"Hear me first, Moses! I do not ask you to lend the money,--it would be about thirty-one thousand thalers,--there are other people, safe people, who will lend it; you shall merely advance it until St. John's day."
"God of Abraham! Advance in these times, in fourteen days, thirty-one thousand thalers! And that for fools who involve themselves in a business like that!"
"Well, Moses, just listen to me. Write down the names and the amounts as I mention them. You know the Frau Pastorin? Write down the Frau Pastorin for five thousand thalers."
"Well, I know her, she is a good woman, she helps the poor; but why should I write?"
"Come, just write."
Moses took a pencil out of his pocket, moistened the point, and wrote:
"Well, there it is; five thousand thalers."
"You know Bräsig, too?"
"Why shouldn't I know Bräsig? Who does not know Bräsig? He is a good man, an entertaining man; always visited me when I was sick, tried to make a democrat of me, wanted me to make speeches in the Reformverein, but he is a good man."
"Put him down for six thousand thalers. You know my brother-in-law Nüssler?"