The Sorrows of Young Werther | Page 4

country), he came to see me, and displayed his whole store of learning, from Batteaux to
Wood, from De Piles to Winkelmann: he assured me he had read through the first part of
Sultzer's theory, and also possessed a manuscript of Heyne's work on the study of the
antique. I allowed it all to pass.
I have become acquainted, also, with a very worthy person, the district judge, a frank and
open-hearted man. I am told it is a most delightful thing to see him in the midst of his
children, of whom he has nine. His eldest daughter especially is highly spoken of. He has

invited me to go and see him, and I intend to do so on the first opportunity. He lives at
one of the royal hunting-lodges, which can be reached from here in an hour and a half by
walking, and which he obtained leave to inhabit after the loss of his wife, as it is so
painful to him to reside in town and at the court.
There have also come in my way a few other originals of a questionable sort, who are in
all respects undesirable, and most intolerable in their demonstration of friendship.
Good-bye. This letter will please you: it is quite historical.
MAY 22.
That the life of man is but a dream, many a man has surmised heretofore; and I, too, am
everywhere pursued by this feeling. When I consider the narrow limits within which our
active and inquiring faculties are confined; when I see how all our energies are wasted in
providing for mere necessities, which again have no further end than to prolong a
wretched existence; and then that all our satisfaction concerning certain subjects of
investigation ends in nothing better than a passive resignation, whilst we amuse ourselves
painting our prison-walls with bright figures and brilliant landscapes, -- when I consider
all this, Wilhelm, I am silent. I examine my own being, and find there a world, but a
world rather of imagination and dim desires, than of distinctness and living power. Then
everything swims before my senses, and I smile and dream while pursuing my way
through the world.
All learned professors and doctors are agreed that children do not comprehend the cause
of their desires; but that the grown-up should wander about this earth like children,
without knowing whence they come, or whither they go, influenced as little by fixed
motives, but guided like them by biscuits, sugar-plums, and the rod, -- this is what
nobody is willing to acknowledge; and yet I think it is palpable.
I know what you will say in reply; for I am ready to admit that they are happiest, who,
like children, amuse themselves with their playthings, dress and undress their dolls, and
attentively watch the cupboard, where mamma has locked up her sweet things, and, when
at last they get a delicious morsel, eat it greedily, and exclaim, "More!" These are
certainly happy beings; but others also are objects of envy, who dignify their paltry
employments, and sometimes even their passions, with pompous titles, representing them
to mankind as gigantic achievements performed for their welfare and glory. But the man
who humbly acknowledges the vanity of all this, who observes with what pleasure the
thriving citizen converts his little garden into a paradise, and how patiently even the poor
man pursues his weary way under his burden, and how all wish equally to behold the
light of the sun a little longer, -- yes, such a man is at peace, and creates his own world
within himself; and he is also happy, because he is a man. And then, however limited his
sphere, he still preserves in his bosom the sweet feeling of liberty, and knows that he can
quit his prison whenever he likes.
MAY 26.
You know of old my ways of settling anywhere, of selecting a little cottage in some cosy

spot, and of putting up in it with every inconvenience. Here, too, I have discovered such a
snug, comfortable place, which possesses peculiar charms for me.
About a league from the town is a place called Walheim. (The reader need not take the
trouble to look for the place thus designated. We have found it necessary to change the
names given in the original.) It is delightfully situated on the side of a hill; and, by
proceeding along one of the footpaths which lead out of the village, you can have a view
of the whole valley. A good old woman lives there, who keeps a small inn. She sells wine,
beer, and coffee, and is cheerful and pleasant notwithstanding her age. The chief charm
of this spot consists in two linden-trees, spreading their enormous branches over the little
green before the church, which is