登陆注册
4708400000026

第26章

We Dine.--A Curious Dish.--"A Feeling of Sadness Comes O'er Me."--The German Cigar.--The Handsomest Match in Europe.--"How Easy 'tis for Friends to Drift Apart," especially in a place like Munich Railway Station.--The Victim of Fate.--A Faithful Bradshaw.--Among the Mountains.--Prince and Pauper.--A Modern Romance.--Arrival at Oberau.--Wise and Foolish Pilgrims.--An Interesting Drive.--Ettal and its Monastery.--We Reach the Goal of our Pilgrimage.

At one o'clock we turned into a restaurant for dinner. The Germans themselves always dine in the middle of the day, and a very substantial meal they make of it. At the hotels frequented by tourists table d'hote is, during the season, fixed for about six or seven, but this is only done to meet the views of foreign customers.

I mention that we had dinner, not because I think that the information will prove exciting to the reader, but because I wish to warn my countrymen, travelling in Germany, against undue indulgence in Liptauer cheese.

I am fond of cheese, and of trying new varieties of cheese; so that when I looked down the cheese department of the bill of fare, and came across "liptauer garnit," an article of diet I had never before heard of, I determined to sample it.

It was not a tempting-looking cheese. It was an unhealthy, sad-looking cheese. It looked like a cheese that had seen trouble. In appearance it resembled putty more than anything else. It even tasted like putty--at least, like I should imagine putty would taste. To this hour I am not positive that it was not putty. The garnishing was even more remarkable than the cheese. All the way round the plate were piled articles that I had never before seen at a dinner, and that I do not ever want to see there again. There was a little heap of split-peas, three or four remarkably small potatoes--at least, I suppose they were potatoes; if not, they were pea-nuts boiled soft,--some caraway-seeds, a very young-looking fish, apparently of the stickleback breed, and some red paint. It was quite a little dinner all to itself.

What the red paint was for, I could not understand. B. thought that it was put there for suicidal purposes. His idea was that the customer, after eating all the other things in the plate, would wish he were dead, and that the restaurant people, knowing this, had thoughtfully provided him with red paint for one, so that he could poison himself off and get out of his misery.

I thought, after swallowing the first mouthful, that I would not eat any more of this cheese. Then it occurred to me that it was a pity to waste it after having ordered it, and, besides, I might get to like it before I had finished. The taste for most of the good things of this world has to be acquired. I can remember the time when I did not like beer.

So I mixed up everything on the plate all together--made a sort of salad of it, in fact--and ate it with a spoon. A more disagreeable dish I have never tasted since the days when I used to do Willie Evans's "dags," by walking twice through a sewer, and was subsequently, on returning home, promptly put to bed, and made to eat brimstone and treacle.

I felt very sad after dinner. All the things I have done in my life that I should not have done recurred to me with painful vividness.

(There seemed to be a goodish number of them, too.) I thought of all the disappointments and reverses I had experienced during my career; of all the injustice that I had suffered, and of all the unkind things that had been said and done to me. I thought of all the people I had known who were now dead, and whom I should never see again, of all the girls that I had loved, who were now married to other fellows, while I did not even know their present addresses.

I pondered upon our earthly existence, upon how hollow, false, and transient it is, and how full of sorrow. I mused upon the wickedness of the world and of everybody in it, and the general cussedness of all things.

I thought how foolish it was for B. and myself to be wasting our time, gadding about Europe in this silly way. What earthly enjoyment was there in travelling--being jolted about in stuffy trains, and overcharged at uncomfortable hotels?

B. was cheerful and frivolously inclined at the beginning of our walk (we were strolling down the Maximilian Strasse, after dinner); but as I talked to him, I was glad to notice that he gradually grew more serious and subdued. He is not really bad, you know, only thoughtless.

B. bought some cigars and offered me one. I did not want to smoke.

Smoking seemed to me, just then, a foolish waste of time and money.

As I said to B.: "In a few more years, perhaps before this very month is gone, we shall be lying in the silent tomb, with the worms feeding on us. Of what advantage will it be to us then that we smoked these cigars to-day?"

B. said: "Well, the advantage it will be to me now is, that if you have a cigar in your mouth I shan't get quite so much of your chatty conversation. Take one, for my sake."

To humour him, I lit up.

I do not admire the German cigar. B. says that when you consider they only cost a penny, you cannot grumble. But what I say is, that when you consider they are dear at six a half-penny, you can grumble. Well boiled, they might serve for greens; but as smoking material they are not worth the match with which you light them, especially not if the match be a German one. The German match is quite a high art work. It has a yellow head and a magenta or green stem, and can certainly lay claim to being the handsomest match in Europe.

