In the first part of the trilogy , Knopp is depressed and will look for a wife . He visit his old friends and their wives who he find in unenviable relationships . Still not convinced that the life of a bachelor is one for him , he return home , and without further ado propose to his housekeeper . The following marriage proposal is , according to Busch biographer Joseph Kraus , one of the shortest in the history of German literature :