ed but badly.
It was I, not he, whose part it was to care for those concerns; and I
rejoiced with all my heart when he and his lovely young wife rode forth
in such bravery, when he sat as host at the head of a table
well-furnished with guests, and won all hearts by his lofty and fiery
spirit, which conquered even the least well-disposed. Yet was it not easy
to supply that which was needed, or to refrain from speech or reproof
when, for instance, my brother must need have from the land of Egypt for
Ann such another noble horse as the Emirs there are wont to ride. Or
could I require him to pay when, after that Heaven had blessed him with a
first born child, Herdegen, radiant with pride and joy, showed me a
cradle all of ivory overlaid with costly carved work which he had
commanded to be wrought for his darling by the most skilled master known
far and wide, for a sum which at that time would have purchased a small
house? Albeit it was nigh upon quarter day, I would have taken this and
much more upon me rather than have quenched his heart's great gladness;
and when I saw thee, Margery the younger, who art now thyself a
grandmother, sleeping like a king's daughter in that precious cradle, and
perceived with how great joy it filled thy parents to have their jewel in
so costly a bed, I rejoiced over my own patience.

It did my heart good, though I spoke not, to hear the Schoppers' house
praised as the friendliest in all Nuremberg; yet at other times meseemed
I saw shame and poverty standing at the door; and whereas, indeed, those
years of magnificence, which for sure were the hardest in all my life,
came to no evil issue, I owe this, next to Heaven's grace, to the trust
which many folks in Nuremberg placed in my honesty and judgment, far
beyond my desert. And when once, not long before my brother's over-early
death, I found myself to the very brow in water, as it were, it was that
faithfulest of all faithful friends, Uncle Christian Pfinzing, who read
the care in my eyes and face during the very last great banquet at
Herdegen's table, and led me into the oriel bay, and offered me all his
substance; and this is a goodly sum indeed and saved my trade from
shipwreck.

Next to him it is Cousin Maud that we three links the Schopper chain
ought ever to hold dearest in memory; and it was by a strange chance that
he and she died, not only on the same day, but, as it were, of the same
death. Death came upon him at the Schoppers' table