Day had long since dawned over the great city, and the little house in
the Dorotheen-strasse prided itself upon remaining no whit behind its
more aristocratic neighbors in this respect. The occupants of the "tun"
were usually no late sleepers, and Balder in particular never failed to
hear the general alarm-clock of the house, the old pump-handle, which
sang a well-meant but monotonous morning song, when at six o'clock in
summer and seven in winter, Reginchen set it in motion to get her
father his glass of water for breakfast. At the same time the windows
in the workshop were opened, and the grumbling of the head journeyman,
who took advantage of the half hour before the master appeared, to make
the apprentices feel his importance, became audible. But as soon as the
master of the house, in his loose jacket and slippers, crossed the
courtyard, everything below was perfectly still. Indeed, though the
brothers had been unable to procure a watch, they had no occasion to be
at a loss to know the time, even during the day. Exactly one hour after
the first music of the pump, Reginchen appeared in the "tun" with the
well-beaten clothes and the breakfast. Punctually at nine o'clock a
window was opened in the second story, a yellow old face in a
night-cap, the once famous actress, stretched out a wrinkled little
nose to find out which way the wind was blowing, as her husband, the
tenor, though he no longer had occasion to spare his high C, could not
give up the habit of staying in the house when there was an East wind.
Precisely one hour after, the little man himself appeared at another
window which opened upon the courtyard, not lighted by the sun, to
shave with great deliberation and apply before the little mirror the
necessary cosmetics, which an old celebrity of the stage considers an
indispensable, nay, an incontestable proof of the dignity of his
calling. When eleven o'clock struck, the piano in the room below,
occupied by Fraeulein Christiane, with whom we formed a passing
acquaintance in the first chapter, was opened, and a practised hand
struck a few notes by way of prelude to a singing-lesson, which, from
consideration for Edwin had been deferred to this time, when he usually
went to his lecture. Various pupils came to take lessons; of late,
twice a week a merry soubrette, belonging to one of the theatres in the
suburbs, appeared, who desired to practise her little parts in new
operettas, and drove her grave teacher to despair by a number of
blunders, musical and otherwise. As a loud conversation could be
heard through the open windows, almost word for word, Balder often
became an ear-witness to the most singular scenes, which afforded him a
glimpse of an utterly unknown world. Punctually at twelve o'clock the
dinner-bell rang, and was usually hailed by the pupil with a merrily
whistled street song, as the grateful feeling of release could be
expressed in no better way.
The household clock performed its duty to-day as well as ever, but the
occupants of the upper story in the back building seemed deaf to its
sounds. The pump's morning song died away unheard. No "come in"
answered the low knock an hour later, and, after a short delay and a
shake, of the head, the slender household sprite, hanging the clothes
on the banister of the stairs, glided down again with the breakfast.
Miezica, the white cat, which at the same time appeared at the window
to be fed by Balder, remained on the broad sill that ran from gutter to
gutter, staring into the room, where no living creature was yet
stirring. Not until the yellow top of the acacia-tree was gilded by the
rising sun--it must have been ten minutes past ten for the old tenor
was just beginning to powder himself--did Balder open his eyes,
astonished at the bright light that filled the room. He looked toward
Edwin; the latter gave no sign that the sunlight was too dazzling for
him to continue his dreams.
Softly the youth rose and limped to the turning-lathe in the corner,
where he noiselessly arranged a variety of tools, bits of wood, and
little bottles. He did not, however, begin to work, but taking a book,
became for a time absorbed in its contents. Suddenly the thoughts which
had kept him awake so long during the night, seemed to return. He laid
the book aside, opened a window, and leaned out into the already heated
air.
Ere long a low knock at the door roused him from his reverie. He glided
on tip-toe past the sleeper, and slipped through the half-opened door
into the dusky entry.
Reginchen stood without; her round face, whose eyes and mouth were ever
ready to bubble over with mirth, was turned toward him with a sort of
curious anxiety.
"Good morning, Reginchen," he whispered. "I can't let you in, he is
still asleep. He did not go to rest until long after midnight; I am
glad the sun does not wake him. You have already been to the door
once--I overslept myself too, contrary to my custom--we talked so long
last night. I am sorry we have made you so much trouble, Reginchen.
