and strike against the wall. The bell on the gate to the neighbor's yard rings
with every gust of wind.
“The people who live in the house come home at all hours, from late in
the evening until far into the night; the lodger just above me, who in the
daytime gives lessons on the trombone, comes home the latest and does not
go to bed before he has taken a little midnight promenade with heavy steps
and in iron heeled shoes.
“There are no double windows. There is a broken pane in my room, over
which the landlady has pasted some paper, but the wind blows through the
crack despite that and produces a sound similar to that of a buzzing wasp. It
is like the sort of music that makes one go to sleep. If at last I fall asleep, I
am soon awakened by the crowing of the cocks. From the cellarman's
hencoop the cocks and hens announce that it will soon be morning. The
small ponies, which have no stable, but are tied up in the storeroom under
the staircase, kick against the door and the paneling as they move about.
“The day dawns. The porter, who lives with his family in the attic, comes
thundering down the stairs; his wooden shoes clatter; the gate bangs and the
house shakes. And when all this is over, the lodger above begins to occupy
himself with gymnastic exercises; he lifts a heavy iron ball in each hand,
but he is not able to hold onto them, and they are continually falling on the
floor, while at the same time the young folks in the house, who are going to
school, come screaming with all their might. I go to the window and open it
to get some fresh air, and it is most refreshing - when I can get it, and when
the young woman in the back building is not washing gloves in soapsuds,
by which she earns her livelihood. Otherwise it is a pleasant house, and I
live with a quiet family!”
This was the report I gave Aunty about my flat, though it was livelier at
the time, for the spoken word has a fresher sound than the written.
“You are a poet!” cried Aunty. “Just write down all you have said, and
you will be as good as Dickens! Indeed, to me, you are much more
interesting. You paint when you speak. You describe your house so that one
