Chapter XVIII: Berlin and Happiness

The Toymakers and Mr. Schmitt flew to Berlin in an airplane. People in Germany travel by plane as easily as we travel by train and boat. Berlin is the capital of Germany. The Berlin airport is the largest in the world.

As the children stepped out of the plane they heard music. They saw people sitting about at tables eating and drinking. These people were watching the landings of the different airships.

"Come. We shall go to my home," said Mr. Schmitt. "I have a large house near the music school. I want you to stay there with me until you find a home of your own."

They drove in a taxicab through the Brandenburg Gate and into a famous street, Unter den Linden ([=O][=o]n´t[~e]r d[)e]n L[)i]n´d[)e]n). New York has Fifth Avenue. London has Piccadilly Circus. Chicago has Lake Shore Drive. Edinburgh has Princes Street. And Berlin has Unter den Linden.

They drove along the wide, shady boulevard with its flower beds, lawns, and fountains. What a splendid street!

The children's joy and excitement made them unusually quiet. It was very wonderful to be riding through this fine city and to know that their struggles and hardships were over.

Mr. Toymaker had sold his wagon. Mr. Schmitt planned to find him work in a big Berlin toy shop. Later, the kind music master intended to find a cosy home for the family. Mitz and Fritz were going to school. Fritz would study music and practice on his violin. One day he would be able to give real concerts.

Mr. Schmitt lived in an old-fashioned house, which seemed beautiful to the children. It was full of ornaments and heavy furniture. Great pictures of musicians hung upon the walls.

Mitz, Fritz, and their dog immediately explored the house from attic to cellar. In the kitchen, Mitzi found a jolly cook, who gave her cookies. Yes, Mitzi knew that she was going to like Berlin!

Fritz found musical instruments in every room. Sounds of piano and violin and flute came from all quarters of the house. No, never before in all his life had Fritz been so happy!

That evening, when the children were in bed, Mr. and Mrs. Toymaker sat talking.

"It is true," said Mr. Toymaker to his wife. "You were right. Fritz has turned beauty into gold. People will pay for things even if they cannot touch them."

Mrs. Toymaker replied, "But even if they cannot touch music, music can touch them."

At last Mr. Toymaker agreed.

"It can touch their hearts," he said.

THE END

PRONOUNCING VOCABULARY

Bach bäk

Bachfisch bäk´fish

Bayreuth b[=i]´roit´

Beethoven b[=a]´t[=o]-v[)e]n

Bingen b[)i]ng´[)e]n

Bonn b[=o]n

Charlemagne shär´l[+e]-m[=a]n

Coblenz k[=o]´bl[)e]nts

Dachshund däks´h[)oo]nt

Danke dän´k[~e]

Danube d[)a]n´[=u]b

Denkmal d[)e][n,]k´mäl

Eisenach [=I]´z[)e]n-äk

Goethe gû´t[~e]

Gretel gr[)e]t´[)e]l

Gutenberg g[=oo]´t[)e]n-b[)e]rk

Halle häl´[~e]

Hamelin hä´m[)e]lin

Hanau hä´nou

Handel h[)a]n´d[)e]l

Hansel h[)a]n´s[)e]l

Harz härts

Hoch h[=o]k´

Johann y[=o]´hän

Kaiser k[=i]´z[~e]r

Koppelberg k[)o]p´p[)e]l-b[)e]rg

Leipzig l[=i]p´s[)i]k

Lorelei l[=o]´r[)e]-l[=i]

Einstein [=i]n´st[=i]n

Ludwig l[=oo]t´v[)i]k

Mainz m[=i]nts

Mendelssohn m[)e]n´d[)e]l-s[=o]n

Moselle m[=o]z[)e]l´

Mittenwald mit´ten-väld

Mozart m[=o]´tzärt

Nuremberg n[=u]´r[)e]m-bûrg

Prague präk

Siegfried s[=e]g´fr[=e]d

Seine s[=a]n

Ströbeck strö´bek

Thames t[)e]mz

Unter den Linden [=oo]n´t[~e]r d[)e]n l[)i]n´d[)e]n

Wartburg värt´b[)oo]rk

Wagner väg´n[~e]r

Weimar v[=i]´mär

Transcriber's Notes:

1. Passages in italics are surrounded by _underscores_.

2. The list of illustrations with their page numbers have been added after the table of contents.

3. Images have been moved from the middle of a paragraph to the closest paragraph break.

4. In this etext, a letter with a diacritical mark is enclosed within square brackets. For example, diacritical marks for letter 'e' are shown below:

[)e] represents 'letter e with breve above'
[=e] 'letter e with macron above'
[+e] 'letter e with up tack above'
[~e] 'letter e with tilde above'

Similar representation is used for vowels other than 'e'. The following three also appear within this etext:

[n,] represents 'letter n with cedilla below'
[)oo] 'letters oo with combined breve above'
[=oo] 'letters oo with combined macron above'

End of Project Gutenberg's Mitz and Fritz of Germany, by Madeline Brandeis