Mary Hazelton Blanchard Wade

“ When the word Germany comes to our minds, we think at once of ruined castles, fairies, music, and soldiers. Why is it?
First, as to the castles. Here and there along the banks of the River Rhine, as well as elsewhere throughout the country, the traveller is constantly finding himself near some massive stone ruin. It seems ever ready to tell stories of long ago,—of brave knights who defended its walls, of beautiful princesses saved from harm, of sturdy boys and sweet-faced girls who once played in its gardens. ”

“ His name was Bodo.
"He asked for the princess in marriage, but her heart had already been given away. She did not care for the giant, even though he gave her the most elegant presents,—a beautiful white horse, jewels set in gold, and chains of amber.
"'I dare not refuse the giant,' said Brunhilda's father. 'He is very powerful, and we must not make him angry. ”

“ That evening, after Hans had shown his uncle around the village, and he had called on his old friends, he settled himself in the chimney-corner with the children about him.
"Talk to us about Strasburg, Uncle Fritz," begged Gretchen.
"Please tell us about the storks," said Bertha. "Are there great numbers of the birds in the city, and do they build their nests on the chimneys?"
"Yes, you can see plenty of storks flying overhead if you will come back with me," said Uncle Fritz, laughingly. "They seem to know the people love them. ”

“ Trees grew close to the waterfall, and bent over it as though to hide it from curious eyes. It was a pretty spot.
"Let us sit down at the foot of this cascade," said Bertha's father. "It is a pleasant place to rest."
Every one liked the plan. Bertha nestled close to her father's side.
"Tell us a story. Please do," she said.
"Ask neighbour Abel. He knows many a legend of just such places as this. He has lived in the Hartz Mountains, and they are filled with fairy stories."
The rest of the party heard what was said.
"Neighbour Abel! A story, a story," they cried. ”

“ As to the music, it seems as though every boy and girl in the whole country drew in the spirit of song with the air they breathe. They sing with a love of what they are singing, they play as though the tune were a part of their very selves. Some of the finest musicians have been Germans, and their gifts to the world have been bountiful.
As for soldiers, we know that every man in Germany must stand ready to defend his country. ”

“ THE COFFEE-PARTY
"How would you like to be a wood-cutter, Hans?"
"I think it would be great sport. I like to hear the thud of the axe as it comes down on the trunk. Then it is always an exciting time as the tree begins to bend and fall to the ground. Somehow, it seems like a person. I can't help pitying it, either."
Hans had come over to the next village on an errand for his father. A big sawmill had been built on the side of the stream, and all the men in the place were kept busy cutting down trees in the Black Forest, or working in the sawmill. ”

“ Now that she was nine years old, she still carved legs for Santa Claus in her spare moments.
Gretchen always made arms, while Hans worked on a still different part of the bodies. The father and mother carved the heads and finished the little images that afterward gave such delight to children in other lands.
Bertha lives in the Black Forest. That name makes you think at once of a dark and gloomy place. The woods on the hills are dark, to be sure, but the valleys nestling [12] between are bright and cheerful when the sun shines down and pours its light upon them. ”

“ Our German cousins listen with wonder and delight to the legends of fearful giants and enchanted castles, and many of the stories they know so well have been translated into other languages for their cousins of distant lands, who are as fond of them as the blue-eyed children of Germany. ”

“ The current carried them on its bosom to Siegfried's sword. Instantly, each piece was divided as it met the blade. Mimer shouted aloud in his joy.
"Balmung" (for that was the name Siegfried [97] gave the sword) "is the finest weapon man ever made," he cried.
Siegfried was now prepared to meet the proud knight of Burgundy.
The very first thrust of the sword, Balmung, did the work. The head and shoulders of the giant were severed from the rest of the body. They rolled down the hillside and fell into the Rhine, where they can be seen even now, when the water is clear. At least, so runs the story. ”

