After breakfast we climbed the hill and visited the ancient castle of Hirschhorn, and the ruined church near it. There were some curious old bas-reliefs leaning against the inner walls of the church—sculptured lords of Hirschhorn in complete armor, and ladies of Hirschhorn in the picturesque14 court costumes of the Middle Ages. These things are suffering damage and passing to decay, for the last Hirschhorn has been dead two hundred years, and there is nobody now who cares to preserve the family relics15. In the chancel was a twisted stone column, and the captain told us a legend about it, of course, for in the matter of legends he could not seem to restrain himself; but I do not repeat his tale because there was nothing plausible16 about it except that the Hero wrenched17 this column into its present screw-shape with his hands—just one single wrench18. All the rest of the legend was doubtful.
But Hirschhorn is best seen from a distance, down the river. Then the clustered brown towers perched on the green hilltop, and the old battlemented stone wall, stretching up and over the grassy19 ridge20 and disappearing in the leafy sea beyond, make a picture whose grace and beauty entirely21 satisfy the eye.
We descended22 from the church by steep stone stairways which curved this way and that down narrow alleys23 between the packed and dirty tenements24 of the village. It was a quarter well stocked with deformed25, leering, unkempt and uncombed idiots, who held out hands or caps and begged piteously. The people of the quarter were not all idiots, of course, but all that begged seemed to be, and were said to be.
I was thinking of going by skiff to the next town, Necharsteinach; so I ran to the riverside in advance of the party and asked a man there if he had a boat to hire. I suppose I must have spoken High German—Court German—I intended it for that, anyway—so he did not understand me. I turned and twisted my question around and about, trying to strike that man’s average, but failed. He could not make out what I wanted. Now Mr. X arrived, faced this same man, looked him in the eye, and emptied this sentence on him, in the most glib27 and confident way: “Can man boat get here?”
The mariner28 promptly29 understood and promptly answered. I can comprehend why he was able to understand that particular sentence, because by mere30 accident all the words in it except “get” have the same sound and the same meaning in German that they have in English; but how he managed to understand Mr. X’s next remark puzzled me. I will insert it, presently. X turned away a moment, and I asked the mariner if he could not find a board, and so construct an additional seat. I spoke26 in the purest German, but I might as well have spoken in the purest Choctaw for all the good it did. The man tried his best to understand me; he tried, and kept on trying, harder and harder, until I saw it was really of no use, and said:
“There, don’t strain yourself—it is of no consequence.”
Then X turned to him and crisply said:
“Machen sie a flat board.”
I wish my epitaph may tell the truth about me if the man did not answer up at once, and say he would go and borrow a board as soon as he had lit the pipe which he was filling.
We changed our mind about taking a boat, so we did not have to go. I have given Mr. X’s two remarks just as he made them. Four of the five words in the first one were English, and that they were also German was only accidental, not intentional31; three out of the five words in the second remark were English, and English only, and the two German ones did not mean anything in particular, in such a connection.
X always spoke English to Germans, but his plan was to turn the sentence wrong end first and upside down, according to German construction, and sprinkle in a German word without any essential meaning to it, here and there, by way of flavor. Yet he always made himself understood. He could make those dialect-speaking raftsmen understand him, sometimes, when even young Z had failed with them; and young Z was a pretty good German scholar. For one thing, X always spoke with such confidence—perhaps that helped. And possibly the raftsmen’s dialect was what is called Platt-Deutsch, and so they found his English more familiar to their ears than another man’s German. Quite indifferent students of German can read Fritz Reuter’s charming platt-Deutch tales with some little facility because many of the words are English. I suppose this is the tongue which our Saxon ancestors carried to England with them. By and by I will inquire of some other philologist32.
However, in the mean time it had transpired33 that the men employed to calk the raft had found that the leak was not a leak at all, but only a crack between the logs—a crack that belonged there, and was not dangerous, but had been magnified into a leak by the disordered imagination of the mate. Therefore we went aboard again with a good degree of confidence, and presently got to sea without accident. As we swam smoothly34 along between the enchanting35 shores, we fell to swapping36 notes about manners and customs in Germany and elsewhere.
As I write, now, many months later, I perceive that each of us, by observing and noting and inquiring, diligently37 and day by day, had managed to lay in a most varied38 and opulent stock of misinformation. But this is not surprising; it is very difficult to get accurate details in any country. For example, I had the idea once, in Heidelberg, to find out all about those five student-corps39. I started with the White Cap corps. I began to inquire of this and that and the other citizen, and here is what I found out:
1. It is called the Prussian Corps, because none but Prussians are admitted to it.
2. It is called the Prussian Corps for no particular reason. It has simply pleased each corps to name itself after some German state.
