Book: Stories by Foreign Authors: German (V.2)

V >> Various >> Stories by Foreign Authors: German (V.2)




Evening was drawing near, when at last a young man appeared, who had
already been to my place, and who had also offered me a great deal for
the cloak. He threw a purse with sequins upon the table, and exclaimed:
"Of a truth, Zaleukos, I must have thy cloak, should I turn into a
beggar over it!" He immediately began to count his pieces of gold. I was
in a dangerous position: I had only exposed the cloak, in order merely
to attract the attention of my stranger, and now a young fool came to
pay an immense price for it. However, what could I do? I yielded; for
on the other hand I was delighted at the idea of being so handsomely
recompensed for my nocturnal adventure.

The young man put the cloak around him and went away, but on reaching
the threshold he returned; whilst unfastening a piece of paper which had
been tied to the cloak, and throwing it towards me, he exclaimed: "Here,
Zaleukos, hangs something which I dare say does not belong to the
cloak." I picked up the piece of paper carelessly, but behold, on it
these words were written: "Bring the cloak at the appointed hour
to-night to the Ponte Vecchio, four hundred sequins are thine." I stood
thunderstruck. Thus I had lost my fortune and completely missed my aim!
Yet I did not think long. I picked up the two hundred sequins, jumped
after the one who had bought the cloak, and said: "Dear friend, take
back your sequins, and give me the cloak; I cannot possibly part with
it." He first regarded the matter as a joke; but when he saw that I was
in earnest, he became angry at my demand, called me a fool, and finally
it came to blows.

However, I was fortunate enough to wrench the cloak from him in the
scuffle, and was about to run away with it, when the young man called
the police to his assistance, and we both appeared before the judge. The
latter was much surprised at the accusation, and adjudicated the cloak
in favor of my adversary. I offered the young man twenty, fifty, eighty,
even a hundred sequins in addition to his two hundred, if he would part
with the cloak. What my entreaties could not do, my gold did. He
accepted it. I, however, went away with the cloak triumphantly, and had
to appear to the whole town of Florence as a madman. I did not care,
however, about the opinion of the people; I knew better than they that
I profited after all by the bargain.

Impatiently I awaited the night. At the same hour as before I went with
the cloak under my arm towards the Ponte Vecchio. With the last stroke
of twelve the figure appeared out of the darkness, and came towards me.
It was unmistakably the man whom I had seen yesterday. "Hast thou the
cloak?" he asked me. "Yes, sir," I replied; "but it cost me a hundred
sequins ready money." "I know it," replied the other "Look here, here
are four hundred." He went with me towards the wide balustrade of the
bridge. and counted out the money. There were four hundred; they
sparkled magnificently in the moonlight; their glitter rejoiced my
heart. Alas, I did not anticipate that this would be its last joy. I put
the money into my pocket, and was desirous of thoroughly looking at my
kind and unknown stranger; but he wore a mask, through which dark eyes
stared at me frightfully. "I thank you, sir, for your kindness," I said
to him; "what else do you require of me? I tell you beforehand it must
be an honorable transaction." "There is no occasion for alarm," he
replied. whilst winding the cloak around his shoulders; "I require your
assistance as surgeon, not for one alive, but dead."

"What do you mean?" I exclaimed, full of surprise. "I arrived with my
sister from abroad." he said, and beckoned me at the same time to follow
him. "I lived here with her at the house of a friend. My sister died
yesterday suddenly of a disease, and my relatives wish to bury her
to-morrow. According to an old custom of our family all are to be buried
in the tomb of our ancestors; many, notwithstanding, who died in foreign
countries are buried there and embalmed. I do not grudge my relatives
her body, but for my father I want at least the head of his daughter,
in order that he may see her once more." This custom of severing the
heads of beloved relatives appeared to me somewhat awful, yet I did not
dare to object to it lest I should offend the stranger. I told him that
I was acquainted with the embalming of the dead, and begged him to
conduct me to the deceased. Yet I could not help asking him why all this
must be done so mysteriously and at night? He answered me that his
relatives, who considered his intention horrible, objected to it by
daylight; if only the head were severed, then they could say no more
about it; although he might have brought me the head, yet a natural
feeling had prevented him from severing it himself.