Give me the waiter, I will carry the breakfast in."
"It is no trouble," replied the young girl, who when talking to the
brothers always tried to correct her Berlin dialect as much as
possible, but without precisely solving the mystery of the dative and
accusative. "But you will be completely starved. Sha'n't I get you some
coffee? Cold milk on an empty stomach--"
"Thank you, Reginchen. I am used to it. You are always so kind. Why
have you dressed so early to-day, Reginchen?"
The young girl blushed as she smoothed her little black silk apron and
the folds of a light muslin that had been freshly washed and ironed.
"This is my birthday, Herr Walter," (she could not accustom herself to
the name of "Balder.") "My mother gave me the apron, and the old
gentleman on the second floor, the garnet breastpin. I am going to
visit my aunt at Schoeneberg after dinner, and so I wanted to ask if I
might bring your dinner up very early to-day. My brother will come for
me punctually at one o'clock."
"Your birthday, Reginchen! And I have forgotten it! Are you angry with
me? My brother's sickness has given me so much to think of lately. You
know, Reginchen, I wish you all possible good fortune and happiness,
though my congratulations are late; but you are used to seeing me
limp."
"How can you talk so. Herr Walter?" she replied, quietly allowing the
firm little hand he had so cordially grasped to rest in his. "It makes
no difference whether a stupid thing like me, without education or
culture, is seventeen or eighteen. Father says women remain great
children all their lives; so whether they become older or not can be of
little consequence."
"He is only joking, Reginchen. What would your father do without you,
to say nothing of the rest of us in the house? So you are really
eighteen years old to-day? I wish I knew of something that would give
you pleasure; I should like to make you a birthday present."
"I don't want any present," she replied, hastily turning away and
putting her foot on the upper stair. "I have already had so many gifts
from you at Christmas and such times, and my mother always scolds and
says I am too large to receive presents from strange gentlemen. Hark!
she is calling me; I must go, Herr Walter."
She darted down the steep staircase, like an arrow, and Balder, who
remained at the top, heard her singing a song in a clear, childish
voice, as she skipped across the pavement of the courtyard in her
little slippers. As he took the waiter from the low attic stairs where
she had placed it, and limped softly back into the room, he
involuntarily sighed.
Going up to his sleeping brother he gazed at him with affectionate
anxiety. Edwin seemed to be slumbering quietly. His high, beautifully
arched brow was unwrinkled, a smile played around his lips, and his
delicate nostrils quivered slightly, as they always did when he made a
witty speech. His shirt was open at the throat, and a small gold locket
attached to a silk cord and containing a tress of his mother's golden
hair, was plainly visible. Balder wore one like it.
He was about to retire to the window corner again, when a hasty step
was heard on the stairs, and ere Balder could reach the door to stop
the new comer, an eager knock announced a visitor who knew himself to
be welcome at any hour.
"Come in!" said Edwin, as he slowly rose from his pillow, still half
asleep. "That must be Marquard. Good heavens, it is broad daylight!"
"To be sure!" laughed the new arrival. "It requires the presence of a
despicable empiric like myself, to make the Herr Philosopher aware that
the sun is several hours high in the heavens. Well, how are you,
patient? Has the prescription wrought its work? I am almost inclined to
believe that the dose was too strong."
Nodding kindly to Balder, he hastily approached the bed and touched
Edwin's brow and temples before feeling his pulse. The keen, light gray
eyes gazed through a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles at a heavy gold
watch, and the youthfully round and regular, though somewhat pale face,
which on entering the door had worn an expression of the gayest
unconcern, now assumed a quiet, watchful air, while the elegant figure,
which was of about the medium height, leaned lightly on a chair beside
the bed.
"My dear Herr Medicinalrath," said Edwin, "your master work has been
performed on me. Mother Nature, who may well fear you since you
irreverently pry into her most sacred secrets and scan all her little
weaknesses as through a microscope, seems, at your command, to have
once more taken pity upon me, and granted me sleep. All else will
follow as a matter of course; at least I already feel a truly wolfish
appetite. If you'll allow me. Doctor, I'll only put on the most
necessary articles of clothing, and go to breakfast at once, to relieve
Balder, who I see has again waited for me."
