Buddenbrooks (29 page)

CHAPTER VII

IN the morning at eight o'clock Consul Buddenbrook, so soon as he had left his bed, stolen through the little door and down the winding stair into the bathroom, taken a bath, and put on his night-shirt again--Consul 3uddenbrook, we say, began to busy himself with public affairs. For then Herr Wenzel, barber and member of the Assembly, appeared, with his in-telligent face and his red hands, his razors and other tools, and the basin of warm water which he had fetched from the kitchen; and the Consul sat in a reclining-chair and leaned his head back, and Herr Wenzel began to make a lather; and there ensued almost always a conversation that began with the weather and how you had slept the night beforr, wpnt on to politics and the great world, thence to domestic1 aflaiis in the city itself, and closed in an intimate and familiar key on business and family matters. All this prolonged very much the process in hand, for every time the Consul said anything Herr Wenzel had to stop shaving. "Hope you slept well, Herr Consul?" "Yes, thanks, Wenzel. Is it fine to-day?" "Frost and a bit of snow, Herr Consul. In front of St. James's the boys have made another slide, more than ten yards long--I nearly sat down, when I came from the Burgomas-ter's. The young wretches!" "Seen the papers?" "The Advertiser and the Hamburg News--yes. Nothing in them but the Orsini bombs. Horrible. It happened on the way to the opera. Oh, they must be a fine lot over there." "Oh, it doesn't signify much, I should think. It has nothing to do with the people, and the only effect will be that the police will be doubled and there will be twice as much inter- BUDDENBRODK5 ference with the press. He is on his guard. Yes, it must be a perpetual strain, for he has to introduce new projects all the time, to keep himself in power. But I respect him, all the same. At all events, he can't be a fool, with his traditions, and I was very much impressed with the cheap bread affair. There is no doubt he does a great deal for the people." "Yes, Herr Kistenmaker says so too." "Stephan? We were talking about it yesterday." "It looks bad for Frederick William of Prussia. Things won't last much longer as they are. They say already that the prince will be made Regent in time." "It will be interesting to see what happens then. He has already shown that he has liberal ideas and does not feel his brother's secret disgust for the Constitution. It is just the chagrin that upsets him, poor man. What is the news from Copenhagen?" "Nothing new, Herr Consul. They simply won't. The Confederation has declared that a united government for Hoi-stein and Lauenburg is illegal--they won't have it at any price." "Yes, it is unheard-of, Wenzel. They dare the Bundestag to put it into operation--and if it were a little more lively--oh, these Danes!--Careful with -that chapped place, Wenzel.--There's our direct-line Hamburg railway, too. That has cost some diplomatic battles, and will cost more before they get the concession from Copenhagen." "Yes, Herr Consul. The stupid thing is that the Altona-Kiel Railway Company is against it--and, in fact, all Hoi-stein is. Dr. Dverdieck, the Burgomaster, was saying so just now. They are dreadfully afraid of Kiel prospering much." "Of course, Wenzel. A new connection between the North Sea and the Baltic.--You'll see, the Kiel-Altona line will keep on intriguing. They are in a position to build a rival railway: East Holstein, Neuminster, Neustadt--yes, that is quite on the cards. But we must not let ourselves be bullied, and we must have a direct route to Hamburg." 355 "Herr Consul must take the matter up himself." "Certainly, so far as my powers go, and wherever I have any influence. I am interested in the development of our railways--it is a tradition with us from 1851 on. My Father was a director of the Buchen line, which is probably the rea-son why I was elected so young. I am only thirty-three years old, and my services so far have been very inconsiderable." "Oh, Herr Consul! How can the Herr Consul say that after his speech in the Assembly--?" 