Editing Wilhelm Busch (section)

===''Adventures of a Bachelor''===
Notwithstanding the hiatus after moving from Frankfurt, the 1870s were one of Busch's most productive decades. In 1874 he produced the short illustrated tale, ''Diddle-Boom!'' (Dideldum!).

Following in 1875, was the ''Knopp Trilogy'', about the life of Tobias Knopp: ''Adventures of a Bachelor'' (Abenteuer eines Junggesellen), ''Mr. and Mrs. Knopp'' (Herr und Frau Knopp) (1876), and "Julie" (Julchen) (1877). The antagonists of the trilogy are not pairs of nuisances as with ''Max and Moritz'' or ''Jack Crook, Bird of Evil'' (Hans Huckebein, der Unglücksrabe).<ref>Kraus, p. 94</ref> Without pathos, Busch makes Knopp become aware of his mortality:<ref>Arndt, pp. 66–7</ref>
[[File:Wilhelm Busch 1878.jpg|thumb|upright|Wilhelm Busch in 1878, photograph by [[Edgar Hanfstaengl]]]]
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<poem>
Rosen, Tanten, Basen, Nelken
Sind genötigt zu verwelken;
Ach&nbsp;— und endlich auch durch mich
Macht man einen dicken Strich.
</poem>
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<poem>
April, cousins, maidens, May
Irretrievably decay;
And I also, soon enough,
Shall be cancelled and crossed off.
</poem>
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In the first part of the trilogy, Knopp is depressed and will look for a wife. He visits his old friends and their wives, whom he finds in unenviable relationships. Still not convinced that the life of a bachelor is one for him, he returns home, and without further ado proposes to his housekeeper. The following marriage proposal is, according to Busch biographer Joseph Kraus, one of the shortest in the history of German literature:<ref>Kraus, p. 97</ref><ref>Arndt, p. 82</ref>
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<poem>
"Mädchen", spricht er, "sag mir ob..."
Und sie lächelt: "Ja, Herr Knopp!"
</poem>
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<poem>
"Wench," he stammers, "if I were..."
And she smiles: "With pleasure, Sir!"
</poem>
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According to Wessling, Busch became skeptical of marriage after writing the story.<ref>Wessling, p. 155</ref> To Marie Anderson he wrote: "I will never marry(...) I am already in good hands with my sister".<ref>zitiert nach Wessling, p. 155</ref>