KING。"'HaveItodrivethroughthevillage?'
ICH。"'Itisnotindispensable;butthechangeofhorsesisthere。
IfyourMajestygiveorder,Iwillrideforward,sendthefreshhorsesoutofthevillage,andhavethemstationedtowaitatthefootofthehills。'
KING。"'Oja,doso!Takeoneofmypageswithyou。'
"Inowtookmeasuresaboutthenewteamofhorses,butsoarrangedit,thatwhenhisMajestygotuponthehillsIwastheretoo。
Atdismountingfromhiscarriageonthehilltop,hisMajestydemandedaprospectglass;lookedroundthewholeregion,andthensaid:'Well,intruth,thatisbeyondmyexpectation!Thatisbeautiful!Imustsaythistoyou,allofyouthathaveworkedinthisbusiness,youhavebehavedlikehonorablepeople!'[TOME]
'Tellmenow,istheElbefarfromhere?'
ICH。"'YourMajesty,itis2milesoff[10miles]。YonderisWurbenintheAltmark;itliesupontheElbe。'
KING。"'Thatcannotbe!Givemetheglassagain。Ja,ja,itistrue,though。Butwhatothersteepleisthat?'
ICH。"'YourMajesty,thatisHavelberg。'
KING。"'Na,comehere,allofyou!'(THEREWEREAMTSRATHKLAUSIUS,BAUINSPECTORMENZELIUSANDI。)'Hearnow,thetractofmoorheretotheleftmustalsobereclaimed;andwhatistotherighttoo,sofarasthemoorextends。Whatkindofwoodisthereonit?'
ICH。"'Alders(ELSEN)andoaks,yourMajesty。'
KING。"'Na!thealdersyoumayrootout;andtheoaksmaycontinuestanding;thepeoplemaysellthese,orusethemotherwise。
Whenoncethegroundisarable,Ireckonupon300familiesforit,and500headofcows,ha?'Nobodyanswered;atlastIbegan,andsaid:
ICH。"'Ja,yourMajesty,perhaps!'
KING。"'Hearnow,youmayanswermewithconfidence。Therewillbemoreorfewerfamilies。Iknowwellenoughonecannot,allatonce,exactlysay。Iwasneverthere,don'tknowtheground;otherwiseI
couldunderstandequallywithyouhowmanyfamiliescouldbeputuponit。'
THEBAUINSPECTOR。"'YourMajesty,theLUCHisstillsubjecttorightsofcommonfromagreatmanyhands。'
KING。"'Nomatterforthat。Youmustmakeexchanges,givethemanequivalent,accordingaswillanswerbestinthecase。Iwantnothingfromanybodyexceptatitsvalue。'[TOAMTSRATHKLAUSIUS]
'Na,hearnow,youcanwritetomyKammer[BOARD,BoardofWorksthatdoesNOTsitidle!],whatitisthatIwantreclaimedtotheplough;themoneyforitIwillgive。'[TOME]'Andyou,yougotoBerlin,andexplaintomyGeheimerRathMichaelis,bywordofmouth,whatitisIwantreclaimed。'
"HisMajestynowsteptintohiscarriageagain[wasGortzsittingallthewhile,stillinsilence?Orhadheperhapsgotoutatthebottomofthehill,andsatdowntoacontemplativepipeoftobacco,thesmokeofwhich,heartcheeringtoGortz,wasalwaysdisagreeabletoFriedrich?Nobodyknows!]anddrovedownthehill;
therethehorseswerechanged。Andnow,ashisMajesty'sorderwasthatIshould'attendhimtotheStollenhills,'Iwentuptothecarriage,andasked:
ICH。"'DoesyourMajestycommandthatIshouldyetaccompanyfarther'["BEFEHLEN,command,"inthepluralispolite,"yourMajesty,thatIyetfarthershallWITH"]?