In the meantime we had reached a large, splendid house. My companion
pointed it out to me as the end of our nocturnal walk. We passed the
principal entrance of the house, entered a little door, which the
stranger carefully locked behind him, and now ascended in the dark a
narrow spiral staircase. It led towards a dimly lighted passage, out of
which we entered a room lighted by a lamp fastened to the ceiling.

In this room was a bed, on which the corpse lay. The stranger turned
aside his face, evidently endeavoring to hide his tears. He pointed
towards the bed, telling me to do my business well and quickly, and left
the room.

I took my instruments, which I as surgeon always carried about with me,
and approached the bed. Only the head of the corpse was visible, and it
was so beautiful that I experienced involuntarily the deepest sympathy.
Dark hair hung down in long plaits, the features were pale, the eyes
closed. At first I made an incision into the skin, after the manner of
surgeons when amputating a limb. I then took my sharpest knife, and with
one stroke cut the throat. But oh, horror! The dead opened her eyes, but
immediately closed them again, and with a deep sigh she now seemed to
breathe her last. At the same moment a stream of hot blood shot towards
me from the wound. I was convinced that the poor creature had been
killed by me. That she was dead there was no doubt, for there was no
recovery from this wound. I stood for some minutes in painful anguish
at what had happened. Had the "red-cloak" deceived me, or had his sister
perhaps merely been apparently dead? The latter seemed to me more
likely. But I dare not tell the brother of the deceased that perhaps a
little less deliberate cut might have awakened her without killing her;
therefore I wished to sever the head completely; but once more the dying
woman groaned, stretched herself out in painful movements, and died.

Fright overpowered me, and shuddering, I hastened out of the room. But
outside in the passage it was dark; for the light was out, no trace of
my companion was to be seen, and I was obliged, haphazard, to feel my
way in the dark along the wall, in order to reach the staircase. I
discovered it at last and descended, partly falling and partly gliding.
But there was not a soul downstairs. I merely found the door ajar, and
breathed freer on reaching the street, for I had felt very strange
inside the house. Urged on by terror, I rushed towards my dwelling-
place, and buried myself in the cushions of my bed, in order to forget
the terrible thing that I had done.

But sleep deserted me, and only the morning admonished me again to take
courage. It seemed to me probable that the man who had induced me to
commit this nefarious deed, as it now appeared to me, might not denounce
me. I immediately resolved to set to work in my vaulted room, and if
possible to assume an indifferent look. But alas! an additional
circumstance, which I only now noticed, increased my anxiety still more.
My cap and my girdle, as well as my instruments, were wanting, and I was
uncertain as to whether I had left them in the room of the murdered
girl, or whether I had lost them in my flight. The former seemed indeed
the more likely, and thus I could easily be discovered as the murderer.

At the accustomed hour I opened my vaulted room. My neighbor came in,
as was his wont every morning, for he was a talkative man. "Well," he
said, "what do you say about the terrible affair which has occurred
during the night?" I pretended not to know anything. "What, do you not
know what is known all over the town? Are you not aware that the
loveliest flower in Florence, Bianca, the Governor's daughter, was
murdered last night? I saw her only yesterday driving through the
streets in so cheerful a manner with her intended one, for to-day the
marriage was to have taken place." I felt deeply wounded at each word
of my neighbor. Many a time my torment was renewed, for every one of my
customers told me of the affair, each one more ghastly than the other,
and yet nobody could relate anything more terrible than that which I had
seen myself.

About mid-day a police-officer entered my shop and requested me to send
the people away. "Signor Zaleukos" he said, producing the things which
I had missed, "do these things belong to you?" I was thinking as to
whether I should not entirely repudiate them, but on seeing through the
door, which stood ajar, my landlord and several acquaintances, I
determined not to aggravate the affair by telling a lie, and
acknowledged myself as the owner of the things. The police- officer
asked me to follow him, and led me towards a large building which I soon
recognized as the prison. There he showed me into a room meanwhile.

