Do you understand what you read? How quickly do you form your judgment? And how carelessly or responsibly do you handle your privilege of being the custodian of these matters? Literature from the 16th century still suffers, at least in older German studies, from the judgments of the 19th century. However, in the meantime, a specialized philology of the early modern period has established itself, allowing for some remarkable narrative phenomena to be identified in certain works from the era. The Lalebuch (1597) and its continuations not only illustrate these phenomena but can also be understood in their utopian potential against the backdrop of early modern ars corrigendi as a symbol of critical ars vivendi. This monograph addresses the disparity of the historical Lalebuch by asking, with Horace, what the goal and purpose of this conflict are.