3. It is not named the Prussian Corps at all, but only the White Cap Corps.
4. Any student can belong to it who is a German by birth.
5. Any student can belong to it who is European by birth.
6. Any European-born student can belong to it, except he be a Frenchman.
7. Any student can belong to it, no matter where he was born.
8. No student can belong to it who is not of noble blood.
9. No student can belong to it who cannot show three full generations of noble descent.
10. Nobility is not a necessary qualification.
11. No moneyless student can belong to it.
12. Money qualification is nonsense—such a thing has never been thought of.
I got some of this information from students themselves—students who did not belong to the corps.
I finally went to headquarters—to the White Caps—where I would have gone in the first place if I had been acquainted. But even at headquarters I found difficulties; I perceived that there were things about the White Cap Corps which one member knew and another one didn’t. It was natural; for very few members of any organization know all that can be known about it. I doubt there is a man or a woman in Heidelberg who would not answer promptly and confidently three out of every five questions about the White Cap Corps which a stranger might ask; yet it is a very safe bet that two of the three answers would be incorrect every time.
There is one German custom which is universal—the bowing courteously40 to strangers when sitting down at table or rising up from it. This bow startles a stranger out of his self-possession, the first time it occurs, and he is likely to fall over a chair or something, in his embarrassment41, but it pleases him, nevertheless. One soon learns to expect this bow and be on the lookout42 and ready to return it; but to learn to lead off and make the initial bow one’s self is a difficult matter for a diffident man. One thinks, “If I rise to go, and tender my bow, and these ladies and gentlemen take it into their heads to ignore the custom of their nation, and not return it, how shall I feel, in case I survive to feel anything.” Therefore he is afraid to venture. He sits out the dinner, and makes the strangers rise first and originate the bowing. A table d’h?te dinner is a tedious affair for a man who seldom touches anything after the three first courses; therefore I used to do some pretty dreary43 waiting because of my fears. It took me months to assure myself that those fears were groundless, but I did assure myself at last by experimenting diligently through my agent. I made Harris get up and bow and leave; invariably his bow was returned, then I got up and bowed myself and retired44.
Thus my education proceeded easily and comfortably for me, but not for Harris. Three courses of a table d’h?te dinner were enough for me, but Harris preferred thirteen.
Even after I had acquired full confidence, and no longer needed the agent’s help, I sometimes encountered difficulties. Once at Baden-Baden I nearly lost a train because I could not be sure that three young ladies opposite me at table were Germans, since I had not heard them speak; they might be American, they might be English, it was not safe to venture a bow; but just as I had got that far with my thought, one of them began a German remark, to my great relief and gratitude45; and before she got out her third word, our bows had been delivered and graciously returned, and we were off.
There is a friendly something about the German character which is very winning. When Harris and I were making a pedestrian tour through the Black Forest, we stopped at a little country inn for dinner one day; two young ladies and a young gentleman entered and sat down opposite us. They were pedestrians46, too. Our knapsacks were strapped47 upon our backs, but they had a sturdy youth along to carry theirs for them. All parties were hungry, so there was no talking. By and by the usual bows were exchanged, and we separated.
As we sat at a late breakfast in the hotel at Allerheiligen, next morning, these young people entered and took places near us without observing us; but presently they saw us and at once bowed and smiled; not ceremoniously, but with the gratified look of people who have found acquaintances where they were expecting strangers. Then they spoke of the weather and the roads. We also spoke of the weather and the roads. Next, they said they had had an enjoyable walk, notwithstanding the weather. We said that that had been our case, too. Then they said they had walked thirty English miles the day before, and asked how many we had walked. I could not lie, so I told Harris to do it. Harris told them we had made thirty English miles, too. That was true; we had “made” them, though we had had a little assistance here and there.
After breakfast they found us trying to blast some information out of the dumb hotel clerk about routes, and observing that we were not succeeding pretty well, they went and got their maps and things, and pointed48 out and explained our course so clearly that even a New York detective could have followed it. And when we started they spoke out a hearty49 good-by and wished us a pleasant journey. Perhaps they were more generous with us than they might have been with native wayfarers50 because we were a forlorn lot and in a strange land; I don’t know; I only know it was lovely to be treated so.
