For one hour and a half the members of the Club had to
talk English or French as the case might be, under a penalty of a
fine of one thaler (three shillings) for every lapse into their
native German. Mr. Spiegelberg informed me that I had been elected
an honorary member of the English and French Club, which flattered
my vanity enormously at the time. In the light of more mature
experience I quite understand that the presence of a youth to whom
knotty points in both languages could be submitted would be a
considerable asset to the Club, but I then attributed my election
solely to my engaging personality. These Club evenings amused me
enormously, though incidentally they resulted in my acquiring a
precocious love of strong, rank Hamburg cigars. Let us imagine
fifteen portly, be-spectacled, middle-aged or elderly men seated
around a table groaning under a collection of bottles of all
shapes and sizes, addressing each other in laboured inverted
English. The German love of titles is a matter of common
knowledge. All these business men had honorific appellations which
they translated into English and introduced scrupulously into
every sentence.
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