Henrich.  Oh, fiddlesticks, Mr. Burgomaster!  No true man lets himself be bound by fixed ceremonies.  I, for my part, should do nothing, if I were to make my entry, except give the gentlemen of the council my hand to kiss, and wear a fine scowl on my brow so that they might gather what my intentions were, and silently make them realize that a burgomaster was no goose and no dumpling.

Herman.  But think, there must be an oration at the City Hall the first day that I am introduced.  I can certainly make as good a speech as any one in town, and I should make bold to preach if it were to-morrow morning.  But inasmuch as I have never been present at such a ceremony before, I really don’t know what is the customary formula.

Henrich.  Oh, sir, no one but schoolmasters limit themselves by a formula.  If I were burgomaster, I should be content with a brief and emphatic address, such as this:  “It may seem a rather remarkable thing, wise and noble councillors, to see a miserable tinker suddenly turned into a burgomaster—­”

Herman.  Fie, that would be a shabby start.

Henrich.  No, that wouldn’t be the start.  I should begin my speech like this:  “I thank you, wise and noble gentlemen, for the honor you have done a wretched tinker like me in making him burgomaster—­”

Herman.  You always bring in your confounded “tinker.”  It is not proper to talk like that at the City Hall, where I must act as if I had been born a burgomaster.  If I were to make such a speech, I should only be scorned and mocked.  No, no, Henrich, you would make a poor orator.  He is a rogue who says I was ever a tinker.  I have merely tinkered a little to pass the time away when I have been tired of studying.

Henrich.  He is a rogue who says I was ever a tinker’s apprentice.

Herman.  Then why do you want me to make such a speech?

Henrich.  Oh, have a little patience!  Your Honor is too hasty.  I should politely tell them at the start that if any one made fun of me for having been a tinker, he would get into trouble.  And if I noticed the least expression of mockery on any one’s face, I should say, “Wise and noble sirs, do you for a moment allow yourselves to imagine that you have made me burgomaster to ridicule me:  And at that I should pound hard on the desk while I spoke, so that they might see from my introductory speech that I was not to be fooled with, and that they had made a burgomaster who was the man for the place.  For if his Honor lets himself be imposed on at the start, the council will continue to look on him as a rascal.”

Herman.  You talk like a rascal, but still I shall manage to hit on the kind of speech I want to make.  Let us go in.

[Exeunt.

ACT IV

SCENE I

(A Room in Herman’s house.  Henrich, alone.  He has braid on both sleeves of his coat, which reaches to his heels, and is trimmed with white paper.)