The Story of My Life from Childhood to Manhood

The Story Of My Life From
Childhood To
by Georg Ebers

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Title: The Story Of My Life From Childhood To Manhood The
Autobiography Of Georg Ebers, Complete
Author: Georg Ebers
Release Date: October 17, 2006 [EBook #5599]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
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STORY OF MY LIFE FROM ***

Produced by David Widger

THE STORY OF MY LIFE FROM CHILDHOOD TO MANHOOD
THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF GEORG EBERS, Complete

Volume 1.

Translated from the German by Mary J. Safford

TO MY SONS.
When I began the incidents of yore, Still in my soul's depths treasured,
to record, A voice within said: Soon, life's journey o'er, Thy portrait
sole remembrance will afford.
And, ere the last hour also strikes for thee, Search thou the harvest of
the vanished years. Not futile was thy toil, if thou canst see That for thy
sons fruit from one seed appears.
Upon the course of thine own life look back, Follow thy struggles
upwards to the light; Methinks thy errors will not seem so black, If they
thy loved ones serve to guide aright.
And should they see the star which 'mid the dark Illumed thy pathway
to thy distant goal, Thither they'll turn the prow of their life bark; Its
radiance their course also will control.
Ay, when the ivy on my grave doth grow, When my dead hand the
helm no more obeys, This book to them the twofold light will show, To
which I ne'er forget to turn my gaze.
One heavenward draws, with rays so mild and clear, Eyes dim with
tears, when the world darkness veils, Showing 'mid desert wastes the
spring anear, If, spent with wandering, your courage fails.

Since first your lips could syllable a prayer, Its mercy you have proved
a thousandfold; I too received it, though unto my share Fell what I pray
life ne'er for you may hold.
The other light, whose power full well you know, E'en though in words
I nor describe nor name, Alike for me and you its rays aye glow--
Maternal love, by day and night the same.
This light within your youthful hearts has beamed, Ripening the germs
of all things good and fair; I also fostered them, and joyous dreamed Of
future progress to repay our care.
Thus guarded, unto manhood you have grown; Still upward, step by
step, you steadfast rise The oldest, healing's noble art has won; The
second, to his country's call replies;
The third, his mind to form is toiling still; And as this book to you I
dedicate, I see the highest wish life could fulfil In you, my trinity, now
incarnate.
To pay it homage meet, my sons I'll guide As I revere it, 'mid the
world's turmoil, Love for mankind, which putteth self aside, In love for
native land and blessed toil.
GEORG EBERS.
TOTZING ON THE STARNBERGER SEE, October 1, 1892.

INTRODUCTION.
In this volume, which has all the literary charm and deftness of
character drawing that distinguish his novels, Dr. Ebers has told the
story of his growth from childhood to maturity, when the loss of his
health forced the turbulent student to lead a quieter life, and inclination
led him to begin his Egyptian studies, which resulted, first of all, in the
writing of An Egyptian Princess, then in his travels in the land of the
Pharaohs and the discovery of the Ebers Papyrus (the treatise on

medicine dating from the second century B.C.), and finally in the series
of brilliant historical novels that has borne his name to the corners of
the earth and promises to keep it green forever.
This autobiography carries the reader from 1837, the year of Dr.
Ebers's birth in Berlin, to 1863, when An Egyptian Princess was
finished. The subsequent events of his life were outwardly calm, as
befits the existence of a great scientist and busy romancer, whose
fecund fancy was based upon a groundwork of minute historical
research.
Dr. Ebers attracted the attention of the learned world by his treatise on
Egypt and the Book of Moses, which brought him a professorship at his
university, Gottingen, in 1864, the year following the close of this
autobiography. His marriage to the daughter of a burgomaster of Riga
took place soon afterward. During the long years of their union Mrs.
Ebers was his active helpmate, many of the business details relating to