His shop was filled with
all manner of strange things that never would, or could, be sold--things
he had made for the pure love of making them. He had contrived a
mechanical donkey that would trot for two hours by means of stored
electricity, and trot, too, much faster than the live article, and with
less need for exertion on the part of the driver; a bird that would shoot
up into the air, fly round and round in a circle, and drop to earth at
the exact spot from where it started; a skeleton that, supported by an
upright iron bar, would dance a hornpipe; a life-size lady doll that
could play the fiddle; and a gentleman with a hollow inside who could
smoke a pipe and drink more lager beer than any three average German
students put together, which is saying much.
"Indeed, it was the belief of the town that old Geibel could make a man
capable of doing everything that a respectable man need want to do. One
day he made a man who did too much, and it came about in this way.
"Young Doctor Follen had a baby, and the baby had a birthday. Its first
birthday put Doctor Follen's household into somewhat of a flurry, but on
the occasion of its second birthday, Mrs. Doctor Follen gave a ball in
honour of the event. Old Geibel and his daughter Olga were among the
guests.
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