You are a good
son yourself--I need not tell you anything about that. You know the
Fourth Commandment."
"Yes, mother, you may rest easy there--I look out for a special sign in
regard to that; where they make a big fuss about love for parents, it
means nothing. For filial love is best shown by deeds, and those who
chatter very much about it, when the time comes for deeds, are tired and
weary."
"Why, how wise you are!" cried the mother; and she laid her hand on her
bosom and looked up at her son. "May I tell you something more?"
[Mother and son continue to discuss the qualifications of good wives for
some time, until the son begins to show signs of impatience to be off.]
"Yes, yes," said the mother, "I talk too much, and you need not remember
it all. It's only to remind you, if it should come before you. The gist
of what I say is this: the chief thing is not what a woman has or
inherits, but what she uses. And now, you know that I have always let
you go your own way quietly; so then, open your heart to me, and tell me
what it was that made you come back from the wedding at Endringen like a
man bewitched, and why it is that you have never since then been the
same lad that you were before. Tell me, and perhaps I can help you."
"Oh, mother, you cannot do that--but I will tell you. I saw some one
there who would have been the right one, but she was the wrong one.
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