Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1876-02-11
SOMETHING.

ONE OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN'S
STORIES.
81 WANT to be somethingp said the
eldest of five brothers. 81 want to do
something in the world. l don't care
how humble my position may be in So
ciety, if only effect some good, for that
will really be something. I'll make
bricks, for they are quite indispensable
things, and then l shall truly have done
something"
"But that something will not be
enoughp' quoth the second brother.
What you intend doing is just as much
as nothing at all. 1t is journeyman's
work and can be done by a machine. No,
would rather be a bficklayer, at once,
for that is something real and that's what
will be. That brings rank; as brick
layer, one belongs to a guild, and is a
citizen, and has ones own flag ana ones
own house of call. Yes, and if all goes
well, l will keep journeymen. shall
become master bricklayer, and my wife
shall become amaster's wife-thatis what
l call something"
That's nothing at all !" said the third.
"That is beyond the pale of the guild,
and there are many of those in a town
that stand far above the mere master arti-
san. You may be an honest man; but as
|
| to those who are ranked among common
men. know something better than that
| will be an architect. and will thus enter
into the territory of art and speculation.
| shall be Teckoned among those who
stand high in point of intellect. l shall
certainly have to serve up from the pick
ak, so to speak so | must begin as a car
penter's apprentice, and must go about as
an assistant, in cab, though am accus-
toned to wear silk hat. l shall have to
fetch beer and spirits for the common
journeymen, and they will call me thou
| and that is insulting! But shall imagine
to myself that the whole thing is only act
ing, and kind of masquerade. To-
morrow-that is to say, when / have
served my time-I shall go my own way,
and the others will be nothing TO me. l
shall go to the academy and get instruc-
architect. That's something! Imay get to
be called SIR and even wOrshiptul sir
or even get handle at the front or at the
back of my name, and shall go on build
ing and building, just as those before me
have built That will always DC thing
to remember, and that's what l call some
thing!"
{" But don't care at all for that some
thing" said the fourth. won't sail in
the wake of others, and be copyist. l
will be a genius, and stand up greater
than all the rest of you together. l shall
be the creator of a new style, and will
| give the plan of a building suitable 10
the climate and the material of the couu-
try, for the nationality of the people, for
the development of the age-and an addi-
tional story for my own genius"
:" But suppOsing the climate and the
| .sal haI q 4loA
would be disastrous circumstance; for
these two exert great influenced Ma
| tionality, moreover, may expand itself un-
| til it becomes affectation, and the devel-
opment of the century may run wild with
your work, as youth often runs wild. l
! quite realize the fact that none of you will
be anything real, however much you may
believe in yourselves. But, do what you
like, will not resemble you; ! shall
keep on the outside of things, and criti-
else whatever you produce. TO every
work there is attached something that
is not right-sOmething that has gone
wrong; and / will ferret that out and find
fault with it; and that will be doing some
thingm
And he kept his word; and everybody
said concerning this fifth brother, there
is certainly something in him; he has a
good head but he does nothing" And by
that very means they thought something
of himl
Now, you see this is only little story
but it will never end so long as the world
lasts. But what became of the five broth
ersg Why, this is nothing and not some
thing. Listen, it is capital story:
The eldest brother, he who manufac-
tured bricks, soon became aware of the
fact that every brick, however small ii
might be, produced for him little coin,
though this coin was only copper; and
many copper pennies laid one upon the
other can be changed into a shining dol
lar; and wherever one knocks with such
a dollar in ones hand, whether at. the
bakers, or the butchers, or the tailor's-
wherever it may be, the door flies open,
and the visitor is welcomed, and gets
! what he wants. You see that is what
comes OF bricks. Some OF those belong
ing TO the eldest brother certainly crum-
bled away, or broke in two, but there was
a use even for these.
On the high rampant, the wall that kept
out the sea, Margaret, poor woman,
wished to build herself little house. All
the faulty bricks were given to her, and a
few perfect ones into the bargain, for the
eldest brother was good-natured man,
though he certainly did not achieve any
thing beyond the manufacture OF bricks.
The poor woman put together the house
for herself Itwas little and narrow and
the single window was quite crooked.
The door was too low, and the matched
roof might have shown better workman
ship. But after all II was shelter; and
from the little house you could look TAI
across the sea, whose waves broke vainly
against the protecting rampant on which
. il was built. The salt pillows spurted
their spray over the whole house, which
was still standing when he who had giver