Das landhaus am Rhein. English

by Berthold Auerbach

  CHAPTER XV.

  LIFE, AND THE EXTERNALS OF LIFE.

  In the Bible it is related, how the boy Isaac went with the PatriarchAbraham up the mountain-side where the sacrifice was to be offered. Hewalked on, silent and thoughtful, till at last he asked,--

  "Where is the offering?"

  He did not know that he himself was to be the offering.

  So Roland followed Eric, silent and thoughtful; he had offered tosacrifice himself, but the sacrifice was refused. What next?

  Above, on a spur of the mountain, overlooking the surrounding country,they sat down; the wild thyme spread its fragrance around them. Erictook the hand of his pupil and began,--

  "Well, it must be,--it ought to have come later,--I had hoped that youwould not have come to this question for a long time, and then in someother way. Do you know what wealth is?"

  "Yes; when a man has more than he needs."

  "How does a man get this superfluity?"

  "By inheritance and by earning."

  "Can a brute animal be rich?"

  "I should think not."

  "Certainly not; every animal is, and has, only what he has been and hashad from his birth. Now, to go farther, are the men of these timesbetter than those of old times?"

  "I think so."

  "Will men ever be better than now?"

  "I hope so."

  "And how will they become better?"

  "By civilization."

  "Is civilization possible, when a man has to work hard from morningtill night for the satisfaction of his physical needs?"

  "Hardly."

  "How then can a man do anything for the improvement of himself or hisfellow-men?"

  "He needs leisure for this."

  "And does not that leisure come only when he has gained through hislabor a surplus of wealth?"

  "It seems so."

  "Remember this, then: wealth is an accumulation of power which is notobtained by one's own labor."

  "Stop, wait a minute," said Roland. He thought for a moment and thensaid,--"I have it, I understand it now; pray go on."

  "What, now, should a man do, who comes into possession of so much powerthat he has not worked for?"

  "I do not know."

  "Then I will tell you. By means of what a man has beyond the absoluteneeds of life, he attains those things which beautify and elevate life,art and science. Wealth, alone, makes possible the progress of thehuman race; that a man can become rich involves his higher destiny; helives by others, and for others; without accumulated surplus, withoutcapital, there can be no higher knowledge of life, no advancement ofit, no science and no art. Wealth is the possibility and the obligationto gain and increase, for one's self and for others, the higherbenefits of existence; the rich man is not rich for himself; whateveradvantages he possesses in the way of knowledge, of improved machinery,of invention, he has and uses in order to obtain more wealth than hisnecessities demand; these advantages he possesses only by means ofothers who have worked before him. In the last analysis, then, the richman is so through his own means, or for his own advantage; he is onlyan administrator of the accumulated results of labor, and he must soadminister it as to serve the highest good of mankind. Look around!there lie the fields, the vineyards,--whose are they? There standstones, boundary-stones, placed here and there over the land, as pointsof legal division between mine and thine; no one can step over theboundary of another, or encroach on another's domain; they are thescattered stones, which, in the eye of the imagination, help to formthe great temple of law which protects humanity. Not so evident, butnot less firmly fixed, are the boundary-stones throughout life; you maynot encroach on what belongs to another, on the results of his laborand of his natural powers. See! there the boatman directs the helm;there the vine-dresser digs the ground that the rain may reach theroots of his vines; the bird flies over the river; men row and dig,animals fly and crawl, only to gain a living. Then comes temptation toman and says,--'Let others work for you; live upon the sweat of theirbrow; their bones are yours, consider them not; take gold for theirlabor, gold weeps not, gold hungers not, gold complains not,--it onlyglitters; when you have it, you can sing, dance, drive over men'sheads, be carried on their extended arms; don't hang back! the world isa field of plunder where each one takes what he can seize.' So speaksthe tempter, but the spirit of the true life says,--'You are only whatyou are in yourself; whatever worldly possessions you have are indeedyours, but are not you; to-morrow they may no longer be yours; butto-day they are, and you may multiply them a thousandfold, so that theymay be a blessing to you, and yours, and those around you.'

  "If you have not genius--that is not to be acquired--then get characterand education, which can be acquired, and by means of them gain allwhich is worth the gaining. Glory and greatness are good, but every onecannot attain them; every one can be contented in himself and helpfulto others. Wealth is an instrument useful for many purposes, but onlywhen one knows how to use it. You cannot destroy the evils that are inthe world--hunger, sickness, and crime; but you must not fling away thepower that lies in your hand; the great duty is yours to beautify andelevate the world. Rejoice in your possessions, for they enable you tocreate beauty and to give joy. First of all, create in yourself beautyand joy, the power of self-denial, pleasure in accomplishment; and beready to stand firm in yourself, if outward supports should be takenaway. He who places the centre of gravity of his being outside ofhimself, on something upon which he leans, falls when that support isremoved. Be firm in yourself, keep your centre of gravity in yourself,learn to know and to rightly value yourself and the world around you.The present is a time of preparation; you have as yet no duties towardsothers. Your only duty is to yourself. Bind together the powers withinyou, and do not dissipate your being; and if you are your own master,you are always rich; but if you have not control of yourself, you arealways poor, even were millions in your possession. If you possessyourself, you are lord of your riches."

