Baronne et amie!
Je viens d’achever la lecture de votre admirable chef-d’œuvre. On dit
qu’il y a deux mille langues—ce serait 1999 de trop—mais certes il n’y
en a pas une dans laquelle votre délicieux ouvrage ne devrait être
traduit, lu et médité.
Combien de temps vous a-t-il pris de composer cette merveille? Vous me
le direz lorsque j’aurai l’honneur et le bonheur de vous serrer la
main—cette main d’amazone qui fait si vaillamment la guerre à la
guerre.
Vous avez tort pourtant de crier “à bas les armes” puisque vous-même
vous en faites usage, et puisque les vôtres—le charme de votre style,
et la grandeur de vos idées—portent et porteront bien autrement loin
que les Lébel, les Nordenfelt, les de Bange et tous les autres outils
de l’enfer.
Yours for ever and more than ever
A. Nobel