_] Not that I know of.
LOTH
Nothing of that business at Leipzig?
HOFFMANN
Ah, yes, that! Yes, yes ... I believe so ... but nothing definite.
LOTH
Well, then, the matter was as follows--
HOFFMANN
[_Laying his hand on LOTH'S arm._] Before you begin, won't you take
anything at all?
LOTH
Perhaps later.
HOFFMANN
Not even a little glass of brandy?
LOTH
No; that least of all.
HOFFMANN
Well, then I'll take a little ... There's nothing better for the stomach.
[_He gets a bottle and two little glasses from the sideboard and places
them on the table before LOTH._] Grand champagne, finest brand. I can
recommend it. Won't you really?
LOTH
No, thank you.
HOFFMANN
[_Tilting the contents of the glass into his mouth._] Ah-h--well, now I'm
all ears.
LOTH
To put it briefly, I got into a nasty mess.
HOFFMANN
The sentence was two years, wasn't it?
LOTH
Quite right. You seem to be informed after all. Yes, I was sentenced to
two years' imprisonment, and afterwards they expelled me from the
university too. And at that time I was just--twenty-one. However, during
those two years I wrote my first book on economics. In spite of that I
couldn't truthfully say that it was very good fun to be behind the bars.
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