"_Probatum est_," laughed the doctor, pocketing his watch. "I was
perfectly well aware, that for brains like yours, there is no better
narcotic than the mixture of folly, noise, and tights, we men of the
world swallow to excite us. I find your symptoms to-day far more
encouraging than yesterday, and, within a few days, I think I shall
repeat the dose. Hunger is a good symptom. But I don't see the
breakfast."
"It is standing on the table yonder," said Balder, quietly.
The doctor stepped to the little table, which, covered with a green
cloth, stood in the middle of the room, and gazed, with an
indescribable look of pity and horror, at the white pitcher, which
stood between two stoneware cups, while a tin plate beside it contained
two small rolls.
"Pardon me," said he, "my science does not extend so far as to enable
me to determine, by its mere appearance, the name of the strong broth
which awaits you here as your first meal."
"It is pure, unadulterated milk, in which we dip the flower of wheat,"
said Edwin, who, having in the meantime hastily clothed himself, now
approached the table and filled both cups. "You are doubtless aware,
my dear fellow, that milk contains all the elements of nourishment
which--"
"Which a child in swaddling clothes needs till it cuts its teeth!
Sacred Reason, what is the world coming to, when your ablest votaries,
the philosophers, confess themselves addicted to the most preposterous
habits and customs. Are you not startled, my lad, by the frightful
contradiction involved by your endeavor, amidst our exhaustive,
enervating civilization, which constitutes such a drain upon the blood
and marrow, to sustain yourself on the nourishment of stupid pastoral
tribes? In Berlin, too, where as you know, all the cows are infected
with the pallor of the Hegel philosophy, and where the watery fluid
they give is still further diluted at every pump. No, my dear fellow,
either I give you up as incurable, or you must decide at once upon a
radical change of habit, wash your face with this innocent fluid--an
admirable preventive of premature wrinkles--and moisten your inner man
at this time with a glass of port wine, to be followed by the
consumption of half a pound of roast meat. I'll wager that in a short
time there will be a change in your organism which will make itself
perceptibly felt if you visit the Berlin ballet too frequently. What
are you laughing at? I am perfectly serious."
"That is just why I laughed," said Edwin, as, standing by the table, he
quietly broke his roll into the thin blue milk. "You forget, my dear
fellow, that I can only make use of prescriptions which are put up at
the pharmacy 'for lucky beggars.' Or do you happen to have it in your
pocket?"
"What?"
"My professorship, or Balder's diploma as turner to the court. With
your practice in such circles, you can not fail, if you are in earnest,
to help us to a brilliant career. But until then I deeply regret that I
can give you no prospect of a change of diet."
Marquard looked around the room, and shook his head angrily, as he
said: "But it is suicidal folly, absurd nonsense, to live as you do!
Balder, too, will never fare any better, so long as you squat here like
two old women, and fast till you are livid for lack of blood.
Professorship? Nonsense! With your views, you'll never get one to the
end of your days in our Christian German government. If you had only
learned some commonplace thing, so that you might be made useful
somewhere. However, you know something of arithmetic, don't you?"
"The first four formulae, and the rule of three."
"No joking. You are a thorough mathematician. I will get you a position
in a life insurance company, where they need some one for their
estimates of probabilities. Five hundred thalers at first. You need say
but one word."
"Rather _three_, my faithful Eckhart: Thank you, kindly. I can not
endure the atmosphere of an office. But seriously, my dear preserver of
mankind, don't give yourself any trouble about me. I am incorrigible.
Every German must have a whim. Mine is to belong exclusively to myself,
shake as many nuts from the tree of life as I like, and waste as much
time as I can spare in cracking them and getting at the kernels. To
make a career is an occupation that robs one of a great deal of time,
and it is the same with the effort to become a millionaire in a
respectable way. Both, therefore, I must renounce, and since I have for
either as little talent as inclination, and can get along for a time in
this way, why should I fly into a passion because the Berlin cows have
deteriorated as much in the fabrication of milk as Prussian political
philosophy has deteriorated since the days of Father Kant? Except on
occasions when, by an Epicurean like yourself, unnatural desires are
created in us, we want for nothing in our 'tun,' and, moreover, have
something put aside for a rainy day; have we not, Balder?"
