He Didn’t Mean It
The well-known pianist, Sophie Menter, delighted everybody with her simple, natural ways. One day in Pesth, while in a company of artists and lovers of art, Liszt among them, a young count, carried away by her playing, cried enthusiastically,
“Mein Fräulein, I lay myself at your feet!”
“Well,” said Sophie Menter, stepping back and smiling roguishly, “go on, lie down!”
“Oh, I did not mean it literally like that,” replied the count in consternation.
“Now you see,” said the young girl seriously, “that you should never say what you do not honestly mean.”