The Prose of Alfred LichtensteinLichtenstein, Alfred
General
The Prose of Alfred Lichtenstein
Lichtenstein, Alfred
Fiction
Sensation: A barely sixteen year old scholar named Neumann speaks
about maternity regulations and the bringing up of children--it
doesn't seem to him the place to talk about fallen girls--women have
understood that it is right and proper to stay where they belong--the
misery of prostitution--posed gestures. Voice. Raise the eyebrows.
I must express myself in extremes. I must decidedly condemn zionism
as a special variety of prostitution. Maternity regulations: The
mother must be protected against her children (new sensational
concept), a lady said.--She, a German specialist, contributed to the
debate: "In the place where you have left your faith, there you must
fetch it".
XI. Kohns second lover: Teenager (in one hand she had an illustrated
astronomy text).
He loved her in this way: He frequently made a note if she said
something funny to use it later (literarily). But in a cafe on a
pond--everywhere it was already evening, and haze hung like veil on
the trees and tables and waiters--he took out his notebook from the
torn inside pocket of his overcoat and read to her quietly... She
laughed and he laughed--more quietly and sadly. Each thought: This
isn't the right thing... she thought further: he isn't thoughtful...
he thought further: the poor thing, how distant she is from me...
then they went rowing.
XII. Bar scene in Nuremberg: Kunstmayer.
They are all blissfully drunk and can hardly speak clearly anymore.
Slurring, someone says: "Dede do dadä". What are these brutish
sleepers worth?--"See how the gaze of this worker is turned inward
like an ox's eye ", said Paulus.
"The upper-crust ten thousand rule the world", grumbled the waiter
bitterly; then he played a wild variation of "Sweetie, You Are the
Apple of My Eye" on a mouth organ. From time to time, he beat
against the edge of a table. He rubbed his hand clean on his sleeve
or trouser leg.
Karl Kunstmayer, a revue performer down on his luck: I like to tell
dirty jokes... a great guy, philosophically tip-top, but is too
ideal-They were in a melancholy mood. Kunstmayer sang quietly: "The
girls like this so much".
XIII. Drowning in the sea.
I am afraid that the girl has also drowned. My rival had an accident
at sea (drowned). "It is vulgar that you can at most only make a
poem about this, or suddenly find the ending for a story", yelled the
dead Kohn. While they walked along, they found white newspaper
flyers about the event everywhere.--"That is a brutality", said
another. "This is the correct expression".--"Finally!" sighed
another, relieved. Kohn yelled: "But I don't want to have an ending
for a story. That is vulgar. I'm losing my mind. I want to inflame
you. I want to torment you, not satisfy you. You must moan and wail.
You must dissolve in pain." The dead Kohn was not noticed.
Detective Daniel
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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