Short stories, German -- Translations into English
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.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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