In the meantime Raschke was roving about in the anteroom; there too
disorder prevailed. Gabriel had not returned from his distant errand,
and the cook had put all the dinner things upon a side-table till his
return, and Raschke had to look for his own great-coat. He groped among
the clothes and seized a coat and a hat. As to-day he was not as
absent-minded as usual, a glance at the rejected meal reminded him of
the fact that he had to eat a chicken, as enjoined by Ilse. He,
therefore, seized a newspaper which Gabriel had carefully laid out for
his master, took the chicken from the dish, wrapped it up in the paper,
and deposited it in his pocket, the depth and capacity of which
agreeably surprised him. Rushing past the astonished cook he left the
house. On opening the front door he stumbled over something on the
threshold, and heard a fearful growl behind him as he hurried down the
steps into the open air.
The words of the friend whose house he had just left, still rung in his
ear. Werner's whole bearing had been very characteristic, and his
nature was a strong one. Strange, that in a moment of anger his face
had suddenly assumed a likeness to that of a Danish dog. Here the
philosopher's chain of ideas was broken by the sudden recollection of
the talk about animal souls.
"It is indeed to be deplored that it is still so difficult to determine
the significance of expression as revealing the animal soul. If success
attended our efforts here, science too would gain by it. If the
expressions and gestures exhibited in moments of passion by man and the
higher animals could be compared and collated in every detail,
important and interesting inferences might be drawn, both from that
which they manifested in common and from that wherein they differed.
For, in this way, the true nature and purport of their dramatic
actions, and probably new laws governing the same, might be
ascertained."
Whilst the philosopher was thus meditating, he felt a repeated tugging
at the end of his overcoat. As his wife was accustomed, when he was
wrapt in thought, to nudge him gently if he met a friend, he paid no
attention, but took off his hat politely to the post on the bridge, and
said, "Good evening."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account