im permission to show the house and
park to the stranger; he shall take care not to come in my way, so that
I shall be obliged to meet him. Tell this aside, that you may not be
overheard. Hasten, for they have already been waiting some time."

The king walked again to the window, and, hidden by the curtain, peeped
out. "So, this is Herr Goethe, is it? What assurance! There he stands,
sketching the house. What wonderful eyes the man has! With what a proud,
confident manner he looks around! What a brow! Truly he is a handsome
fellow, and Herzberg may be right after all. That brow betokens
thought, and from those eyes there flashes a divine light. But he looks
overbearing and proud. Now, I am doubly pleased that I refused Herzberg
to have any thing to do with him. Such presumptive geniuses must be
rather kept back; then they feel their power, and strive to bring
themselves forward. Yes! I believe that man has a future. He looks like
the youthful god Apollo, who may have condescended to descend to earth!
He shall not entrap me with his beautiful head. If he is the man who
makes good and bad weather in Weimar, he shall learn that rain and
sunshine at Sans-Souci do not depend upon him; that the sun and clouds
here do not care whether Herr Goethe is in the world or not. For
sunshine and storm we depend upon the Great Weather-Maker, to whom we
must all bow; evil and good days in Prussia shall emanate from me,
so long as I live. Sometimes I succeed in causing a little sunshine,"
continued the king. "I believe the Prince of Prussia has to-day felt the
happy influence of the sun's rays; and while it is dull and lonely at
Sans-Souei, may it be brighter and more cheerful at Charlottenburg!
Eh bien! old boy," said the king, stopping, "you are playing the
sentimental, and eulogizing your loneliness. Well, well, do not
complain.--Oh, come to me, spirits of my friends, and hold converse with
me! Voltaire, D'Argens, and my beloved Lord-Marshal Keith! Come to me,
departed souls, with the memories of happier days, and hover with thy
cheering, sunny influence over the wrinkled brow of old Fritz!"

While the lonely king implored the spirits of his friends, to brighten
with their presence the quiet, gloomy apartment at Sans-Souci, the sun
shone in full splendor at Charlottenburg--the sunshine beaming from the
munificence of Frederick. Wilhelmine Enke had passed the whole day in
admiring the beautiful and tasteful arrangement of the villa. Eve