'Yes, that made an impression, and I've certainly shown my good will, at least. I can only be grateful that my Father, Grandfather, and great-Grandfather prepared the way for me, and that I inherited so much of the respect and confidence they received from the town; for without it I could not move as I am now able to. For instance, after '48 and the begin-ning of this decade, what did my Father not do towards the reform of our postal service? Think how he urged in the Assembly the union of the Hamburg diligences with the postal service; and how in 1850 he forced the Senate by continuous pressure to join the German-Austrian Postal Union! If we have cheap letter postage now, and stamps and book post, and letter-boxes, and telegraphic connection with Hamburg and Travemunde, he is not the last one to be grateful to. Why, if he and a few other people had not kept at the Senate continually, we should most likely still be behind the Danish and the Thurn-and-Taxis postal service! So when I have an opinion nowadays on these subjects, people listen to me." "The Herr Consul is speaking God's truth. About the Ham-burg line, Doctor Overdieck was saying to me only three days ago: 'When we get where we can buy a suitable site for the station in Hamburg, we will send Consul Buddenbrook to help transact the business, for in such dealings he is better than most lawyers.' Those were his very words." "Well, that is very flattering to me, Wenzel.--Just put a little more lather on my chin, will you? It wants a bit more cleaning up.--Yes, the truth is, we mustn't let the grass grow under our feet. I am saying nothing against Overdieck, but he is getting on. If I were Burgomaster I'd make things move a little faster. I can't tell you how pleased I am that they are installing gas for the street-lighting, and the miser-able old oil-lamps are disappearing--I admit I had a little something to do with that change. Dh, how much there is to do! Times are changing, Wenzel, and we have many responsi-bilities toward the new age. When I think back to my boy-hood--you know better than I do what the town looked like then: the streets without sidewalks, grass growing a foot high between the paving-stones, and the houses with porticos and benches sticking out into the streets--and our buildings from the time of the Middle Ages spoilt with clumsy additions, and all tumbling down because, while individuals had money and nobody went hungry, the town had none at all and just muddled along, as my brother-in-law calls it, without ever thinking of repairs. That was a happy and comfortable gen-eration, when my grandfather's crony, the good Jean Jacques Hofstede, strolled about the town and translated improper little French poems. They had to end, those good old times; they have changed, and they will have to change still more. Then the population was thirty-seven thousand: now it is fifty, you know, and the whole character of the place is altering. There is so much building, and the suburbs are spreading out, and we are able to have good streets and restore the old monuments out of our great period. Yrt even all that is merely superficial. The most important matter is still out-standing, my dear Wenzel. I mean, of course, the ceterum renseo of my dear Father: the custams union. We must join, Wenzel; there should be no longer any question about it, and you must all help me fight for it. As a business man, believe me, I am better informed than the diplomats, and the fear that we should lose independence and freedom of action is simply laughable in this case. The Mecklenburg and Schleswig-Holstein Inland would take us in, which is the more desirable for the reason that we do not control the northern trade quite 357 to the extent that we once did.--That's enough. Please give me the towel, Wenzel," concluded the Consul. Then the market price of rye, which stood at fifty-five thaler and showed disquieting signs of falling still further, ivas talked about, and perhaps there was a mention of some event or other in the town; and then Herr Wenzel vanished by the basement route and emptied the lather out of his shiny basin on to the pavement in the street. And the Consul mounted the winding stair into the bedroom, and found Gerda awake, and kissed her on the forehead. Then he dressed. These little morning sessions with the lively barber formed the introduction to busy days, full to running over with thinking, talking, writing, reckoning, doing business, going about in the town. Thanks to his travel, his interests, and his knowledge of affairs, Thomas Buddenbrook's mind was the least provincial in the distrirt; and he was certainly the first to realize the limitations of his lot. The lively interest in public affairs which the years of the Revolution had brought in, was suffering throughout the whole country from a period of prostration and arrest, and that field was too sterile to oc-cupy a vigorous talent; but