History of Friedrich II of Prussia, appendix | Page 6

and well?"
CAPTAIN. "'O ja, your Majesty.'
KING. "'Mein Gott, how fat He has (you are) grown!'
CAPTAIN. "'Ja, your Majesty, I can still eat and drink; only the feet get lazy' [won't go so well, WOLLEN NICHT FORT].
KING. "'Ja! that is so with me too. Are you married?'
CAPTAIN. "'Yea, your Majesty.'
KING. "'Is your wife among the ladies yonder?'
CAPTAIN. "'Yea, your Majesty.'
KING. "'Bring her to me, then!' [TO HER, TAKING OFF HIS HAT] 'I find in your Herr Husband a good old friend.'
FRAU VON RATHENOW. "'Much grace and honor for my husband!'
KING. "'What were YOU by birth?' ["WAS SIND SIE," the respectful word, "FUR EINE GEBORNE?"]
FRAU. "'A Fraulein von Krocher.'
KING. "'Haha! A daughter of General von Krocher's?'
FRAU. "'JA, IHRO MAJESTAT.'
KING. "'Oh, I knew him very well.'--[TO RATHENOW] 'Have you children too, Rathenow?'
CAPTAIN. "'Yes, your Majesty. My sons are in the service,' soldiering; 'and these are my daughters.'
KING. "'Well, I am glad of that (NUN, DAS FREUT MICH). Fare HE well. Fare He well.'
"The road now went upon Fehrbellin; and Forster," Forester, "Brand, as woodkeeper for the King in these parts, rode along with us. When we came upon the patch of Sand-knolls which lie near Fehrbellin, his Majesty cried:--
"'Forester, why aren't these sand-knolls sown?'
FORESTER. "'Your Majesty, they don't belong to the Royal Forest; they belong to the farm-ground. In part the people do sow them with all manner of crops. Here, on the right hand, they have sown fir-cones (KIENAPFEL)'.
KING. "'Who sowed them?'
FORESTER. "'The Oberamtmann [Fromme] here.'
THE KING (TO ME). "'Na! Tell my Geheimer-Rath Michaelis that the sand-patches must be sown.'--[TO THE FORESTER] 'But do you know how fir-cones (KIENAPFEL) should be sown?'
FORESTER. "'O ja, your Majesty.'
KING. "'Na! [a frequent interjection of Friedrich's and his Father's], how are they sown, then? From east to west, or from north to south?' ["VAN MORGEN GEGEN ABEND, ODER VAN ABEND GEGEN MORGEN?" so in ORIG. (p. 22);--but, surely, except as above, it has no sense? From north to south, there is but one fir-seed sown against the wind; from east to west, there is a whole row.]
FORESTER. "'From east to west.'
KING. "'That is right. But why?'
FORESTER. "'Because the most wind comes from the west.'
KING. "'That's right.'
"Now his Majesty arrived at Fehrbellin; spoke there with Lieutenant Probst of the Ziethen Hussar regiment, [Probst is the leftmost figure in that Chodowiecki Engraving of the famous Ziethen-and- Friedrich CHAIR-scene, five years after this. (Supra. 374 n.)] and with the Fehrbellin Postmeister, Captain von Mosch. So soon as the horses were to, we continued our travel; and as his Majesty was driving close by my Big Ditches," GRABEN, trenches, main-drains, "which have been made in the Fehrbellin LUCH at the King's expense, I rode up to the carriage, and said:--
ICH. "'Your Majesty, these now are the two new Drains, which by your Majesty's favor we have got here; and which keep the Luch dry for us.'
KING. "'So, so; that I am glad of!--Who is He (are you)?'
FROMME. "'Your Majesty, I am the Beamte here of Fehrbellin.'
KING. "'What 's your name?'
ICH. "'Fromme.'
KING. "'Ha, ha! you are a son of the Landrath Fromme's.'
ICH. "'Your Majesty's pardon. My father was Amtsrath in the AMT Luhnin.'
KING. "'Amtsrath? Amtsrath? That isn't true! Your father was Landrath. I knew him very well.--But tell me now (SAGT MIR EINMAL) has the draining of the Luch been of much use to you here?'
ICH. "'O ja, your Majesty.'
KING. "'Do you keep more cattle than your predecessor?'
ICH. "'Yes, your Majesty. On this farm I keep 40 more; on all the farms together 70 more.'
KING. "'That is right. The murrain (VIEHSEUCHE) is not here in this quarter?'
ICH. "'No, your Majesty.'
KING. "'Have you had it here?'
ICH. "'Ja.'
KING. "'Do but diligently use rock-salt, you won't have the murrain again.'
ICH. "'Yes, your Majesty, I do use it too; but kitchen salt has very nearly the same effect.'
KING. "'No, don't fancy that! You must n't pound the rock-salt small, but give it to the cattle so that they can lick it.'
ICH. "'Yes, it shall be done.'
KING. "'Are there still improvements needed here?'
ICH. "'O ja, your Majesty. Here lies the Kemmensee [Kemmen-lake]: if that were drained out, your Majesty would gain some 1,800 acres [MORGEN, three-fifths English acre] of pasture-land, where colonists could be settled; and then the whole country would have navigation too, which would help the village of Fehrbellin and the town of Ruppin to an uncommon degree.'
KING. "'I suppose so! Be a great help to you, won't it; and many will be ruined by the job, especially the proprietors of the ground NICHT WAHR?' [Ha?]
ICH. "'Your Majesty's gracious pardon [EW. MAJESTAT HALTEN ZU GNADEN,--hold me to grace]: the ground belongs to the Royal Forest, and there grows nothing but birches on it.'
KING. "'Oh, if birchwood is all it produces, then we may see! But you must not make your reckoning without your host