Narrative and Miscellaneous PapersDe Quincey, Thomas
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Narrative and Miscellaneous Papers
De Quincey, Thomas
English essays; English fiction
One part only there was of the daily ceremonial, where all of us were
at a loss, as it was a part which no mortal eyes had ever witnessed but
those of Lampe: this was breakfast. However, that we might do all in
our power, I myself attended at four o'clock in the morning. The day
happened, as I remember, to be the 1st of February, 1802. Precisely at
five, Kant made his appearance; and nothing could equal his astonishment
on finding me in the room. Fresh from the confusion of dreaming, and
bewildered alike by the sight of his new servant, by Lampe's absence,
and by my presence, he could with difficulty be made to comprehend the
purpose of my visit. A friend in need is a friend indeed; and we
would now have given any money to that learned person who could have
instructed us in the arrangement of the breakfast table. But this was a
mystery revealed to none but Lampe. At length Kant took this task upon
himself; and apparently all was now settled to his satisfaction. Yet
still it struck me that he was under some embarrassment or constraint.
Upon this I said--that, with his permission, I would take a cup of tea,
and afterwards smoke a pipe with him. He accepted my offer with his
usual courteous demeanor; but seemed unable to familiarize himself
with the novelty of his situation. I was at this time sitting directly
opposite to him; and at last he frankly told me, but with the kindest
and most apologetic air, that he was really under the necessity of
begging that I would sit out of his sight; for that, having sat alone at
the breakfast table for considerably more than half a century, he could
not abruptly adapt his mind to a change in this respect; and he found
his thoughts very sensibly disturbed. I did as he desired; the servant
retired into an antiroom, where he waited within call; and Kant
recovered his wonted composure. Just the same scene passed over again,
when I called at the same hour on a fine summer morning some months
after.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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