again to our original type, to the natural monkeydom. They did all that could be done; and finally, when there was nothing lacking to them in order to be monkeys except the tail, they adopted instead of it a pig-tail. Thus the pigtail is an important symptom of a serious necessity, and not simply a frivolous invention. But it is in vain that I try, by shaking the bells of my fool's cap, to drown with their noise the melancholy which comes over me when I think of my deceased father.

He was of all human beings the one whom upon earth I have loved most; he has been dead now more* than twenty-five years. I never thought I should lose him, and even now I can hardly realize that I have actually lost him. It is so difficult to persuade oneself that those whom we have loved so very much are really dead; but, in fact, they are not dead; they continue to live in our hearts.

Not a single night has passed in which I have not thought of my deceased father; and when

*As Heine's father died the 2nd of December, 1828, we have a right to conclude that he commenced these Memoirs in 1854.

money, had there been a question of selling a better quality and a greater quantity of velveteen than his competitors. My father possessed, in fact, no real calculating commercial mind, although he was always calculating; and commerce to him was a sort of amusement, just as playing soldiers or cooking is to children.

His activity was, in fact, nothing else but a continually being busy. Velveteen was his special hobby, and he was perfectly happy when the great car-loads were unloaded, and when, during the unloading, all the trading Jews of the neighborhood filled the hall of the house; these were his best customers, and with them his velveteen was not only in great demand, but also met with honorable praise.

66

As you, my dear reader, perhaps do not know what velveteen is, I take the liberty to tell you that it is an English word, meaning velvetlike, and this name is given to a kind of cottonvelvet, of which very beautiful trousers, vests, and even jackets are manufactured. This material is also called "Manchester," after the city of that name, where it was first manufactured. Because the name of a friend of my father

again to our original type, to the natural monkeydom. They did all that could be done; and finally, when there was nothing lacking to them in order to be monkeys except the tail, they adopted instead of it a pig-tail. Thus the pigtail is an important symptom of a serious necessity, and not simply a frivolous invention. But it is in vain that I try, by shaking the bells of my fool's cap, to drown with their noise the melancholy which comes over me when I think of my deceased father.

He was of all human beings the one whom upon earth I have loved most; he has been dead now more* than twenty-five years. I never thought I should lose him, and even now I can hardly realize that I have actually lost him. It is so difficult to persuade oneself that those whom we have loved so very much are really dead; but, in fact, they are not dead; they continue to live. in our hearts.

Not a single night has passed in which I have not thought of my deceased father; and when

*As Heine's father died the 2nd of December, 1828, we have a right to conclude that he commenced these Memoirs in 1854.

money, had there been a question of selling a better quality and a greater quantity of velveteen than his competitors. My father possessed, in fact, no real calculating commercial mind, although he was always calculating; and commerce to him was a sort of amusement, just as playing soldiers or cooking is to children.

His activity was, in fact, nothing else but a continually being busy. Velveteen was his special hobby, and he was perfectly happy when the great car-loads were unloaded, and when, during the unloading, all the trading Jews of the neighborhood filled the hall of the house; these were his best customers, and with them his velveteen was not only in great demand, but also met with honorable praise.

As you, my dear reader, perhaps do not know what "velveteen" is, I take the liberty to tell you that it is an English word, meaning velvetlike, and this name is given to a kind of cottonvelvet, of which very beautiful trousers, vests, and even jackets are manufactured. This material is also called "Manchester," after the city of that name, where it was first manufactured.

Because the name of a friend of my father

who best understood the buying of velveteen was Harry, I was also named thus, and I was called Harry in our family, among our friends, and among our neighbors.

Even at the present day I like to be called by that name, although it has caused me much annoyance, perhaps the most bitter annoyance of my childhood. Only now, when I no longer live amongst the living, and consequently all social vanity has become extinct in my soul, I can speak about it without embarrassment.

Here in France my German name, "Heinrich," was, immediately after my arrival in Paris, translated into "Henri"; and I had to submit to it, and was finally obliged to call myself so, because the word "Heinrich" does not suit a French ear, and because the French make everything as comfortable to themselves as possible. Even the name "Henri Heine " can never be pronounced quite correctly; most of them call me M. Enri Enn; many contract this into Enrienne," and some even give me the appellation "M. Un Rien."

This hurts me in many ways, especially with regard to my literary occupation; it is however,