We smoked a good many penny cigars during our stay in Germany, and that we were none the worse for doing so I consider as proof of our splendid physique and constitution. I think the German cigar test might, with reason, be adopted by life insurance offices.--Question:

"Are you at present, and have you always been, of robust health?"

Answer: "I have smoked a German cigar, and still live." Life accepted.

同类推荐
  • 辽诗话

    辽诗话

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 香宋词

    香宋词

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 大乘止观法门

    大乘止观法门

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 三国史记

    三国史记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 玉皇心印妙经注

    玉皇心印妙经注

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 细作毒妃

    细作毒妃

    秦钰锒,身为一国太子却被人陷害,跌下悬崖而不死,为龙吟所救,两人日渐生情,终因种种因缘而分开。岂料,龙吟以参选皇子妃的身份混入沐秦国,目的只是想暗杀太子,却误打误撞成了他的女人。秦钰锒与龙吟再次见面,因彼此的误会闹出一系列揪心之事。她辅佐夫君一路向前,终开辟出人生大赢局面。
  • 元宵节

    元宵节

    《元宵节》每年农历的正序十五,春节刚过,迎来的就是中国的传统节日一元宵节。正月是农历的元月,古人称夜为“宵”,而十五日又是一年中筘一个月圆之夜,所以这一天被称为元宵节。元宵节早在两千多年前的西汉就存在了,是中国的传统节日,同时也是家家户户企盼团圆的重要节日。按中国民间的传统,在这皓月高悬的夜晚,人们除了要点起彩灯万盏。燃灯放焰,喜猜灯谜,还要全家团聚,若吃元宵,同庆佳节,共享其乐融融。
  • 九阳医仙2

    九阳医仙2

    行走在花花世界,环绕在众生之中。他是天生纯阳之体,拥有透视异能。救死扶伤是他的天职,坑蒙拐骗是他生活的调剂。在敌人眼中,他狡猾,阴险,是个十足的卑鄙小人;在世人眼中,他仁义,善良,是个心怀天下的神医;在女人眼中,他帅气,阳光,是个伟大的英雄。
  • 燕家有恶女

    燕家有恶女

    兄台,听说过燕家堡吗,没听过燕家堡你还算江湖中人?什么,你不混江湖?那你总见过的燕形标记的茶馆、酒楼、当铺,听过燕家小姐的传闻。燕家小姐,出生克死了娘亲,满月就送到了尼姑庵。十二岁第一次回家,逼死了继母,逼疯了幼弟,逼走了父亲。十七岁嫁给指腹为婚的飞鱼山庄少庄主,才三天就红杏出墙被休回家。从此,纵横商场,游戏江湖,抢得美少年无数,连当今皇上最宠的七皇子都躲不过。若是你连这些惊世骇俗的事儿都没听过,真是白做了几年人,问问别人,谁不知道燕家有恶女。。晚上更,一周断更一天。。场景一:她斜睨父亲的盛怒,抱紧怀里吓得失神的少年,“你真不认弟弟当儿子了?”“住口。这贱种不是我的儿子。”“你不要我要。以后,他就是我的夫君了。”“你可知道夫君是什么?”燕傲天问那个在尼姑庵里住了十二年的女儿。“不就是要一辈子在一起,全心全意爱他宠他对他好。”她坦然说。…“好,罢了,”看到她沉静的眸子,燕傲天觉得自己老了,“以后你就留在家里继承家业吧。你的名字,就叫燕惊鸿。”“惊鸿?”她邪气一笑,“父亲大人,你的名字取晚了。我自取了名字,叫笑悠。我先是燕笑悠,再是你的女儿燕惊鸿!”。。场景二:“你就是我要嫁的夫君于修朗吗?娶我可不代表娶了燕家堡。”“好。”他微笑,眸中印着她的容颜。…“修朗,你等我一年,北方的生意出了一点问题。”“好。”他仍是微笑,淡淡地,掩着些许寂寞。…“修,你再等我一年,南方水患,有许多商铺受损。”“好。”他淡淡微笑,忍下心中的不舍。…一年复一年,她十七岁,在外地查帐时,听说他纳妾的消息。于是,一身嫁衣到了飞鱼山庄门口,三日夫妻换得一纸休书。“于修朗,你是我第一个男人,也是我唯一能容忍跟别人分享的男人。从此,你管你的飞鱼山庄,我管我的燕家堡。我们只言商,不言情。”。。场景三:“我知道燕家堡是朝廷控制江湖的工具,父亲让我继承燕家堡自然让我继承所谓的职责。”她低笑,不掩饰眼中的算计。“不过,这是我家祖宗定下的狗屁誓言,跟我有什么关系。你要我做的,只要有利可图,我当然会做。你想扶持谁,我会帮忙稳固他的势力,你需要钱财赈灾,我就是抢也会给你,你要掌握邻国的动静,我连皇帝床上的话都能一字不漏的传给你。我要的是通商的自由和便利,还有,别打你家小七的主意,我定下他了,绝不让他去当什么皇帝。”皇帝震惊,指着她说不出话来。。
  • 盛世暖婚:娇妻甜甜爱

