A Tramp Abroad - The Original Classic Edition. Twain Mark

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СКАЧАТЬ colored caps of the corps. They were finely and fashionably dressed, their manners were quite superb, and they led an easy, careless, comfortable life. If a dozen of them sat together and a lady or a gentleman passed whom one of them knew and saluted, they all rose to their feet and took off their caps. The members of a corps always received a fellow-member in this way, too; but they paid no attention

       to members of other corps; they did not seem to see them. This was not a discourtesy; it was only a part of the elaborate and rigid corps

       etiquette.

       There seems to be no chilly distance existing between the German students and the professor; but, on the contrary, a companionable intercourse, the opposite of chilliness and reserve. When the professor enters a beer-hall in the evening where students are gathered together, these rise up and take off their caps, and invite the old gentleman to

       sit with them and partake. He accepts, and the pleasant talk and the beer flow for an hour or two, and by and by the professor, properly charged and comfortable, gives a cordial good night, while the students

       stand bowing and uncovered; and then he moves on his happy way homeward

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       with all his vast cargo of learning afloat in his hold. Nobody finds

       fault or feels outraged; no harm has been done.

       It seemed to be a part of corps etiquette to keep a dog or so, too.

       I mean a corps dog--the common property of the organization, like the corps steward or head servant; then there are other dogs, owned by individuals.

       On a summer afternoon in the Castle gardens, I have seen six students march solemnly into the grounds, in single file, each carrying a bright Chinese parasol and leading a prodigious dog by a string. It was a very imposing spectacle. Sometimes there would be as many dogs around the pavilion as students; and of all breeds and of all degrees of beauty and ugliness. These dogs had a rather dry time of it; for they were tied

       to the benches and had no amusement for an hour or two at a time except what they could get out of pawing at the gnats, or trying to sleep and

       not succeeding. However, they got a lump of sugar occasionally--they were fond of that.

       It seemed right and proper that students should indulge in dogs; but everybody else had them, too--old men and young ones, old women and nice young ladies. If there is one spectacle that is unpleasanter than another, it is that of an elegantly dressed young lady towing a dog by a string. It is said to be the sign and symbol of blighted love. It seems

       to me that some other way of advertising it might be devised, which

       would be just as conspicuous and yet not so trying to the proprieties.

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       It would be a mistake to suppose that the easy-going pleasure-seeking student carries an empty head. Just the contrary. He has spent nine

       years in the gymnasium, under a system which allowed him no freedom, but vigorously compelled him to work like a slave. Consequently, he has left

       the gymnasium with an education which is so extensive and complete, that the most a university can do for it is to perfect some of its profounder specialties. It is said that when a pupil leaves the gymnasium, he not

       only has a comprehensive education, but he KNOWS what he knows--it is not befogged with uncertainty, it is burnt into him so that it will

       stay. For instance, he does not merely read and write Greek, but speaks it; the same with the Latin. Foreign youth steer clear of the gymnasium; its rules are too severe. They go to the university to put a mansard

       roof on their whole general education; but the German student already has his mansard roof, so he goes there to add a steeple in the nature of some specialty, such as a particular branch of law, or diseases of the

       eye, or special study of the ancient Gothic tongues. So this German attends only the lectures which belong to the chosen branch, and drinks his beer and tows his dog around and has a general good time the rest of the day. He has been in rigid bondage so long that the large liberty

       of the university life is just what he needs and likes and thoroughly appreciates; and as it cannot last forever, he makes the most of it while it does last, and so lays up a good rest against the day that must

       see him put on the chains once more and enter the slavery of official or

       professional life.

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       CHAPTER V

       At the Students' Dueling-Ground

       [Dueling by Wholesale]

       One day in the interest of science my agent obtained permission to bring me to the students' dueling-place. We crossed the river and drove up

       the bank a few hundred yards, then turned to the left, entered a narrow alley, followed it a hundred yards and arrived at a two-story public house; we were acquainted with its outside aspect, for it was visible from the hotel. We went upstairs and passed into a large whitewashed

       apartment which was perhaps fifty feet long by thirty feet wide and

       twenty or twenty-five high. It was a well-lighted place. There was no

       carpet. Across one end and down both sides of the room extended a row of tables, and at these tables some fifty or seventy-five students [1. See Appendix C] were sitting.

       Some of them were sipping wine, others were playing cards, others chess, other groups were chatting together, and many were smoking cigarettes while they waited for the coming duels. Nearly all of them wore colored caps; there were white caps, green caps, blue caps, red caps, and

       bright-yellow ones; so, all the five corps were present in strong

       force. In the windows at the vacant end of the room stood six or eight, narrow-bladed swords with large protecting guards for the hand, and outside was a man at work sharpening others on a grindstone.

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       He understood his business; for when a sword left his hand one could shave himself with it.

       It was observable that the young gentlemen neither bowed to nor spoke with students whose caps differed in color from their own. This did not mean hostility, but only an armed neutrality. It was considered that

       a person could strike harder in the duel, and with a more earnest interest, if he had never been in a condition of comradeship with his antagonist; therefore, comradeship between the corps was not permitted.

       At intervals the presidents of the five corps have a cold official

       intercourse with each other, but nothing further. For example, when the regular dueling-day of one of the corps approaches, its president calls

       for volunteers from among the membership to offer battle; three or more respond--but there must not be less than three; the president lays their names before the other presidents, with the request that they furnish antagonists for these challengers from among their corps. This is promptly done. It chanced that the present occasion was the battle-day

       of the Red Cap Corps. They were the challengers, and certain caps of

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