Черный тюльпан
The Happy Man makes Acquaintance with Misfortune
Allthetulip-fanciers—thatistosay,alltheintelligentpeopleofEurope—willfeelathrillofexcitementwhentherumourspreadstothefourquartersoftheglobe:Thegrandblacktulipisfound!‘Howisitcalled?’thefancierswillask.—‘TulipanigraBarlœnsis!’—‘WhyBarlœnsis?’—‘Afteritsgrower,VanBaerle,’willbetheanswer.—‘AndwhoisthisVanBaerle?’—‘Itisthesamewhohasalreadyproducedfivenewtulips:theJane,theJohndeWitt,theCorneliusdeWitt,etc.’Well,thatiswhatIcallmyambition.Itwillcausetearstonoone.AndpeoplewilltalkofmyTulipanigraBarlœnsiswhenperhapsmygodfather,thissublimepolitician,isonlyknownfromthetuliptowhichIhavegivenhisname.
“Oh!thesedarlingbulbs!
“Whenmytuliphasflowered,”Baerlecontinuedinhissoliloquy,“andwhentranquillityisrestoredinHolland,Ishallgivetothepooronlyfiftythousandguilders,which,afterall,isagoodlysumforamanwhoisundernoobligationwhatever.Then,withtheremainingfiftythousandguilders,Ishallmakeexperiments.WiththemIshallsucceedinimpartingscenttothetulip.
