by Franz Kafka
7 the explanation I applied to my own case: Kafka believed his lung disease to be a psychosomatic phenomenon, the result of an inner struggle brought on by his repeated attempts to marry, a struggle he could no longer bear. See his Diaries for September 15, 1917.
8 [facsimile] ‘Ihr FranzK’: Milena read this signature (which appears a few more times) as ‘Frank,’ and soon adopted it as a nickname for Kafka.
9 Country Doctor: Kafka’s collection of stories A Country Doctor.
10 my engagement: Kafka was engaged twice to Felice Bauer (1887–1960; elsewhere referred to as the ‘Berlin’ correspondent), at the end of May 1914 and the beginning of July 1917; he was also engaged once to Julie Wohryzek (1891–1939) of Prague, in the fall of 1919.
11 the story of Dostoyevsky’s first success: Dostoyevsky himself describes the event somewhat differently in his diary: ‘As if I could have slept after that? What rapture—such a success! But above all—the feeling was dear to me, I still recall exactly: Another person has a success, well, so one is praised, well-received, congratulated; but these two came running with tears in their eyes at four in the morning in order to wake me up, for “that is greater than sleep! … Oh—is that ever beautiful!” That’s what I was thinking then, how could I have slept!’ By Grigoriev is meant D. V. Grigorovich, whose own version of the story was published in an appendix to an edition of Dostoyevsky’s letters, which Kafka owned.
12 So here are the notes: Kafka’s comments refer to the first two paragraphs of ‘The Stoker.’
13 German is my mother tongue: This was quite literally true, since Kafka’s mother (Julie) preferred to speak German, whereas his father (Hermann) preferred Czech.
14 ‘I am the one who pays’: In Czech: já jsem ten který platí.
15 ‘absolute horror’: In Czech: reelní brůza.
16 feuilletons: Beginning in January 1920, Milena wrote regularly for periodicals in Prague, primarily the Tribuna and Národní Listy. These were mostly reflections on life and people in Vienna, friendship, marriage, and so on. In addition to her real name, she often signed the articles M., M.P., M.J., Js., A.X. Nessey, A.X.N., and Nessey. After March 1920 she stopped using her married name, Milena Pollak.
17 ‘or not so entirely correct’: In Czech: či ne tak docela pravdu.
18 ‘well meant’: In Czech: dobře míněno.
19 Božena Němcová: The eminent Czech writer, whose most famous novel is Babička (The Grandmother). Kafka was also familiar with her letters.
20 Max Brod: The writer and critic (1884–1968), Kafka’s old and closest friend.
21 Staša: Staša Jílovská (1898–1955), née Procházková, was Milena’s schoolmate and friend; she worked as a translator, editor, and journalist.
22 Werfel: The writer Franz Werfel (1880–1945) was living in Vienna at the time. Ernst Pollak knew Werfel from Prague, and Milena occasionally translated his prose.
23 then it isn’t true: Approximately forty words following this passage rendered illegible.
24 My youngest sister: About three months later, Ottilie (1892–1944), known as Ottla, married Dr. Josef David (1891–1962), a Czech Catholic, over the objections of her parents and relatives; only her brother Franz gave his unqualified support.
25 So!: In Czech: Tak!
26 for almost 5 years: Kafka’s letters to Felice Bauer, written from 1912 to 1917, and finally published in 1967, testify to his struggle for marriage, which Kafka described toward the end of the correspondence thus: ‘I can’t believe there is any fairy tale with a greater and more desperate struggle for a woman than the one for you inside me, from the beginning and constantly anew and perhaps forever.’
27 ‘Meet at Karlsbad’: Julie Wohryzek, Kafka’s fiancée, sent a telegram suggesting a meeting in Karlsbad on June 8, 1920.
28 I once wrote to that girl: Only once in these letters does he mention Julie Wohryzek’s full name—when giving Milena her address.
29 What kind of monstrous schools: Milena taught Czech at the Vienna Schools of Commerce and Language.
30 in order to make everything up to you: Preceded by several words that were rendered illegible.
31 8 months spent in a village: Kafka is referring to his stay in Zürau (northwestern Bohemia) with his sister Ottla, from mid-September 1917 to the end of April 1918. He had gone there to recuperate following the onset of his tuberculosis.
32 a good, kind girl: Julie Wohryzek.
33 vegetarian board: Kafka had been a determined vegetarian since 1909.
34 at work: The Arbeiter-Unfall-Versicherungs-Anstalt, a part private, part government insurance agency, where Kafka had worked since 1908.
