Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/14

8. The day before yesterday we were joined by a young fellow who was most disagreeable to me and Ferdinand. His weak points were so prominent, his emptiness so manifest, and the care he bestowed on his outward appearance so obvious, that we looked down upon him as far inferior to ourselves; and yet he was everywhere received better than we. Among other of his follies he wore a waistcoat of red satin, which round the neck was so cut as to look like the ribbon of some order or other. We could not refrain from joking about this piece of absurdity. But he let them all pass; for he drew a good profit from it, and perhaps secretly laughed at us. For host and hostess, coachman, waiter, and chambermaid, and, indeed, not a few of our fellow travellers, were taken in by this seeming ornament, and showed greater politeness to him than to us. Not only was he always first waited upon, but, to our great humiliation, we saw that all the pretty girls in the inns bestowed all their stolen glances upon him. And then, when it came to the reckoning, which his eminence and distinction had enhanced, we had to pay our full shares. Who, then, was the fool in the game? Assuredly not he.

There is something pretty and instructive about the symbols and maxims which one here sees on all the stoves. Here you have the drawing of one of these symbols which particularly caught my fancy. A horse, tethered by his hind foot to a stake, is grazing round it as far as his tether will permit: beneath is written, "Allow me to take my allotted portion of food." This, too, will be the case with me when I come home, and, like the horse in the mill, shall have to work away at your pleasure, and in return, like the horse here on the stove, shall receive a nicely measured dole for my support. Yes, I am coming back; and what awaits me was certainly well worth all the trouble of