49. To Marie Engels

(FRAGMENT)[3]

A nice story told in front of a Frenchman by that son of the gods, Albert Molineus, who is courting Ida.b Enfin, à la porte du ciel était Saint-Pétrus (instead of Saint Pierre) et le peintre Köttgen d'Elberfeld était abordé par le musicien Weinbrenner: Eh bien, Köttgen, vous ne dites rien, racontez-nous donc quelque chose. Enfin, Köttgen dit: Enfin, j'ai eu cette nuit un fameux rêve. Enfin, dit Weinbrenner, qu'est-ce qu'il y avait donc? Enfin, dit Köttgen, je rêvais d'être à la porte du ciel. Alors il y avait tous les artistes célèbres, Meyerbeer, Horace Vernet etc. Enfin, Meyerbeer frappait à la porte; Pétrus dit: Qui est là? "Meyerbeer." Les artistes n'entrent pas ici, dit Pétrus. Enfin vint Horace Vernet. Qui est là, dit Pétrus. "Horace Vernet." Les artistes n'entrent pas ici, dit Pétrus. Enfin Weinbrenner arrivait. Qu'est-ce qu'il y a là? dit Pétrus. Enfin, je suis Weinbrenner. Enfin, Pétrus dit: Entrez, s'il vous plaît.c

The point of the joke — ainsi, Weinbrenner n'est pas d'artisted

—was naturally omitted by the clever young man who spoke French so well. Now you know what kind of people are scrambling for the honour of becoming your brother-in-law.

Friedrich

First published in: Marx/Engels, Printed according to the original Gesamtausgabe, Abt." 1, Bd. 2, 1930 „_,.. , , . .„ ,. , , , r. ° Published in English for the first time

a According to the latest findings, this is a P.S. to Engels' letter to Marie of September 9, 1841 (see this volume, pp. 534-35).— Ed.

Endnotes

[3] As can be seen from Engels' letter to his sister Marie of March 12, 1839 (see this volume, pp. 419-20), this poem was sent to Der Bremer Stadtbote in a fuller version. The publication of Th. Hildebrandt's poem Book Wisdom was mentioned in the Bremer Wöchentliche Nachrichten No. 36, 2. Beilage, S. 2, for March 25, 1839. However, the Publishers do not possess a copy of Der Bremer Stadtbote containing this poem.

b Ida Engels.— Ed. c Saint Petrus was standing at the Heavenly Gate and Köttgen, the Elberfeld painter, was approached by Weinbrenner the musician. Now then, Köttgen, you're very quiet, tell us something. At last Köttgen said: I had a wonderful dream last night. Well, said Weinbrenner, what was it about? Well, said Köttgen, I dreamt I was at the Heavenly Gate. All the famous artists were there — Meyerbeer, Horace Vernet, etc. Then Meyerbeer knocked on the Gate and Petrus said: Who is there? "Meyerbeer." No artists allowed in here, said Pétrus. So then Horace Vernet stepped fprward. Who is there? said Pétrus. "Horace Vernet." No artists al-lowed in here, said Pétrus. So then Weinbrenner came forward. What's going on? said Petrus. I am Weinbrenner. So then Pétrus says: Come in, please.— Ed. Consequently Weinbrenner is not an artist.— Ed.