Project Gutenberg's The Story Of The Little Mamsell, by Charlotte Niese

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Title: The Story Of The Little Mamsell

Author: Charlotte Niese

Translator: Miss E. C. Emerson

Release Date: October 27, 2007 [EBook #23221]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE STORY OF THE LITTLE MAMSELL ***

Produced by David Widger

THE STORY OF THE LITTLE MAMSELL

By Charlotte Niese

Translated from the German by Miss E. C. Emerson

"Have you got something good? Then put the basket down and go along
home!" This was one usual greeting from old Mahlmann when we brought
him provisions. He was very old, and rarely out of his bed, only now and
then on warm summer days he sat on the bench before his tiny cottage and
basked in the sun. If a painter had ever strayed to our uninteresting
little town he would certainly have put old Mahlmann's characteristic
head on his canvas. He had a clever old face with a firm mouth and
glittering eyes whose expression was so sombre and at the same time
observant that we children imagined old Mahlmann was different from
other people. And indeed so he was. To begin with he never thanked
anyone for bringing him food; in fact he criticized freely the benefits
he received. If one brought what was not to his liking, he would say:
"Go home and tell your mother old Mahlmann is not a waste-tub where you
throw what's not fit to eat. You needn't come again either!"

In this manner he got himself into disfavor with many a good housewife,
who would protest by all that was holy that never would she send the
hoary old sinner anything again. But Mahlmann never cared. His needs
were few and there was always some one to satisfy them.

For me the old man with the sombre eyes had a peculiar fascination; I
think from the fact that he once told me a wonderful ghost-story. There
were at least half a dozen witches and a whole dozen ghosts in this
tale, and for many nights after I went to bed in tears, and only on
condition some one sat with me till I fell asleep. Still the spell of
these horrors was so strong upon me that I visited Mahlmann all the
more" and often bought him something out of my o