Mitz and Fritz of Germany Part 9

However, she bore her punishment like a man. She knew that she had done wrong. She helped her mother to arrange the curtains and to fix her skirt. She said nothing. But all the time she knew that soon the brightly colored little cloak would be finished.

CHAPTER XI

EISENACH AND BACH

"Our great chance will come in Leipzig," said Mitzi.

She was sitting on the steps of their wagon, sewing. Fritz sat beside her. He held an open book in his hands.

The Toymakers had made their camp outside of Eisenach ([=I]'z[)e]n-ak).

Mr. and Mrs. Toymaker had gone to town, leaving Mitz and Fritz with the wagon. Mitzi wanted to finish that costume before they arrived in Leipzig. Fritz was reading about Johann Sebastian Bach (Bak), who was born in Eisenach.

"Bach came from a family of musicians," read Fritz. "The name 'Bach'

means 'brook.' Beethoven once said, 'He is not a brook but an ocean!'"

[Ill.u.s.tration: EISENACH]

"Come," interrupted Mitzi. "Try on the cloak. I am afraid I have made it too large."

[Ill.u.s.tration: "LET ME TRY IT ON"]

"No," said Fritz, as he tried it on. "It fits me perfectly. How pretty it is, and how clever is my Mitz!"

Mitzi waggled her head proudly.

She said, "Many people will be in Leipzig for the fair. When you give your concert, I'll fetch Father and bring him to where you are playing.

Oh, how surprised and pleased he'll be!"

Fritz smiled. Then he went on reading from his book while Mitzi sewed.

"'When Bach was a boy,'" read Fritz, "'his father died and he lived with his brother Christoph. One day Christoph brought home a book full of beautiful music. The little boy longed to play it. But Christoph was jealous of Sebastian's talent. He refused to let him have the music book and locked it up.

"'Poor Sebastian wanted very much to play that music. So every night he got up and stole downstairs into the music room. He pulled the book out from between the bars of the bookcase. He sat in the light of the moon and copied the notes.

"'At last, after many weeks, he had copied the whole volume. He went to sleep with his work under his pillow. He was very happy. But next day a terrible thing occurred. While Sebastian was playing the music on the harpsichord, his brother Christoph came in. When Christoph saw what the boy had done, he took away Sebastian's precious copy book.'"

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE HOME OF BACH IN EISENACH]

"And what happened then?" asked Mitzi.

She was interested in this poor little fellow who had longed so much for music. She was very angry with the brother.

Fritz read on: "'Sebastian fell ill. He was so unhappy that he could not eat. Then, one day he discovered that he could play the beautiful music without notes. It was all written in his heart!'"

"Ah," said Mitzi. "That is good!"

"'But just as he was playing it,'" continued Fritz, "'in came his brother Christoph again--'"

"The goose!" sniffed Mitzi.

"'Christoph stood in the doorway listening,'" read Fritz. "'At first he was ready to stop the playing. But at last it dawned upon him that his little brother was truly a great artist.'"

"So he stopped being jealous?" asked Mitzi.

"Yes," said Fritz. He closed the book and sighed, adding, "It must have been terrible for Sebastian when his brother took away the music he loved."

Mitzi sighed, too. Then she jumped up quickly, frightening Fritz so that he fell off the steps.

"But now I am hungry," said Mitzi. "Let us go and get some cheese!"

CHAPTER XII

A CASTLE AND THE POET CITY

As the Toymaker family drove away from Eisenach, they pa.s.sed below the Wartburg (Vart'b[)oo]rk) Castle. Mrs. Toymaker asked her husband to stop. She wanted the children to see this historic place. The castle stands high on a crag.

As they walked toward it, Mrs. Toymaker said, "It was here that Martin Luther translated the Bible from Latin into German so the German people could read it. There is a tale of how the Devil appeared before Luther, who threw an inkwell at the Devil's head. The spot where that inkwell hit the wall is still to be seen in the castle."

"Please tell us another story about the castle," said Fritz.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WARTBURG CASTLE]

"St. Elizabeth was Countess of Wartburg," said Mrs. Toymaker. "She had a heartless husband, who did not want her to be kind to the poor and sick.

Upon one occasion he met her going out of the castle carrying a basket.

"'Where are you going? And what have you in that basket?' he asked.

"Now, Elizabeth had loaves of bread in the basket. She was taking them to a poor old woman. But she was afraid of her husband's wrath.

"So she answered, 'I have only roses in the basket.'

"The Count, her husband, looked into the basket to be sure. And, behold, the Countess had spoken truthfully. The loaves of bread had been turned into roses!"

Had Mrs. Toymaker and the children gone into the castle, they would have seen pictures of this story drawn upon the walls. But they did not go inside. They went back to their wagon and proceeded on their way.

"I hope that my friend, Mr. Krauss, will be in Leipzig," said Mr.

Toymaker. "Mr. Krauss is a bookseller. He will surely help me. He may even start a toy shop for me in Leipzig. I hope I shall find Mr.

Krauss!"

[Ill.u.s.tration: STATUE OF GOETHE IN LEIPZIG]