- 85 -
war broke out and on 11th October 1531 Zwingli was killed in battle at Kappel, not far from Bräker's birthplace at Näbis. The peace which ended this war allowed the rulers of state to determine the official religion of their subjects. The Toggenburg soon reverted to Catholicism and much of Zwingli's work was undone, except in Zürich, where it was continued by Heinrich Bullinger.
1. This time it's in earnest:
76
, who pleased me very well in my character of "Prussian" veteran, and soon afterwards I noticed her again in church. I made enquiries about her in all secrecy at first, and what I learnt about her was to my liking, save for one chief point: that she was said to be terribly hot-tempered, though in the best sense of the word. Besides, some people believed that she had a suitor already. Well, never mind that, thought I, I must make the attempt! I made plans therefore to approach her and make her acquaintance. To this end I bought some saltpetre-earth in Eggberg, where my Dulcinea77
lived, and also hired her father's byre, at much too high a price, for her sake, for it was as good as throwing money away. In this transaction I observed even then that she liked to play the lord and master, but the good sense with which she did so was not at all unattractive to me. Now I had the opportunity of seeing her every day, but for a long time yet I kept my intentions hidden from her, thinking: First I must study her thoroughly. The hot temper, about which I had heard such a deal, I could not find in her. But a single woman, the devil himself cannot make her out!Meanwhile, my visits were growing ever more frequent. Finally I let the cat out of the bag and soon perceived that my proposal was not unexpected. She had, however, many scruples about it, and it was plain that her intention was to put me to a long trial. As you please, thought I, and in the meantime I wandered from one place to another in my saltpetre business, and made acquaintance with various other girls, who to tell the truth pleased me more, yet none of them seemed as worthy in my estimation as she. At last I understood, or rather my good genius prompted me to understand, that I should not merely follow my own desires. Even in those days it was already coming to pass, that on almost every occasion that I saw my fair one, some bickering or heated exchange of words took place, from which I readily observed that our souls were not precisely in perfect accord. But this very disharmony was not disagreeable to me, and I was increasingly confirmed in a certain conviction: This person will be good for you, like medicine to a sick man. At first she gave out as an objection to me, that my mucky trade of saltpetre-boiling did not suit her at all, and there I agreed with her. She therefore counselled me to set up a little business in cotton yarn, as her brother-in-law had done and he had not made out too badly. I was quite willing to try this, but where was I to find the money? That was my first and only question. She advanced me some of her own, but that did not go far. Then I took counsel with my father. He too had nothing against the plan, and made over to me a hundred guilders, which he had in his turn to obtain from mother. At this time I had a dangerous illness, a kind of abscess formed deep in my throat, so that it came near to costing me my life. At last the two Doctors Mettler, father and son, cut it out with a crooked instrument, so skilfully that in a moment I could again swallow and speak.
In March of the following year, 1759, I began in earnest to buy cotton yarn. At that time I was still obliged to trust the spinners at their word, and so pay dearly for my prentice work. And on the 5th of April I went for the first time with my yarn to St. Gallen, and was able to dispose of it
76
The Amazons were a tribe of women warriors in the ancient world. Bräker wife's name was Salome Ambühl, born in the same year as himself, daughter of Ulrich Ambühl and Susanna Barbara Abderhalden.
77
The heroine of Cervantes' satirical novel "Don Quixote".
| |
Contents | |