CHAPTER XV.
A FEAST WITH UNEXPECTED DISHES.
The Major and Roland set out upon the performance of a most pleasantoffice. They had the pony harnessed to the little wagon, in which allthe packages were put, and drove through the hamlets, stopping at thevarious houses, and personally distributing the gifts. First of allthey drove to Claus's, in whom the last winter had worked a greatchange. After the first expressions of sympathy had been received fromhis neighbors, and he had once washed down all thought and care with agood drink, he took to mitigating his troubles by the all-obliteratingwine, or by brandy, if he could get no better. His wife and childrenwere in despair at this change in him, and once the family came to hardwords, the Cooper having heard that his father had been begging of astranger from the other side of the mountains, and complaining ofhaving been ruined by a rich man.
The Gauger and the Burgomaster were amused with Claus's complaints andfierce invectives, his jokes and wise sayings, and supplied him withliquor.
When Roland and the Major arrived at this man's house, it was evident,even at that early hour of the morning, that he had been drinking.Roland was much shocked, but the Major said,--
"Oh, you should not think anything of that. The man drinks too much,but only too much for his own stomach. Where is the harm? If a man ismade happy by a glass of wine too much, do let him enjoy it."
The Major's words and Roland's inward happiness soon effaced allrecollection of this first meeting. From Claus's they went toSevenpiper's, where was rejoicing beyond measure.
Roland said, again and again, that this day was the happiest he hadever passed; and the Major impressed upon him that he must not throwhis good deeds into the empty air, but accept the good wishes andblessings of those he had relieved from suffering and care.
"Fraeulein Milch," he added, "has a good saying, which should beinscribed in the temple: The happiest hour is that which follows theperformance of a good deed. Write that in your heart, my boy."
The dogs jumped about the wagon, and Roland cried out to them,--
"Do you too know that this is my happiest day? You poor beasts, I cangive you nothing but food; you want neither clothes nor money."
Out of one house Roland came flying, pale as death.
"What has happened to you?" asked the Major.
"Oh, let us get away from here, away!" urged the youth in terror. "Itremble all over, now, at what was done to me. If I had been attackedby robbers, I could not have been more frightened."
"But what was it? Tell me what it was!"
"The old man, whom I brought the clothes and money for, wanted to kissmy hand; that old man--my hand! I thought I should die, I was sofrightened. And are you laughing at it?"
"I am not laughing; you were quite right."
The Major looked upon this sensitiveness as one of the results of thenervous fever, and said after a while,--
"Your father has planted a great many trees, and when one thrives hecalls it a grateful tree. Do you know what the most grateful tree is?The tree of knowledge and good works."
While Roland's heart was thus swelling with the joy of health andwell-doing, Eric was in great depression. He had given his motherProfessor Einsiedel's letter, and, sitting beside her, told her howthis had comforted him for a while, but that now he was again in astate of great uncertainty, because his relation to Sonnenkamp musthenceforth be one of painful dependence; till now he had occupied afree and equal position with regard to him, but now he had receivedfavors, received a gift of money, and had lost his independence.
His mother listened patiently to the end, and then asked,--
"Do you hesitate to accept this gift because it comes from HerrSonnenkamp? Why not as readily or as reluctantly as from any one else,from Clodwig, for instance?"
She put the question eagerly, thinking she perceived that Eric, as wellis herself, was aware of Sonnenkamp's past life; but she was soonassured that he had no suspicion of it, by his replying,--
"Friendship gives differently, and makes it seem hardly a gift; from afriend like Clodwig, I could accept anything."
His mother told him he should consider that the money came from Roland,whose coming of age was only anticipated. But that idea troubled Erictoo: it made him feel that he was sent away, paid off; the account wassquared between them. His mother reminded him, for his consolation,that no outward pay could compensate for the labor, the burning cheek,the trembling nerves, the planning and thinking by day and by night,which the education of a human being requires. Finally, Eric confessedthat it mortified him to have to accept presents before Pranken, andManna too, the daughter of the house.
"Pranken and Manna are one," answered his mother, "she is hisbetrothed. But take comfort; look back over the past year, and you willsee that you have developed in your pupil a character which nothing canundermine."
This thought finally enabled Eric to rise above all his depression, andwhen he left his mother's house he had spirit enough to exclaim:--
"Look at Eric, old Father Rhine; he is become an independent man, andcan live upon his interest till he is seventy-seven years old!"
