"Well," exclaimed Bräsig, "I have heard a great many outlandish words, but 'organisms,' organ---- Hold! Karl, don't you know 'Herr Orgon stood before his door,' that we used to learn by heart, with Pastor Behrens, out of Gellert? Do you suppose this organ can be any connection of his?"
"Let it go, for the present, Bräsig, we don't understand it yet."
"No? why not, Karl?" said his old friend, "We can learn. You will see, this is a water-book; they always begin with something you can't understand. Go ahead!"
"'The existence of all living beings is carried on by the reception of certain materials into the system, which we call means of nourishment; they are expended by the organism for its own improvement and reproduction. Period."
"The man is right there," said Bräsig; "Means of nourishment belong to living beings, and"--taking the book out of Strull's hands, "'they are expended by the organism,'--now I know what organism means; it means the stomach."
"Yes," said the schoolmaster, "but then here is 'reproduction.'"
"Ah," said Bräsig, off hand, "production! We have got used to that of late years; when I was a child, nobody knew anything about production; but now they call every bushel of wheat and every ox a production. It is only an ornamental way of speaking, that they may appear learned."
So they went on for a little while, until the schoolmaster went home, and when he had gone, the two old friends sat together, quietly and trustfully,--for Bräsig was to spend the night at Pumpelhagen,--until Habermann gave a deep sigh, and said:
"Ah, Zachary, I am afraid there are hard times coming for me."
"Why so? Your young Herr is a lively, witty fellow; what amusing things he said about farming!"