The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1865-12-07
kANNlTN RSTAN

EER. WAS onCS aa honest German
who wanted - see little of the North
ern world. aud 80 icft ms little Village
OF Tottlingen. aud set cut on loot ioi
Amsterdam. the great and rich capital 81
Holland. lie knew not word of Dutch,
and quite forgot that people 10 not speak
German, but quite different language
When he arrived at Ans er,lam he wan
dered through the tne streets in amaze
ment at the rare sights lie had never
seen such s,lendil things before. and
now he could not enjoy them enough.
At last his eve fell upon one house finer
than any other. \ long time he stood
before it, and looked At the beautiful flow
ers in the windows, and the rich curtains,
and the costly marble pieces and the great
pictures that he could see within The
very windows were larger than the front
door Of his little house In Tottljnecu
Al last he could not help stopping i
gentlemen who was going hy, ana saying
To him in honest German, My good
friend, can you tell me what the name Of
the gentleman is who owns this great
house opposite :" The man whom hc
accosted was probably thinking oil ,onlc
very important matter. and - be turncd
off poor Hans with the simple answer.
kannitycrstan, which in English j.
the same as the words, "tan not undet
stsrd, kan being can, ~ being not, and
cerstals being understand The good
German, however, did uot know TINT the
man answered any thing hai the name Of
the rich man, but stood ana stared at the
house. and thought what happy man
Mr. kannitverstau must hc II lt>c ia
such a magnificent mansion and to have
everything that heart could wish.
Ry and law Hans wandered pn fill h,1
got To the great docks Of Amsterdam.
He was amazed ;,t the size ct The great
ships, and at the number of the ula,ts,
and wondered how his eve would fight
its way through, and come - the cud of
the forest of them \ while atlct hc
spied one ship larger tiIan the rest, and
began to watch the sailor, ~ they TN
loaded it 1t had just come in from the
East Indies, and was tull OF all manner
of costly goods The men brought ont
the bags of rice, and camphor, and sugar,
and coffee, and pepper, and placed them
on the shore '.th thought Hans,
l wish | knew what i, the name of She
fortunate man who owns All these things
SO he turned to one of tho worhmeu.
But lie received for his answer n blunt
''Kannitv crstan." ., said iIane tp
himself. '.of course it must be he, and
no wonder that he can live in sucn
splendid house as that, | sec now where
it all comes from. SO the poor fellow
began to fall into a very gloomy fit and
to think how unequal things are in thi>
world how poor he WAS, and how rich
other people are, and to get very misera
bic indeed SO he walked away from tho
wharves, and kept thinking, his face
was long, aud his heart was heavy.
II at once hnvprar he's saw ug,v
sight, which called his thoughts away
from himself There came round the
corner a great funeral procession IL
plain that it must be some very rich
man, for the number of the horses, and
the fine clothing of the undcrta<ers, and
the rich carriages, and the great plumcs,
and the heavily draped hearsc, assured
lin that it must be SO. He stopped
with his hat in his hand, and felt pit, a.
every good man should do for those who
had been left behind When the long
procession was just closing Hans ven
turcd to ask gentleman who was walk
ing behind whose funeral it was, and who
although with the mourners, was .iast
then buslv engaged in reckoning up how
much he should gain that day on his cot
ton, it having risen ten gilders bale
So, without paving much attention 10 the
question of the honest German. lie Just
answered. "kannitverstan %. dear
dear thought Hans. "tben poor Mr.
kannitvcrstan Is dead For all his
riches, for all his great house aud great
ship, he has 10 die just as ! shall have
to some time Poor man, there he lies,
and all his money can only buy him a
shroud and bunch o. ro5emaries 10 lay
on his breast | am sure ] can envy
him" The poor fellow found his way
back to the tavern, sat down 10 good
slice of black bread and Linburg cheese,
and ever after when he was tempted TO
wish he was richer than he was, lie thought
Of poor Mr.. kannityerstan away ia
Amsterdam - -Congreqofioudiist.
- 4Ia