Page 18 - Graveyard

16 | G r av e y ar d H u m o r

Ci-git mon oncle Etienne,
4
S’il est bien, qu’il s’y tienne!*

There is in Erfurt an interesting epitaph, of which Luther speaks in his
“Table Talk,” and which is grounded on a historical fact:—

Hier unter diesem. Stein
Liegt begraben allein
Der Vater und seine Tochter,
Der Bruder und seine Schwester,
Der Mann und sein Weib.
5
Und sein doch nur zwei Leib!

Without attempting an explanation, we leave this riddle to be solved by
our readers, after which they may peruse, the French one, No. 124 of this
collection.
There is satire in that on a German Doctor:—

Hier, ruht mein lieber Arzt, Herr Grimm,
6
Und, die er heilte, neben ihm.

And the couplet following is not without some wit:—

Befreie doch mich arme Gruft,

4 Which may be freely rendered thus:—
Beneath our feet lies dear old uncle Stephen,
If he’s all right, he will not be for leaving!

5
Here, beneath this stone,
Lie buried alone
The father and his daughter.
The brother and his sister,
The man and his wife,
And only two bodies .

6 Here lies my adviser, Dr. Grimm,
And those he healed—near him.