My situation was terrible, as I thought of it in my solitude. The idea
of having committed a murder, unintentionally, constantly presented
itself to my mind. I also could not conceal from myself that the glitter
of the gold had captivated my feelings, otherwise I should not have
fallen blindly into the trap. Two hours after my arrest I was led out
of my cell. I descended several steps until at last I reached a great
hall. Around a long table draped in black were seated twelve men, mostly
old men. There were benches along the sides of the hall, filled with the
most distinguished of Florence. The galleries, which were above, were
thickly crowded with spectators. When I had stepped towards the table
covered with black cloth, a man with a gloomy and sad countenance rose;
it was the Governor. He said to the assembly that he as the father in
this affair could not sentence, and that he resigned his place on this
occasion to the eldest of the Senators. The eldest of the Senators was
an old man at least ninety years of age. He stood in a bent attitude,
and his temples were covered with thin white hair, but his eyes were as
yet very fiery, and his voice powerful and weighty. He commenced by
asking me whether I confessed to the murder. I requested him to allow
me to speak, and related undauntedly and with a clear voice what I had
done, and what I knew.

I noticed that the Governor, during my recital, at one time turned pale,
and at another time red. When I had finished, he rose angrily: "What,
wretch!" he exclaimed, "dost thou even dare to impute a crime which thou
hast committed from greediness to another?" The Senator reprimanded him
for his interruption, since he had voluntarily renounced his right;
besides it was not clear that I did the deed from greediness, for,
according to his own statement, nothing had been stolen from the victim.
He even went further. He told the Governor that he must give an account
of the early life of his daughter, for then only it would be possible
to decide whether I had spoken the truth or not. At the same time he
adjourned the court for the day, in order, as he said, to consult the
papers of the deceased, which the Governor would give him. I was again
taken back to my prison, where I spent a wretched day, always fervently
wishing that a link between the deceased and the "red-cloak" might be
discovered. Full of hope, I entered the Court of Justice the next day.
Several letters were lying upon the table. The old Senator asked me
whether they were in my hand-writing. I looked at them and noticed that
they must have been written by the same hand as the other two papers
which I had received. I communicated this to the Senators, but no
attention was paid to it, and they told me that I might have written
both, for the signature of the letters was undoubtedly a Z., the first
letter of my name. The letters, however, contained threats against the
deceased, and warnings against the marriage which she was about to
contract.

The Governor seemed to have given extraordinary information concerning
me, for I was treated with more suspicion and rigor on this day. I
referred, to justify myself, to my papers which must be in my room, but
was told they had been looked for without success. Thus at the
conclusion of this sitting all hope vanished, and on being brought into
the Court the third day, judgment was pronounced on me. I was convicted
of wilful murder and condemned to death. Things had come to such a pass!
Deserted by all that was precious to me upon earth, far away from home,
I was to die innocently in the bloom of my life.

On the evening of this terrible day which had decided my fate, I was
sitting in my lonely cell, my hopes were gone, my thoughts steadfastly
fixed upon death, when the door of my prison opened, and in came a man,
who for a long time looked at me silently. "Is it thus I find you again,
Zaleukos?" he said. I had not recognized him by the dim light of my
lamp, but the sound of his voice roused in me old remembrances. It was
Valetti, one of those few friends whose acquaintance I made in the city
of Paris when I was studying there. He said that he had come to Florence
accidentally, where his father, who was a distinguished man, lived. He
had heard about my affair, and had come to see me once more, and to hear
from my own lips how I could have committed such a crime. I related to
him the whole affair. He seemed much surprised at it, and adjured me,
as my only friend, to tell him all, in order not to leave the world with
a lie behind me. I confirmed my assertions with an oath that I had
spoken the truth, and that I was not guilty of anything, except that the
glitter of the gold had dazzled me, and that I had not perceived the
improbability of the story of the stranger. "Did you not know Bianca?"
he asked me. I assured him that I had never seen her. Valetti now
related to me that a profound mystery rested on the affair, that the
Governor had very much accelerated my condemnation, and now a report was
spread that I had known Bianca for a long time, and had murdered her out
of revenge for her marriage with some one else. I told him that all this
coincided exactly with the "red-cloak," but that I was unable to prove
his participation in the affair. Valetti embraced me weeping, and
promised me to do all, at least to save my life.

