The Goldmaker's Village Author:Heinrich Zschokke General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1845 Original Publisher: Appleton Subjects: German fiction History / Europe / Germany Juvenile Fiction / Religious / Christian Literary Criticism / European / German Religion / Christian Life / General Social Science / Sociology / Rural Notes: This is a black and ... more »white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER II. WHAT OSWALD SEES IN THE TILLAGE. Although the villagers could not make much out of Oswald, he was, nevertheless, well-disposed and friendly towards them. At first he went to all their houses, visited them one after another, inquired for their children, about their land, talked of the best methods of cultivation, and showed a great in terest in all their concerns. Goldenthal had been formerly a very flourishing village; it is true there were no great riches, but content and comfort were in every house. At this time, however, with the exception of the miller, the inn-keepers, and a few rich peasants, every one was. in distress -- poverty looked out of every window ; and meager was the fare on every board. The village was composed of about a hundred houses, of which, at least, twenty sent their children out to- beg; sixty got on as they could, burdened with debt and misery, while the remaining twenty were alone capable of paying rates and taxes, and sup- porting themselves comfortably. The exterior of the houses showed visibly the- misery within; the roofs had fallen, the plaster had dropped from the walls, the doors were incrusted with mud, and the windows broken and stopped up with paper. In the interior all was dirt and untidiness: rickety tables, greasy benches; and if there was such a thing as a looking-glass, it had been covered for years with flymark...« less