"But, unfortunately, every one does not understand smith's work, and the work fails in consequence. For the smith's work we need a Schmidt--"[[1]]
"Very good! Hear! Silence there!"
"And if a smith forges his fortune, we may be assured that it is a work which he need not be ashamed of before masters or apprentices."
"Capital! Bravo! Bravissimo!"
"And, ladies and gentlemen, the masters, and more particularly we young apprentices who have still much to learn, and who wish to learn, will watch his fingers in order to find out how and with what tools he works; for the tools are the first consideration!"
"Bravo! Bravo!"
There was almost perfect silence. Herr Norberg, now sure of his effect, continued in a pathetic tone of voice:
"But what are his tools? First, of course, the anvil--the immovable anvil, formed of the cast steel of honesty--"
"Hear! hear!"
"Of honesty, which can bear every blow and shock, because it rests on its own merits, and tested as it is by the enduring and flattering confidence of the initiated, and, if I may so express myself, polished by the good report of all honest people--"