Page:1880. A Tramp Abroad.djvu/56

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44
THE "KNEIP."

greatest number of pints is proclaimed king. I was told that the last beer king elected by the corps,—or by his own capabilities,—emptied his mug seventy-five times. No stomach

THE BEER KING.

could hold all that quantity at one time, of course,—but there are ways of frequently creating a vacuum, which those who have been much at sea will understand.

One sees so many students abroad at all hours, that he presently begins to wonder if they ever have any working hours. Some of them have, some of them haven't. Each can choose for himself whether he will work or play; for German university life is a very free life; it seems to have no restraints. The student does not live in the college buildings, but hires his own lodgings, in any locality he prefers, and he takes his meals when and where he pleases. He goes to bed when it suits him, and does not get up at all unless he wants to. He is not entered at the university for any particular length of time; so he is likely to change about. He passes no examination upon entering college. He merely pays a trifling fee of five or ten dollars, receives a card entitling him to the privileges of the university, and that