HEINRICH HEINE - Repositories

S^ntroliuction*
xxix
and courtiers had forsaken him; not one
came to his help. I know not if he had
at that time the cheese face with which
Holbein has painted him for us. But I
am sure that under lip of his, with its
contempt for mankind, stuck out even
more than it does in his portraits. How
could he but contemn the tribe which
in the sunshine of his prosperity had
fawned on him so devotedly, and now,
iu his dark distress, left him all alone ?
Then suddenly his door opened, and
there came in a man in disguise, and, as
he threw back his cloak, the Kaiser recognized
in him his faithful Conrad von
der Rosen, the court jester. This man
brought him comfort and counsel, and
he was the court jester!
" 0 German fatherland ! dear German
people ! I am thy Conrad von der Rosen.
The man whose proper business was to
amuse thee, and who in good times
should have catered only for thy mirth,
makes his way into thy prison in time
of need; here, under my cloak, I bring
thee thy sceptre and crown; dost thou
not recognize me, my Kaiser ? If I
cannot free thee, I will at least comfort
thee, and thou shalt at least have one
with thee who will prattle with thee
about thy sorest affliction, and whisper
courage to thee, and love thee, and
whose best joke and best blood shall be
at thy service. For thou, my people,
art the true Kaiser, the true lord of the
land; thy will is sovereign, and more