35 ‘not a single word which hasn’t been well weighed’: In Czech: anijediné slovo které by nebylo velmi dobře uváženo.
36 ‘that hurt me’: In Czech: to—mně rozbolelo.
37 Weiss: Kafka considered himself to blame for the decay in his relationship with the writer Ernst Weiss (1882–1940), whom he had known since 1913.
38 ‘but only fear for you’: In Czech: jen strach o Vás.
39 concerning your writing: Approximately nine words following this passage were rendered illegible.
40 the name Schreiber: In German, Schreiber means ‘scribe’ or, more generally, ‘that which writes.’
41 ‘keeping a person waiting’: In Czech: nechat člověka čekat.
42 what you want to say about the 6 months: Probably referring to Milena’s stay in the sanatorium Veleslavín.
43 something terrible: Approximately fifteen words following this passage were rendered illegible.
44 ‘most of all I’d like to escape …’: In Czech: nejraději bych utekla třeti cestou která nevede ani k tobé ani s nim, někam do samoty.
45 […]: Approximately eleven words rendered illegible.
46 Reiner: Josef Reiner (1898–1920), an editor of the Tribuna, took his own life on February 19. He admired Kafka but did not know him; presumably, though, he knew Milena, since he was married to her friend Jarmila. Willy Haas first reported this incident in his memoirs Die literarische Welt (Munich, 1957). (In referring to Reiner, Kafka continued to use Brod’s misspelling ‘Rainer.’)
47 Willy Haas: The critic and essayist Willy Haas (1891–1973) was a central figure in the literary circle that included Franz Werfel, Ernst Pollak, and the brothers Hans and Franz Janowitz. Haas was also the first editor of Letters to Milena.
48 Altstädter Ring #6: Kafka’s parents’ apartment was located on the Alstädter Ring (Staroměstské náměstí), where the writer also kept a room.
49 the accent has been betrayed: ‘Milena’ is accented on the first syllable.
50 žid and nechápu: Czech for ‘Jew’ and ‘I don’t understand’; see the letter of May 1920, p. 21.
51 Ernst: The German word for ‘earnest’ is ernst, which was also the name of Milena’s husband.
52 Westbahnhof: Bahnhof is German for ‘train station,’ thus Westbahnhof is the ‘west train station,’ Südbahnhof the ‘south train station,’ and so on.
53 Those were the first two phrases: In German, Satz means both ‘sentence’ and (musical) ‘movement.’
54 ‘I only have two dresses …’: In Czech: dvoje šaty mám a přece slušně vypadám.
55 ‘Hilsner’: Kafka is alluding to the so-called Hilsner Affair in which Leopold Hilsner, a Jew, was accused of the ritual murder of a Christian girl who had been found dead, in April 1899, near Polna, in Bohemia. The trial set off a wave of anti-Semitism.
56 the gigantic letter: Kafka is referring to the letter he wrote his father in November 1919, which his mother later withheld; Max Brod finally published it in 1953, and it is now translated as ‘Letter to His Father.’ In manuscript form it is over one hundred pages long.
57 ‘never really beautiful, not by any means …’: In Czech: krásná vůbec, nikdy, vážně ne, snad někdy bezká.
58 Ropucha: Czech for ‘Toad.’ Milena had sent her translation of Gustav Meyrink’s ‘Der Fluch de
r Kröte—Fluch der Kröte’ (The Curse of the Toads—Curse of the Toads).
59 Naše Řeč: Czech for ‘Our Speech,’ a journal dedicated to the research and cultivation of the Czech language.
60 Otto Gross: Kafka returned to Prague with the psychoanalyst Otto Gross (1877–1920) and the latter’s brother-in-law Anton Kuh (1881–1941), a well-known man of letters. Milena had probably informed Kafka of Gross’s early death, generally considered a result of his drug addiction.
61 my paternal grandfather: Jakob Kafka was a butcher in southern Bohemia.
62 Bennogasse-Josefstädterstrasse: Kafka regularly sent his letters poste restante to this post office; Milena and Ernst Pollak lived at Lerchenfelderstrasse 113.
63 and give him 4 days: Kafka and Milena spent four days—including Kafka’s birthday—together in Vienna, taking extended walks in the woods around Vienna. Months later, Milena described to Max Brod how well Kafka felt at that time and how little his sickness was in evidence. (See Milena’s fifth letter to Brod, in Appendix.) Kafka’s own description of this time is a little different (see his letter of July 15, 1920, p. 85).
