Hammer and Anvil

A request for a Saturday sailing trip becomes a classroom humiliation when Professor Lederer demands that Arthur von Zehren translate a chorus from Sophocles. Watching beside him is the narrator, who recalls the scene years later with a mixture of affection and irritation. Friedrich Spielhagen opens this German novel with the clash between youthful confidence and a teacher's solemn devotion to classical learning. William Hand Browne's English translation preserves the direct speech and closely observed gestures that give the encounter its bite.

Later, the narrator, George, hears Arthur boast of his cousin Paula's interest in him. A conversation about friendship, family support and military service turns into a painful test of trust as George watches the pair walking in the garden. These scenes offer readers a study of pride, jealousy and unequal standing, told through a narrator whose recollections expose both his attachments and his wounded judgment.