
A young man, dubbed a “good‑for‑nothing” by his father, spends his mornings watching the mill wheel turn and listening to sparrows at the edge of a quiet village. Tired of endless chores, he is urged to strike out on his own and earn his own bread. With a modest sum of coins and his beloved violin slung over his shoulder, he steps onto the road, his heart humming with song and a yearning for adventure.
Soon a polished carriage rolls up, its windows opening to reveal two elegant ladies who are enchanted by his lively tune. They invite the wandering minstrel to join them on a journey to Vienna, and without hesitation he leaps aboard, his spirit soaring as the landscape blurs beneath him. The open road promises new sights, sounds, and the chance to test whether his carefree optimism can survive beyond the familiar fields of home.
Language
de
Duration
~3 hours (189K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Jana Srna and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net
Release date
2011-02-18
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1788–1857
A leading voice of German Romanticism, this poet and novelist is remembered for lyrical, dreamlike writing filled with nature, longing, and the pull of the open road. His work helped shape the Romantic image of wandering that still feels vivid today.
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