64 Bahr’s diary: The writer Hermann Bahr published his ‘Tagebuch’ in the Neues Wiener Journal.
65 Národní Listy: Milena’s aunt Růžena Jesenská (1863–1940) was a regular contributor to the Prague daily Národní Listy. Well-known for poetry as well as prose, she belonged to the literary circle surrounding the journal Moderní Revue, which also included Karel Hlaváček (1874–1898) and Julius Zeyer (1841–1901).
66 I’m sending you the letter: Julie Wohryzek’s letter asking Kafka to see her that same day.
67 Poor Fiddler: Franz Grillparzer’s novel The Poor Fiddler, a piece that Kafka especially liked to read aloud.
68 Hus: Under the Czechoslovak Republic, a national holiday commemorated the burning of Jan Hus in Konstanz on July 6, 1415.
69 an old uncle: Kafka’s uncle Alfred Löwy (1852–1923), his mother’s brother, was Director of Railways in Madrid.
70 Laurin, Pick: Arne Laurin (Arnošt Lustig, 1889–1945) was chief editor of the Tribuna at the time. Otto Pick (1887–1940) was a poet, translator, critic, and a friend of Kafka.
71 Přibram: Karl Přibram (1887–1973) and his brother Ewald were old friends of Kafka. Karl had been a ‘patient’ at the sanatorium Veleslavín mentioned earlier. (See Milena Jesenská’s first letter to Max Brod, Appendix, p. 233).
72 my new apartment: Kafka was staying in his oldest sister Elli’s apartment.
73 the Russian church: The Church of St. Nicholas lay opposite Kafka’s room in his parents’ apartment.
74 Jílovský : Rudolf Jílovský (1890–1954) was the husband of Milena’s friend, Staša. By Libešic Kafka means Libčice, Staša’s home.
75 Florian: Josef Florian (1873–1941) was a well-known publisher with a strong interest in spiritual matters. In 1929 he published the first Czech edition of Kafka’s ‘The Metamorphosis,’ in a translation by Ludvík Vrána and František Pastor.
76 ‘he dragged it out of Kafka’: In Czech: z Kafky to vytáhl.
77 Pittermann and Ferenc Futurista: E. A. Pittermann (1885–1936) was a well-known actor and theater director, as well as a close friend of the writer Jaroslav Hašek. Ferenc Futurista (František Fiala, 1891–1947) was a comedian and director.
78 ‘to live with Kafka’: In Czech: s Kafkou žít.
79 Frau Kohler: Milena’s friend Frau Kohler ran a small pension in Vienna where the Pollaks’ friends from Prague often stayed.
80 Kisch: Kafka’s schoolmate Paul Kisch (1883–1944).
81 Dobré Dílo: ‘The Good Work,’ a series of books published by Josef Florian.
82 Café Arco: The most famous literary café in Prague, at one time the meeting place of a circle that included Franz Werfel, Willy Haas, Ernst Pollak, and, for a brief time, Max Brod. Kafka occasionally visited the café.
83 mail for Kramer: This was the pseudonym under which Kafka wrote to Milena poste restante.
84 didn’t dare send the letter: Presumably the letter numbered ‘16,’ which has not survived.
85 the Chicago plan: Ernst Pollak, who was unsatisfied with his bank job, was toying with the idea of emigrating to Chicago.
86 a man I know from before: Michal (Josef) Mareš (1893–1971), poet and screenplay writer, was an editor of the Tribuna and a longtime friend of Josef Reiner. He was convinced that Jarmila and Willy Haas had driven the young editor to commit suicide.
87 ‘Yes, you are right, I do love him …’: In Czech: Ano máš pravdu, mám ho ráda. Ale F., i tebe mám ráda.
88 the Weisser Hahn: The White Rooster, a restaurant close to Milena’s home.
89 my sister’s wedding: Ottla’s marriage to Dr. Josef David (see note to p. 20).
90 Dr. Felix Weltsch: Along with Max Brod and Oskar Baum, Weltsch (1884–1964) was one of Kafka’s closest friends.
91 ‘after all, I never stop for …’: In Czech: já se přece nezastavím ani před—ani před—ani před—.
92 Turnau: In late September 1918, Kafka was recuperating with garden work in Turnau, a place he frequently visited on business.
93 the beggarwoman: See Milena’s third letter to Max Brod, in Appendix, p. 250.
94 sechserl: There were ten kreuzers to a sechserl.
95 may feel you close to me: Several words preceding this phrase were rendered illegible.
96 two new facts from your letter: Two of Ernst Pollak’s numerous plans to give up his bank job.
