The Königsstuhl, June 10.
Lieber Herrn Taylor!
(Don’t know whether it ought to be Herr or Herrn). Am much obliged for that letter—it was from a friend whom I have been trying to ferret out. Yes, we still live at the Schloss-Hotel, & shall doubtless continue to do so until the neighborhood of August—but I only eat & sleep there; my work-den is in the second story of a little Wirthschaft which stands at the base of the Tower on the summit of the Königsstuhl. I walk up there every morning, at 10, write until 3, talk the most hopeless & unimprovable German with the family till 5, then tramp down to the Hotel for the night. It is a sehr schönes Aussicht up there, as you may remember. The exercise of climbing up there is invigorating, but devilish.
I have just written to regrets to the Paris Literary Convention. —I did hate to have to miss that entertainment, but I knew that if I went there & spent a fortnight it would take me another fortnight to get settled down into the harness again—couldn’t afford that.
The Emperor is a splendid old hero! That he could survive such wounds never once entered my head—yet by the news I judge he is actually recovering. It is worth something to be a Lincoln or a Kaiser Wilhelm—& it gives a man a better opinion of the world to see it show appreciation of such men—& what is better, love of them.— I have not seen anything like this outburst of affectionate indignation since Mr. Lincoln’s assi assination afflicted gave the common globe a sense of personal injury.
I‸ch‸ habe der Consul Smith gesehen ein Paar Wochen ago, & told him about that Pass, und er hat mir gesagt das er wurde be absent from this region Gegen-(something) zwei oder drei Wochen, aber wann er sollte hier wieder nachkommen, wollte er der Pass geschlagen worden & snake it off to Berlin. Vei ‸ie‸lleicht hat er ‸noch‸ nicht zu Mannheim zurüch’kehrt.
[about 5 lines (20 words) torn away]
Now as to the grammar of this language: I haven’t conquered the Accusative Case yet (I began with that) & there are 3 more. It begins to seem to me that I have got to try to get along with the Accusative alone & leave the rest of this grammar to be tackled at leisure in the future life.
With our kindest remen mbrances to you & yours,
Yrs sincerely,
S. L. Clemens
Source text(s):Previous publication:
Schultz 1936, 48–49.