  They were both silent for a long time. It is impossible to say in whatdirection any given thought may lead, or what previous thoughts areassociated in its development.

  "I should like to know," began Roland, "how it seemed when America wasfirst discovered."

  Eric explained to the boy what a revolution in ideas the greatintellectual discoveries of the sixteenth century had made. There stooda man in a little German town, who said, and proved, that the earth onwhich we live is no fixed point; it turns continually on its axis andin its orbit around the sun. The whole mode of thinking of mankind forcenturies was entirely changed. Man lives, then, on this ball that wecall earth; he harvests and builds, he travels by land and sea, upon aball which is constantly turning. When the heart of mankind firstlearned that, a shudder must have passed through it; the heavens wereremoved, there was no more sky, the whole old idea of a king of theworld, sitting enthroned thereon, was overthrown; what was called thesky, was only the firmly-bound, countless order of constellations,which move in their orbits, attracting and repelling each other.

  Then came another man, who said, "There is no man on earth, who,sitting on his throne, holds in himself the eternal spirit which giveshim the right to teach and dictate what men shall believe and hope."Dissension appeared in the Church, and tore the civilized worldasunder.

  "And still another man, with his companions, entered a ship, sailedtowards the north and discovered a new world. In the house which weinhabit, an immeasurably large room was suddenly opened, wherein dweltmen who knew nothing of our life, while we, on the other hand, wereignorant of the endless variety of plants and animals, of boundlessforests and rushing torrents, that existed there. The discoveries ofCopernicus, of Luther, and of Columbus, must have produced a revolutionin the minds of men at that period, to which nothing in our age can becompared. If we should be told now that all private property was to begiven up, so that no one should longer possess anything for himselfalone, the revolution in our minds would not be greater than it was
inmen's minds at that time."

  Roland sat gazing in wonder at the man, who placed him upon such aheight that he could see all life and being forming itself anew, andunfolding before his eyes. Eric paused, in order that the vividimpression, which it was evident he had made upon his pupil, should notbe disturbed and effaced by further speech. The question arose in hismind, whether he had not given to the boy ideas and suggestions whichhe was not able to grasp; but he comforted himself with the example ofthe Church. She gives the young soul what it does not yet desire, whatit is not yet able to understand; but she gives it in the hope that itwill bear fruit in riper years. May we not--must we not do the same?

  The quiet thought of the two, reaching out towards the infinite, wasdisturbed, by the architect, who came to tell them that a Roman tombhad been discovered, and in it, an urn, a chair, and a skeleton. Ericwent with Roland, and this disinterment of a man so long dead gave theboy a shock. What is the world? What is life? A future age finds theskeleton of a man which it passes by with indifference, and onlyasks,--"Are there, withal, the remains of the industry of formertimes?"

  What is life?

  As if waking from sleep, Roland heard Eric express his joy at thediscovery, which would give so much pleasure to Count Clodwig. And nowall the boy's thoughts were turned into a new channel, and hisperplexing doubts forgotten. Eric rejoiced in the versatile mind ofyouth, which at one moment is entirely absorbed in some overpoweringthought, and the next is engrossed by another which entirely displacesthe first. This is the blessing and joy of youth. Roland was full ofplans for the foundation of a museum, and Eric encouraged him in them,and took pains to show that here was an example of what possessionsreally mean; these historical treasures did not belong to him whocalled them his, but to the world, which from them could learnsomething of former ages; no one could have them for himself alone.This is the true idea of possession, freed from all material weight.Thus ought we to look upon all the possessions of the world.

  This incident seemed to lead the boy's mind to composure. But as theywere going home, he asked,--"Now tell me, Eric, what would you do ifall this wealth were yours? Can you tell, Eric, now?" "Not exactly. Ithink I should waste much of it in experiments, in trying to alleviatethe sufferings of humanity. I have often speculated about it, and thefirst greeting that came to me was,--'What is a million? What aremillions? What do they mean?'" As Eric was silent, Roland asked, "Well,have you found what they mean?" "I have first made this clear tomyself. In order to know how great value any sum possesses in itself, Ihave first asked, 'How much bread could be bought for a million?' Andby means of this somewhat childish question, I came, as I believe, uponthe right road."

  "Which is?"

  "I tried to find how many families a million would support. That, Ithink, is the road, but of course I have not yet reached the end. Irepeat, however, that first of all we must make sure that we are strongenough to do the right, at all times, under all circumstances. Whattime or circumstances may demand of us, no one can determinebeforehand."

  "Stay by me always, and help me," begged Roland. Eric took the boy'shand and pressed it, and they went on quietly towards the house.