CHAPTER XIII.
COUNTER-POISON.
Prince Valerian, who had met with such a rough rebuff from Sonnenkamp,had himself announced to Eric. Roland, who was in the next room, heardhim say, the first thing as he entered:--
"Where is Roland?"
"He desires to be left alone," answered Eric; and then the Princedeclared that Eric was best able to form an opinion as to what might begood for Roland; but for his part, he could not help thinking thatintercourse with men in whose eyes he could behold the love they borehim, would be of greater assistance than anything else in thisunspeakable sorrow.
Roland rose to his feet in the next room. Would this really be betterthan musing by one's self? He kept quiet, and heard the Prince ask howthe daughter and how the wife had received the exposure of the dreadfulsecret.
The Prince spoke in a loud, Eric in a low tone, and Roland did notunderstand Eric's answer.
The Prince continued in the same loud tone. Herr Weidmann was indignantat the manner in which Professor Crutius had brought this matter beforethe public, and the statement that Doctor Fritz might have had a sharein this malicious publication, was, without doubt, a falsehood. DoctorFritz had said again and again, when he came to take away his child,that he hoped the whole affair would remain concealed, on account ofSonnenkamp's children.
Roland trembled.
Does Lilian know it over the sea? Or when will she hear of it? How willshe bear it? And will she cry about him? And she told him, that time inthe garden, that he must come home and help to deliver the world fromwrong.
He stretched his arms upwards, as if he must hasten from that spot, anddo something at that very moment.
The Prince, in the neighboring room, went on to say that Herr Weidmannhad seriously considered whether he himself ought not to go over toVilla Eden, then and there to offer his assistance, but he had, afterthinking the matter over, perceived that this would be of no practicalbenefit, and therefore he had counselled the Prince to carry out hisown purpose.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, "for the first time in a long while has the highsocial position I am permitted to occupy brought me joy, or, rather joyis not the right word. I thought to myself that, on this account, Ishould be able to effect here more than any one else, and particularlyfor your pupil Roland, whom I love so dearly, and whose afflictionsgive me not a moment's peace."
In the next room, Roland folded his outstretched hands, and the thoughtpassed through his mind:--
Oh; the world is good; no, it is not so bad as you on the journeywished to make me believe. Here is one man who feels for me.
The Prince continued:--
"Ah, Captain, what are we, who are set in high places? Our way ofliving is just the same as yours is here, only it is historicallysuperannuated, overgrown with moss. On the way here, I have seeneverything anew. Our serfs were sold with the land and soil. It is thesame thing, or rather, worse, for they were men of the same race. And,Captain, on my way here I became a terrible heretic. I asked myselfwhat have those done who were sent into the world to preach, and neverto stop preaching, love and brotherhood. They have looked quietly uponthe fact that there are thousands and thousands of slaves, thousandsand thousands of serfs. And then the thought struck me. Who is freeingthe serfs and the slaves? Pure humanity is unloosing their chains."
Again the thought flashed through Roland's mind: Is not that the samething that he himself had already thought of--and Manna too? Theyouth's eyes opened wide, as Eric now answered:--
"I am far away from what is called the church, but the doctrine ofChrist is still a root of that humanity which is now fast ripening intomaturity."
"You are like Herr Weidmann, who also----" exclaimed the Prince. Hecould not finish the sentence, for the Doctor entered.
"Where is Roland?" he also inquired, after the greeting was over.
He too got the answer that Roland wished to be alone, and the Doctorsaid,--
"I approve of that. Is he very much agitated? Mind, days will come whenhe will fall into dulness and apathy; let it have its course with him,and at the same time have the greatest patience with him. The noblestgift of nature is stupor; it is part of the soul's sleep; the simpletonand the brute have it constantly; they consequently never reach thatpitch of intense excitement that endangers all existence; and nature,too, takes pity on the sensitive man, and gives him stupor. In thefirst place, when he begins to give way under his grief, then, I beg ofyou, give Roland to understand then the affair is not so terrible as itseems; there is a good deal of depravity right under, our very eyes;and where is it that this depravity does not exist! Do you remember myasking you when you came here first, how long since you had been abeliever in depravity?"
