The Merchant of Berlin | Page 6

only men whom I hate," cried
Gotzkowsky quickly.
"Even were they noble and good?" asked Elise with reproachful tone.
Gotzkowsky looked at her with astonishment and curiosity, and a cloud
flitted across his brow. Then, as if shocked at his own thoughts, he
shook his head, and murmured in a low tone, "No, that were too
terrible!" He rose and paced the room in thoughtful mood. Suddenly a
burst of lively music and gleeful shouts were heard from the garden.
Gotzkowsky's brow brightened immediately, and he extended his hand
with a tender look.
"Come, my child," exclaimed he, "come, and see how happy you have

made men! Come, and see the power of wealth!"
[Footnote 1: "Gotzkowsky founded the first large velvet and silk
manufactories in Berlin. He was also the first to attend the Leipsic fair
with domestic goods, and thus open the commerce with Poland and
Russia."--History of a Patriotic Merchant of Berlin, 1768, pages
10-12.]
* * * * *

CHAPTER II.
THE WORKMAN'S HOLIDAY.
The garden, which stretched from behind Gotzkowsky's house to the
limits of the city, was really of artistic beauty, and he had spent
thousands in creating a park out of this dead level of sand. Now, his
work was completed, and all Berlin spoke with praise and admiration
of this garden, which ranked among the lions to be visited by every
traveller. The most splendid groups of trees were seen here and there,
interspersed among green plats of grass, ornamented by marble statues
or graceful fountains; in other places, trimmed hedges stretched along,
and from the conservatories exotic plants filled the air with perfume.
On this day, however, the garden presented a peculiarly lively spectacle.
On the lawn, the young girls and lads were dancing to the music of a
fiddle and bass-viol, while the older workmen and their wives had
seated themselves around tables, on which all kinds of refreshments
were spread.
At the largest of these tables, ornamented with flowers, was seated the
betrothed couple, the workman Balthazar and Gretchen his young bride,
who bashfully and affectionately clung to his side. They had loved each
other long and faithfully in silence, but without hope, for they were
both poor, and had to support themselves and their parents by the work
of their hands. But Gotzkowsky had come to them as a helping

benefactor; he had given Balthazar a considerable sum of money, and
his daughter Elise had bestowed a dower upon the bride. On this day,
Elise's eighteenth birthday, was to be celebrated the marriage of the
happy couple. No wonder, then, that they regarded Gotzkowsky with
feelings almost of adoration, and that this young girl appeared to them
as a benevolent angel.
Elise had just come into the garden with her father, and had taken her
seat at the table of the bridal pair. Next to her sat a young man, whose
mild and noble countenance seemed to be lighted up with happiness
and adoration whenever he looked upon her. He followed every one of
her motions with watchful eyes, and the most trifling shade, the
slightest change in the expression of her countenance, did not escape
him. At times he sighed, reading perhaps in her features the secret
thoughts of her soul, and these thoughts saddened him, and clouded his
bright clear eye.
This young man, who sat at Elise's side, was Bertram, Gotzkowsky's
head book-keeper. From his earliest youth he had been in the house of
the rich manufacturer, who had adopted the poor orphan, and treated
him as a tender father would have done, and Bertram loved him with all
the affection of a son. And never by the lips of a true son was the name
of father pronounced with more warmth and tenderness than by this son,
adopted and won by deeds of generosity.
But Bertram, who called Gotzkowsky father, had never ventured to call
Gotzkowsky's daughter sister. Brought up together, they had in their
childhood shared their games, their childish joys and sorrows with one
another; he had been a protecting brother to her, she an affectionate
sister to him. But ever since Bertram had returned from a journey of
three years, which Gotzkowsky had caused him to make, all this had
changed. Elise, whom he had left almost a child, he found on his return
a blooming young woman, and a feeling of joyous emotion flashed
through him as he stood blushing before her; while she, perfectly
collected, with a quiet look bade him welcome.
Under the charm of this look he had lived several weeks of rapture and
yet of anxiety. He soon felt that he loved this young girl passionately,

but he also felt that she returned his passion with the lukewarm
affection of a friend or a sister, and that she