Omaha daily bee., 1874-07-15
HOW | GOT A WIFE.
PROM THE LOW GERMAN Oh FIR.
REUTER-.
Translated for the BEE by L. W.

olu " vi hlS
about the world hither and thither;
often 1 had rested my head on q
soft downy pillow, often on a bunch
of straw; but as ! grew older the
straw did not feel as soft as when
was twenty, and it does not follow
that one must refuse a nice roast
goose in age for having had a crav-
ing for red carrots in youth. People
said: acct married" l SAID
ssTliink about it," and sneaked
around the holy state of matrimony
much as the fox does around the
chicken-coop, saying, "fes, l
should not mind 1t At all TO nave
one; nor does it seem difficult to
get in, but when once there will
YOU be able to get out again." But
there again there was the everiast-
ing roast pork and mutton at the
tavern, and l thought Of my room,
which locke like mother earth be-
fore the first day of creation, and
then there was that one COMPOUNDED
button, that persisted in tearing Oh,
and at last | said, "Get married."
and people said, "Think about it"
Thus placed between the tree and
the bark the "anxious" years were
commencing to sprinkle silvery
on my head, and N evening L
find myself standing by my stove,
pips a burning, and looking out into
the weather.
Softly and silently the snow is
falling; all is quiet; not a wheel is
heard outside ; only the distant
jingling Of merry sleigh-bells reaches
the ear; / feel lonely, and it is holy
Christmas Eve besides. While
thus standing and vaguely staring
through the panes, my cobbler, Herr
Linseuer, who lives opposite, pulls
up t. his door with a sled, covered
with dry sticks and branches that
he had gathered in the town-woods,
and on top of the load he has a
Christmas tree.
"Look at the rascal ;" says l,
s.here l am waiting for him to mend
my other pair of boots, and instead
he goes q wooing. Corns he has al
ready put on my toes through his
internal misfits. Nay, the fellow
shan't work for me any more"
Thus | stand for a while and a
chill crawls through my bones and
creeps down my back, and l say to
myself, "Of course, says /, a cold, a
regular cold, else why not? My
boots are in two, and the yarn which
/ gave to Frau Buto gn, she used to
darn her own stockings, and mine
have no bottom. Everything is
natural in life." Thus | keep on
until it becomes dark and l want to
light up; butt can't find the matches
and when / have found them the
lamps wouldn't burn. Frau Bu-
town has not cleaned it, and
when, after long trying, 1 have
it agoing, then out it goes
again ; Fran Butown has forgotten
to provide the oil. Under such cir
cumstances, it's convenient to have
somebody handy, whom you can
give a good scolding to; but [ have
no II and stood again at my win
dow, The cobblers place across the
way was all lit up, and in his room
they were having a gay time but
/ could not see anything, the CUR
tains being drawn. "Look at the
cobbler," says L; "If he has not
really got curtains" i had no cur
tains; Frau Butown had no CON-
prehension for curtains. Once she
had made an attempt at curtains,
but they had looked as Il there was
nothing above and nothing below,
and 1 had pulled them down, when
my neighbors had enquiredif l We're
drying ohildren's clothes at my
windows. OF course i got put out
with that cobbler. That fellow does
not wear my boots and lives like a
count, and / am sitting here in the
dark, alone and without curtains.
Wait, I'll give you a damper,'' and
get up and walk across.
Coming into the shoemaker's
room there is q Christmas-tree
standing in the centre and the
lights on it are burning, and shoe
makers, "Korling" and "Krishkan-
ing,"* had a fife and a trumpet,
and made the music, and the shout
ing and following was attended to
by little Maria, who is desperately
trying to reach for the bright lights
with her little hands, and makes
much ado with her little pet on her
mothers lap, for she is not yet
walking. The cobbler's wife has
put aside her spinning-wheel and
has tied on O clean apron and put
on her Sunday gown and her Sun
day face, and laughs at all the little
brats and wipes little Maria's little
mouth, when t.at little one gets
alongside instead of inside of 1t with
her ginger-cake. Father himselfhas
spread a cloth over his working
table and put on his slippers, and
now sits with his long pipe, enjoy
ing his glass Of beer.
Well, you know it was impossible
to come in here a scolding, so L
only said: Good evening, and l
had only come to find out what this
merry time was about. So they
showed me all their treasures, the
ginger-cakes, and the apples, and
the wreaths of colored beans, andthe
seven figures Of cake, dough, and
the one of candy, and a doll hang
ing at the top of the tree. Brittle
ware" says the cObbler, "three
years we have saved them now, ex-
cepting this tail of the hussar's
horse, which Kris having once bit
off when mother did not look"
eyes, it Is you 1 mean," he added,
threatening the boy good-naturedly
with his finger.
Guess I'll not take my work
away from him after all, says 1 to
myself, and Alt quite peaceful,
though / had a fearful headache.
But when Linseuer commenced to
show me their table pieces
Adam and Eve before the fall,
nicely done i'm cake, done and orna-
mented and painted with egg and
colored sugar, and when the two
smaller Lnseuers planted them
at my right and left and
commenced to fife and to trumpet,
then 1 commenced to feel as if old
wheel-right Lanklas was try
ing to bore into my head with
his big blunt augur, piano forte
piano forte), and was asking
me all the time if that was not agree
able. l suppose the eobbler noticed
IL At I felt i'll, for, when l had re-