"When I at the university did study,
I was often cited before a body

Called a council, but it never seemed to me
To have anything to do with economy."

The candidate Jobs this answer making,
There followed of heads a general shaking,
And first the inspector said, "Hm, hm!”
Then the others, secundum ordinem.

Then followed his spiritual lordship, Herr Keffer;
The question he started seemed somewhat tougher,
It related" to the Manichean heresy,

And what their faith was originally."

Answer: "Yes, these simple devils

Did really think that without any cavils,

Before my departure my debts I'd pay off,
And in fact I did cudgel them soundly enough."

The candidate Jobs this answer making,
There followed of heads a general shaking,
And first the inspector said, "Hm, hm!"
Then the others, secundum ordinem.

The remaining questions that received attention, For want of room I omit to mention;

For otherwise the protocol

Would exceed seven sheets, if given in full.

For there were many questions, dogmatical,
Polemical, and hermeneutical,

To which Hieronimus made reply

In the manner above, successively.

And likewise many questions in philology,
And other sciences ending in ology,

And whatever else to a clergyman may
Be put on examination day.

When the candidate Jobs his answer was making,
There would follow of heads a general shaking,
And first the inspector would say, "Hm, hm!"
Then the others, secundum ordinem.

Now when the examination had expired,
Hieronimus by permission retired,

That the case might be viewed on every side,
And the council carefully decide

If conscience would advise the admission

Of Hieronimus to the position

And class of candidates for the
Holy Gospel ministry.

Immediately they proceeded to voting,
But very soon, without much disputing,

The meeting was unanimous

That, under the circumstances, Hieronimus

Would not persist in his application

As a candidate for ordination,

But for special reasons they thought it best
To let the matter quietly rest.

In fact, for years it was kept so private,
No stranger ever heard anything of it,
But everybody, early and late,

Held Hieronimus for a candidate.

-"The Jobsiad."

Adelbert von Chamisso

Sale of a Human Shadow

THE porter announced me, and I had the honor to be summoned into the park, where Mr. Jones was walking with a small company. I knew him instantly by his portly selfcomplacency. He received me tolerably well-as a rich man is wont to receive a poor dependent devil-looked toward me, but without turning from the rest of the company, and took from me the letter I held in my hand. 'Aye, aye, from my brother! I have not heard from him this long time. Is he well? There," he continued, addressing the company without waiting for an answer, and pointed with the letter to a hill-" there I have ordered a new building to be erected."

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He broke the seal, but not the conversation, of which wealth became the subject. "He who is not the master of at least a million," he interposed, "forgive the expression, is a ragamuffin.” "That is true, indeed!" exclaimed I, with full, overflowing feeling. He must have been pleased with the expression of my concurrence, for he smiled on me, and said, "Remain here, my young friend; I shall perhaps have time to tell you by and by what I think of it." He pointed to the letter, put it into his pocket, and turned again to the company. He then offered his arm to a young lady; other gentlemen were busy with other fair ones; every one found some one to whom he attached himself, and they walked toward the rose-encircled hill. I lingered behind, for not a soul deemed me worthy of notice. The company was ex

tremely cheerful, jocular, and witty; they spoke seriously of trifles, and triflingly of serious matters; and I observed they unconcernedly directed their satires against the persons and the circumstances of absent friends. I was too great a stranger to understand much of these discussions, too much distressed and self-centered to enter into the full merit of the conversation.

We reached the rose-grove. The lovely Fanny, the queen, as it seemed, of the day, was capricious enough to pluck off a twig; a thorn pricked her, and a stream as bright as if from damask roses flowed over her delicate hand. This accident put the whole company in motion. English court-plaster was instantly inquired after. A silent, meager, pale, tall, elderly man, who stood next to me, and whom I had not before observed, instantly put his hand into the close-fitting breast-pocket of his old-fashioned, gray taffeta coat, took out a small pocketbook, opened it, and with a lowly bow gave the lady what she had wished for. She took it without any attention to the giver, and without a word of thanks. The wound was bound up, and the company ascended the hill, from whose brow they admired the wide prospect over the park's green labyrinth, extending even to the immeasurable

ocean.

It was indeed a grand and noble sight. A light speck appeared on the horizon between the dark waters and the azure heaven. "A telescope here!" cried the merchant; and before any one from the crowds of servants appeared to answer his call, the gray man, as if he had been applied to, had already put his hand into his coat-pocket. He took from it a beautiful Dollond, and handed it over to Mr. Jones; who, as soon as he had raised it to his eye, informed the company that it was the ship which had sailed yesterday, driven back by con

trary winds. The telescope passed from hand to hand, but never returned to its owner. I, however, looked on the old man with astonishment, not conceiving how the large instrument had come out of the tiny pocket. Nobody else seemed surprised, and they appeared to care no more about the gray man than about me.

Refreshments were produced; the rarest fruits of every climate, served in the richest dishes. Mr. Jones did the honors with easy, dignified politeness, and for the second time addressed me: "Eat some; I am sure you got none on your voyage." I bowed, but he did not observe me; he was talking to somebody else.

They would willingly have remained longer on the sod of the sloping hill, and have stretched themselves over the outspread turf, had they not feared its dampness. "Now it would be delightful," said somebody in the company, "if we had Turkey carpets to spread out here." The wish was hardly expressed ere the man in the gray coat had put his hand into his pocket, and with modest, even humble demeanor, began to draw out a rich embroidered Turkey carpet. It was received by the attendants as a matter of course, and laid down on the appointed spot. Without further ceremony the company took their stand upon it. I looked with new surprise on the man, the pocket, and the carpet, which was about twenty paces long by ten broad. I rubbed my eyes, not knowing what to think, and especially as nobody else seemed moved by what had passed. I longed to learn something about the man, and to inquire who he was; but I knew not to whom to apply, for I really was more afraid of the gentlemen servants than of the gentlemen served. I mustered up courage at last, and addressed myself to a young man who seemed less conceited than the rest, and who had