u play." "My dearest girl," I said, "do not blush so--and as for the
tremoloso motion of the head, we can't help it, great musicians all do
it." "Oh, indeed!" rejoined the girl. She was about to say more, when
a terrible racket arose in the inn; the front door was opened with a
bang, and a tall, lean fellow was shot out of it like a ramrod, after
which it was slammed to behind him.

At the first sound the girl ran off like a deer and vanished in the
darkness. The man picked himself up and began to rave against the
inn with such volubility that it was a wonder to hear him. "What!" he
yelled, "I drunk? I not pay the chalk-marks on your smoky door? Rub
them out! rub them out! Did I not shave you yesterday over a ladle,
and cut you just under the nose so that you bit the ladle in two?
Shaving takes off one mark; ladle, another mark; court-plaster on your
nose, another. How many more of your dirty marks do you want to have
paid? But all right--all right. I'll let the whole village, the whole
world go unshaved. Wear your beards, for all I care, till they are so
long that at the judgment-day the Almighty will not know whether you
are Jews or Christians. Yes, hang yourselves with your beards, shaggy
bears that you are!" Here he burst into tears and, in a maudlin,
falsetto voice, sobbed out, "Am I to drink water like a wretched fish?
Is that loving your neighbor? Am I not a man and a skilled surgeon?
Ah, I am beside myself today; my heart is full of pity, and of love
for my fellow-creatures." And then, finding that all was quiet in the
house, he began to walk away. When he saw me, he came plunging toward
me with outstretched arms. I thought the fellow was about to embrace
me, and sprang aside, letting him stumble on in the darkness, where I
heard him discoursing to himself for some time.

All sorts of fancies filled my brain. The girl who had given me the
rose was young, pretty, and rich. I could make my fortune before one
could turn round. And sheep and pigs, turkeys, and fat geese stuffed
with apples--verily, I seemed to see the Porter strutting up to me:
"Seize your luck, Receiver, seize your luck! 'Marry young, you're
never wrong;' take home your bride, live in the country, and live
well." Plunged in these philosophical reflections, I sat me down on
a stone, for, since I had no money, I did not venture to knock at
the inn. The moon shone brilliantly, the forests on the mountain-side
murmured in the still night; now and then