Eric said he did.
The Doctor continued in a cheerful tone:--
"Now that evil is here, don't lose heart; you have done nobly so longas you have put faith in human purity; I hope, now that you have becomea convert to the new faith, you will still remain equally strong. Yes,Captain, we think we are teachers when we are only pupils. Do you knowwhat vexed me most in the publication of this story?"
"How could I?"
"I was indignant that the sated, self-sufficient portion of thecommunity, pluming itself upon its external white-wash of decency,should now give itself a treat. Each person looks at himself: Ah, I ama magnificent being, compared with this monster. And still the vilenessof the slave trade is only more notorious than that of a thousand otheroccupations. In the Jockey Club the 'Jeunesse doree' are railing at themonster Sonnenkamp, and what are they themselves? Hundreds ofoccupations are constantly hanging on the verge of crime. Yes, the oldtheology teaches me that as Sodom might in old times have stood, ifonly just so many righteous men were to be found in it, so it isto-day. The sun shines only for the few just men; and in every humanbeing there is a complete Sodom; but there is also in him something ofrighteousness, and because of that he continues to live."
Eric and the Prince looked in surprise at the Doctor, who in they hadnever before really known. Within, in the next room, Roland had seizedhold of his forehead, as if questioning whether he comprehended allthis, and in what it would all end.
The Doctor seemed to enjoy his triumph, or rather the perplexity he hadcaused, and he exclaimed in a loud voice, louder even than before,--
"For all that, I have for this Herr Sonnenkamp great respect."
He paused, and then continued:--
"This Herr Sonnenkamp, or, for aught I care, Banfield, has kept prettystiff, he has not bowed down before the priesthood; if he had, thiswould have been covered up. That he has not done so, shows power; and,besides, I think I have kept myself free from the sentimental epidemic.These niggers are not my fellow creatures; human beings of a blackcomplexion have no high destiny; from their whole physicalconformation, they belong out in the heat of the sun, at hard work.Slavery is not such a bad thing, after all; we would not find it ill,if we, too, had slaves for servants. When serving people know thattheir place is to serve and that they can not play the master, they aremore faithful in their work, and one can take better care of them.And I have many a time thought to myself how it would be, if mymen-servants and maid-servants were all at once transformed intoAfricans; it would be a surprise, but one would have to get reconciledto it. I am loth to accept these darkies as my brothers. And can youthink of a negro as a painter? A nigger cannot even see himself in thelooking-glass. And can you picture to yourself a nigger statesman, anigger professor?"
Eric was full of indignation at all this, but he had to listen to it;there was no chance for him to say anything, as the Doctor cried out ina still louder voice,--
"Don't let Roland fall into sentimentality. You, as philologist, mustknow the story of that--wasn't it a Roman emperor?--who had made agreat deal of money by the slave-trade, and whose son took up a pieceof the gold acquired by this means, held it to his nose, and asked:'num olet?' Roland should not continue to carry on the slave-trade; iti
sn't just the thing; it's always unpleasant and dirty; but he mustn'tlet what has happened ruin him; he should know that he's the legitimateowner of the property, and needn't ask how the money was obtained--thelegitimate owner," he repeated once again in a loud voice.
Eric now noticed for the first time that the Doctor was speakingneither to him nor to the Prince.
The Doctor was aware that Roland was listening to everything, in thenext room, and everything was directed to him. Should he by a protestinterfere with the healing skill of the Doctor, who sought to cure theeffect of the poison by a counter poison?
"Ah! you come in good time," cried the Doctor to the Priest, as heentered. "I have been fore-stalling you a little in your office, andnow you can give me some assistance."
He repeated hurriedly to the Priest what he had been saying, and he wassurprised when the Priest rejoined:--
"I do not agree with you. Yes, you gentlemen of philosophy and theself-government of mankind--remember Captain, I told you so the firsttime we met--you have nothing but arrogance or dejection; you know nosuch thing as equanimity, because the firmly fixed rock of the Positiveis lacking in you."
Eric, who had been holding his breath while the Doctor was holdingforth, was on the point of replying sharply to the Priest, when thedoor was thrown open and Roland entered.
