Elias has a book of very short children's stories in German, by Werner Färber. In one of the stories, a customer enters a small village store and asks for some peace.
"You'd like some peace?" the proprietor asks.
--"Yes please. I need it urgently."
"Do you need a lot?"
--"As much as possible."
"Whole or sliced?"
--"Whole, please."
"Alright. How much do you want to pay?"
--"Price is no object. I just need enough."
Were you paying attention during the previous lesson on making purchases? Do you remember what the proprietor and the buyer are supposed to say next? Check your notes before reading onward!
Ready? The answer is:
"Darf es ein klein wenig mehr sein?" ("Is it OK if there's a little more [than you asked for]?")
--"Aber sicher. Gerne. Wenn das geht" ("But of course, sure, if that works.")
Did you get it right? Then you're ready to shop in Germany!
Eventually the seller gets ticked off because the buyer doesn't want the seller to wrap the piece of peace for him. That apparently violates transaction etiquette in small village stores. Happily, in green-city Freiburg, sellers don't mind if buyers don't want things wrapped.
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