Thomas Buddenbrook possessed the spirit to take to himself that wise old saying that all hu-man achievement is of a merely symbolic value, and thus to devote all that he had of capacity, enthusiasm, energy, and strength of will to the service of the community as well as to the service of his own name and firm. He stood in the front rank of his small society and was seriously ambitious to give his city greatness and power within her sphere--though he nad the intellect too, to smile at himself for the ambition *ven while he cherished it. He ate his breakfast, served by Anton, and went to the office in Meng Street, where he remained pbout an hour, writing two or three pressing letters and telegrams, giving this or that instruction, imparting to the wheels of industry a small push, and then leaving them to revolve under the cautious eye of Herr Marcus. He went to assemblies and committee meetings, visited the Bourse, which was held under the Gothic arcades in the Market square, inspected dockyards and warehouses, talked with the captains of the ships he owned, and transacted much and various business all day long until evening, interrupted only by the hasty luncheon with his Mother and dinner with Gerda; after which he took a half-hour's rest on the sofa with his cigarette and the newspaper. Customs, rates, construction, railways, posts, almonry--all this as well as his own business occupied him; and even in matters commonly left to profes-sionals he acquired insight and judgment, especially in finance, where he early showed himself extremely gifted.- He was careful not to neglect the social side. True, he was not always punctual, and usually appeared at the very last minute, when the carriage waited below and his wife sat in full toilette. "I'm sorry, Cerda," he would say; "I was detained"; and he would dash upstairs to don his evening clothes. But when he arrived at a dinner, a ball, or an eve-ning company, he showed lively interest and ranked as a charming causeur. And in entertaining he and his wife were not behind the other rich houses. In kitchen and cellar every-thing was "tip-top," and he himself was considered a most courteous and tactful host, whose toasts were wittier than the common run. His quiet evenings he spent at home with Gerda alone, smoking, listening to her music, or reading with her some book of her selection. Thus his labours enforced success, his consequence grew in the town, and the firm had excellent years, despite the sums drawn out to settle Christian and to pay Tony's second dowry. And yet there were troubles which had, at times, the power to lame his courage for hours, weaken his elasticity, and depress his mood. There was Christian in Hamburg. His partner, Herr Bur-meester, had died quite suddenly of an apoplectic stroke, in the spring of the year 1858. His heirs drew their money out of the business, and the Consul strongly advised Christian 359 against trying to continue it with his own means, for he knew how difficult it is to carry on a business already established on definite lines if the working capital be suddenly diminished. But Christian insisted upon the continuation of his independ-ence. He took over the assets and the liabilities of H. C. F. Burmeester and Company, and trouble was to be looked for. Then there was the Consul's sister Clara in Riga. Her mar-riage with Pastor Tiburtius had remained unblest with chil-dren--but then, as Clara Buddenbrook she had never wanted children, and probably had very little talent for motherhood. Now her husband wrote that her health left much to be desired. The severe headaches from which she had suffered even as a girl were now recurring periodically, to an almost unbearable extent. That was disquieting. And even here at home there was another source of worry--for, as yet, there was no certainty whatever that the family name would live. Gerda treated the subject with sovereign indifference which came very near to being repugnance. Thomas concealed his anxiety. But the old Frau Consul took the matter in hand and consulted Crabow. "Doctor--just between ourselves--something is bound to happen sometime, isn't it? A little mountain air at Kreuth, a little seashore at Glucksberg or Travemiinde--but they don't seem to work. What do you advise?" Dr. Grabow's pleasant old prescription: "a nourishing diet, a little pigeon, a slice of French bread," didn't seem strong enough, either, to fit the case. He ordered Pyrmont and Schlangenbad. Those were three worries. And Tony? Poor Tony!

