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Village tales from the Black forest, tr. by M. Taylor
Village tales from the Black forest tr by M Taylor Author:Berthold Auerbach Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: VEFELE. Few will recognize in the calendar the name which stands at the head of this tale, although it is one well- known ; and the fate of her who bore it re... more »calls too sadly that of her patroness Genovera. The principal house in the village of Nordstetten, whose broad front attracts the travelling journeymen to stop and beg a trifle for their journey, once belonged [In all branches of handicraft in Germany, after a lad has served his apprenticeship, he is obliged by the laws of his trade (Handwerksgesetze), before he is allowed to become a master- workman, to travel two or three years in other states : the journeyman (Handwerksbursch') goes from town to town, working for a time in each, and travelling mostly on foot, with his knapsack at his back. In every town there is a kind of inn, called a Her- berge, attached to each craft, established by the body of masters in that trade. The man who keeps the inn is called the Her- lergsvater. When a journeyman comes to a town he goes to the Herberge, where he is boarded and lodged for three days free of expense. If at the end of that time he has obtained work, he remains and supports himself; but if work is scarce, he receives a trifle from every master in the town, to help him on his journey. It is not considered any disgrace for the journeyman to beg a Zehrpfennig (food-penny, or viaticum) at the houses or of to the father of Vefele: the two houses, on the right and left, were his barns. The father is dead, the mother is dead, the children are dead; the large house now belongs to a linen-weaver, and the barns are converted into dwelling-houses. Vefele is gone, and all trace of her has vanished. One thing alone remains as it was, and will perhaps do so for ever: throughout the village the large house still goes by the name of...« less