by Franz Kafka
135 ‘but you’re not coming because you’re waiting …’: In Czech: a ty nepřijedeš poněvadž čekáš až to Tobě jednou bude nutné, to, abys přijel.
136 ‘in that case it doesn’t make any sense …’: In Czech: Mě j se pěkně [Farewell] Franku … telegrafovat ti ten falešný telegram nemá tedy smyslu, neposílám ho.
137 a friend, an Eastern Jew, actor: Yitzhak Löwy was a Yiddish actor whom Kafka had befriended in 1911, when Löwy’s troupe (from Lvov) was performing in Prague.
138 your departure has been postponed again: Milena had intended to recuperate at St. Gilgen, on the Wolfgangsee.
139 a certain Stein: Paul Stein, a Prague lawyer.
140 an odd marriage, incidentally: Gustav Janouch’s father, Gustav Kubasa, was Kafka’s colleague at the insurance agency. Although his mother’s first husband—Pavel Janouch—was officially ‘missing,’ Gustav Janouch could not legally bear his real father’s surname because there had been no divorce.
141 the list of things you want done: Kafka had offered to run various errands in Prague for Milena. As time passed, Kafka’s ‘assignments’ grew in number and difficulty.
142 your letter to the girl: Kafka considered Milena’s letter to Julie Wohryzek too harsh and severe (see Kafka’s letter of July 20, 1920).
143 this kind of ‘lying’ answer which blackmailed you: At the time, several people in Prague had received anonymous letters written in a script deceptively similar to Milena’s.
144 […]: Approximately three lines rendered illegible.
145 (apparently I’m thinking only about Saturday): Kafka is referring to the last of the four days he and Milena shared in Vienna.
146 ‘natural’: In Czech: Samozřejmě.
147 ‘Would you like to go for a row?’: In Czech: Chtěl byste si zajezdit?
148 ‘yes’: In Czech: ano.
149 Sunday Tribuna’s ‘Open Letter,’ ‘Typus’: The first refers to Milena’s fashion article about rainwear, the second to her article ‘The New City-Type’; it is difficult to determine what Kafka considered anti-Semitic about the latter.
150 a kind of Jewish confirmation: Kafka’s bar mitzvah took place on June 13, 1896, in Prague’s Zigeuner-Synagogue.
151 ‘I don’t understand how such a person …’: In Czech: nechápu jak takový člověk …
152 because of your strike: The Neue Freie Presse announced that telephone and telegraph workers would strike on August 9, 1920, ‘starting at noon today.’
153 ‘heaviness, nausea, disgust’: In Czech: tíha, nevolnost, hnus.
154 what you say about Kreuzen (not Aflenz …): Two Austrian sanatoria, Bad Kreuzen, near Grein on the Danube, and Aflenz in upper Styria.
155 ruined by cocaine: Milena occasionally took cocaine to help overcome her headaches.
156 Kreidlová: Amálie Kreidlová, a former schoolmate of Milena.
157 ‘The Café’: In Czech: ‘Kavárna.’ Milena’s article appeared in the Tribuna of August 10, 1920.
158 ‘armful’: In Czech: náručí.
159 ‘That’s beautiful, beautiful!’: In Czech: To je krása, to je krása!
160 After I check at Schenker’s: Schenker and Co., in Prague.
161 ‘It will never be’: In Czech: nebude toho nikdy.
162 appeal directly to Masaryk’s secretary: Arne Laurin’s immediate superior, Bedřich Hlaváč, the founder and editor of the Tribuna, was the secretary and friend of Tomáš G. Masaryk, first president of the Czechoslovak Republic.
163 So it’ll be another 10–14 days: Shortly after meeting Kafka in Gmünd, Milena left Vienna to recuperate at St. Gilgen, on the Wolfgangsee.
164 […]: Several lines omitted due to laws protecting privacy rights.
165 she has been upset about the whole affair: Presumably, the affair of the ‘lying’ letters (see letter of August 8, 1920).
166 we lived opposite the swimming school: From 1907 to 1913 the Kafkas lived at Niklasstrasse (Mikulášská tř.) 36, overlooking the Civil Schwimmschule and the Belvedere park along the Moldau.
167 […]: Several lines omitted due to laws protecting privacy rights.
168 ‘You’re mine’: In Czech: jsi můj.
169 Ernst Weiss is critically ill: The rumor concerning Weiss turned out to be only partly true (see notes to the letters of June 10, 1920, and September 2, 1920.)
