EPILOGUE.
But where are they all now, all the merry simple-hearted people who have played in this story? They are all dead! All dead! They have all said Farewell; they sleep the long sleep. Baker Witte was the first, and Luth was the last.--And who have remained? Well, we two boys, Fritz Sahlmann and I, and Hanchen Besserdich. Hanchen married Freier's flaxen-headed boy, and is now well off. She lives at Gülzow, in the first house on your left hand. Fritz Sahlmann has grown a fine fellow, and we have always been very good friends, and, should he take it ill that I have told all these tales about him, I will hold out my hand to him and say: "My friend, what is written is written. It cannot be undone now. But you won't be angry with me for it? What say you, eh?"
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 1]: The Burmeister is the chief magistrate or mayor of a town, while the Amtshauptmann is the chief magistrate of a bailiwick or whole district.
[Footnote 2]: The Schult (Bailiff) is in a village what the Burmeister, or Mayor, is in a town.
[Footnote 3]: Levy en masse.
[Footnote 4]: In Mecklenburg there are no bakers in the villages; but each village has one or two ovens where the whole community can do their baking. These ovens stand by themselves out in the open fields, and look at a little distance like small hillocks. They are covered with grass, and are lined inside with large stones. They are so large that a man can get in at the mouth with ease, and lie there in hiding. As there is no chimney, the heat naturally remains in them a long while.--Translator.
[Footnote 5]: Been under fire.--Transl.