“ After the logs had been cut the right length, [41] they were bound into rafts, and floated down the little stream to the Rhine.
"The rafts themselves seem alive," said Hans to his friend. "You men know just how to bind the logs together with those willow bands, so they twist and turn about like living creatures as they move down the stream."
"I have travelled on a raft all the way from here to Cologne," answered the wood-cutter. "The one who steers must be skilful, for he needs to be very careful. You know the rafts grow larger all the time, don't you, Hans?" ”

“ Come, speak out plainly, little one."
"You tell such lovely fairy-tales, papa, I was just wishing for one. See! The moon is just rising above the tree-tops. It is the very time for stories of the wonderful beings."
Her father smiled. "It shall be as you wish, Bertha. It is hard to refuse you when you look at me that way. Come, children, [93] let us sit in the doorway. Goodwife, put down your work and join us while I tell the story of Siegfried, the old hero of Germany." ”

“ The sun was shining brightly, and the hunter was nowhere to be seen. But the stream of water was running down the mountainside.
"A few minutes afterward, the boy's master came hurrying up the slope. He was frightened by the dreadful sounds he had heard. But when he saw the waterfall, he was filled with delight.
"'Every one in the village will rejoice,' he exclaimed, 'for now we shall never want for water.'
"Then the little boy took courage and told the story of his meeting the hunter and what he had done. ”

“ All the people in the village seem happy and contented. They work hard, and their pay is small, but there are no beggars among them.
Toys are made in almost every house. Every one in a family works on the same kind of toy, just as it is in Bertha's home.
The people think: "It would be foolish to spend one's time in learning new things. The longer a person works at making one kind of toy, the faster he can make them, and he can earn more money."
One of Bertha's neighbours makes nothing [13] but Noah's Arks. Another makes toy tables, and still another dolls' chairs. ”

“ The coffee and cakes were a great treat to these village children. They did not get such a feast every day in the year. Their mothers made cakes only for festivals and holidays, and coffee was seldom seen on their tables oftener than once a week.
In the great cities and fine castles, where the rich people of Germany had their homes, [44] they could eat sweet dainties and drink coffee as often as they liked. But in the villages of the Black Forest, it was quite different.
"Good night, good night," said Hans and Bertha, as they left their friends and trudged off on a path through the woods. ”

“ Bertha and Gretchen had never yet visited that city, although it was not more than twenty miles away.
"Oh, dear, I don't know where to begin," Hans told the girls that evening.
"Of course, I liked to watch the students better than anything else. The town seems full of them. They all study in the university, of course, but they are on the streets a good deal. They seem to have a fine time [49] of it. Every one carries a small cane with a button on the end of it. They wear their little caps down over their foreheads on one side."
"What colour do they have for their caps, Hans?" asked Gretchen. ”

“ It is as good as a play, and, as I told Hans, he would have to stay many hours near it to see all the sights."
"I should think a strong man would be needed to wind it up," said his nephew.
"The best part of it is that it does not need to be wound every day," replied Uncle Fritz. "They say it will run for years without being touched. Of course, travellers are coming to Strasburg all the time. They wish to see the clock, but they also come to see the cathedral itself. It is a very grand building, and, as you know, the spire is the tallest one in all Europe. ”

“ Most dolls, however, wear light wigs. People usually prefer them."
"Do little girls in Sonneberg help make the dolls, just as Bertha and I help you on the Santa Claus images?" asked Gretchen.
"Certainly. They fill the bodies with sawdust, and do other easy things. But they go [16] to school, too, just as you and Bertha do. Lessons must not be slighted."
"If I had to help make dolls, just as I do these images," said Gretchen to her sister as their father went out and left the children together, "I don't believe I'd care for the handsomest one in the whole toy fair. ”

“ If you should go to the northern part of Germany, Bertha, you would see great numbers of men, women, and children, busy on the shores of the ocean. The work is greatest in the rough days of autumn, when a strong wind is blowing from the northeast. ”