The doctor was about to make some reply, but controlled himself, and
seized his hat. "Adieu!" he growled, and went toward the door, but
paused on the threshold.
"You will allow me," he said harshly, "as I still have charge of you,
to send you some medicine from my own pharmacy. I received a gift of
some excellent Bordeaux from a wine-dealer, on whom I performed a very
surprising cure, I will send you some on trial, and if you don't drink
half a bottle every noon--Balder may content himself with a glass--I--"
"Will show me no farther friendship? Better not say that. It would be a
pity: for your sake, because without our society you would sink
completely into empiricism and gluttony; and for ours, because we
should be compelled to deny ourselves the luxury of consulting a
physician. No, old fellow, I thank you very kindly for your
philanthropic design, but it is wiser for us to continue to cut our
coats according to our cloth."
"And these people wish to be elevated above ordinary prejudices!"
exclaimed the doctor fiercely, putting on his hat. "If you really were
so elevated, you would not be too proud to accept a few pitiful drops
of wine from an old college friend! Go, you are perfect fools with your
idealism!"
"And you are on the way to become as famous a doctor as old Heim. At
least you already have the needful roughness!" laughed Edwin.
The doctor heard him no longer; he had slammed the door and was noisily
descending the stairs. Balder looked at his brother.
"You ought not to have refused," said he. "He means kindly, and he is
undoubtedly right: our diet is not fit for you."
"So you, too, are beginning to scold," said Edwin, drinking the
remainder of his milk as if it were the most exquisite nectar. "But the
trump of doom would not disturb the serenity of my soul to-day. I am in
exactly the phlegmatic, abstract frame of mind, to which the most
difficult problems seem like child's play. It is a pity I have nothing
harder to elucidate than how it comes to pass that a crazy man can say
such clever things in his dreams, and yet on awaking be just as mad as
before."
"What do you mean?"
"I have been most dutifully dreaming of the acquaintance I made
yesterday; you remember, child, _la belle Chocoladiere_. I discovered,
God knows how, that she was the daughter of a Polish countess and a
French _valet de chambre_; a thoroughly ignorant, vain, and not
over-virtuous creature. As she made merry over my defective French, I
quietly began to explain how grateful she ought to be that a sensible
man conversed with her at all. Then I talked long and very impressively
about the dignity of man in general and philosophers in particular;
something after the style of Wieland's sages, and she, after at first
looking as if she were grieving over her weaknesses and sins, suddenly
began to laugh loudly, danced around the room--in the style of the
rope-dancers we saw yesterday--hummed French songs of by no means the
most decorous nature, and altogether conducted herself in such a manner
that I grew more and more angry, and at last told her to her face that
I should consider myself the most contemptible fool and weakling on
earth, if I allowed her little nose and black eyelashes to turn my head
an instant longer. She now became very haughty, I still colder and more
bitter, she more bacchanalian, and I was just in the act of jumping out
of a low window into a beautiful and spacious garden, when she
coaxingly passed her hands over my face, and tried to smooth the angry
frown from my brow; then I awoke, and quickly perceived that
notwithstanding all the wisdom I had possessed in my dream, I had not
become one whit the wiser than I was when I went to bed.
"But don't take the matter so much to heart, child," he continued, as
Balder remained silent. "I can assure you that a hopeless passion
is no such terrible misfortune. I am perfectly positive that I shall
never see her again, but how long it will be before I think of
something else, I can't say. Yet it is one of the most delightful
experiences--this gentle consuming fire, this sacred defencelessness,
this introspection, joined to the consciousness of external
impressions; it is the true, immanent, and transcendent contradiction,
which is the veritable secret of all life, and of which man, with his
accustomed eminently respectable but imperfect knowledge of our being,
is seldom so keenly conscious. Some day, child, you too will experience
it, and then for the first time you will fully understand what I mean.
The head does not appear to work at all; the mill of ideas is stopped;
it has no more grist to grind. Very different nerve-centres appear to
have assumed control, and when I have overcome the first sense of
strangeness, it will be a very interesting psychological task--"
Here the door was thrown open, and a new visitor interrupted our
philosopher's attempt to make a virtue of necessity, and at least to
render useful to the cause of science, the sorrows of his heart.