ccident, it was because the horse had so far not
felt any inclination to throw him off. In connection with his drives--in
britzka and in coach--he does not forget to mention that he is always
honoured with a back-seat. Still, life at Szafarnia was not unmixed
happiness, although our hero bore the ills with admirable stoicism:--

Very often [he writes] the flies sit on my prominent nose--
this, however, is of no consequence, it is the habit of these
little animals. The mosquitoes bite me--this too, however, is
of no consequence, for they don't bite me in the nose.

The reader sees from this specimen of epistolary writing that Frederick
is still a boy, and if I had given the letter in extenso, the boyishness
would have been even more apparent, in the loose and careless style as
well as in the frolicsome matter.

His letters to his people at home took on this occasion the form of a
manuscript newspaper, called, in imitation of the "Kuryer Warszawski"
("Warsaw Courier"), "Kuryer Szafarski" ("Szafarnia Courier"), which the
editor, in imitation of the then obtaining press regulation, did not
send off until it had been seen and approved of by the censor, Miss
Dziewanowska. One of the numbers of the paper contains among other news
the report of a musical gathering of "some persons and demi-persons"
at which, on July 15, 1824, Mr. Pichon (anagram of Chopin) played a
Concerto of Kalkbrenner's and a little song, the latter being received
by the youthful audience with more applause than the former.

Two anecdotes that relate to this stay at Szafarnia further exemplify
what has already been said of Frederick's love of fun and mischief.
Having on one of his visits to the village of Oberow met some Jews
who had come to buy grain, he invited them to his room, and there
entertained them with music, playing to them "Majufes."

[FOOTNOTE: Karasowski describes "Majufes" as a kind of Jewish wedding
march. Ph. Lobenstein says that it means "the beautiful, the pleasing
one." With this word opened a Hebrew song which dates from the time of
the sojourn of the Jews in Spain, and which the orthodox Polish Jews
sing on Saturdays after dinner, and whose often-heard melody the Poles
imitate as a parody of Jewish singing.]

His guests were delighted--they began to dance, told him that he played
like a born Jew, and urged him to come to the next Jewish wedding and
play to them there. The other anecdote would be a very ugly story were