Reading today

Reading the Breviary, The Evening

Karl Spitzweg, 1808-1885

Lucka 23

Books like friends, should be few and well-chosen.

000000000000000000000 Joineriana

The Little Intruder, by Carl Spitzweg (1808-1885)

THE TERRIBLE PEOPLE

People who have what they want are very fond of telling people who haven't what they want that they really don't want it.
And I wish I could afford to gather all such people into a gloomy castle on the Danube and hire half a dozen capable Draculas to haunt it.
I don't mind their having a lot of money, and l don't care how they employ it.
But l do think that they damn well ought to admit they enjoy it.
But no, they insist on being stealthy
About the pleasures of being wealthy.
And the possession of a handsome annuity
Makes them think that to say how hard it is to make both ends meet is their bounden duity.
You cannot conceive of an occasion
Which will find them without some suitable evasion.
Yes indeed, with arguments they are very fecund;
Their first point is that money isn't everything, and that they have no money anyhow is their second.
Some people's money is merited,
And other people's is inherited,
But wherever it comes from,
They talk about it as if it were something you got pink gums from.
This may well be,
But if so, why do they not relieve themselves of the burden by transferring it to the deserving poor or to me?
Perhaps indeed the possession of wealth is constantly distressing,
But I should be quite willing to assume every curse of wealth if I could at the same time assume every blessing.
The only incurable troubles of the rich are the troubles that money can’t cure,
Which is a kind of trouble that is even more troublesome if you are poor.
Certainly there are lots of things in life that money won’t buy, but it’s very funny –
Have you ever tried to buy them without money?

Ogden Nash

Lucka 12

The greatest gift is the passion for reading.

It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites,

it gives you knowledge of the world and
experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination.

0000000000000000000000 Elizabeth Hardwick

The Poor Poet, by Carl Spitzweg, 1808-1885

The Marriage Question

Let's have a plough with a harrow behind,
let's have a horse for the day’s hard grind!
"And cabbage and spinach and beans we shall grow!"
Erk, my love!
Maja, love!
Let's have a go!

Let's have a pig, we can feed it on swiIl!
Let's have some ducks and some hens if we will!
"And coffee and sugar and meat for my beau!"
Erk, my love!
Maja, love!
Let’s have a go!

We'Il have a brown cow and she’Il graze on the lea!
"And a new feather bed - how nice that wiIl be!
We’Il eat from glazed dishes, fine china we’Il show!"
Erk, my love!
Maja, love!
Let's have a go!

But Maja, love, Maja, I don't really know!
For I'm far too poor and, weIl, you're far too slow!
And you’re on the parish and I'm to and fro!
Erk, my love!
Maja, love!
Where can we go?


Äktenskapsfrågan

En plog ska vi ha, en harv ska vi ha,
en häst ska vi ha, som kan streta och dra!
"En täppa med bönor och kål och spenat!"
Erk du!
Maja du!
Så ska vi ha’t!

En gris ska vi ha att ge skulorna till!
Och ankor och höns kan vi ha, om vi vill!
"Och kaffe och socker och sovel till mat!"
Erk du!
Maja du!
Så ska vi ha't!

En ko ska vi driva i bet på vår äng!
"Och bolster av dun ska vi ha i vår säng
och fint postelin och glaserade fat!"
Erk du!
Maja du!
Så ska vi ha’t!

Men, Maja du, Maja du, var ska vi ta’t?
Jag är för fattig och du är för lat!
Du går på roten och jag går på stat!
Erk du!
Maja du!
Var ska vi ta't?

Gustav Fröding
A new translation by Mike Mc Arthur

Today's window

The cactus enthusiast painting by Carl Spitzweg, 1808-1885