97 Donadieu: Charles Louis Philippe’s novel Marie Donadieu.
98 A long manuscript of Max’s: Max Brod, Paganism, Christianity, Judaism: A Book of Creeds, 2 vols. (Munich, 1921).
99 A young poet: Hans Klaus, presumably.
100 Claudel’s essay: Milena’s translation of Paul Claudel’s essay ‘Arthur Rimbaud’ appeared in the Tribuna of July 8, 1920.
101 pamatikální: a typographical error for gramátikalní (grammatical) in the essay discussed. Because Milena’s handwriting was quite difficult to decipher, it is likely that the printer misread the word.
102 I couldn’t find the grave: Milena had asked Kafka to look after the grave of her brother Jeníček, who had died in infancy, when Milena was three years old.
103 ‘because he had neither spoken nor written about you’: In Czech: poněvadž o Vás nikdy ani nepsal ani nehovořil.
104 your translation: Milena’s translation of Kafka’s story ‘The Bachelor’s Misfortune’ appeared in Kmen along with five other prose pieces from his volume Meditation on September 9, 1920.
105 a translation had appeared in Tribuna: Evidently Milena’s translation of Kafka’s story ‘Unhappiness,’ which appeared on July 16, 1920.
106 the girl’s letter: Probably the woman mentioned in the letter of July 23, 1920, a distant relative of Kafka.
107 Cesta? Lipa? Kmen? Politika?: Milena occasionally wrote or translated for all of these journals.
108 another young poet was here: Presumably Gustav Janouch, whose father was a colleague of Kafka’s at the insurance agency.
109 ‘that you’re the one who doesn’t have any idea about …’: In Czech: že vlastné ty jsi člově k který nemá tušení o tom …
110 Off to see the director: Dr. Bedřich Odstrčil had a particularly good relationship with Kafka, whom he valued highly.
111 that pitomec M: ‘That blockhead M,’ that is, Michal Mareš, who had described the circumstances of Reiner’s death to Kafka. Evidently Milena questioned the veracity of Mareš’s report.
112 Haas: Willy Haas was living in Berlin at the time; he married Jarmila at the end of March 1921—following the customary year of mourning.
113 Rudolf Fuchs: A poet and translator of Czech literature, Fuchs (1890–1942) belonged to the same literary circle as Willy Haas and Franz Werfel.
114 women don’t need much: In Czech: ženy nepotřebují mnobo.
115 Landauer: Gustav Landauer (1870–1919) was a well-known critic and participant in t
he Munich Räte Republic. Milena was translating his lecture ‘Friedrich Hölderlin in His Poems,’ a difficult essay even for German readers, and one which caused Milena certain problems.
116 infant: In Czech: nemluvně.
117 in itself: In Czech: pro sebe.
118 the poet, the first one: Gustav Janouch.
119 […]: Several lines have been omitted due to laws protecting privacy rights.
120 ‘scales of the world’: In Czech: váha světa.
121 if I love you: Kafka actually omitted the pronoun ‘I.’
122 ‘armful’: In Czech: nárǔc.
123 in case ‘Else’ should fall ‘ill’: ‘Else’ was the code name to be mentioned in the ‘fake’ telegram Kafka would use to obtain permission to travel to Prague.
124 Krasa: Hans Krasa (1899–1944) was a composer belonging to the circle of artists in the Café Continental in Prague.
125 the Tribuna is lying in front of me: Kafka is referring to an article Milena had written about bathing suits (‘Plavky’) in which she distinguishes two types of swimmers: those who lie horizontally in the water, and those—unsportly ones—whose bodies ‘hang.’
126 Ottla: Kafka’s sister Ottilie often helped him with practical matters, especially after the onset of his illness.
127 directed specifically against us: Approximately ten words following this phrase were rendered illegible.
128 you want to send me to Davos: Milena and Max Brod were considering a plan to help Kafka procure a stay in a lung sanatorium in the Swiss resort town of Davos.
129 mine departed this world long ago: Klara Kafka, the wife of Franz’s uncle Filip, died in 1908.
130 ‘you’re waiting until you feel the need’: In Czech: čekáš až to Tobě bude nutné.
131 your despair over your father’s letter: Milena had sent Kafka the first letter she had received from her father in three years.
132 ‘sorry’ and ‘terribly sad’: In Czech: líto and strašně smutně.
133 The essay is much better than in German: Evidently Milena had sent her translation of the Hölderlin essay, as Kafka had requested.
134 I’m holding on to the translation: Presumably, the translation of ‘Unhappiness.’