CHAPTER VIII

SHE wrote: "... And when I say 'croquettes,' she doesn't understand me, because here they are called 'meaties'; and when she says 'broccoli,' how could any Christian know she means cauliflower? When I say 'baked potatoes,' she screams 'How?' at me, until I remember to say 'roast potatoes,' which is what they call them here. 'How' means 'What did you say?' And she is the second one I've had--I s�nt away the first one, named Katy, because she was so impertinent--or at least, I thought she was. I'm getting to see now that I may have been mistaken, for I'm never quite sure whether people here mean to be rude or friendly. This one's name is Ba-bette. She has a very pleasing exterior, with something southern, the way of some of them have here; black hair and eyes, and teeth that any one might envy. She is willing, too, and I am teaching her how to make some of our home dishes. Yesterday we had sorrel and currants, but I wish I hadn't, for Permaneder objected so much to the sorrel--he picked the currants out with a fork--that he would not speak to me the whole afternoon, but just growled; and I can tell you, Mother, that life is not so easy." Alas, it was not only the sorrel and the "meaties" that were embittering Tony's life. Before the honeymoon was over she had had a blow so unforeseen, so unexpected, so incompre-hensible, that it took away all her joy in life. She could not get over it. And here it was. Not until after the Permaneder couple had been some weeks in Munich had Consul Buddenbrook liquidated the sum fixed by his Father's will as his sister's second marriage portion. That sum, translated into gulden, had at last safely reached Herr Permaneder's hands, and Herr Permaneder had 361 invested it securely and not unprofitably. But then, what he had said, quite unblushingly and without embarrassment, to his wife, was this: "Tonerl"--he called her "Tonerl"--"Tonerl, that's good enough for me. What do we want of more? I been working my hide off all my days; now I'd like to sit down and have a little peace and quiet, damned if I wouldn't. Let's rent the parterre and the second floor, and still we'll have a good house, where we can sit and eat our bit of pig's meat without screwing ourselves up anil putting on so much lug. And in the evening I can go to the Hofbrau house. I'm no swell--I don't care about scraping money to-gether. I want my comfort. I quit to-morrow and go into private life." "Permaneder!" she had cried; and for the first time she had spoken his name with that peculiar throaty sound which her voice always had when she uttered the name of Grunlich. "Oh, shut up! Don't take on!" was all he answered. There had followed, thus early in their life together, a quarrel, serious and violent enough to endanger the happiness of any marriage. He came off victorious. Her passionate resist-ance was shattered upon his urgent longing for "peace and quiet." It ended in Herr Permaneder's withdrawing the capi-tal he had in the hop business, so that now Herr Noppe, in his turn, could strike the "and Company" off his card. After which Tony's husband, like most of the friends whom he met around the table in the Hofbrau House, to play cards and drink his regular three litres of beer, limited his activities to the raising of rents in his capacity of landlord, and to an un-disturbed cutting of coupons. The Frau Consul was notified quite simply of thia fact. But Frau Permaneder's distress was evident in the letters which she wrote to her brother. Poor Tony! Her worst fears were more than realized. She had always known that Herr Permaneder possessed none of that "resourrefulness" of which her first husband had had so much; but that he would so en-tirely confound the expectations she had expressed to Mam sell Jungmann on the eve of her betrothal--that he would so com-pletely fail to recognize the duties he had taken upon himself when he married a Buddenbrook--that she had never dreamed. But these feelings must be overcome; and her family at home saw from her letters how she resigned herself. She lived on rather monotonously with her husband and Erica, who went to school; she attended to her housekeeping, kept up friendly relations with the people who rented the parterre and the first storey and with the Niederpaur family in Marienplatz; and she wrote now and then of going to the theatre with her friend Eva. Herr Permaneder did not care for the theatre. And it came out that he had grown to more than forty years of age in his beloved Munich without ever having seen the in-side of the Pinakothek. Time passed. But Tony could feel no longer any true happiness in her new life, since the day when Herr Permane-der received her dowry and settled himself down to enjoy his ease. Hope was no more. She would never be able to write home to announce new ventures and new successes. Just as life was now--free from cares, it was true, but so limited, so lamentably "unrefined,"--just so it