The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1876-02-10
Something -
ONE OF HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERsEN's
STORIES.

eldest OF five brothers. ~ want to d.
something in the world. 1 don't carr
how humble my position may be n
society, IL only effect some good, 10
that will really be something. III
make bricks, for they are quite indis
pensable things, and then shall truly
have done something"
'But that something will not b.
enough !" quoth the second brother
"What you intend doing is just a!
much as nothing at all. 1t is journey
mems work, and can be done by 6
machine. No, / would rather be s
bricklayer, at once, for that is some
thing real, and that's what 1 will be
That brings rank /; as q bIicklayer
one belongs to a guild, and is a citi-
zen, and has ones own flag and one:
own house of call. Yes, and il it al
goes well, / will keep journeymen.
shall become q master bricklayer, and
my wife shall become masters
wife-that is what 1 call something
"That's nothing at all % said the
third. "That is beyond the pale Oi
the guild, and there are many Of tnose
in q town that stand far above the
mere master artisan. You may be an
honest man (; but as q master yoT
will after all only Oelong to those who
are ranked among common men.
know something better than that.
will be an architect, and will thus en-
ter into the territory Of art and specu'
lation: / shall be reckoned among
those who stand high in point Of In
tellect. I shall certainly have tC
serve up from the pickaxe, so tC
speak; so 1 must begin as car.
penter's apprentice, and must &C
about as an assistant in q cab, though
1 am accustomed to wear silk hat
I shall have to fetch beer and spirits
for the common journeymen, and
they will call me thou for that is
insulting But I shall imagine to
myself that the whole thing is only
acting, and q kind of msJquerade
To-mOrrow-that is to say, when
have served nv time-I shall go my
own way, and the others will be moth
ing to me. I shall 60 to the academy
and get instructions in drawing, and
shall be called an architect. That:
something ! may get to be called
sir and even 'Worshipful sir Of
even get handle at the front or a.
the back of my name, and shall go or
building and building, just as those
before me have built. That viii
always be thing to remember, and
that is what call something %
"But I don't care at all for thai
something" said the fourth. 81
won't sail in the wake of others and
be q copyist. / will be genius AND
will stand up greater than all the res
of you together. shall be the crea
tor of new style, and will give the
plan of building suitable to the eli
mate and material Of the country, fol
the nationality of the people, for the
development of the age-and an ad
ditional story for my own genius"
"But supp0sing the climate and tht
material are bad" said the fifth
"that would be disastrous cireum
stance for these two exert q grea
influence Nationality, moreover
may expand itself until it becomes
affectation, and the development o
the century may run wild with you
work, as youth often runs wild.
quite realize the fact that none Of yoI
will be anything real however mucf
you may believe in yourselves. But
do what you like, I Will not resembl'
you; shall keep on the outside o
things, and criticise whatever vol
produce. To every work there is st
tached something that is not right
something that has gone wrong anC
1 will ferret that out and find faul
with it and that will be doing some
thing"
And he kept his word and every
body said corcerning this fifth broth
er, i'There is certainly something il
him he has 8 good head but b.
does nothing" And by that very
means they thought something o
him.
"Now you see this is only a lttl
story; but it will never end so loni
as the werld lasts. But what becam
OF the five brothers I? Why, this i
nothing and not something. Listen
it is a capital story.
The eldest brother, he who manu-
fgctured brick, soon became aware o
the fact that every brick, howeve
small it might be, produced for hin
: little coin, though this coin wa
only copper and many copper pen
nies laid one upon the other can b
changed into q shining dollar; wher
ever one knocks with such q dollar il
ones hand, whether at the bakers o
the butchers, or the tailor's-
wherever il may be, the door file
} open, aud the visitor is welcomed
: and gets what he wants. You Sc
that ia what comes Of brick. Some @
those belonging to the eldest brothe
certainly crumbled away, CT broke il
two, but there was 8 use even 70
these.
On the high rampant, the wall ths
kept out the sea, Margaret, a Zoo
woman, wished to build herself q lii
tie house. All the faulty bricks wer
given to her, and few perfect one
into the bargain, for the eldest broth
er was goOd-nstured man, thougl
he certainly did not achieve anythin
bsyond the manufacture OF bricks
The poor woman put together tn
house for herself. 1t was little an
!. narrow, and the single window wa
{ quite crooked. The door was too low
and the thstched roof might hav
shown better workmanship. BU
after all, il was q shelter and froI
the little house you could look ia
across, the sea, whose waves .brOk
vainly against the protecting rampal
on which it is built. The sslt billoW
spurted their spray over the who
house, which was still standing whe
he who had given the bricks for il
s erection had long been dead an
buried.
}. The second brother knew bettI
how to build wall, fer he had serve
an apprenticeship to it. When /
had served his time and passed b
examination, he packed his knapsac
: and sang the journeyman's song:
While am young III wander, from pla
Z TO place III roam,
4 And everywhere build houses, until con
: back home
= And you VIII give me courage, and my tr
/ love won't forget;
7. Hurrah then for workman's life IN be