[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

clear, the disappointment of not having been able to attend very
Page 105
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
closely to the second act of Tristan was negligible compared to the
cause that had occasioned it. It was possible for the ordinary
mortal to see Tristan over and over again, but to converse with the
Kaiser was a thing outside the range of the average man. And again
in this interval, as during the act itself, Michael was bombarded
with questions. What did the Kaiser say? Did he remember
Ashbridge? Did Michael twice receive the iron grip? Did the All-
highest say anything about the manoeuvres? Did he look tired, or
was it only the light above his head that made him appear so
haggard? Even his opinion about the opera was of interest. Did he
express approval?
This was too much for Michael.
"My dear Hermann," he said, "we alluded very cautiously to the
'Song to Aegir' this morning, and delicately remarked that you had
heard it once and I twice. How can you care what his opinion of
this opera is?"
Falbe shook his handsome head, and gesticulated with his fine
hands.
"You don't understand," he said. "You have just been talking to
him himself. I long to hear his every word and intonation. There
is the personality, which to us means so much, in which is summed
up all Germany. It is as if I had spoken to Rule Britannia
herself. Would you not be interested? There is no one in the
world who is to his country what the Kaiser is to us. When you
told me he had stayed at Ashbridge I was thrilled, but I was
ashamed lest you should think me snobbish, which indeed I am not.
But now I am past being ashamed."
He poured out a glass of wine and drank it with a "Hoch!"
"In his hand lies peace and war," he said. "It is as he pleases.
The Emperor and his Chancellor can make Germany do exactly what
Page 106
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
they choose, and if the Chancellor does not agree with the Emperor,
the Emperor can appoint one who does. That is what it comes to;
that is why he is as vast as Germany itself. The Reichstag but
advises where he is concerned. Have you no imagination, Michael?
Europe lies in the hand that shook yours."
MICHAEL
67
Michael laughed.
"I suppose I must have no imagination," he said. "I don't picture
it even now when you point it out."
Falbe pointed an impressive forefinger.
"But for him," he said, "England and Germany would have been at
each other's throats over the business at Agadir. He held the
warhounds in leash--he, their master, who made them."
"Oh, he made them, anyhow," said Michael.
"Naturally. It is his business to be ready for any attack on the
part of those who are jealous at our power. The whole Fatherland
is a sword in his hand, which he sheathes. It would long ago have
leaped from the scabbard but for him."
"Against whom?" asked Michael. "Who is the enemy?"
Falbe hesitated.
"There is no enemy at present," he said, "but the enemy potentially
is any who tries to thwart our peaceful expansion."
Suddenly the whole subject tasted bitter to Michael. He recalled,
instinctively, the Emperor's great curiosity to be informed on
English topics by the ordinary Englishman with whom he had
acquaintance.
"Oh, let's drop it," he said. "I really didn't come to Munich to
talk politics, of which I know nothing whatever."
Falbe nodded.
Page 107
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"That is what I have said to you before," he remarked. "You are
the most happy-go-lucky of the nations. Did he speak of England?"
"Yes, of his beloved England," said Michael. "He was extremely
cordial about our relations."
"Good. I like that," said Falbe briskly.
"And he recommended me to spend two months in Berlin in the
winter," added Michael, sliding off on to other topics.
Falbe smiled.
"I like that less," he said, "since that will mean you will not be
in London."
"But I didn't commit myself," said Michael, smiling back; "though I
can say 'beloved Germany' with equal sincerity."
Falbe got up.
MICHAEL
68
"I would wish that--that you were Kaiser of England," he said.
"God forbid!" said Michael. "I should not have time to play the
piano."
During the next day or two Michael often found himself chipping at
the bed-rock, so to speak, of this conversation, and Falbe's
revealed attitude towards his country and, in particular, towards
its supreme head. It seemed to him a wonderful and an enviable
thing that anyone could be so thoroughly English as Falbe certainly
was in his ordinary, everyday life, and that yet, at the back of
this there should lie so profound a patriotism towards another
country, and so profound a reverence to its ruler. In his general
outlook on life, his friend appeared to be entirely of one blood
with himself, yet now on two or three occasions a chance spark had
lit up this Teutonic beacon. To Michael this mixture of
nationalities seemed to be a wonderful gift; it implied a widening
Page 108
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
of one's sympathies and outlook, a larger comprehension of life
than was possible to any of undiluted blood.
For himself, like most young Englishmen of his day, he was not
conscious of any tremendous sense of patriotism like this.
Somewhere, deep down in him, he supposed there might be a source, a
well of English waters, which some explosion in his nature might
cause to flood him entirely, but such an idea was purely
hypothetical; he did not, in fact, look forward to such a
bouleversement as being a possible contingency. But with Falbe it
was different; quite a small cause, like the sight of the Rhine at
Cologne, or a Bavarian village at sunset, or the fact of a friend
having talked with the Emperor, was sufficient to make his innate
patriotism find outlet in impassioned speech. He wondered vaguely
whether Falbe's explanation of this--namely, that nationally the
English were prosperous, comfortable and insouciant--was perhaps
sound. It seemed that the notion was not wholly foundationless.
CHAPTER VI
Michael had been practising all the morning of a dark November day, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

zanotowane.pl

doc.pisz.pl

pdf.pisz.pl

razem.keep.pl