WELZEL, the publican, a good-natured giant, upwards of fifty, stands behind the counter, letting beer run from a barrel into a glass.
MRS. WELZEL is ironing by the stove. She is a handsome, tidily dressed woman in her thirty-fifth year.
ANNA WELZEL, a good-looking girl of seventeen, with a quantity of beautiful, fair, reddish hair, sits, neatly dressed, with her embroidery, at the table with the coloured cover. She looks up from her work for a moment and listens, as the sound of a funeral hymn sung by school-children is heard in the distance.
WIEGAND, the joiner, in his working clothes, is sitting at the same table, with a glass of Bavarian beer before him. His face shows that he understands what the world requires of a man if he is to attain his ends—namely, craftiness, swiftness, and relentless pushing forward.
A COMMERCIAL TRAVELLER is seated at the pillar-table, vigorously masticating a beef-steak. He is of middle height, stout and thriving-looking, inclined to jocosity, lively, and impudent. He is dressed in the fashion of the day, and his portmanteau, pattern-case, umbrella, overcoat, and travelling rug lie on chairs beside him.
WELZEL
[Carrying a glass of beer to the TRAVELLER, but addressing WIEGAND.] The devil's broke loose in Peterswaldau to-day.
WIEGAND
[In a sharp, shrill voice.] That's because it's delivery day at Dreissiger's.