Page:The Works of J. W. von Goethe, Volume 12.djvu/142

132 the twenty-four hours, but in such a way that it strikes one when it strikes eight with us, and so on till the number twelve is complete. At eight o'clock in the morning, according to our clock, it again strikes one, and so on. Finally, the outer circle shows how the four and twenty hours are reckoned in actual life. For example, I hear seven o'clock striking in the night, and know that midnight is at five o'clock: I therefore deduct the latter number from the former, and thus have two hours after midnight. If I hear seven o'clock strike in the daytime, and know that noon is at five, I proceed in the same way, and thus have two in the afternoon. But, if I wish to express the hour according to the fashion of this country, I must know that noon is seventeen o'clock: I add the two, and get nineteen o'clock. When this method is heard and thought of for the first time, it seems extremely confused, and difficult to manage; but we soon grow accustomed to it, and find the occupation amusing. The people themselves take delight in this perpetual calculation, just as children are pleased with easily surmounted difficulties. Indeed, they always have their fingers in the air, make any calculation in their heads, and like to occupy themselves with figures. Besides, to the inhabitant of the country, the matter is so much the easier, as he really does not trouble himself about noon and midnight, and does not, like the foreign resident, compare two clocks with each other. They only count from the evening the hours as they strike, and in the daytime they add the number to the varying number of noon, with which they are acquainted. The rest is explained by the remarks appended to the diagram.

, Sept. 17.

The people here jostle one another actively enough. The narrow streets, where shops and workmen's stalls are thickly crowded together, have a particularly