Antisemitism -- Fiction; Jews -- Austria -- Fiction; Middle class -- Fiction; Vienna (Austria) -- Fiction
Heinrich shrugged his shoulders. "Yes. I felt quite guiltless.
Somewhere or other in my soul and somewhere else, perhaps deeper down,
I felt guilty.... And deeper down still, guiltless again. The only
question is how deep we look down into ourselves. And when we have
lit the lights in all the storeys, why, we are everything at the same
time: guilty and guiltless, cowards and heroes, fools and wise men.
'We'--perhaps that's putting it rather too generally. In your case, for
example, George, there are far less of these complications, at any rate
when you're outside the influence of the atmosphere which I sometimes
spread around you. That's why, too, you are better off than I am--much
better off. My look-out is ghastly, you know. You surely must have
noticed it before. What's the good to me of the lights burning in all
my storeys? What's the good to me of my knowledge of human nature and
my splendid intelligence? Nothing.... Less than nothing. As a matter of
fact there's nothing I should like better, George, than that all the
ghastly events of the last months had not happened, just like a bad
dream. I swear to you, George, I would give my whole future and God
knows what if I could make it undone. But if it were undone ... then I
should probably be quite as miserable as I am now."
His face became distorted as though he wanted to scream. But
immediately afterwards he stood there again, stiff, motionless, pale,
as though all his fire had gone out. And he said: "Believe me, George,
there are moments when I envy the people with a so-called philosophy
of life. As for me, whenever I want to have a decently ordered world I
have always first got to create one for myself. That's rather a strain
for any one who doesn't happen to be the Deity."
He sighed heavily. George left off answering him. He walked with him
under the willows to the exit. He knew that there was no help for
this man. It was fated that some time or other he should precipitate
himself into the void from the top of a tower which he had circled up
in spirals; and that would be the end of him. But George felt in good
form and free. He made the resolve to use the three days which still
belonged to him as sensibly as possible. The best thing to do was to
be alone in some quiet beautiful country-side, to rest himself fully
and recuperate for new work. He had taken the manuscript of the violin
sonata with him to Vienna. He was thinking of finishing that before all
others.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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