Delphi Collected Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe \(Illustrated\) pdfdrive com

LENARDO TO HIS AUNT.

“At last, dear aunt, you receive, after three years, my first letter, according to

our  arrangement,  which  indeed  was  strange  enough.  I  wanted  to  see  the  world,

and abandon myself to it, and for this period. I wished to forget my home, from

which I came and to which I hoped to return again. I wanted to retain the whole

impression, and  that  single details  should  not lead  me,  when at  a  distance, into

misconception.  In  the  meantime  the  necessary  tokens  of  existence  have  been

interchanged  between  us  from  time  to  time.  I  have  received  money,  and  little

gifts  for  my  nearest  friends  have  meanwhile  been  handed  over  to  you  for

distribution. From the sort of things sent, you could see where and how I was. In

the wines my uncle has surely tasted out my place of residence every time; then

the  lace,  the  quodlibets,  the  steel-ware,  have  marked  my  way  for  the  ladies

through Brabant to Paris and on to  London; thus, on your writing, sewing,  and

tea-tables, your morning robes and evening dresses, I shall find many a mark on

which I can hang my tales of travel. You have accompanied me, without hearing

from me, and perhaps are by no means curious to know anything further. To me,

on  the  contrary,  it  is  in  the  highest  degree  necessary  to  learn,  through  your

goodness, how the circle which I am on the point of re-entering goes on. I should

like to enter actually from foreign parts like a stranger who, to be agreeable, first

informs himself about what they wish or like in the house, and does not imagine

to  himself  that  they  must  receive  him  exactly  according  to  his  own  liking,  just

for the sake of his fine hair or eyes. Write to me, therefore, about the good uncle,

the  dear  nieces,  about  yourself,  about  our  relations  near  and  remote,  and  also

about old and new servants.

“Enough;  let  your  practised  pen,  which  you  have  not  for  so  long  inked  for

your nephew, hold sway on the paper for his benefit. Your instructive letter shall

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be my credentials, with which I shall present myself as soon as I have received

it. Thus it depends upon you to see me in your arms. One changes far less than

one thinks, and circumstances remain for the most part much the same. Not what

has  changed,  but  what  has  remained,  what  has  gradually  increased  and

decreased, I wish to recognize all at once, and to look again upon myself as in a

familiar mirror. Greet all our friends heartily, and believe in the strange fashion

of  my  absence  and  return  more  warmth  is  contained  than  is  often  found  in

uninterrupted  sympathy  and  cordial  correspondence.  A  thousand  greetings  to

each and all.

“POSTSCRIPT.

“Do not neglect, dearest aunt, to say a word about our men of business, how

our  agents  and  tenants  are  getting  on.  What  has  become  of  Valerina,  the

daughter  of  the  tenant  whom  uncle  shortly  before  my  departure  had  ejected  —

rightly  indeed,  but  still,  as  it  seems  to  me,  rather  severely?  You  see  that  I  still

remember  much;  I  still  know  pretty  well  all.  You  must  examine  me  about  the

past, after you have communicated the present to me.”