I had little hope, though I knew that Valetti a clever man, well versed
in the law, and that he would do all in his power to save my life. For
two long days I was in uncertainty; at last Valetti appeared. "I bring
consolation, though painful. You will live and be free with the loss of
one hand." Affected, I thanked my friend for saving my life. He told me
that the Governor had been inexorable in having the affair investigated
a second time, but that he at last, in order not to appear unjust, had
agreed, that if a similar case could be found in the law books of the
history of Florence, my punishment should be the same as the one
recorded in these books. He and his father had searched in the old books
day and night, and at last found a case quite similar to mine. The
sentence was: That his left hand be cut off, his property confiscated,
and he himself banished for ever. This was my punishment also, and he
asked me to prepare for the painful hour which awaited me. I will not
describe to you that terrible hour, when I laid my hand upon the block
in the public market-place and my own blood shot over me in broad
streams.

Valetti took me to his house until I had recovered; he then most
generously supplied me with money for travelling, for all I had acquired
with so much difficulty had fallen a prey to the law. I left Florence
for Sicily and embarked on the first ship that I found for
Constantinople. My hope was fixed upon the sum which I had entrusted to
my friend. I also requested to be allowed to live with him. But how
great was my astonishment on being asked why I did not wish to live in
my own house. He told me that some unknown man had bought a house in the
Greek Quarter in my name, and this very man had also told the neighbors
of my early arrival. I immediately proceeded thither accompanied by my
friend, and was received by all my old acquaintances joyfully. An old
merchant gave me a letter, which the man who had bought the house for
me had left behind. I read as follows: "Zaleukos! Two hands are prepared
to work incessantly, in order that you may not feel the loss of one of
yours. The house which you see and all its contents are yours, and every
year you will receive enough to be counted amongst the rich of your
people. Forgive him who is unhappier than yourself!" I could guess who
had written it, and in answer to my question, the merchant told me it
had been a man, whom he took for a Frank, and who had worn a scarlet
cloak. I knew enough to understand that the stranger was, after all, not
entirely devoid of noble intentions. In my new house I found everything
arranged in the best style, also a vaulted room stored with goods, more
splendid than I had ever had. Ten years have passed since. I still
continue my commercial travels, more from old custom than necessity, yet
I have never again seen that country where I became so unfortunate.
Every year since, I have received a thousand gold-pieces; and although
I rejoice to know that unfortunate man to be noble, yet he cannot
relieve me of the sorrow of my soul, for the terrible picture of the
murdered Bianca is continually on my mind.




PETER SCHLEMIHL

BY

ADELBERT VON CHAMISSO


CHAPTER I.

After a prosperous, but to me very wearisome, voyage, we came at last
into port. Immediately on landing I got together my few effects; and,
squeezing myself through the crowd, went into the nearest and humblest
inn which first met my gaze. On asking for a room the waiter looked at
me from head to foot, and conducted me to one. I asked for some cold
water, and for the correct address of Mr. Thomas John, which was
described as being "by the north gate, the first country-house to the
right, a large new house of red and white marble, with many pillars."
This was enough. As the day was not yet far advanced, I untied my
bundle, took out my newly-turned black coat, dressed myself in my best
clothes, and, with my letter of recommendation, set out for the man who
was to assist me in the attainment of my moderate wishes.

After proceeding up the north street, I reached the gate, and saw the
marble columns glittering through the trees. Having wiped the dust from
my shoes with my pocket-handkerchief, and readjusted my cravat, I rang
the bell--offering up at the same time a silent prayer. The door flew
open, and the porter sent in my name. I had soon the honor to be invited
into the park, where Mr. John was walking with a few friends. I
recognized him at once by his corpulency and self- complacent air. He
received me very well--just as a rich man receives a poor devil; and
turning to me, took my letter. "Oh, from my brother! it is a long time
since I heard from him: is he well?--Yonder," he went on,--turning to
the company, and pointing to a distant hill--"yonder is the site of the
new building." He broke the seal without discontinuing the conversation,
which turned upon riches. "The man," he said, "who does not possess at
least a million is a poor wretch." "Oh, how true!" I exclaimed, in the
fulness of my heart. He seemed pleased at this, and replied with a
smile: "Stop here, my dear friend; afterwards I shall, perhaps, have
time to tell you what I think of this," pointing to the letter, which
he then put into his pocket, and turned round to the company, offering
his arm to a young lady: his example was followed by the other
gentlemen, each politely escorting a lady; and the whole party proceeded
towards a little hill thickly planted with blooming roses.

