April is the cruelest month.
Once upon a time, in April, one father wrote
a letter to a professor asking a job for his son.
The letter reads as follows:
Professor Wilhelm Ostwald
University of Leipig
Leipig, Germany
Esteemed Herr Professor!
Please forgive a father who is so bold as to turn to you, esteemed Herr Professor, in the interest of his son.
I shall start by telling you that my son is 22 years old, that he studied at the Polytechnic for 4 years, and that he passed his diploma examinations last summer. Since than, he is trying unsuccessfully to obtain a position as Assistant, which would enable him to continue his education.
My son therefore feels profoundly unhappy with his present lack of position, and his idea that he has gone off the tracks with his career & is now out of touch gets more and more entrenched each day. In addition, he is oppressed by the thought that he is a burden on us, people of modest means.
Since it is you, highly honored Herr Professor, whom my son seems to admire and esteem more than any other scholar .., it is you to whom I have taken the liberty of turning with the humble request to read his paper and to write to him, if possible, a few words of encouragement, so that he might recover his joy in living and working.
..
I beg you once again to forgive me for my imprudence in writing to you, and I am also taking the liberty of mentioning that my son does not know anything about my unusual step.
I remain, highly esteemed Herr Professor, your devoted
Herman
The letter was written on 13th April and elicited no response. The son however recovered his joy in living and working.
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