And that bundle of twigs.
DOBLER. Fortune has her unique whims and likes to turn the tables.
BOLLAND. That's it exactly. Fortune delights in turning the
tables.
HAUSER. Unique whims? No. That sort of thing happens every day.
BOLLAND. What happens every day?
HAUSER. The story of a poor young man who becomes a millionaire.
Every large factory boasts of a like progenitor.
BOLLAND. Do you think so?
HAUSER. And the poor young man grows poorer with each telling.
Your son, Herr Bolland, in his description will have his
grandfather freeze to death on the bundle of twigs.
BOLLAND. Upon my word the story is gospel. [To Dobler.] I'd make
use of that plot ... How he founded his business and how it grew
and grew ...
[As Frau Beermann enters from the music room, the tremulous voice
of Prof. Wasner is heard.]
"Behuet dich Gott, es hat nicht sollen sein." [Footnote: God guard
thee well, it was but a dream.]
[The closing of the door shuts off the sound.]
DOBLER. In one respect you are right. The character of the SELF
MADE MAN [Footnote: So in original.] has hardly been treated in
contemporary German literature.
BOLLAND [with enthusiasm]. That's just what I claim. Always about
the poor people only. But take a man who has a large income--one
who makes a success of his business, that also is poetry.
HAUSER. I'd have my ledger novelized, if I were you, Holland.
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