    盛世暖婚:娇妻甜甜爱

    新书已发《隐婚娇妻:帝少宠翻天》(本文1v1)初见时,她在酒店服药后的事情就被他抓个正着,他们订婚后,各种床咚臂咚地咚花式不断,黑暗中,白末臣扯掉领结一脸邪魅的朝她走来,他把她逼到墙角。等等……苏浅扶着腰说,“白先生,我记得没错我们还没有扯证。”白末臣,“只要浅浅想要,我们现在就去民政局。”PS:本文是一篇腹黑大总裁的暖心追妻之路,这么难追的小妻子怎么会舍得虐呢,全篇宠宠宠。咳咳,强烈推荐我的另一本书《军婚撩人:墨少,宠妻入骨》喜欢军婚甜宠的妹子不要错过哦~~~
  • 行星奇境

    行星奇境

    温鲍姆第一篇小说《火星历险》发表在《奇异故事》1934年7月号上。这个故事讲述一个宇航员在火星表面的旅程,陪同他的是畏首畏尾的火星人忒尔。这部小说的文笔优美、风趣幽默。而且火星上的外星人就是真的外星人,忒尔就是一位真正的可信的非人类角色。温鲍姆被称赞为第一位写出有文学性、聪明的科幻小说的科幻作家。接下来两年,温鲍姆的故事源源不断地从他在密尔沃基家中的打字机上产出,登上《奇异故事》和《惊异故事》的版面,然后戛然而止。
  • 嫡女令

    嫡女令

    【前世】云知为他人而活:放弃理想振兴家业,继承家业的人却是哥哥。哥哥要做心脏移植,上手术台的人有她自己。【今生】云知为自己而活:关于家业,只喜欢种花种草,学宫里避世。关于爱情,只愿万花丛中过,片叶不沾身。【结果】有句话叫:你若盛开蝶自来原来种花种草,进学宫深造,也是振兴家业的一种方式。万花丛中过可以片叶不沾身,却不可避免沾染一身花香,引来狂蜂浪蝶无数。—————————————————————————————————————商业天才云知重生在人均寿命三百岁的古泽大陆,还是十大世族中云族的少主。其他家族就算不是八九代同堂,也算得上是子孙兴盛,独云族只有她一根苗苗?进入学宫深造历,通过重重考核,经过种种考验,终于成功接管家业,逐步解锁谜团,揭开家族人丁衰亡之谜。本文一对一,以闺蜜不反水,亲友给力,炮灰必亡,男一必高冷,男二必暖心,反派必妖孽为原则,走温馨暖文路线。喜之入坑,恶之慎入、绕道、远离。
  • 一爱很多年

    一爱很多年

    她深爱了多年的丈夫带着小三登堂入室,甚至用尽了手段逼她离婚。小三的挑衅,丈夫的不解,孩子胎死腹中……爱,究竟是什么?难道爱就要注定体无完肤?“宫少卿,这一世我已经不想再爱了。”“可是我还没爱够,你这辈子注定是我的宫夫人……”
  • 野外环境中的生存之道

    野外环境中的生存之道

    本书内容包括:野外生存概述、准备篇、技巧篇、求生篇、认知篇、野生动植物保护法律法规简介等。
  • 天下贰之群英会

    天下贰之群英会

    太古时代,天地混沌,没有天地,日月,山河,生灵。万物还未成形,整个虚无一片。信仰众神的人们根据自己不同的资质和悟性。投入到了不同的门派。不同的人踏上了不同的修真之路......各部族势力纷起,纷争不休,皆想成为大荒人间界统治者。以旌雨楼为首的势力在群雄之中突颖而出。在旌雨楼首领流云焯玛的带领下,力挽狂澜、横扫六合为平定大荒创下了不朽的传奇......我们的时代,自此而始。