He met Roland and the Major returning from their round of visits. Itwas not for nothing that the Major carried always two watches aboutwith him, one of which he called his _galloper_ because it was alwaysfast; the only difficulty was, he could never tell whether he had putthe galloper in his right or left pocket; however, he was on hand againpunctually at dinner-time.
Roland sat at the richly furnished table, but tasted scarcely a morsel.
"I am so full," he said to Eric, "so full of the great happiness I havegiven to-day. And you--are you not happy too?"
Eric could truly say he was.
There was some discussion as to who should propose the customary toastfor Roland; whether it was for Eric or Pranken to do.
Both at length urged the duty upon the Major, who rose and said,--
"Gentlemen and ladies!"
"Bravo!" cried Pranken.
"Thank you," said the Major, "Interrupt me as often as you will; I havelearned to take flying leaps, and every obstacle gives me a chance fora higher bound. Once more, ladies and gentlemen! the human race isdivided into male and female."
General laughter, which delighted the Major.
"Here you behold a pair in the garden of Eden--"
"Perhaps you would like this to complete your picture?" said Pranken,handing the Major an apple.
Roland was indignant with Pranken for interfering so often, and beggedthe Major not to let himself be confused by it.
"Be easy, my boy," said the Major in a low voice; "I can stand fire."
Then he continued aloud:--
"So we have here two children, the daughter of the house and the son ofthe house; and the children have us. They have their parents; they havea grandmother and an aunt by election, and here,"--giving himself aringing blow on his chest,--"here they have an uncle. We love them asif they were our own blood, and they love us, do they not, children?"
"Yes!" cried Roland, and Manna nodded.
"So then, if I had a son--no, I don't mean that--if I had a teacher forthis son of mine--no, I did not mean that either--So, then, our wildrover there--see, he has already a growth upon his face--may theArchitect of the universe bless him, and let him grow to be a man whoshall understand what is true happiness for himself, for others, forhis brethren of all faiths, for all the descendants of man upon theearth."
Amen, he was about to say, but corrected himself, and cried:--"Hishealth, again and again, his health."
The Major sat down, and unbuttoned several buttons behind his napkin.
Sonnenkamp spoke next, and in happily chosen language proposed a toastto Eric, his mother, and his aunt.
"You must speak too; you must speak too," the Major kept urging uponEric.
Eric rose, and with a light and cheerful tone began:--
"Two things may be particularly noticed, which the Old
World has givento the New World of America--the horse and wine. The horse is not anative of America, neither is wine. Germans first planted vineyards inthe New World. Two natural objects, therefore, which enlarge the scopeof human strength and intellect, we have presented to the New World. Ileave out of consideration the kingdom of ideas. My toast is this: Mayour Roland, who comes to us from the New World, be borne onward andanimated by the rich powers beyond himself, to great and noble ends!"He raised his glass with enthusiasm, the sunlight sparkled in the wine,and pointing to it he continued:
"The sun of to-day greets the sun of a past age. What we drink is theoffspring of departed days, and what we receive into our soul hasripened in the sun of eternity. Each one of us should be a fruit thatshall ripen and live on in the sun of eternity, as God lives inhumanity, and in the stars, and in the trees and plants. Holy is theworld, and holy should we make ourselves. We are not our own, and whatwe have is not our own. What we are and what we have belong to theEternal. My Roland, the bright, smiling, sunny light of this day whichis gilding the earth will be turned to the fire of the wine, whichafter resting and ripening in well sealed casks, in the cool earth,shall presently be carried to strangers through all the lands, toanimate and penetrate them with its sunlight. So shall the sun ofto-day become fire in our souls, which shall burn brightly through thecold and desolate days that may be in store. May that ripen in you, myRoland, which shall quicken your soul, and rejoice mankind, and convertall life into the free and beautiful temple of God."
Eric's eye encountered a glance from Manna's, as he sat down. Shebeheld him as it were for the first time. His face wore an expressionof ideality, of spirituality, which seemed to subdue all passion, and alook of such manly decision as made her feel, If, in danger, I had thisman by my side, I should have an all-sufficient help. But she needed nohelp.
Sonnenkamp and Pranken shrugged their shoulders at the conclusion ofEric's speech, and had to repress a laugh which was provoked bySonnenkamp's whispering to his neighbor,--
"The man almost seems to believe what he says."
A diversion was here made by the arrival of the Doctor, and of theJustice's Lina, who was eager to greet her friend upon her "return tolife," as she called it. All arose from the table in excellent spirits.
Das landhaus am Rhein. English Page 130