The independent. [volume] (Oskaloosa, Kan.) 1860-1874, 1865-12-23
,,KANNITVERSTAN.

the Northern world, and so left the
little village Of Tottlingen, aud sci
out on foot for Amsterdam, the great
and rich capital of Holland. He
knew not a word of Dutch, and
quite forgot that the people do moi
speak German, but quite u d'fferen,
language. When he arrived at Am
sterdam he wandered through the
fine streets in amazement at the rare
sights: He had never seen such
splendid things before, and now he
could not enjoy them enough. Al
last his eye fell upon one house fin.
er than any other. A long time he
stood before it, and looked at the
beautiful flowers in the windows,
and the rich curtains, and the cost
" marble pieces. and the great pic
lures that he could see within. The
very windows were larger than the
front door of his little house in Tott-
ingen.
At last he could not help stopping
a gentleman who was going by, and
saying to him in honest German,
NV good friend, can you tell me
what the name of the gentleman is
who owns this great house opposite1'
The man whom he accosted was
probably thinking Of some very inn
portant matter, and so he turned
off poor Hans with the simple an
swer, sKannitverstan,' which in En-
glish is the same as the words, 'can
not unstani,' KAN being can, NIT be-
ing not, and vERsrAN being under
stand. The good German, however,
did not know that the man answered
anything but the name Of The rich
man, but stood and stared at the
house, and thought what a happy
man Mr.. Kannitverstan must be to
live in such a magnificent mansion,
and have every thing that heart
could wish.
By and by Hans wandered on till
he got to the great docks Of Amster-
dam. He was amazed at the size Of
the great ships, aud at the number
of the masts, and wondered how his
eye would fight its way through
and come to the end of the forest of
them. A while after he spied one
ship larger than the rest, and began
to watch the sailors as they unloaded
it. 1t had just come in from the
East Indies, and was full Of all manner
of costly goods. The men brought
out the bags of rice, and canphor,
and sugar, and coffee, and pepper,
and placed them on the shore
ABR thought Hans. 4 wish ] knew
what is the name Of the fortunate
man who owns all these things!-|
So he turned to one Ct the workmen.
But he received for his answer a
blunt 'Kannitverstan.' co. said
Hans to himself, 'of course it must
be he, and no wonder that he can
live in such splendid house as that,
see now where it all come from
So the poor fellow began to fall into
a very gloomy fit, and 10 think how
uneqal things are in this world; how
poor he was, and how rich other
people are, and to get very miserable
indeed. So he walked away from,
the wharves, and kept thinking; his
ace was long; and his heart heavy.
All at once. however, he saw a
new sight. which called his thoughts
away from himself. There came
round the corner great funeral pro-
session. 1t was plain that it must
10 some very rich man, for the num-
,er Of the horses, and the fine CLOTH
ng of the undertakes, and the rich
:arriages, and the great plumes, and
he heavily draped hearse. assured
lin that il must be so. He stopped
With his hat in his hand, and felt pi-
y as every good man should do for
hose who had been left beh nd.-
ians ventured to ask a man who
vas walking behind, whose funeral
was. and who, although with the /
,ourn-rs. was just then busily en-
aged in reckoning how much he ,
,ould z in "n his cotton So, with
4 p,yia much attention TO the
,,estion Of the German. he answer
/. .Kanuitverstan.' -, DEAR tho'l 9
ans. then poor Mr.. Kannitverstan
dad! f.,r all his riches, he has
i'd TO die, just as shall have to 9
me time. Poor man, there he lies, :
ID all his money can only buy him :
xhroud and bunch Of rosemaries
Law on his breastl | am sure
nj envy him. tle found his way
,ck 10 the tavern, and sat down to a T.,
re az bread and cheese, and ever
ter when he was tempted to wish N
was richer than he was, he tho't
poor Mr.. Kannitverstan away in =,
.ssaerdam.-C onareaatiQnalist. St.