What we brothers here have done;
But of triumph our memorial,
These drained pitchers in their glory all,
Pile, a pyramid of fun!
Hauff.
At Commers, and on other festive occasions, are also frequently drunk wine, or ardent glee-wine and punch. It is a very ancient custom, amongst drinkers, that the glasses must be emptied after certain and manifold practices and prescriptions. Horace describes a similar wont in his time, where the drinkers are accustomed to elect a king, who presided on the occasion. Such rules are now become quite voluminous amongst the students, and are collected into their so-called Beer-Comment. This, therefore, contains the guiding laws of the Beer-Court. We will give this Beer-Comment at the end of the volume, as an example of the elaborate style into which this old and deep-rooted custom of German student-life has come to be carried out. Strange as it may appear to other nations, it is a custom in Germany, old as the universities themselves; and as our object is to probe to the very bottom of student-life, and give a full and faithful portraiture of it, those of our sober readers who may not think these very wise or commendable laws, may, having read the rest of the book, there close it, without perusing this Beer-Code. We also precede the account of the Commerses with a collection of all the phrases which the Germans employ to clothe in a tolerable garb of decorum that dreamy condition into which Bacchus frequently throws his votaries. These modes of expression were collected by Lichtenberg, and a few only have been added to them.
HIGH GERMAN | ||
| He scents wine He has got a shot He is shot through He has got a blow He has got a touch He has got a Jesuit He has got too much He is tipsy He is foggy He has got a saintish look He has a dizziness He is inspired He is full He takes a Bauer for an earth-bear His head is heavy He has dim eyes He is not right in the upper story He has glass eyes He rocks | He has something in the roof He is full and furious He has his load He has been in a good spot He has something in his head He has enough He has got a bag-wig He has drunk a glass too much He has pept into the glass too deep He is illuminated He staggers His tongue is too heavy He can't lift his tongue any more He floats He makes crosses | He is sated He saw wooden cans in heaven He is up to his throat full He has made himself a beard He goes in a flourish He is well blessed He is loaded awry He has made himself black His house is haunted He tacks about He can't keep his legs He is funny He is well drunk He has been present He is ready He is off He is away |
| He is happy He takes the sky a bass viol He sees the letters double He is as sick as heaven-hail He is dull and full He has followed his own fancy He is à tout He has daubed himself He has a rattle He has a ditto He has round feet He has leaned too far over He is star-blind thick He yearns after the brandy bottle He has lamed his tongue He is as full as a bagpipe He is lost He is covered He sees two suns He is thick as poodle-hail | He goes as if all houses were his He is totally away He sails with full sails He leans against a shutter He is poodle thick He has his tally He has his part He can't spit over his beard He makes a pas frisé He is thick He has had too much of a good thing He has been in his cups He has something in the top He is cat thick He has washed himself He has drammed himself He has done it pretty well He has taken good care of himself He has a giddiness He can scarcely stammer | He has Moses' tongue He is led about He is under the table He takes a church-spire for a toothpick He has armed himself with a sword He has sprinkled his nose He has endowed himself They have buried him He is hail-blind full He stares like a stuck calf He looks like a duck in thunder He is be-kneipt He is split He doesn't come home alone He brings Geiselbrecht with him He is a drunken swine He falls off He is in dulci jubilo He has chopped beyond the line He is tufted He cannot walk in the line |
In the Low German are some fifty other phrases on the same subject.