“ I wish I could go to Sonneberg just to see the dolls."
"I wonder what makes the wax stick on," said Gretchen, who came into the room while her father and Bertha were talking.
"After the heads have been moulded into shape, they are dipped into pans of boiling wax," her father told her. "The cheap dolls are dipped only once, but the expensive [15] ones have several baths before they are finished. The more wax that is put on, the handsomer the dolls are.
"Then comes the painting. One girl does nothing but paint the lips. Another one does the cheeks. ”

“ So he bound the sword Balmung to the young prince's side, and told him to seek a certain person, who would give him a fine war-horse.
Siegfried went to this man, from whom he obtained a matchless steed. In fact it had descended from the great god Odin's magic [98] horse. Siegfried, you can see, must have lived in a time when men believed in gods and other wonderful beings.
He was now all ready for his adventures, but before starting out, Mimer told him of a great treasure of gold guarded by a fearful serpent. ”

“ Gretchen was telling me the other day about her geography lesson, and of the pearl-divers along the shores of India. I did not tell her then that some men [91] spend their lives diving for amber on the shores of our own country.
"They wear rubber suits and helmets and air-chests of sheet iron."
"How can they see where they are going?" asked Bertha.
"There are glass openings in their helmets, and they can look through these. They go out in boats. The crew generally consists of six men. Two of them are divers, and four men have charge of the air-pumps. ”

“ It would not be Christmas without them. Early to-morrow morning, you and Bertha must shell and chop the nuts. I will use the freshest eggs and will beat the dough as long as my arms will let me."
"Did you always know how to make those cakes, mamma?" asked Bertha.
"My good mother taught me when I was about your age, my dear. You may watch me [3] to-morrow, and perhaps you will learn how to make them. It is never too early to begin to learn to cook."
"When the city girls get through school, they go away from home and study housekeeping don't they?" asked Gretchen. ”

“ There are enough of them to fill many books. Did you ever hear about the Rats' Tower opposite the town of Bingen, Bertha?"
"What a funny name for a tower! No. Is there a story about it, Hans?"
"Yes, one of the boys was telling it to me yesterday while we were getting wood in the forest. It is a good story, although my friend said he wasn't sure it is true."
"What is the story?"
"It is about a very wicked bishop who was a miser. It happened one time that the harvests were poor and grain was scarce. The cruel bishop bought all the grain he could get and locked it up. ”

“ So heavily did they fall that the imprint of a hoof was left upon the rock.
"The princess was now safe. It would be [78] an easy matter for her to reach her lover's side.
"As for the giant, he tried to follow Brunhilda across the chasm. But he was too heavy and his horse failed to reach the mark. The two sank together to the bottom of the precipice."
Every one thanked the story-teller, and begged him to tell more of the Hartz Mountains, where he had spent his boyhood days. The children were delighted when he spoke of the gnomes, in whom he believed when he was a child. ”

“ Forward, march!" Bertha called after him. But she was laughing as she spoke. She could not help it, Hans looked so serious. At the same time she couldn't help envying her brother a little, and wishing she were a boy, too. It must be so grand to be a soldier and be ready to [62] fight for the emperor who ruled over her country.
STATUE OF FREDERICK THE GREAT.
"The schoolmaster told us boys yesterday about the grand palace at Berlin. The emperor lives in it when he is in the city," said Hans, wheeling around suddenly and stopping in front of Bertha. ”

“ Yes, and many girls who don't live in cities. But I hardly think you will ever be sent away. We are busy people here in our little village, and you will have to be contented with learning what your mother can teach you. ”

“ Pull with all the strength you have, and we will go to Strasburg in time to show those stupid people that, if it should be necessary, we live near enough to them to give them a hot supper.'
"How the men worked! They rowed as they had never rowed before.
[38]
"They passed one village after another. Still they moved onward without stopping, till they found themselves at the pier of Strasburg.
"The councillor jumped out of the boat, telling two of his men to follow with the great pot of oatmeal. He led the way to the council-house, where he burst in with his strange present. ”