human
Herr Lieutenant, I come to announce to you that down in the city a carriage has just arrived with some English people, who wish to pass through our lines to the mountains.
gpt
That is impossible! he said.
human
No one must pass.
gpt
So the Englishman has been told; but he will not submit. He has papers, he says,
human
Very well, he said,
gpt
I will come; I must, in any event, now go to the village. It is a very unpleasant duty, he added, turning to the surgeon,
human
I must send back harmless travellers whom perhaps important business urges forward, but the orders are strict and cannot be evaded.
gpt
Unpleasant, do you call it? laughed the surgeon.
human
It gives me great satisfaction to show these arrogant sons of Albion who, with their impudence and blasé manners, spread themselves over our whole Rhine country, who is lord and master here. In their own land, unfortunately, we have never ventured it.
gpt
Are you going with me to the village!
human
No, I am going back to the castle. I leave you alone to manage your Englishmen and your triumph; for the latter that priggish volunteer, that E., has already cared. He snatched your poem from me to read to his comrades. And listen, Walter, when you have gone your rounds, come for half an hour at least, to our quarters. You are falling past rescue in the esteem of our captain, who alone refuses to recognize in you a future celebrity,--you do not drink enough for him.
gpt
Lieutenant.