第7章

KING。\"\'HaveItodrivethroughthevillage?\'

ICH。\"\'Itisnotindispensable;butthechangeofhorsesisthere。

IfyourMajestygiveorder,Iwillrideforward,sendthefreshhorsesoutofthevillage,andhavethemstationedtowaitatthefootofthehills。\'

KING。\"\'Oja,doso!Takeoneofmypageswithyou。\'

\"Inowtookmeasuresaboutthenewteamofhorses,butsoarrangedit,thatwhenhisMajestygotuponthehillsIwastheretoo。

Atdismountingfromhiscarriageonthehilltop,hisMajestydemandedaprospectglass;lookedroundthewholeregion,andthensaid:\'Well,intruth,thatisbeyondmyexpectation!Thatisbeautiful!Imustsaythistoyou,allofyouthathaveworkedinthisbusiness,youhavebehavedlikehonorablepeople!\'[TOME]

\'Tellmenow,istheElbefarfromhere?\'

ICH。\"\'YourMajesty,itis2milesoff[10miles]。YonderisWurbenintheAltmark;itliesupontheElbe。\'

KING。\"\'Thatcannotbe!Givemetheglassagain。Ja,ja,itistrue,though。Butwhatothersteepleisthat?\'

ICH。\"\'YourMajesty,thatisHavelberg。\'

KING。\"\'Na,comehere,allofyou!\'(THEREWEREAMTSRATHKLAUSIUS,BAUINSPECTORMENZELIUSANDI。)\'Hearnow,thetractofmoorheretotheleftmustalsobereclaimed;andwhatistotherighttoo,sofarasthemoorextends。Whatkindofwoodisthereonit?\'

ICH。\"\'Alders(ELSEN)andoaks,yourMajesty。\'

KING。\"\'Na!thealdersyoumayrootout;andtheoaksmaycontinuestanding;thepeoplemaysellthese,orusethemotherwise。

Whenoncethegroundisarable,Ireckonupon300familiesforit,and500headofcows,ha?\'Nobodyanswered;atlastIbegan,andsaid:

ICH。\"\'Ja,yourMajesty,perhaps!\'

KING。\"\'Hearnow,youmayanswermewithconfidence。Therewillbemoreorfewerfamilies。Iknowwellenoughonecannot,allatonce,exactlysay。Iwasneverthere,don\'tknowtheground;otherwiseI

couldunderstandequallywithyouhowmanyfamiliescouldbeputuponit。\'

THEBAUINSPECTOR。\"\'YourMajesty,theLUCHisstillsubjecttorightsofcommonfromagreatmanyhands。\'

KING。\"\'Nomatterforthat。Youmustmakeexchanges,givethemanequivalent,accordingaswillanswerbestinthecase。Iwantnothingfromanybodyexceptatitsvalue。\'[TOAMTSRATHKLAUSIUS]

\'Na,hearnow,youcanwritetomyKammer[BOARD,BoardofWorksthatdoesNOTsitidle!],whatitisthatIwantreclaimedtotheplough;themoneyforitIwillgive。\'[TOME]\'Andyou,yougotoBerlin,andexplaintomyGeheimerRathMichaelis,bywordofmouth,whatitisIwantreclaimed。\'

\"HisMajestynowsteptintohiscarriageagain[wasGortzsittingallthewhile,stillinsilence?Orhadheperhapsgotoutatthebottomofthehill,andsatdowntoacontemplativepipeoftobacco,thesmokeofwhich,heartcheeringtoGortz,wasalwaysdisagreeabletoFriedrich?Nobodyknows!]anddrovedownthehill;

therethehorseswerechanged。Andnow,ashisMajesty\'sorderwasthatIshould\'attendhimtotheStollenhills,\'Iwentuptothecarriage,andasked:

ICH。\"\'DoesyourMajestycommandthatIshouldyetaccompanyfarther\'[\"BEFEHLEN,command,\"inthepluralispolite,\"yourMajesty,thatIyetfarthershallWITH\"]?

