Louis was a merry fellow when he went away, and knew how to tame the wildest stallion.

It was hard for our parents to believe him dead, but years elapsed, and as neither he nor Chevalier von Brand appeared, we were obliged to give him up for lost.

My mother alone could not do this, and constantly expected his return.

My father called me the future heir and lord of the castle.

When I had passed beyond boyhood and understood Cicero tolerably well, I was sent to the University of Jena to study law, as my uncle, the chancellor, wished me to become a counsellor of state.
"Oh Jena, beloved Jena! There are blissful days in May and June, when only light clouds float in the sky, and all the leaves and flowers are so fresh and green, that one would think--they probably think so themselves--that they could never fade and wither; such days in human existence are the period of joyous German student life.