"I
thought I had learned the German language pretty thoroughly from my
mother and my wife, both of whom have the honor of being natives of
Germany, but I have never heard this word from them. Pray, sire,
tell me what it means."
"I must confess that I do not understand it either," said the king,
shrugging his shoulders.
"General Scharnhorst!" cried the emperor. "Pray can you tell us what
schielwippen means?"
"Sire," said Scharnhorst, laughing, "it is a slang term for a man
who squints. General Blucher likes to use the language of the
people."
"Well, the Prussian people have recently used such grand and
magnificent language," said Alexander, "that we may say with heart-
felt conviction, 'Vox populi vox Dei!' and that it reflects great
credit on Blucher, if it is true that he speaks like the people.
But, hush! what does he say now?"
"The cowards have brought all our misfortunes upon us!" thundered
Blucher's powerful voice. "The hesitating men who always wish to
patch up and stop the holes, instead of tearing down the old ruin
and building a new house, are our curse, and have always involved
Prussia in untold calamities. When I think of them I would like to
have them here, to treat them as Jahn treated the other day one of
the Turners at Berlin. Do you know the story?"
"No," shouted several voices, "we unfortunately do not.
Pages:
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499