Such was his emotion, that for some seconds he was unable to articulate a word; he blew his nose, he opened his mouth; so great a number of arguments presented themselves to his mind, that he knew not where to commence: he wanted to say everything at once.
But at length his soul became calm, and, in a ringing voice, he cried—
“O, noble inhabitants of Oberbronn, privileged beings of nature, humble and worthy country-people, you know not how deeply I am touched as I look upon you; you know not the glory that awaits you, the treasures which I bring to you!”
At the word “treasures,” there was a great stir amongst the crowd; they expected to see him plunge his hand into a bag and throw money out of the window. Those who were farthest off instantly struggled to get nearer, and Katel the hunchback, who was in the front rank, began to scream; the poor woman, seeing others forcing their way before her, thought they would deprive her of her share.
This appearance of interest gave evident pleasure to the illustrious philosopher.
“Yes, my friends,” he continued, in a pathetic tone, “I bring you treasures of wisdom, treasures of philosophy and virtue!”
The crowd was undeceived.
“The devil fly away with you and your treasures of wisdom!” cried Ludwig Spengler; “you look to me to stand a good deal more in need of some than we do!”
Mathéus, moved with indignation, stopped short, with the view of overwhelming this rude fellow with a grand apostrophe, but the little miller, Tapihans, approaching the window, took off his cotton cap and said—