"But," said Mrs. Toymaker, "you forget that Beethoven—"
"He was different!" snapped Mr. Toymaker. "We cannot all be geniuses!"
So what could poor Mrs. Toymaker say? Often the good lady had wondered why it was that her husband wanted Fritz to make toys. Surely the making of toys had not proved a happy trade for Mr. Toymaker! But it was very difficult to argue with him, so his wife did not try.
The children visited Beethoven's house. It is now a museum. In it are such relics as the musician's letters, his piano, and even his ear trumpets. For Beethoven became deaf. Imagine such a thing as a deaf composer! Yet this wonderful man composed some of his most beautiful music even after he could not hear.
| BIRTHPLACE OF BEETHOVEN—BONN |
"I have read many things about Beethoven," said Fritz to Mitzi. "But the part I like to read about is when he was a boy."
Then Fritz told his sister some of the things he had read: "One night when Ludwig was asleep, his father came home and woke him up. He stood at this very gate and called, 'Up, up, Ludwig, and play!' His father kept him at the piano all night long. Next day Ludwig was so tired that he could not keep awake at school."
"Why did his father do that?" asked Mitzi indignantly.
"Because," answered Fritz, "he wanted Ludwig to be a great pianist and give concerts."
There is a statue of Beethoven in the main square of Bonn. In Germany a statue is called a "denkmal," which means a "think over." As Mitz and Fritz looked upon this "think over," they thought over many things.