Very well, I took an American young lady to one of the fine balls in Baden-Baden, one night, and at the entrance-door upstairs we were halted by an official—something about Miss Jones’s dress was not according to rule; I don’t remember what it was, now; something was wanting—her back hair, or a shawl, or a fan, or a shovel51, or something. The official was ever so polite, and ever so sorry, but the rule was strict, and he could not let us in. It was very embarrassing, for many eyes were on us. But now a richly dressed girl stepped out of the ballroom52, inquired into the trouble, and said she could fix it in a moment. She took Miss Jones to the robing-room, and soon brought her back in regulation trim, and then we entered the ballroom with this benefactress unchallenged.
Being safe, now, I began to puzzle through my sincere but ungrammatical thanks, when there was a sudden mutual53 recognition—the benefactress and I had met at Allerheiligen. Two weeks had not altered her good face, and plainly her heart was in the right place yet, but there was such a difference between these clothes and the clothes I had seen her in before, when she was walking thirty miles a day in the Black Forest, that it was quite natural that I had failed to recognize her sooner. I had on my other suit, too, but my German would betray me to a person who had heard it once, anyway. She brought her brother and sister, and they made our way smooth for that evening.
Well—months afterward54, I was driving through the streets of Munich in a cab with a German lady, one day, when she said:
“There, that is Prince Ludwig and his wife, walking along there.”
Everybody was bowing to them—cabmen, little children, and everybody else—and they were returning all the bows and overlooking nobody, when a young lady met them and made a deep courtesy.
“That is probably one of the ladies of the court,” said my German friend.
I said:
“She is an honor to it, then. I know her. I don’t know her name, but I know her. I have known her at Allerheiligen and Baden-Baden. She ought to be an Empress, but she may be only a Duchess; it is the way things go in this way.”
If one asks a German a civil question, he will be quite sure to get a civil answer. If you stop a German in the street and ask him to direct you to a certain place, he shows no sign of feeling offended. If the place be difficult to find, ten to one the man will drop his own matters and go with you and show you.
In London, too, many a time, strangers have walked several blocks with me to show me my way.
There is something very real about this sort of politeness. Quite often, in Germany, shopkeepers who could not furnish me the article I wanted have sent one of their employees with me to show me a place where it could be had.
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1
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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fragrance
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| n.芬芳，香味，香气 | |
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populous
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| adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的 | |
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4
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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sociable
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| adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的 | |
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6
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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7
fawn
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| n.未满周岁的小鹿；v.巴结，奉承 | |
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8
crumbs
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| int. (表示惊讶)哎呀 n. 碎屑 名词crumb的复数形式 | |
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9
raven
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| n.渡鸟，乌鸦；adj.乌亮的 | |
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10
hopped
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| 跳上[下]( hop的过去式和过去分词 )； 单足蹦跳； 齐足（或双足）跳行； 摘葎草花 | |
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11
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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12
morbidly
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| adv.病态地 | |
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13
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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14
picturesque
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| adj.美丽如画的，（语言）生动的，绘声绘色的 | |
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15
relics
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| [pl.］n.遗物，遗迹，遗产；遗体，尸骸 | |
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16
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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17
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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wrench
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| v.猛拧；挣脱；使扭伤；n.扳手；痛苦，难受 | |
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19
grassy
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| adj.盖满草的；长满草的 | |
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ridge
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| n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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23
alleys
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| 胡同，小巷( alley的名词复数 )； 小径 | |
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24
tenements
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| n.房屋，住户，租房子( tenement的名词复数 ) | |
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25
deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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26
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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glib
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| adj.圆滑的，油嘴滑舌的 | |
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mariner
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| n.水手号不载人航天探测器，海员，航海者 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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intentional
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| adj.故意的，有意（识）的 | |
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32
philologist
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| n.语言学者，文献学者 | |
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33
transpired
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| （事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生 | |
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34
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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enchanting
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| a.讨人喜欢的 | |
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swapping
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| 交换，交换技术 | |
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diligently
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| ad.industriously;carefully | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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40
courteously
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| adv.有礼貌地，亲切地 | |
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41
embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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42
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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43
dreary
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| adj.令人沮丧的，沉闷的，单调乏味的 | |
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44
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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45
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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46
pedestrians
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| n.步行者( pedestrian的名词复数 ) | |
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47
strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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48
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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49
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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50
wayfarers
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| n.旅人，（尤指）徒步旅行者( wayfarer的名词复数 ) | |
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51
shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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52
ballroom
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| n.舞厅 | |
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53
mutual
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| adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的 | |
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54
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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