The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries - novelonlinefull.com
You’re read light novel The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries Volume Ix Part 82 online at NovelOnlineFull.com. Please use the follow button to get notification about the latest chapter next time when you visit NovelOnlineFull.com. Use F11 button to read novel in full-screen(PC only). Drop by anytime you want to read free – fast – latest novel. It’s great if you could leave a comment, share your opinion about the new chapters, new novel with others on the internet. We’ll do our best to bring you the finest, latest novel everyday. Enjoy
That is what I call a fine-looking bride!
WILKENS.
And she is not a beggar's child either, Sir.
MoLLER (_politely_).
Who does not know that Mr. Wilkens is her mother's uncle?
WILKENS (_flattered_).
Well, well!
MoLLER.
And Mr. Wilkens need not be ashamed, I believe, of the firm of Stein and Son.
WILKENS (_calmly_).
By no means.
MoLLER (_with great enthusiasm_).
Sir! The firm of Stein and Son! I have served the firm twenty years.
That is my honor and my pride. For me the firm is wife and child!
WILKENS.
I do not doubt it.
MoLLER.
The foremost houses of Germany would consider it an honor to ally themselves in marriage with Stein and Son.
WILKENS. I am sure of it.
[_Turns to the bridal couple_.]
MoLLER (_angrily to himself_).
And that fellow parades his peasant's pride, as if Stein and Son ought to esteem it a high honor to ally themselves with that forester's goose.
His forty-five will be divided into three parts, and only after his death. The only daughter of Lohlein & Co. with her eighty! That were quite a different capital for our business; and cash down today! This mesalliance is unpardonable. But what can one do? One must [_A waltz is heard without_] dance off one's vexation. May I have the honor, madam [_to_ SOPHY] on the lawn?
[_Bows with an old bachelor's jauntiness_.]
STEIN.
I wonder whether I'll get decent cards!
SOPHY.
I guess we'll have time for that?
WILKENS.
Old Wilkens is not yet going to sit in a corner.
[_Fumbles in his pocket_.]
Wilkens must also contribute his dollar for the benefit of the musicians. I hope I have your permission, Mr. Bridegroom?
[MoLLER _leads out_ SOPHY; WILKENS _leads_ MARY; ROBERT _follows_.]
SCENE VI
STEIN; _the_ FORESTER.
STEIN (_throwing down his cards_).
Have I a single trump?
FORESTER (_calling_).
Twenty in spades.
STEIN (_taking up his cards again; impatiently_).
Why not forty? Talking about spades reminds me--have you considered that matter about the clearing?
FORESTER. That fellow is a--
[_They continue to play_.]
STEIN.
What fellow?
FORESTER.
The fellow who hatched that scheme.
STEIN.
Do you mean me?
FORESTER.
