The great masters whom this little master served were
imperious and unreasonable. They gave him too little information
regarding their intentions, yet if he failed in his strict duty towards
them, they would crush him as ruthlessly as if he were a wasp.
Unhappy Durnberg! Every morning he expected the Electoral Court to be
convened that day, and every evening he was disappointed. It was his
first duty to lay out upon the table in that great room, the Kaisersaal,
a banquet, to be partaken of by the newly-made Emperor, and by the seven
potentates who elected him. It was also his duty to provide two huge
tanks of wine, one containing the ruby liquor pressed out at
Assmannshausen; the other the straw-colored beverage that had made
Hochheim famous. These tanks were connected by pipes with the plain,
unassuming fountain standing opposite the Town Hall in that square
called the Romerberg. The moment an election took place Herr Durnberg
turned off the flow of water from the fountain, and turned on the flow
of wine, thus for an hour and a half there poured from the northward
pointing spout of the fountain the rich red wine of Assmannshausen, and
from the southern spout the delicate white wine of Hochheim.
Pages:
547
548
549
550
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571