Buddenbrooks: The Decline of a Family

by Thomas Mann

smaller and the larger bells—one merry, the other grave—tolled four o’clock, the bell in the vestibule below rang shrilly through the entrance hall. And indeed Tom

kind of bows of which the modern generation was totally incapable, each of them accompanied by a quiet and attentive smile.

while her eyes rapidly swept the full length of the table to the children at the far end.

And he told them about a book that had been published several years before, a book he had read, written by a secretary of the emperor—a work that was well worth the reading.

They sat in high-backed, heavy chairs, dined with heavy silverware on heavy, rich foods, drank heavy, good wine, and said what they thought.

skinny child with her long, old-woman’s face had developed when it came to eating.

she smiled indifferently and heaped her plate with good things—patient, tough, hungry, and skinny.

He, Friedrich Grabow, was not the sort of fellow to upset the lifelong habits of all these decent, prosperous, and comfortable commercial families.

white hand, with short but delicately shaped fingers, the hand of the Buddenbrooks.

The consul climbed the stairs to his living quarters, and the old man groped his way down along the banister to the mezzanine.

Pride, hope, and fear all slept, while rain pelted the deserted streets and an autumn wind whistled around corners and gables.

to take grateful pleasure in how God’s hand had always and visibly blessed him in all dangers.

whose tiny, wrinkled yellow fingers bore an awful resemblance to a chicken’s claws.

He appeared determined to oppose the old established families every chance he got, to dispute their opinions with some wily argument or other, and to push through his own, establishing himself as more competent and indispensable than anyone else.

soft, oval milk pastry with raisins—and, to make matters worse, he would top it with tongue sausage or breast of goose. That was the sort of taste he had.

She walked about the town like a little queen who reserved to herself the right to be gracious or cruel, as the mood or fancy of the moment struck her.

were harmless and well-intentioned men, united in their view that science and good cheer were not mutually exclusive categories, and they set about their work with benevolence and gusto.

And whenever he wanted to flabbergast his students totally, he demonstrated his mastery of the art of sucking his lips into his mouth and releasing them with a sound like a popping champagne cork.

considerable losses that the old man’s death had meant for the “firm”—

And so the years meandered along, and, all in all, Tony’s adolescence was a happy time.

then transferring them carefully in a five-fingered grip to her mouth.

only reinforced the unanimity of their opinions.

young girl like you never knows what she really wants. Your head and your heart are both all in a muddle. One must give the heart time and keep one’s mind open for the

pressing her little white, egg-stained batiste napkin to her eyes. “I only know that his whiskers

seemed no less absurd that she should marry Herr Grünlich than it had ten minutes before, but she was beginning to find considerable satisfaction in the importance of her position.

Would she, as Madame Grünlich, drink chocolate every morning? It probably wasn’t appropriate to ask.

Just as it was Tom’s job to work in the office, her calling in life was to add to the luster of her family and the firm of Johann Buddenbrook by marrying a wealthy and

I was constantly making fun of him with sarcastic comments. I can’t imagine how he can even stand me. He must have some pride.” And with that, she began dripping honey on her slice of country bread.

assets come to about 120,000 thalers, and that is obviously only the start, for he turns a

As he began to eat, he displayed a set of unusually well-formed, closely set teeth so shiny that they sparkled like polished ivory.

My, what a fine person she is. Of course. But you don’t have to know a single one of them to condemn the lot. It’s a matter of principle, you see, it’s the institution itself. So what do you have to say to that? Nothing.

And while the sea murmured ponderously and peacefully below, Tony suddenly felt herself united with Morten in a great, vague, yearning, intuitive understanding of what “freedom” meant.

wild, eternal, deafening tumult that swallowed every word and destroyed all sense of time.

“He must have admired you greatly,” Morten said softly. “But what concern is that of mine?” she cried in amazement, turning to him on her pile of sand.

don’t, I don’t believe it!” Morten cried with a laugh that betrayed both his deep affection and barely stifled exultation.

And that in the meantime you won’t pay any attention to any Herr Grünlichs? Oh, it won’t be long, you’ll see. I’ll work like, like … and it won’t be hard at all.”

She didn’t answer, didn’t even look at him—but silently moved the upper part of her body a little closer to him on their cushion of sand, and Morten kissed her slowly and formally on the mouth. Then they both looked down in different directions at the sand—embarrassed beyond measure.

For, although the words we speak are more vivid and immediate, the written word has the advantage of having been chosen with great care and is fixed in a form that its author has weighed and considered, so that it may be read again and again to cumulative effect.

pursue our own small personal happiness, for we are not separate, independent, self-subsisting individuals, but links in a chain; and it is inconceivable that we would be what we are without those who have preceded us and shown us the path that they themselves have scrupulously trod, looking neither to the left nor to the right, but, rather, following a venerable and trustworthy tradition.

wasn’t even aware of how beautiful his teeth were.

her solemn promise that she would keep all this in her heart forever as something sacred and inviolable.

But then, suddenly, in the sound of the wheels she heard with perfect, unbelievably vivid clarity the sound of Morten’s voice; she could make out every word he said in his kindly, somewhat ponderous and scratchy voice, heard it with very own ears—“We’ll both have to sit on the stones today, Fräulein Tony”—and that brief memory overwhelmed her. She felt her chest contract with pain and grief, she didn’t try to stop the burst of tears. Tucked in her corner, she held her handkerchief to her face with both hands and wept bitterly.

“But I don’t want to forget!” Tony cried in despair. “Forget? Is that any comfort?”

his gruff face was so full of respect it seemed to say, “I swear I’m at the bottom of the ladder.”

predecessor had left off, instinctively adopting the same stately, unexaggerated chronicle style, which in its very discretion spoke all the more nobly of a family’s respect for itself, its traditions and history.

with an almost religious respect for facts—

for was not even the most insignificant event the will and work of God, who wonderfully guided the destinies of this family?

She felt in awe of herself; the old, familiar feeling of her personal importance coursed through her, but heightened now by the spirit of what she had just read—she almost shuddered at the thrill.

and laying her flushed head on her shoulder, wrote in her own clumsy hand, slanting upward from left to right: “Engaged on 22 September 1845 to Herr Bendix Grünlich, merchant from Hamburg.”

“Adieu, Papa. My good Papa.” And she whispered very softly, “Are you proud of me?” The consul