Marie seated herself on the ottoman, and drew her feet underneath the wide skirt of her robe.
"Put that book away!" she commanded, when Ludwig stooped to lift from the floor the volume she had cast there.

"I know every one of the four volumes by heart! Why dost not thou give me one of the books thou readest so often ?" "Because they are medical works." "And why dost thou read such books ?" "In order that, should any one in the castle become ill, I may be able to cure him or her without a doctor." "And must the person die who is ill and cannot be cured ?" "That is generally the end of a fatal illness." "Does it hurt to die ?" "That I am unable to tell, as I have never tried it." "Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the maid.

"Thou canst not put me off that way! Thou knowest many things thou hast not yet tried.

Thou hast read about them; thou knowest! What is death like?
Is it more unpleasant than a disagreeable dream?
Is the pain all over when one has died, or is there more to come afterward?
If death is painful, why must we die?
If it is pleasant, why must we live ?" Children ask such strange questions! "Life is a gift from God that must be preserved as long as possible," returned Ludwig, evading the main question.

"Through us the world exists--" "What is the world ?" interrupted Marie.
"The entire human race and their habitations--the earth." "Then every person owns a plot of earth?
Where is the plot which belongs to us?
Answer me that!" "By the way, that reminds me!" exclaimed Ludwig, relieved to find an opportunity to change the subject.