KING。"'No,myson;ride,inGod'sname,home。'
"TheHerrAmtsrath[Klausius]thenaccompaniedhisMajestytoRathenow,wherehe[THEY:HisMajestyisplural]lodgedinthePosthouse。AtRathenow,duringdinner,hisMajestywasuncommonlycheerful:hedinedwithHerrLieutenantColonelvonBackhofoftheCarabineers,andtheHerrLieutenantColonelvonBackhofhimselfhasrelatedthathisMajestysaid:
"'MygoodVonBackhof(MEINLIEBERVONBACKHOF):ifHe[you]havenotforalongtimebeenintheFehrbellinneighborhood,gothere。'"Fehrbellin,thePrussianBANNOCKBURN;wheretheGreatElectorcutthehithertoinvincibleSwedesINTWO,amongtheDAMS
andintricatemooryquagmires,withavastlyinferiorforce,nearlyallofcavalry(ledbyoneDERFLINGER,whoinhisapprenticetimehadbeenaTAILOR);beatoneendofthemalltorags,thengallopedoffandbeattheotherintoditto;quitetakingtheconceitoutoftheSwedes,oratleastclearingPrussiaofthemforeverandaday:
afeatmuchadmiredbyFriedrich:"'Gothere,'hesays。
'Thatregionisuncommonlyimproved[asIsawtoday]!Ihavenotforalongtimehadsuchapleasantdrive。IdecidedonthisjourneybecauseIhadnoREVIEWonhand;andithasgivenmesuchpleasurethatIshallcertainlyhaveanotherbyandby。'
"'Tellmenow:howdidyougetoninthelastWar[KARTOFFELKRIEG,nofighting,onlyascrambleforproviantand"potatoes"]?
Mostlikelyill!YouinSaxonytoocouldmakenothingout。
Thereasonwas,wehadnotmentofightagainst,butcannons!
Imighthavedoneathingortwo;butIshouldhavesacrificedmorethanthehalfofmyArmy,andshedinnocenthumanblood。InthatcaseIshouldhavedeservedtobetakentotheGuardhousedoor,andtohavegotasixscorethere(EINENOFFFENTLICHENPRODUKT)!
Warsarebecomingfrightfultocarryon。'
"'ThiswassurelytouchingtohearfromthemouthofagreatMonarch,'saidHerrLieutenantColonelvonBackhoftome,andtearscameintothatoldsoldier'seyes。"AfterwardshisMajestyhadsaid:
"OftheBattleofFehrbellinIknoweverything,almostasifI
myselfhadbeenthere!WhileIwasCrownPrince,andlayinRuppin,therewasanoldtownsman,themanwaseventhenveryold:hecoulddescribethewholeBattle,andknewthesceneofitextremelywell。
OnceIgotintoacarriage,tookmyoldgeniuswithme,whoshowedmeallovertheground,anddescribedeverythingsodistinctly,I
wasmuchcontentedwithhim。Aswewerecomingback,Ithought:
Come,letmehavealittlefunwiththeoldblade;soIaskedhim:
'Father,don'tyouknow,then,whythetwoSovereignscametoquarrelwithoneanother?''Oja,yourRoyalHighnessES[fromthispointwehavePlattDeutsch,PRUSSIANdialect,fortheoldman'sspeech;barelyintelligible,asScotchistoaningeniousEnglishman],DATWILLICKSEWOHLSEGGEN,Icaneasilytellyouthat。WhenourChorforste[Kurfursts,GreatElector]wasyoung,hestudiedinUtrecht;andtheretheKingofSwedenhappenedtobetoo。Andnowthetwoyounglordspickedsomequarrel,gottopullingcaps[fellintooneanother'shair],ANDDITISNUDEPICKE
DAVON,andthisnowwastheupshotofit。'HisMajestyspokethisinPlattDeutsch,asheregiven;butgrewattablesowearythathe(they)fellasleep。"SofarBackhof;andnowagainFrommebywayoffinish:
"OfhisMajesty'sjourneyIcangivenofartherdescription。
ForthoughhisMajestyspokeandaskedmanythingselse;itwouldbedifficulttobringthemalltopaper。"AndsoendstheDAYWITH
FRIEDRICHTHEGREAT;veryflat,butIdaresayveryTRUE:
aDaguerrotypeofoneofhisDays。