KING。\"\'No,myson;ride,inGod\'sname,home。\'

\"TheHerrAmtsrath[Klausius]thenaccompaniedhisMajestytoRathenow,wherehe[THEY:HisMajestyisplural]lodgedinthePosthouse。AtRathenow,duringdinner,hisMajestywasuncommonlycheerful:hedinedwithHerrLieutenantColonelvonBackhofoftheCarabineers,andtheHerrLieutenantColonelvonBackhofhimselfhasrelatedthathisMajestysaid:

\"\'MygoodVonBackhof(MEINLIEBERVONBACKHOF):ifHe[you]havenotforalongtimebeenintheFehrbellinneighborhood,gothere。\'\"Fehrbellin,thePrussianBANNOCKBURN;wheretheGreatElectorcutthehithertoinvincibleSwedesINTWO,amongtheDAMS

andintricatemooryquagmires,withavastlyinferiorforce,nearlyallofcavalry(ledbyoneDERFLINGER,whoinhisapprenticetimehadbeenaTAILOR);beatoneendofthemalltorags,thengallopedoffandbeattheotherintoditto;quitetakingtheconceitoutoftheSwedes,oratleastclearingPrussiaofthemforeverandaday:

afeatmuchadmiredbyFriedrich:\"\'Gothere,\'hesays。

\'Thatregionisuncommonlyimproved[asIsawtoday]!Ihavenotforalongtimehadsuchapleasantdrive。IdecidedonthisjourneybecauseIhadnoREVIEWonhand;andithasgivenmesuchpleasurethatIshallcertainlyhaveanotherbyandby。\'

\"\'Tellmenow:howdidyougetoninthelastWar[KARTOFFELKRIEG,nofighting,onlyascrambleforproviantand\"potatoes\"]?

Mostlikelyill!YouinSaxonytoocouldmakenothingout。

Thereasonwas,wehadnotmentofightagainst,butcannons!

Imighthavedoneathingortwo;butIshouldhavesacrificedmorethanthehalfofmyArmy,andshedinnocenthumanblood。InthatcaseIshouldhavedeservedtobetakentotheGuardhousedoor,andtohavegotasixscorethere(EINENOFFFENTLICHENPRODUKT)!

Warsarebecomingfrightfultocarryon。\'

\"\'ThiswassurelytouchingtohearfromthemouthofagreatMonarch,\'saidHerrLieutenantColonelvonBackhoftome,andtearscameintothatoldsoldier\'seyes。\"AfterwardshisMajestyhadsaid:

\"OftheBattleofFehrbellinIknoweverything,almostasifI

myselfhadbeenthere!WhileIwasCrownPrince,andlayinRuppin,therewasanoldtownsman,themanwaseventhenveryold:hecoulddescribethewholeBattle,andknewthesceneofitextremelywell。

OnceIgotintoacarriage,tookmyoldgeniuswithme,whoshowedmeallovertheground,anddescribedeverythingsodistinctly,I

wasmuchcontentedwithhim。Aswewerecomingback,Ithought:

Come,letmehavealittlefunwiththeoldblade;soIaskedhim:

\'Father,don\'tyouknow,then,whythetwoSovereignscametoquarrelwithoneanother?\'\'Oja,yourRoyalHighnessES[fromthispointwehavePlattDeutsch,PRUSSIANdialect,fortheoldman\'sspeech;barelyintelligible,asScotchistoaningeniousEnglishman],DATWILLICKSEWOHLSEGGEN,Icaneasilytellyouthat。WhenourChorforste[Kurfursts,GreatElector]wasyoung,hestudiedinUtrecht;andtheretheKingofSwedenhappenedtobetoo。Andnowthetwoyounglordspickedsomequarrel,gottopullingcaps[fellintooneanother\'shair],ANDDITISNUDEPICKE

DAVON,andthisnowwastheupshotofit。\'HisMajestyspokethisinPlattDeutsch,asheregiven;butgrewattablesowearythathe(they)fellasleep。\"SofarBackhof;andnowagainFrommebywayoffinish:

\"OfhisMajesty\'sjourneyIcangivenofartherdescription。

ForthoughhisMajestyspokeandaskedmanythingselse;itwouldbedifficulttobringthemalltopaper。\"AndsoendstheDAYWITH

FRIEDRICHTHEGREAT;veryflat,butIdaresayveryTRUE:

aDaguerrotypeofoneofhisDays。