Truths. Prodosh Aich

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СКАЧАТЬ its former pupils. He was a classical scholar of the old school. During the last three years of our school life we had to write plenty of Latin and Greek verse, and were taught to speak Latin. The speaking of Latin came readily enough, but the verses never attained a very high level. Besides Nobbe we had Forbiger, well known by his books on ancient geography, and Palm, editor of the same Greek Dictionary which, in the hands of Dr. Liddell, has reached the highest perfection. Then there was Funkhänel, known beyond Germany by his edition of the Orations of Demosthenes, and his studies on Greek orators.”

      It continues just like this. Then on p. 99 and 100, we read:

       “We certainly did very well in Greek and Latin, and read a number of classical texts, not only critically at school, but also cursorily at home, having to give a weekly account of what we had thus read by ourselves. I liked my classics, and yet I could not help feeling that there was a certain exaggeration in the way in which every one of them was spoken of by our teachers, nay, that as compared to German poets and prose writers they were somewhat overpraised. Still, it would have been very conceited not to admire what our masters admired, and as in duty bound we went into the usual raptures about Homer and Sophocles, about Horace and Cicero.”

      Later on page 102, we encounter just a touch of a personal account. (highlighted by us):

       “I enjoyed my work at school very much, and I seem to have passed rapidly from class to class. I frequently received prizes both in money and in books, but I see a warning attached to some of them that I ought not to be conceited, which probably meant no more than that I should not show when I was pleased with my successes. At least I do not know what I could have been conceited about. What I feel about my learning at school is that it was entirely passive. I acquired knowledge such as it was presented to me. I did not doubt whatever my teacher taught me, I did not, as far as I can recollect, work up any subject by myself. I find only one paper of mine of that early time, and, curiously enough, it was on mythology; but it contains no inkling of comparative mythology, but simply a chronological arrangement of the sources from which we draw our knowledge of Greek mythology. I see also from some old papers, that I began to write poetry and that twice or thrice I was chosen at great festivities to recite poems written by myself. In the year 1839 three hundred years had passed since Luther preached at Leipzig in the Church of St. Nicolai, and the tercentenary of this event was celebrated all over Germany. My poem was selected for recitation at a large meeting of the friends of our school and notables of the town, and I had to recite it, not without fear and trembling.I was then sixteen years of age.

       In the next year, 1840, Leipzig celebrated the invention of printing in 1440. It was on this occasion that Mendelssohn wrote his famous Hymn of Praise. I formed part of the chorus, and I well remember the magnificent effect which the music produced in the Church of St. Thomas. Again a poem of mine was selected, and I had to recite it at a large gathering in the Nicolai Schule on July 18, 1840.”

      Thereafter he gives a thorough account on Friedrich Maximilian’s talent and his desire to become a poet or a musician. He is often asked to recite his poems at many large gatherings. Max Müller does not disclose the type of gatherings, nor who else of his schoolmates recite or perform something else in those gatherings. We are supposed to take note of that Friedrich Maximilian’s poetries have been rich in qualities. We just have to note it and accept it! Then he leads his readers and us to the music scene at the then Leipzig writing the lines (p.104 ff):

       “During my stay at Leipzig, first in the house of Professor Carus, and afterwards as a student at the University, my chief enjoyment was certainly music. I had plenty of it, perhaps too much, but I pity the man who has not known the charm of it.”

      Leipzig was a centre of music in the sense that many young later celebrated artists and composers came in search of an opportunity to become a part of the famous “Gewandhaus Orchestra” and also meeting the local musicians like Felix Mendelssohn. It is remarkable that Max Müller writes a feuilleton piece on artists and composers at Leipzig and lets us know that at the house of Professor Carus Friedrich Maximilian meets many of them. He is often invited by them to participate in their performances also. Max Müller winds up this sub-aspect in his chapter on his school days at Leipzig with the words (p. 108-109):

       “At that time my idea of devoting myself altogether to the study of music became very strong; and as Professor Carus married again, I proposed to leave Leipzig, and to enter the musical school of Schneider at Dessau. But nothing came of that, and I think on the whole it was as well.”

      Only once, in this chapter Max Müller refers to his beloved mother (p. 109):

       “While at school at Leipzig I had but little opportunity of travelling, for my mother was always anxious to have me home during holidays and I was equally anxious to be with her and to see my relations at Dessau.”

      Only once the issue of poverty is indicated during Friedrich Maximilian’s stay of five years in an affluent household of Prof. Carus (p. 109):

       “Generally I went in a wretched carriage from Leipzig to Dessau. It was only seven German miles (about thirty-five English miles), but it took a whole day to get there; and during part of the journey, when we had to cross the deep and desert-like sands, walking on foot was much more expeditious than sitting inside the carriage. But then we paid only one thaler for the whole journey, and sometimes, in order to save that, I walked on foot the whole way. That also took me a whole day; but when I tried it the first time, being then quite young and rather delicate in health, I had to give in about an hour before I came to Dessau, my legs refusing to go further, and my muscles being cramped and stiff from exertion, I had to sit down by the road.”

      Rather casually, he reports of a praising letter to his mother from the school at Leipzig. The next paragraph begins (p.103-104):

       “It was rather hard on me that I had to pass my examinations for admission to the University (Abiturienten-Examen) not at my school, but at Zerbst in Anhalt. This was necessary in order to enable me to obtain a scholarship from the Anhalt Government.”

      This information is then followed by a small lecture on the differences between schools in Anhalt-Dessau and schools in Prussia. This is an effective technique to wrap up disadvantageous facts that cannot be concealed and lead the readers to an entertaining story whose factual validity will generally not be questioned and/or cannot be verified if the story is told plausibly and palatably.

      In this chapter titled “School-days at Leipzig” in his autobiography Max Müller does tell us almost nothing on the “school-days” of Friedrich Maximilian at Leipzig. After all, he spends important years of his life ‘in the house of the Professor Carus’, which, no doubt, formed his later personality. And we do comprehend the structure of his personality that is wrapped around his narrations. The famous Nikolai-Schule does not change his basic personality remarkably. Nothing-unusual things have happened in that school that could change his basic personality.

      Excepting for the remark we have just learnt between two consumable narrations that:

      “It was rather hard on me that I had to pass my examinations for admission to the University (Abiturienten-Examen) not at my school, but at Zerbst in Anhalt. This was necessary in order to enable me to obtain a scholarship from the Anhalt Government.”

      We recall his sufferings at Dessau due to poverty, negligence by both of the families, his social isolation, his social discriminations and the regular attacks of severe migraines. We recall also Adelheid’s ambitions, СКАЧАТЬ