rewell, dear and honored friend; remember me affectionately to
Bhani, who, I trust, does not suffer too severely from this hard
winter, and always believe in the faithful friendship and devotion of
your

"WILHELM EYNHARDT."

Three days later Wilhelm received the following answer from Schrotter:

"DEAREST FRIEND: Your long and welcome New Year's letter troubled me
much on account of the state of mind I see revealed in it. I think,
however, that it is explained by the fact of your being rooted up out
of your accustomed surroundings that you are oppressed by Haber's
hospitality, and that you have as yet made no plans for the future, and
I trust that your spirits will improve when these three circumstances
are altered.

"I have always considered Haber, with all his good qualities of heart
and character, a thoroughly commonplace man, and your observations
verify my opinion to the full. And yet I quite understand that the
sight of his prosperity and self-satisfaction should give you food for
thought, and raise the question in your mind whether his philosophy--if
I may use the word--or yours, is the right one. That is a great
question, and I do not presume to answer it, either in general or for
your particular case; and all the more, for the very good reason that
your life is only really beginning now. You are not yet thirty-four,
you may yet do something great, something pre-eminent, and who knows if
those very qualities which have made your life unproductive hitherto,
may not enable you later on to do things beside which the achievements
of a Paul Haber shrink into insignificance? On the other hand, I am
persuaded--quite apart from your respective ways of life--that you have
chosen the better and higher part.

"Human nature is like a tower with many stories; some people inhabit
the lower, others the higher ones. The inhabitants of the cellars and
ground floor may, in their way, be good, decent, praiseworthy people,
but they can never enjoy the same amount of light, the same pure air
and wide view as those who live on the upper stories. Now you, my dear
young friend, live several floors higher up than our good Paul Haber,
whom, however, I value and am very fond of. But there are people living
over our heads too. I have known Indian sages who looked down upon all
we strive after and with which we occupy ourselves with the same
pitying wonder as you do on Haber's passion for sport and 'skat,' and
his longing for a tit