l, and again there were
some quite fresh ones, of pure, unalloyed silver. He could not express
his thoughts as well as his wife had done on that day when she had
talked with John--his language was stiff in all its joints--but still he
managed to hit the point, and almost gave himself the appearance of
taking Amrei's part against his wife; nor was it at all amiss when he
said:

"Look you, the Dame is like the 'good hour' itself; but the good hour is
not a good day, a good week, or a good year. She is but a woman, and
with women it is always April weather; for a woman is only half a
person--that I maintain, and nobody can dissuade me from it!"

"You give us fine praise," said Amrei.

"Yes, it is true," said the Farmer, "I am talking to you. But as I was
saying, the Dame is a good soul, only she's too good. Consequently it
annoys her when one doesn't do as she says, because she means well; and
she thinks one doesn't know how good she really is, if one does not obey
her. She can't understand that often one does not obey her because what
she asks is inadvisable, however good her intentions may have been. And
remember this especially; don't ever do anything after her, that is,
just as she does it; do it your own way, the way you think is right--she
likes that much better. She does not like to have it appear that people
are subject to her orders--but you will find all that out yourself. And
if anything should happen, for heaven's sake don't put your husband
between two fires! There is nothing worse than when a husband stands
between his wife and mother, and the mother says: 'I no longer amount to
anything as far as my daughter-in-law is concerned; yes, even my own
children are untrue to me;' and the wife says 'Yes, now I see what kind
of a man you are--you let your wife be trampled on!' I advise you, if
anything should come up that you can't manage by yourself, to tell me
about it quietly, and I'll help you. But; as I say, don't put your
husband between two fires. He has been a bit spoiled by his mother, but
he'll grow more manly now. Just keep on pushing ahead, and think of me
as one of your family, and as your natural protector. For that is true;
on your mother's side I am very distantly related to you."

And now he tried to disentangle a strangely intricate genealogy; but be
was unable to find the right thread, and succeeded only in getting the
different relationships more and more mixed up, like a skein of yarn.
And at