484 Notes on Spoilt and Travel ix 



We called it by no name ; we bullied not for Lieb- 

 frauenmilcli, Wurtzburger-stein, or the produce of 

 the DunimJieitshausen Hofkeller ; it was a fact, 

 a reality, and merely named from the year of its 

 birth, honest Zzvei tmd veivziger VVeisse. Thank 

 Heaven, it was light and good ! The effects of a 

 quart or two of strong beer on the joking powers 

 of our party would have been dreadful. As it 

 was, the jokes rolled out as thick and heavy as a 

 ship's cable, and some of them almost as long. 

 Time-honoured puns from the Fliegende Blatter, — 

 strong stories of Ober and Unter, — Foresters, — and 

 slightly improper ballads about their woodland 

 adventures, streamed out one after the other ; and 

 not until the last morsel of the small porker had 

 been discussed, and the last ' long-neck ' drained to 

 the very dregs, did we weigh anchor. 



Good-hearted, straightforward fellows, rejoicing 

 in their short holiday, revelling in their momentary 

 burst of freedom, with no one to spy and tell ; 

 everything they said and did, they chorused man- 

 fully— 



' Nur wo die Gemsen springen 

 Kann man von die Freiheit singen ' — 



and refreshed, they bent their steps towards a part 

 of the country which promised them a little sport 

 more suited to their habits and inclinations than 

 the hard-baked stubbles over which they had been 

 trying their tempers and boots all the morning. 



Though the table-land on which we had spent 



