e hearth with a mass of
cinders and ashes descending majestically from the fireplace, where lay
a block of coal, before which two slender twigs made a show of burning.
On the chimney-piece was a mirror in a painted frame, adorned with
figures dancing a saraband; on one side hung the glorious pipe, on the
other was a Chinese jar in which the musician kept his tobacco. Two
arm-chairs bought at auction, a thin and rickety cot, a worm-eaten
bureau without a top, a maimed table on which lay the remains of a
frugal breakfast, made up a set of household belongings as plain as
those of an Indian wigwam. A shaving-glass, suspended to the fastening
of a curtainless window, and surmounted by a rag striped by many wipings
of a razor, indicated the only sacrifices paid by Schmucke to the Graces
and society. The cat, being the feebler and protected partner, had
rather the best of the establishment; he enjoyed the comforts of an old
sofa-cushion, near which could be seen a white china cup and plate. But
what no pen can describe was the state into which Schmucke, the cat, and
the pipe, that existing trinity, had reduced these articles. The pipe
had burned the table. The cat and Schmucke's head had greased the green
Utrecht velvet of the two arm-chairs and reduced it to a slimy texture.
If it had not been for the cat's magnificent tail, which played a useful
part in the household, the uncovered places on the bureau and the piano
would never have been dusted. In one corner of the room were a pile of
shoes which need an epic to describe them. The top of the bureau and
that of the piano were encumbered by music-books with ragged backs and
whitened corners, through which the pasteboard showed its many layers.
Along the walls the names and addresses of pupils written on scraps
of paper were stuck on by wafers,--the number of wafers without paper
indicating the number of pupils no longer taught. On the wall-papers
were many calculations written with chalk. The bureau was decorated with
beer-mugs used the night before, their newness appearing very brilliant
in the midst of this rubbish of dirt and age. Hygiene was represented by
a jug of water with a towel laid upon it, and a bit of common soap. Two
ancient hats hung to their respective nails, near which also hung the
self-same blue box-coat with three capes, in which the countess
had always seen Schmucke when he came to give his lessons. On the
window-sill were three pots of flowers, German flo