The Poor Man of Toggenburg - Autobiography of Ulrich Bräker

very soon composed myself and thought: "Really, I would not have expected this from her! But if it must be so, so let it be, and she may keep her Michel!"

Then I hastened on to our dwelling-place. It was a fine autumn evening. When I walked into the front room father and mother were not at home, and I soon perceived that not one of my brothers and sisters recognised me, and that they were not a little terrified by the unusual spectacle of a Prussian soldier, who thus presented himself to them in full uniform, with his knapsack on his back and his hat with its tassels

hanging down, and a splendid mustachio. The little ones trembled, the eldest boy seized a hayfork and then ran away. I in my turn did not wish to make myself known until my parents were present.

At last mother returned. I spoke to her about a night's lodging. She raised several objections: her husband was not with her, and so on. I could restrain myself no longer, clasped her hand and said "Mother! Mother, do you not know me?" O, then arose such noisy cries of joy, mingled from time to time with tears, from both great and small, and there was such a welcoming, such a caressing and gazing, questioning and answering, that my cup of joy was full. Each one of them said what they had done and planned to do in order to have me with them once more; my eldest sister, for example, had wanted to sell her Sunday dress and pay for fetching me home. Before long father also arrived, someone must have called him from a good way off. The good man too had tears streaming down his cheeks. "O welcome, welcome, my son! God be praised that you are safe and sound and that I have all ten of you here together again. Though we are poor there is still work and bread." Now my heart glowed and deep within it I felt the blessed happiness of giving joy to so many people at once, and they my loved ones. On that same evening and others following I told them my whole story from beginning to end. That too was a pleasure, the like of which I had not had for many a long day! After a few days Bachmann came and claimed his thaler, as I said before, and confirmed all that I had told.

On Sunday morning early I cleaned my uniform as I had done for church parade in Berlin. All my acquaintances bade me welcome, while others gaped at me as if I were a Turk. So too did Anne, no longer mine but Cousin Michel's, and moreover did so in quite a brazen fashion, without a blush. I in my turn thanked her dryly and with a scornful smile. However, I paid her a visit some time afterwards, for she had sent me word that she wished to speak to me alone. Then she made me all kinds of threadbare excuses: she had thought me gone for ever, Michel had deceived her, and so forth. Then she went so far as to offer to be a marriage-broker on my behalf, but I returned thanks very politely and left her.

According to Duffy, the uniform hat of Bräker's regiment was a small three-cornered one, but the tasselled hat mentioned here and shown in the original engravings might have been supplied for use on the march.