"
"Yes, Conrad, I had left it at home."
"No, sir; you gave your last thaler to the student who came this
morning and told you of his necessities, and complained so bitterly
that he had eaten nothing warm for three days. You gave your money
to him, and that was not right, for now we have nothing ourselves."
"Yes, Conrad, it was right, it was my duty; he hungered and I was
full; he was poor and in want, and I had money, and sat in my warm,
comfortable room; it was quite right for me to help him."
"Yes, you say so always, sir, and our money all goes to the devil,"
muttered Conrad. "With what shall we satisfy ourselves to-day?"
"Well," said Gellert, after a pause, "we will drink some coffee, and
eat some bread and butter. Coffee is an excellent beverage, and
peculiarly acceptable to poets, for it enlivens the fancy."
"And leaves the stomach empty," said Conrad.
"We have bread and butter to satisfy that. Ah, Conrad, I assure you
we would often have been very happy in my father's parsonage if we
had had coffee and bread and butter for our dinner. We were thirteen
children, besides my father and mother, and my father's salary was
not more than two hundred thalers.
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