But when the maid departed,
A Swabian raised his hand,
And cried, all hot and flushed with wine,
"Long live the Swabian land!
"The greatest kingdom upon earth
Cannot with that compare;
With all the stout and hardy men
And the nut-brown maidens there."
"Ha!" cried a Saxon, laughing,—
And dashed his beard with wine;
"I had rather live in Lapland,
Than that Swabian land of thine!
"The goodliest land on all this earth
It is the Saxon land!
There have I as many maidens
As fingers on this hand!"
"Hold your tongues! both Swabian and Saxon!"
A bold Bohemian cries;
"If there's a heaven upon this earth,
In Bohemia it lies:
"There the tailor blows the flute,
And the cobbler blows the horn,
And the miner blows the bugle,
Over mountain gorge and bourn!"
* * * * *
And then the landlord's daughter
Up to heaven raised her hand,
And said, "Ye may no more contend—
There lies the happiest land."
THE PIPES AT LUCKNOW.
September 24th, 1857.