: The Student-Life of Germany by Howitt William - Students Germany

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BEAUTIFUL BIRDS.

Why Beautiful Birds are Killed

This ugly little demon crept up to the Goddess of Pity, who looked at the clothes and was not even able to pity him; and, when he saw that he had her good opinion, he began to repeat a sort of charm to send her to sleep, for he knew that when once the Goddess of Pity was asleep he might do whatever he liked.

These were the words of the charm:--

Fashion, fashion, fashion! Give a little sneer. Fashion, fashion, fashion! Science makes it clear. Fashion, fashion, fashion! A bird is not a bat. Fashion, fashion, fashion! Such a pretty hat!

Under the influence of this drowsy charm--which, of course, had no meaning in it whatever--the Goddess of Pity began to nod, and nodded and nodded till, on the last line, she went fast asleep, with a pleased smile on her face.

Now we will begin, and as we come to one bird after another, you shall make your mother promise not to wear it in her hat.

Birds of Paradise

First I will tell you about the Birds of Paradise. You have heard of them perhaps, and how beautiful they are, but you may have thought that birds with a name like that did not live here at all. For the Emperor of China lives in China, and if the Emperor of China lives in China, the Birds of Paradise ought, one would think, to live in Paradise. But that is not the case--not now at any rate. They live a very long way off, it is true, right over at the other side of the world, but it is not quite so far off as Paradise is. No, it cannot be there that they live, because if you were to leave England in a ship and sail always in the right direction, you would come at last to the very place, instead of coming right round to England again, which is what you would do if you were to sail for Paradise--for you know, of course, that the earth is round. But why, then, are they called Birds of Paradise if they live here on the earth? Well, there are two ways of explaining it. I will tell you first one and then the other, and you can choose the way you like best. The first way is this.

A long time ago--but long after the little demon had crept out of his cave--the early Portuguese voyagers , when they came to the Moluccas to get spices, were shown the dried skins of beautiful birds which were called by the natives "Manuk dewata," which means "God's birds." There were no wings or feet to the skins, and the natives told the Portuguese that these birds had never had any, but that they lived always in the air, never coming down to settle on the earth, and keeping themselves all the while turned towards the sun. One would have thought they must have wanted wings, at any rate, to be always in the air, but that is wng constitutes a Brotherhood to last for life--Drinking Laws of the Commers--Herr Schluck's Comments on a Commers--the Excesses of the Ancient Commerses abandoned

The Special Commers.--Description of a train of Students going out to a Special Commers in the country--their arrival there-- description of the Room and mode of holding the Commers--Ceremony, and Song of "The Prince of Fooling"--Frolics and Gambols of the Students the next day in the village--An old ballad describing these in 1650--the Commers over, they return often by water, with music and fireworks--close it with drinking Crambambuli--the Song of Crambambuli--The Lumpin Bell

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