MORITZ: I'd rather be a cab-horse than go to school!——Why do we go to school?——We go to school so that somebody can examine us!——And why do they examine us?——In order that we may fail. Seven must fail, because the upper classroom will hold only sixty.——I feel so queer since Christmas.——The devil take me, if it were not for Papa, I'd pack my bundle and go to Altoona to-day!

MELCHIOR: Let's talk of something else——

Melchior and Moritz walk along the street.

MORITZ: Do you see that black cat there with its tail sticking up?

MELCHIOR: Do you believe in omens?

MORITZ: I don't know exactly. They come down to us. They don't matter.

MELCHIOR: I believe that is the Charybdis on which one runs when one steers clear of the Scylla of religious folly.——Let's sit down under this beech tree. The cool