father’s.’ 
Yet did I not comprehend thee until thou sentest thy mother
Unto my father, and quick were the happy espousals accomplished. 
E’en to this day I remember with joy those half-consumed timbers,
And I can see once more the sun coming up in such splendor;
For ’twas the day that gave me my husband; and, ere the first season
Passed of that wild desolation, a son to my youth had been given. 
Therefore I praise thee, Hermann, that thou, with an honest assurance,
Shouldst, in these sorrowful days, be thinking thyself of a maiden,
And amid ruins and war shouldst thus have the courage to woo her.”

Straightway, then, and with warmth, the father replied to her, saying: 
“Worthy of praise is the feeling, and truthful also the story,
Mother, that thou hast related; for so indeed everything happened. 
Better, however, is better.  It is not the business of all men
Thus their life and estate to begin from the very foundation: 
Every one needs not to worry himself as we and the rest did. 
Oh, how happy is he whose father and mother shall give him,
Furnished and ready, a house which he can adorn with his increase. 
Every beginning is hard; but most the beginning a household. 
Many are human wants, and every thing daily grows dearer,
So that a man must consider the means of increasing his earnings. 
This I hope therefore of thee, my Hermann, that into our dwelling
Thou wilt be bringing ere long a bride who is handsomely dowered;
For it is meet that a gallant young man have an opulent maiden. 
Great is the comfort of home whene’er, with the woman elected,
Enter the useful presents, besides, in box and in basket. 
Not for this many a year in vain has the mother been busy
Making her daughter’s linens of strong and delicate texture;
God-parents have not in vain been giving their vessels of silver,
And the father laid by in his desk the rare pieces of money;
For there a day will come when she, with her gifts and possessions,
Shall that youth rejoice who has chosen her out of all others. 
Well do I know how good in a house is a woman’s position,
Who her own furniture round her knows, in kitchen and chamber;
Who herself the bed and herself the table has covered. 
Only a well-dowered bride should I like to receive to my dwelling. 
She who is poor is sure, in the end, to be scorned by her husband;
And will as servant be held, who as servant came in with her bundle. 
Men will remain unjust when the season of love is gone over. 
Yes, my Hermann, thy father’s old age thou greatly canst gladden,
If thou a daughter-in-law will speedily bring to my dwelling,
Out of the neighborhood here,—­from the house over yonder, the green one. 
Rich is the man, I can tell thee.  His manufactures and traffic
Daily are making him richer; for whence draws the merchant not profit? 
Three daughters only he has, to divide his fortune