, most respected Herr Professor,
were so very kind as to let me see a fortunate bride that is to be?"

"What!" the old Jew broke in, in a screaming voice--"What! are you
thinking of marrying? Why, you're as old as the hills, and as ugly as a
baboon into the bargain."

"Never mind him," Leonbard said; for Tussmann was so startled by what
the old man said that he could not utter a syllable. "He means no harm,
dear Mr. Tussmann, though you may think he seems to do so. I must say,
candidly, that it seems to me, too, that it is a little too late in
life for you to be thinking about such a thing. You must be well on to
your fiftieth birthday; aren't you?"

"I shall be forty-eight," said Tussman, with a certain amount of
irritability, "on the 9th of next October--St. Dionysius's day."

"Very well," said Leonhard. "But it isn't only your age that's against
you--you have always been leading a simple, solitary, virginal
existence. You have no knowledge or experience of women. I can't see
what is to become of you in their hands!"

"Knowledge of them--experience of them! Dear Herr Professor, you must
really take me for a most foolish and inconsiderate person if you think
I am going to plunge into matrimony without any counsel or reflection
or advice. I weigh, consider, and reflect upon every step most
maturely; and, having perceived myself to be pierced to the heart by
the dart of the wanton deity yclept 'Cupid' by the ancients, could I do
otherwise than bend all my thoughts upon the preparation of myself for
the matrimonial life? Would any one who was preparing for a difficult
examination not be careful to study all the subjects on which he is to
be interrogated? Very well, most respected Herr Professor, my marriage
is an examination, for which I have prepared myself, and I feel pretty
certain that I shall pass it admirably--with honours! Look here, at
this little book, which I have always carried about in my pocket,
studying it constantly, since the time when I made up my mind to fall
in love and get married. Look at it, my dear sir; and you will be
convinced that I am setting about this business in the most thorough
and fundamental manner possible, and that I shall certainly not be
found an ignoramus in it; although, as you say (and as I must admit),
the feminine sex is--so far, and up to the present date--to me a
complete _terra incognita_."

With these words Tussmann produced from his pocket a little book in
parchment b