Laudator Temporis Acti

Thomas Mann (1875-1955), Buddenbrooks, VIII.8 (tr. John E. Woods):

He [Hugo Weinschenk] chatted away merrily about all sorts of things. The only problem was that, in his naïve candor and extraordinary high spirits, he did not pay sufficient attention to what he was saying, and every now and then would tell a story that was somewhat out of place. One of his anecdotes, for example, concerned a wet-nurse who suffered from such an awful case of flatulence that the child she was nursing took ill. And in a manner which he doubtless thought was humorous, he imitated the family physician, who had shouted, "Who is making this stink? Who is making this stink here?"—and he noticed too late, or perhaps not at all, that his wife was blushing terribly, that old Madame Buddenbrook, Thomas, and Gerda sat there like statues, that the Ladies Buddenbrook exchanged pointed glances, that even Rieke Severin, at the far end of the table, looked offended and simply gazed straight ahead, and that only old Consul Kröger managed to splutter softly.

Labels: noctes scatologicae