I followed without troubling any one, for none took the least further
notice of me. The party was in high spirits--lounging about and
jesting--speaking sometimes of trifling matters very seriously, and of
serious matters as triflingly--and exercising their wit in particular
to great advantage on their absent friends and their affairs. I was too
ignorant of what they were talking about to understand much of it, and
too anxious and absorbed in my own reflections to occupy myself with the
solution of such enigmas as their conversation presented.

By this time we had reached the thicket of roses. The lovely Fanny, who
seemed to be the queen of the day, was obstinately bent on plucking a
rose-branch for herself, and in the attempt pricked her finger with a
thorn. The crimson stream, as if flowing from the dark-tinted rose,
tinged her fair hand with the purple current. This circumstance set the
whole company in commotion; and court-plaster was called for. A quiet,
elderly man, tall and meagre-looking, who was one of the company, but
whom I had not before observed, immediately put his hand into the tight
breast-pocket of his old-fashioned coat of gray sarcenet, pulled out a
small letter-case, opened it, and, with a most respectful bow, presented
the lady with the wished-for article. She received it without noticing
the giver, or thanking him. The wound was bound up, and the party
proceeded along the hill towards the back part, from which they enjoyed
an extensive view across the green labyrinth of the park to the
wide-spreading ocean. The view was truly a magnificent one. A slight
speck was observed on the horizon, between the dark flood and the azure
sky. "A telescope!" called out Mr. John; but before any of the servants
could answer the summons the gray man, with a modest bow, drew his hand
from his pocket, and presented a beautiful Dollond's telescope to Mr.
John, who, on looking through it, informed the company that the speck
in the distance was the ship which had sailed yesterday, and which was
detained within sight of the haven by contrary winds. The telescope
passed from hand to hand, but was not returned to the owner, whom I
gazed at with astonishment, and could not conceive how so large an
instrument could have proceeded from so small a pocket. This, however,
seemed to excite surprise in no one; and the gray man appeared to create
as little interest as myself.

Refreshments were now brought forward, consisting of the rarest fruits
from all parts of the world, served up in the most costly dishes. Mr.
John did the honors with unaffected grace, and addressed me for the
second time, saying, "You had better eat; you did not get such things
at sea." I acknowledged his politeness with a bow, which, however, he
did not perceive, having turned round to speak with some one else.

The party would willingly have stopped some time here on the declivity
of the hill, to enjoy the extensive prospect before them, had they not
been apprehensive of the dampness of the grass. "How delightful it would
be," exclaimed some one, "if we had a Turkey carpet to lay down here!"
The wish was scarcely expressed when the man in the gray coat put his
hand in his pocket, and, with a modest and even humble air, pulled out
a rich Turkey carpet, embroidered in gold. The servant received it as
a matter of course, and spread it out on the desired spot; and, without
any ceremony, the company seated themselves on it. Confounded by what
I saw, I gazed again at the man, his pocket, and the carpet, which was
more than twenty feet in length and ten in breadth, and rubbed my eyes,
not knowing what to think, particularly as no one saw anything
extraordinary in the matter.

I would gladly have made some inquiries respecting the man, and asked
who he was, but knew not to whom I should address myself, for I felt
almost more afraid of the servants than of their master. At length I
took courage, and stepping up to a young man who seemed of less
consequence than the others, and who was more frequently standing by
himself, I begged of him, in a low tone, to tell me who the obliging
gentleman was in the gray cloak. "That man who looks like a piece of
thread just escaped from a tailor's needle?" "Yes; he who is standing
alone yonder." "I do not know," was the reply; and to avoid, as it
seemed, any further conversation with me, he turned away, and spoke of
some commonplace matters with a neighbor.

The sun's rays now being stronger, the ladies complained of feeling
oppressed by the heat; and the lovely Fanny, turning carelessly to the
gray man, to whom I had not yet observed that any one had addressed the
most trifling question, asked him if, perhaps, he had not a tent about
him. He replied, with a low bow, as if some unmerited honor had been
conferred upon him; and, putting his hand in his pocket, drew from it
canvas, poles, cord, iron--in short, everything belonging to the most
splendid tent for a party of pleasure. The young gentlemen assisted in
pitching it; and it covered the whole carpet; but no one seemed to think
that there was anything extraordinary in it.

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