At last four full pages! Well, I shall have to praise you till you 
can no longer bear it, as they say. Riding is now over unfortunate- 
ly, so 1 am mostly at home on Sundays, but I enjoy myself quite a 
lot. Either I listen to somebody playing or singing or I write, and 
in the evening we do all kinds of crazy things. The day before 
yesterday, which, as you know, was Sunday, we put a ring in a 
cup of flour and then played the well-known game of trying to get 
it out with your mouth. We all had a turn—the Pastor’s wife,’ 
the girls, the painter? and I too, while the Pastor‘ sat in the corner 
on the sofa and watched the fun through a cloud of cigar smoke. 
The Pastor’s wife couldn’t stop laughing as she tried to get it out 
and covered herself with flour over and over again, and when the 
painter’s turn came, he blew with all his might so that the flour 
puffed out right and left and descended like a cloud on his green 
and red dressing-gown. Afterwards we threw flour in each other’s 
faces. I blackened my face with cork, at which they all laughed, 
and when I started to laugh, that made them laugh all the more and 
all the louder. Then I laughed, ha ha ha ha ha, so loudly that all the 
others followed suit with he he he he he and ha ha ha ha ha, until it 
was just like in the story where the Jew has to dance in the bramble 
bush, and at last they all begged me to stop for heaven’s sake. 

You are still a réal goose if you let that Jettchen Troost bore 
you. Why don’t you tell her to go away? 

Now the goose is starting to lecture me; that is touching. Tell 
me, goose, don’t you know the saying—lI shall behave to you as 
you behave to me? Don’t you know that no matter how small you 
write, I still write twice as small? But let’s settle the matter once 
and for all. If you write me four pages then you shall get four 
pages back and there’s an end of it. Besides, if you only knew how 
many letters I’ve already written this week and how many I still 
have to write, you would have pity on me and be satisfied with two 
pages. Ask Stricker some time how much I’ve written to him. Ask 
Wurm some time —but he’s not there, so I shall tell you—at least 

twelve pages just like these and as much again across the page in 
red ink. But he writes just as much to me in reply. And I have 
also to write to Mother, Hermann,* August,” Rudolf,° what do you 
think that adds up to? I think that as you can read the other 
letters you'll be fair and only expect half as much from me as you 
write to me.— You say that I praise Anna‘ to the skies, no, so god 
over nit, dat do ek nit, but if she writes me four pages and you only 
write three, isn’t she better than you? Apart from all this I'll gladly 
admit that you are a loyal soul and write to me most diligently. 
But you must not presume to start such rows and quarrels with 
me and imagine all the right is on your side when you really ought 
to be on your knees begging forgiveness You complain about 
the shoulder-brace, but oh, my little goose, hold yourself straight 
and then they won’t put one on you.— We had the same weather 
here as you describe but now it’s horrible; it rains and drizzles . 
continuously, sometimes it pours down and then we have a bit of 
blue sky every 24 hours and a ray of sunshine every half-year. 

You want me to write what I would like for Christmas? Well, 
you needn’t make me what I’ve already got and you know what I 
haven't got, so what shall I write? Embroider a cover for a cigar 
box or—I don’t know what, but you can keep nagging Mother a 
little every two or three days to send me the Goethe for Christmas 
Day. I really need it very badly, for you can hardly read anything 
without there being some reference to Goethe. Who was this man 
Goethe? Herr Riepe: Children, he was...! 

Your drawing of the poultry-yard I could comprehend quite 
easily and it is very practical—cats or polecats can’t get in and the 
hens can’t get out. 

Last Friday I went to the theatre. They were playing Nachtlager 
in Granada,‘ an opera which is very nice. Tonight they are giving 
Die Zauberfléte. I must go to it. I really must manage to see what it is 
like. I hope it will be really good. 

October 10. I went to the theatre. I liked Die Zauberflote very 
much. I should like you to be able to come and see it with me 
some time, I bet you would like it very much.— Yes, Marie, what 
shall I write about now? Shall I grumble a bit for want of anything 

better? I can’t think of anything better and you will certainly be 
satisfied if the four pages are filled, no matter what is in them. 
Here in Bremen the merchants’ houses are all built in a very 
remarkable way. They are not built with their long sides facing 
the street like ours but with their short sides, so 
that the roofs are very close together, and the hall ERP 
is very large and high, just like a small church. &Mat'J"°¢ 
They have hatches above and below, one on top | 
of the other, which are closed by trapdoors and through which a 
hoist can move up and down. Up in the attic is the store-room and 
coffee, linen, sugar, whale-oil, etc., are brought up by the hoist. 
All halls have thus two rows of windows one above the 
other.— The Consul’s wife has now moved into town again with 
her four small children; they make an awful uproar. Luckily two 
of them, Elisabeth and Loin (really Ludwig), go to school, so one 
does not have to listen to their noise all day long. But when Loin 
and Siegfried are together they make such a row that you just can’t 
stand it. The other day they started dancing on 
the linen chests, each armed with a gun and a 
sword; they challenged each other toadueland § 
Loin blew on his trumpet so loudly that it made 
your ears ring. I havea very nice place, in frontof yf) 
my desk there is a big window giving on to the 
hall and so I can see everything that happens. y y 
Since you drew me the poultry-yard I’m 
drawing you the church as seen from the 
office. Farewell. 

* ae —___ WIE = 2 meen sear OE | 
Your brother 
Friedrich