BOOK ONE: YESTERDAY "Be thankful that you have gotten along with hirn a11 right so far. One can never be careful enough these days." Frau Mellenthin, the porter's wife, was disappointed. From what her husband had said, she had expected that the new man would at once distinguish himself by some great deed. Mellenthin, the porter, however, did not allow himself to be dissuaded so soon from his first opinion. "Tannenberg was not won in a day either, he'll do something yet," he declared em- phatically. Frau Mellenthin took heart and repeated her hus- band's opinion to others; for he had a good nose for changes in the weather, and could scent every storm two days before it came. 12 At eleven twenty-five Herr Markus Wolfsohn, salesman at n the Potsdamer Strasse branch of Oppermann's Furniture Stores, had begun to serve Frau Elsbeth Gericke, who wished to buy her husband achair for Christmas, She was not quite sure whether she wanted an ordinary chair or an arrnchair. All she was certain of was that it must be some piece of furni- ture, something just for her husband. Herr Wolfsohn had shown her all sorts of chairs and armchairs. But Frau Gericke was a lady who couldn't make up her mind. Further, a pur- chase of this kind was a great occasion for her, which she wished to prolong to the full; she was delighted to be the ob- ject of such painstaking attention. And it was painstaking at- tention that Herr Wolfsohn gave her. Herr Wolfsohn was a good salesman, serving customers was his lifework. At eleven forty-five, matters had reached a decisive stage. She was hooked, Herr Wolfsohn recognized it with the prac- tised eye of a trade-psychologist, with many years of experi-

7° THE OPPERMANNS ence behind hirn. Frau Gericke, notwithstanding the time and eloquenee that he had bestowed upon her, was a windfall for hirn. For what had hooked her was Model 483. Five years ago a large quantity of this baroque-style arrnehair, Model 483, had been manufaetured in the Oppermann faetory. Ineidentally, matters had very nearly eome to a erisis between the partners on its account. The senior partner, Dr. Gustav, otherwise an affable gentleman, who took no share in the conduct of the business, had claimed the chair to be in such bad taste as to compromise the reputation of the hause, and it was actually this very baroque armchair, Model 483, that had caused the es- tablishment of the art department and the appointment of Dr. Frischlin. However, Markus Wolfsahn liked Model 483. It was showy, and the petty-bourgeois customers of the firm of Op- permann liked a certain amount of ostentation. As usually happens, the model had not caught on. The chair took up a great deal of space, people's houses were small, there were less bulky and eheaper armchairs in which one could sit more comfortably. In spite of every effort, all attempts to interest cus- tomers in the baroque armchair were unsueeessful. The num- ber was sold at a lass, for half the original priee, and the sales- men who got rid of thern reeeived a five percent eommission. Herr Wolfsohn, then, was now on the point of disposing of one of these models. In glowing terms he pointed out that a note of eleganee at onee pervaded any roorn adorned by this baroque armchair. He had invited Frau Gericke to prove for herself how eomfortable the chair was. He could not forbear to add, quite incidentally, how very distinguished she looked in it. At twelve-eight he had pulled it off. Frau Gerieke declared herself prepared to acquire the baroque armchair, Model 483, for the surn of ninety-five marks. Herr Markus Wolfsohn had therefore forfeited eight min- utes of his lunchtime, which began at twelve and ended at