did not know why this should be. Was it on account of Rottweil, or Marianchen, or because I must travel without my master, or the ever-increasing distance from my homeland and from Ännchen - I had written my last farewell to all at home - or, as I think, something of all of this? Markoni gave me twenty guilders for the journey; should I need more, he said, Hevel should supply me. Then he clapped me on the shoulder: "God keep you, my son, my dear, dear Ollrich, on all your travels! We shall soon see each other again in Berlin". He said this very sadly, for he certainly had a tender heart.
Our first day's journey took us seven hours to the little town of Ebingen, mostly over bad roads in mud and snow. On the second day, nine hours to Obermarkt. At the first halting-place we lodged at The Roebuck, at the second I forget what sort of a beast it was. At both places there were only cold victuals to be had, and drink of a kind unheard of. On the third day, again nine hours to Ulm. On that day I began to feel the discomforts of the journey, already I had blisters on my feet and felt mortally unwell besides. From the little town of Egna we rode for a while on a farm-wagon, but then the violent jolting of this vehicle had its usual distressing effect
41
, particularly on myself. When we were set down not far from Ulm, everything swam before my eyes. I sank down to the ground. "For the love of God", said I, "I cannot go further, I'd rather you left me lying in the street." At last a
good Samaritan
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set me on his horse bareback, and in riding on to the town I tired myself out so completely that I could neither stand nor go. At Ulm we lodged at The Eagle and had our first rest-day. My comrades attended to their wonted amorous pursuits, I preferred to let my lazy bones lie. At this place, however, I saw a funeral procession that pleased me very much. The womenfolk were in white from head to foot. On the fifth day we marched as far as Gengen, seven hours. On the sixth, another seven hours to Nördlingen, and there a second rest-day. Hevel had a sweetheart there at The Wild Man, named Liesel. She could play the guitar very prettily and he sang songs to its accompaniment.
Otherwise there is but little that I can tell of that place, and of many of the other places that we passed through. For the most part it was nightfall before we arrived, tired and sleepy, and early in the morning we had to be off again. Who in such a case could rightly look at and observe what was to be seen? O God, I often thought, if only I were at my destination, never in my life would I undertake such a long journey again. Kaminski, as I have observed before, was a sturdy Pole, a man like a tree, with legs like two pillars, and walked like an elephant. Labrot, too, was a mighty man for walking. Krüger, Hevel and I, on the contrary, spared our feet and soon we were needing mending or re-soling every six days. On the eighth day we went as far as Gonzenhausen, eight hours' journey. At about midday we saw Hevel's Lieschen tripping towards us over a field. The poor creature had run by different ways to catch up with him, and would not be dissuaded from accompanying him at least
as far as our next halting-place. On the ninth day to Schwabach, eight hours; the tenth by Nürnberg to Bayersdorf, nine hours; the eleventh to Tropach, ten hours; the twelfth by Bareuth to Bernig, seven hours; the thirteenth to Hof, eight hours; the fourteenth to Schletz, seven hours. Here we had another rest-day, and it was high time. From Gonzenhausen on we had not lain in a bed, but (if we were lucky) on wretched straw. And everywhere, though we were spending many a denarius
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, it was a miserable life, with for the most part bad weather and often appallingly bad roads. Krüger and Labrot cursed and swore the whole day long, Hevel on the other hand was a well-bred and high-principled man, and he always exhorted us to have courage and patience.
On the sixteenth day we went on to Citritz, twelve hours; then we had another rest-day. On the eighteenth to Weissenfeld, seven hours; on the nineteenth day we crossed the Elbe and reached Halle. When we had passed the broad river the sergeants expressed great joy, for now we trod on Brandenburg soil
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. At Halle we lodged with Hevel's brother, who was a clergyman,
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Travel sickness was a problem even before the invention of motorised transport!
42
Luke 10, v 33.
43
A Roman coin, mentioned in the Bible and usually translated as "a penny".
