BERLIN AND HAPPINESS
The Toymakers and Mr. Schmitt flew to Berlin in an airplane. People in
Germany travel by plane as easily as we travel by train and boat. Berlin
is the capital of Germany. The Berlin airport is the largest in the
world.
As the children stepped out of the plane they heard music. They saw
people sitting about at tables eating and drinking. These people were
watching the landings of the different airships.
"Come. We shall go to my home," said Mr. Schmitt. "I have a large house
near the music school. I want you to stay there with me until you find a
home of your own."
They drove in a taxicab through the Brandenburg Gate and into a famous
street, Unter den Linden ([=O][=o]n´t[~e]r d[)e]n L[)i]n´d[)e]n). New
York has Fifth Avenue. London has Piccadilly Circus. Chicago has Lake
Shore Drive. Edinburgh has Princes Street. And Berlin has Unter den
Linden.
[Illustration: THE BRANDENBURG GATE IN BERLIN]
They drove along the wide, shady boulevard with its flower beds, lawns,
and fountains. What a splendid street!
The children's joy and excitement made them unusually quiet. It was
very wonderful to be riding through this fine city and to know that
their struggles and hardships were over.
[Illustration: UNTER DEN LINDEN IN BERLIN]
Mr. Toymaker had sold his wagon. Mr. Schmitt planned to find him work in
a big Berlin toy shop. Later, the kind music master intended to find a
cosy home for the family. Mitz and Fritz were going to school. Fritz
would study music and practice on his violin. One day he would be able
to give real concerts.
Mr. Schmitt lived in an old-fashioned house, which seemed beautiful to
the children. It was full of ornaments and heavy furniture. Great
pictures of musicians hung upon the walls.
Mitz, Fritz, and their dog immediately explored the house from attic to
cellar. In the kitchen, Mitzi found a jolly cook, who gave her cookies.
Yes, Mitzi knew that she was going to like Berlin!
Fritz found musical instruments in every room. Sounds of piano and
violin and flute came from all quarters of the house. No, never before
in all his life had Fritz been so happy!
That evening, when the children were in bed, Mr. and Mrs. Toymaker sat
talking.
"It is true," said Mr. Toymaker to his wife. "You were right. Fritz has
turned beauty into gold. People will pay for things even if they cannot
touch them."
Mrs. Toymaker replied, "But even if they cannot touch music, music can
touch them."
At last Mr. Toymaker agreed.
"It can touch their hearts," he said.
[Illustration: THEY WERE GOING TO LIKE BERLIN]
THE END
PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY
Bach bäk
Bachfisch bäk´fish
Bayreuth b[=i]´roit´
Beethoven b[=a]´t[=o]-v[)e]n
Bingen b[)i]ng´[)e]n
Bonn b[=o]n
Charlemagne shär´l[+e]-m[=a]n
Coblenz k[=o]´bl[)e]nts
Dachshund däks´h[)oo]nt
Danke dän´k[~e]
Danube d[)a]n´[=u]b
Denkmal d[)e][n,]k´mäl
Eisenach [=I]´z[)e]n-äk
Goethe gû´t[~e]
Gretel gr[)e]t´[)e]l
Gutenberg g[=oo]´t[)e]n-b[)e]rk
Halle häl´[~e]
Hamelin hä´m[)e]lin
Hanau hä´nou
Handel h[)a]n´d[)e]l
Hansel h[)a]n´s[)e]l
Harz härts
Hoch h[=o]k´
Johann y[=o]´hän
Kaiser k[=i]´z[~e]r
Koppelberg k[)o]p´p[)e]l-b[)e]rg
Leipzig l[=i]p´s[)i]k
Lorelei l[=o]´r[)e]-l[=i]
Einstein [=i]n´st[=i]n
Ludwig l[=oo]t´v[)i]k
Mainz m[=i]nts
Mendelssohn m[)e]n´d[)e]l-s[=o]n
Moselle m[=o]z[)e]l´
Mittenwald mit´ten-väld
Mozart m[=o]´tzärt
Nuremberg n[=u]´r[)e]m-bûrg
Prague präk
Siegfried s[=e]g´fr[=e]d
Seine s[=a]n
Ströbeck strö´bek
Thames t[)e]mz
Unter den Linden [=oo]n´t[~e]r d[)e]n l[)i]n´d[)e]n
Wartburg värt´b[)oo]rk
Wagner väg´n[~e]r
Weimar v[=i]´mär
Transcriber's Notes:
1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.
2. The list of illustrations with their page numbers have been added
after the table of contents.
3. Images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest
paragraph break.
4. In this etext, a letter with a diacritical mark is enclosed within
square brackets. For example, diacritical marks for letter 'e' are shown
below:
[)e] represents 'letter e with breve above'
[=e] 'letter e with macron above'
[+e] 'letter e with up tack above'
[~e] 'letter e with tilde above'
Similar representation is used for vowels other than 'e'. The following
three also appear within this etext:
[n,] represents 'letter n with cedilla below'
[)oo] 'letters oo with combined breve above'
[=oo] 'letters oo with combined macron above'
End of Project Gutenberg's Mitz and Fritz of Germany, by Madeline Brandeis