Margery

Margery [Gred], Complete, by
Georg Ebers

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Title: Margery [Gred], Complete A Tale Of Old Nuremberg
Author: Georg Ebers
Release Date: October 17, 2006 [EBook #5560]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGERY
[GRED], COMPLETE ***

Produced by David Widger

MARGERY, Complete
(GRED)
A TALE OF OLD NUREMBERG

By Georg Ebers
Translated from the German by Clara Bell

Volume 1.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTE:
In translating what is supposed to be a transcript into modern German
of the language of Nuremberg in the fifteenth century, I have made no
attempt to imitate English phraseology of the same date. The difficulty
would in fact be insuperable to the writer and the annoyance to the
reader almost equally great.
I have merely endeavored to avoid essentially modern words and forms
of speech.

INTRODUCTION:
"PIETRO GIUSTINIANI, merchant, of Venice." This was the signature
affixed to his receipt by the little antiquary in the city of St. Mark, from
whom I purchased a few stitched sheets of manuscript. What a name
and title!
As I remarked on the splendor of his ancestry he slapped his pocket,
and exclaimed, half in pride and half in lamentation:
"Yes, they had plenty of money; but what has become of it?"
"And have you no record of their deeds?" I asked the little man, who
himself wore a moustache with stiff military points to it.
"Their deeds!" he echoed scornfully. "I wish they had been less zealous
in their pursuit of fame and had managed their money matters

better!--Poor child!"
And he pointed to little Marietta who was playing among the old books,
and with whom I had already struck up a friendship. She this day
displayed some strange appendage in the lobes of her ears, which on
closer examination I found to be a twist of thread.
The child's pretty dark head was lying confidentially against my arm
and as, with my fingers, I felt this singular ornament, I heard, from
behind the little desk at the end of the counter, her mother's shrill voice
in complaining accents: "Aye, Sir, it is a shame in a family which has
given three saints to the Church--Saint Nicholas, Saint Anna, and Saint
Eufemia, all three Giustinianis as you know--in a family whose sons
have more than once worn a cardinal's hat--that a mother, Sir, should be
compelled to let her own child--But you are fond of the little one, Sir,
as every one is hereabout. Heh, Marietta! What would you say if the
gentleman were to give you a pair of ear-rings, now; real gold ear-rings
I mean? Thread for ear-rings, Sir, in the ears of a Giustiniani! It is
absurd, preposterous, monstrous; and a right-thinking gentleman like
you, Sir, will never deny that."
How could I neglect such a hint; and when I had gratified the
antiquary's wife, I could reflect with some pride that I might esteem
myself a benefactor to a family which boasted of its descent from the
Emperor Justinian, which had been called the 'Fabia gens' of Venice,
and, in its day had given to the Republic great generals, far-seeing
statesmen, and admirable scholars.
When, at length, I had to quit the city and took leave of the
curiosity-dealer, he pressed my hand with heartfelt regret; and though
the Signora Giustiniani, as she pocketed a tolerably thick bundle of
paper money, looked at me with that kindly pity which a good woman
is always ready to bestow on the inexperienced, especially when they
are young, that, no doubt, was because the manuscript I had acquired
bore such a dilapidated appearance. The margins of the thick old
Nuremberg paper were eaten into by mice and insects, in many places
black patches like tinder dropped away from the yellow pages; indeed,
many passages of the once clear writing had so utterly faded that I

scarcely hoped to see them made legible again by the chemist's art.
However, the contents of the document were so interesting and
remarkable, so unique in relation to the time when it was written, that
they irresistibly riveted my attention, and in studying them I turned half
the night into day. There were nine separate parts. All, except the very
last one, were in the same hand, and they seemed to have formed a
single book before they were torn asunder. The cover and title-page
were lost, but at the head of the first page these words were written in