"No Doctor," exclaimed he, "you have not converted me. I still know--Istill know--and you, Herr Priest, it does not become me to dispute withyou, but I will not suffer my friend, my brother, my Eric, to beassailed here. He has given me the Positive, the belief in our duty, inour activity, in our never-ceasing self-devotion. I will show for hissake, and for my sake, what I can yet do in life."
The Prince embraced Roland; the Doctor took the Priest outside, andsaid to him in a low tone:--
"Don't trouble the young man, a favorable crisis has set in. Come withme, I beg of you."
He drew the Priest away almost by force.
Eric, Roland, and the Prince still sat a long while together; then theyhad the horses saddled, Eric and Roland accompanying the Prince a partof the way.
After they had ridden a short distance, they saw a strange shape on theroad; Roland cried out suddenly:--
"There's something walking, I think--I think--no, I am not mistaken,it's our friend Knopf!"
It was no other than Knopf. He was going along quietly in the dark,quizzing himself sorely why it was he did not understand the world; itreally ought to explain itself to him, for he held the world so dear.Why is it so reserved and full of secresy? What would now become ofRoland? And amongst the rest entered a lighter and more triflingsorrow, that the Major had utterly forgotten him. Knopf did not thinkill of him for it, not in the least; for Heaven knows that in suchconfusion one had his head full enough; who can think of everything? Heconfessed modestly to himself that he, of course, could not have beenof any assistance whatever, he was so awkward; there was Herr Dournay,and Pranken--he knew nothing at all about Prince Valerian. Thus he wastrudging along in the dark, and questioning himself in every way, andthen looking up at the stars.
"Herr Knopf! Herr Knopf! Herr Magister!" was shouted out by differentvoices. Knopf stopped. Roland sprang quickly off his horse, embracedthe old teacher, and exclaimed:--
"Ah, forgive me for what I have done to you; I've been wanting to sayit to you--long ago----" At the words, "long ago," Roland's voicetrembled violently.
"You have already, and it has been forgiven for a long time; but howdoes it happen that you are here?"
Everything was soon explained. Knopf rested his hand on Roland'sshoulder all the while, as if he could lend him some of his strength;and he pressed back the spectacles very close to his eyes, when heheard and saw how the youth was beginning to bear up manfully under theterrible event. He pressed Eric's hand as if he would say:--
You can be happy, you have imparted to the boy genuine strength.
When at last they were bidding good-bye, Roland begged Knopf to ridehome on the pony. Knopf assured him repeatedly that it was a pleasureto him to roam about in the dark on foot; Roland asserted that Puck wasa right gentle beast, so tractable, so easy and intelligent; and hesaid to the little horse:--
"I want you to be good now, and make up for all the trouble I gave tomy old teacher; do be well-behaved."
Knopf continued to object, and at last he brought out, in a plaintivetone, that he had no straps to his pants. Everybody laughed, and Rolandin the midst of his sorrow laughed too. Knopf was extremely happy tofind that Roland could laugh, and now he yielded. Roland helped himmount, stroking the arm of his former teacher, and stroking the horse;Knopf and the Prince rode off together. But Eric did not mount again;leading his horse by the bridle, he went hand in hand with Roland tothe Villa.
And now, in the still night, Eric was incessantly occupied in thinkingof what the Doctor had said; how great was the discord in the wholemodern world, so that the life of states, and even many of theoccupations of private life, were not regulated by ethical principles.Not in the way prescribed by the Doctor,--besides, it had left noimpression whatever on Roland,--would the youth gain rest and strength,nor in any way but in the acknowledgment that each one must striveearnestly to conform to the moral law, and make it an integral part ofhis actual life.
Roland listened to him quietly, occasionally clasping the speaker'shand with a firmer hold.
When they were approaching the Villa, Roland said, sighing deeply:--
"Ah, Eric, now the house is robbed in a very different way from what itwas when we came back from Wolfsgarten."
No change had been wrought in the dejected feelings of Roland by whatthe Doctor had said, nor by Eric's utterances; the only effect was toenable him to express himself freely.
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