would remain until the end. It weighed upon her. It was plain from her letters that this very lowness of tone was making it harder for her to adapt herself to the south-German surroundings. In small matters, of course, things grew easier. She learned to make herself understood by the servants and errand-boys, to say "meaties" instead of "croquettes," and to set no more fruit soup before her husband after the one he had called a "sickening mess." But, in general, she remained a stranger in her new home; and she never ceased to taste the bitterness of the knowledge that to be a born Buddenbrook was not to enjoy any particular prestige in her adopted home. She once related in a letter the story of how she met in the street a mason's ap-prentire, carrying a mug of beer in one hand and holding a large white radish by its tail in the other; who, waving his beer, said jovially: "Neighbour, can ye tell us the time?" 353 She made a joke of it, in the telling; yet even so, a strong undercurrent of irritation betrayed itself. You might be quite certain that she threw back her head and vouchsafed to the poor man neither answer nor glance in his direction. But it was not alone this lack of formality and absence of distinctions that made her feel strange and unsympathetic. She did not live deeply, it is true, into the life or affairs of her new home; but she breathed the Munich air, the air of a great city, full of artists and citizens who habitually did nothing: an air with something about it a little demoralizing, which she sometimes found it hard to take good-humouredly. The days passed. And then it seemed that there was after all a joy in store--in fact, the very one which was longed for in vain in Broad Street and Meng Street. For not long after the New Year of 1S59 Tony felt certain that she was again to become a mother. The joy of it trembled in her letters, which were full of the old childish gaiety and sense of importance. The Frail Con-sul, who, with the exception of the summer holiday, confined her journeyings more and more to the Baltic coast, lamented that she could not be with her daughter at this time. Tom and Gerda made plans to go to the christening, and Tony's head was full of giving them an elegant reception. Alas, poor Tony! The visit which took place was sad indeed, and the christening--Tony had cherished visions of a ravishing little feast, with flowers, sweetmeats, and chocolate--never took place at all. The child, a little girl, only entered into life for a tiny quarter of an hour; then, though the doctor did his best to set the pathetic little mechanism going, it faded out of being. Consul Buddenbrook and his wife arrived in Munich to find Tony herself not out of danger. She was far more ill than before, and a nervous weakness from which she had al-ready suffered prevented her from taking any nourishment at all for several days. Then she began to eat, and on their de-parture, the Buddenbrooks felt reassured as far as her health was concerned. But in other ways there was much reason for anxiety; for it had been all too plain, especially to the Con-sul's observant eye, that not even their common loss would suffice to bring husband and wife together again. There was nothing against Herr Permaneder's good heart. He was truly shaken by the death of the child; big tears rolled down out of his bulging eyes upon his puffy cheeks and on into his frizzled beard. Many times he sighed deeply and gave vent to his favourite expression. But, after all, Tony felt that his "peace and quiet" had not suffered any long in-terruption. After a few evenings, he sought the Hofbrau House for consolation, and was soon, as he always said, "mud-dling along" again in his old, good-natured, comfortable, grumbling way, with the easy fatalism natural to him. But from now on Tony's letters never lost their hopeless, even complaining tone. "Oh, Mother," she wrote, "why do I have to bear everything like this? First Gr� and the bankruptcy, and then Permaneder going out of business--and then the baby! How have I deserved all these misfor-tunes?" When the Consul read these he could never quite forego a little smile; for, notwithstanding all the real pain they showed, he heard an undertone of almost comic pride, and he knew that Tony Buddenbrook, as Madame Gr� or as Madame Permaneder, was and would remain a child. She bore all her mature experiences almost with a child's unbelief in their reality, yet with a child's seriousness, a child's self-importance, and, above all, with a child's power to throw them off at will. She could not understand how she had deserved her mis-fortunes; for even while she mocked at her mother's piety, she herself was so full of it that she fervently believed in justice and righteousness on this earth. Poor Tony! The death of her second child was neither the last nor the hardest blow that fell upon her. As the year ]859 drew to a close, something frightful indeed happened.