{"product_id":"2940014069083","title":"Uncle Christian's Inheritance","description":"When my excellent uncle Christian Hâas, burgomaster of Lauterbach,\u003cbr\u003edied, I had a good situation as maître de chapelle, or precentor,\u003cbr\u003eunder the Grand Duke Yen Peter, with a salary of fifteen hundred\u003cbr\u003eflorins, notwithstanding which I was a poor man still.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eUncle Christian knew exactly how I was situated, and yet had never\u003cbr\u003esent me a kreutzer. So when I learned that he had left me owner of two\u003cbr\u003ehundred acres of rich land in orchards and vineyards, a good bit of\u003cbr\u003ewoodland, and his large house at Lauterbach, I could not help shedding\u003cbr\u003etears of gratitude.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"My dear uncle,\" I cried, \"now I can appreciate the depth of your\u003cbr\u003ewisdom, and I thank you most sincerely for your judicious\u003cbr\u003eilliberality. Where would now the money be, supposing you had sent me\u003cbr\u003eanything? In the hands of the Philistines, no doubt; whereas by your\u003cbr\u003eprudent delays you have saved the country, like another Fabius\u003cbr\u003eCunctator--'Qui cunctando restituit rem--' I honour your memory, Uncle\u003cbr\u003eChristian! I do indeed!\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHaving delivered myself of these deep feelings, and many more which I\u003cbr\u003ecannot enter into now, I got on horseback and rode off to Lauterbach.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStrange, is it not, how the Spirit of Avarice, hitherto quite a\u003cbr\u003estranger to me, came to make my acquaintance?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Caspar!\" he whispered, \"now you are a rich man! Hitherto vain shadows\u003cbr\u003ehave filled your mind. A man must be a fool to follow glory. There is\u003cbr\u003enothing solid but acres, and buildings, and crown-pieces, put out in\u003cbr\u003esafe mortgages. Fling aside all your vain delusions! Enlarge your\u003cbr\u003eboundaries, round off your estate, heap up money, and then you will be\u003cbr\u003ehonoured and respected! You will be a burgomaster as your uncle was\u003cbr\u003ebefore you, and the country folks, when they see you coming a mile\u003cbr\u003eoff, will pull off their hats, and say--'Here is Monsieur Caspar Hâas,\u003cbr\u003ethe richest man and the biggest herr in the country.'\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese notions kept passing and repassing in my mind like the figures\u003cbr\u003ein a magic-lantern, with grave and measured step. The whole thing\u003cbr\u003eseemed to me perfectly reasonable.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was the middle of July. The lark was warbling in the sky. The crops\u003cbr\u003ewere waving in the plain, the gentle breezes carried on them the soft\u003cbr\u003ecry of the quail and the partridge amongst the standing wheat; the\u003cbr\u003efoliage was glancing in the sunshine, and the Lauter ran its course\u003cbr\u003ebeneath the willows; but what was all that to me, the great\u003cbr\u003eburgomaster? I puffed up my cheeks and rounded off my figure in\u003cbr\u003eanticipation of the portly appearance I was to present, and repeated\u003cbr\u003eto myself those delightful observations--","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47183935865072,"sku":"2940014069083","price":2.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940014069083","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}