Chapter 81
Children's PrattleAT a rich merchant's house there was a children's party,
and the children of rich and great people were there. The merchant
was a learned man, for his father had sent him to college, and he
had passed his examination. His father had been at first only a
cattle dealer, but always honest and industrious, so that he had
made money, and his son, the merchant, had managed to increase his
store. Clever as he was, he had also a heart; but there was less
said of his heart than of his money. All descriptions of people
visited at the merchant's house, well born, as well as
intellectual, and some who possessed neither of these
recommendations.
Now it was a children's party, and there was children's
prattle, which always is spoken freely from the heart. Among
