ph can get no other father than Adam, even if
he wished it.' A cousin of Martina's, a shoemaker, who is very well
off, and a bachelor, appears resolved not to marry until he is quite
sure that Martina will not have him. He is called in the village
Haespele, and indeed I do not know his real name. On festival nights he
helps the girls to wind off the yarn that they have spun, on hasps, and
therefore he has got the nickname of Haespele. He is a goodnatured
creature, and every year consecutively, plays the part of the carnival
Merryandrew. Wherever he goes, the whole year through, people expect
him to play the buffoon, which he is quite willing to do; his
appearance and manners are so droll, that it is scarcely possible to
know when he is in jest, or when in earnest; particularly as he has a
very red nose, which looks just as if it was painted. He is sincerely
attached to Martina, who has also a great regard for him, but only the
kind of liking that all the other girls in the village have; she will
never marry him; indeed, no one thinks that any one would marry
Haespele.----God be praised!" said the Pastorin, breaking off her story,
"my husband must be by this time under shelter of the Roettmanns' roof,
if no accident has occurred--and God forbid there should! It would be
the most precious Christmas boon to me, the most cheering commemoration
of this holy season, if my husband could soften the Roettmaennin's hard
heart; her husband, Speidel-Roettmann, would soon come round then: in
that case I think there is little doubt, that we should remain here,
and gladly too. For it was the sad story of Martina and Adam which at
last turned the scale, and made my husband resolve to quit this parish.
These hard hearted Roettmaenner are never at rest, and have at last
contrived that everything should be prepared tomorrow for the betrothal
of Adam with Tony, the daughter of the Forest Miller. She lately had a
young stepmother placed over her, and is resolved to leave home, no
matter whither. She is the only girl of respectable family who would
accept Adam. The Forest Miller and Roettmann, these two families are the
most highly respected; or what is the same thing nearly, the richest,
in the whole district. I must say that, for my part, I could not bear
to see Adam go to church with the Forest Miller's Tony. It is hard on
my husband to stand in his pulpit, and to pour out his inmost heart
before his congregation, and to preach faith, and p