170 The ad will somehow make it into the Presse: Kafka composed the following text for an ad and placed it in Vienna’s Neue Freie Presse:
Czech language instruction by teacher with university degree
Vienna Schools of Business and Languages after Sept. 15
Address: Frau Milena Pollak, Lerchen-felderstrasse 113, door 5
171 I haven’t called Vlasta yet: Vlasta was Jan Jesenský’s professional assistant and close friend.
172 I’ll write about it in greater detail: Approximately fifteen words following this phrase were rendered illegible.
173 Polgar’s sketches in the paper: The Viennese writer Alfred Polgar (1873–1955), whose story ‘Theodor auf dem Lande’ appeared in the Prager Tagblatt of August 24, 1920.
174 I read about a hare in the snow: Kafka is referring to Milena’s article ‘Výkladní skříně’ (Show Windows) in the Tribuna of August 21, 1920.
175 Max’s intervention with Topič: Probably because she wanted to surprise Kafka with an anthology of his stories in her translation, Milena turned to Otto Pick to help find a publisher. The latter hoped Max Brod could use his influence with his publisher F. Topič. Brod, however, declined because he himself was having difficulties with Topič.
176 ‘Letters’: See Milena’s essay ‘Letters of Notable People,’ included in the Appendix.
177 Vladislav Vančura or something like that: This issue of Kmen carried ‘Vzpomeň si na nečo veselého!’ (Recall Something Funny!) by Vladislav Vančura (1891–1942).
178 ‘I don’t want you to answer this’: In Czech: Nechci abys na to odpovídal.
179 my ‘military service’—or more correctly ‘maneuvers’: After a hiatus of three years, Kafka resumed the writing he loved most of all, ‘in the deep of the night.’
180 Tycho Brahe: Max Brod, Tycho Brahes Weg zu Gott (Tycho Brahe’s Road to God) (Leipzig, 1915); in 1917, Topič published the Czech translation by A. Wenig.
181 Lisl Beer may have a villa: Lisl Beer was an acquaintance of Ernst Pollak.
182 The translation of the final sentence: Milena’s translation of ‘The Judgment,’ which Kafka wrote ‘in one sitting’ during the night of September 22–23, 1912 (see his Diaries, the entry for September 23, 1912).
183 The poet has arrived: Presumably Gustav Janouch.
184 […]: Approximately fifty words rendered illegible up to the final words ‘Office work.’
185 the enclosed essay: Presumably Bertrand Russell’s article ‘From Bolshevist Russia,’ criticizing communist structures of social change, which appeared in the Prager Tagblatt of August 25, 1920.
186 You saw Blei?: Franz Blei (1871–1942) was a writer and the publisher of several literary journals.
187 ‘I have an unbearable headache’: In Czech: hlava nesnesitelně bolí.
188 his girlfriend, who sends Baum postcards: In 1920, the actress Rahel Sanzara (Johanna Bleschke) performed several times in a series of plays by Frank Wedekind at the Deutsches Landestheater in Prague. The blind poet Oskar Baum (1883–1941) was a close friend of Kafka.
189 still no news about Everyman: Kafka was probably expecting Milena’s report on Hofmannsthal’s Everyman, which premiered at the Salzburg Festival on August 22, 1920.
190 one who has to resort to morphine: An allusion to Josef Reiner’s suicide (see the letter of June 12, 1920).
191 H J c/o Karl Maier: Hans Janowitz (1890–1954) was a writer from the circle of Franz Werfel and Willy Haas. His brother Franz Janowitz (1892–1917), a poet of this circle who was highly admired by Karl Kraus, died on the Italian Front.
192 Thank you for the addresses:
In his letter of August 31, 1920, Kafka had asked Milena to find the addresses of several sanatoria.
193 […]: Several words have been omitted due to laws protecting privacy rights.
194 Přibram: Ewald Přibram, whose brother Karl had been confined to the sanatorium in Veleslavín. Milena herself was the ‘former “patient”’
195 well over 100 Russian-Jewish emigrants: On November 20, 1920, the Prager Tagblatt mentions these emigrants in connection with the anti-Semitic riots of November 16–19, 1920.
196 ‘they lack the strength to love’: In Czech: nemáte síly milovat.
197 the gratitude is absolutely true: Eleven words following this phrase were rendered illegible.
198 [facsimile]: The drawing Kafka enclosed in this letter appears to have been torn from a notebook. The writing on the back of the page, probably from an earlier date, has been made illegible. Due to the constraints of this book’s format, the figures are slightly reduced, and the distance between them is diminished.
199 Yes, Mizzi Kuh was here: The wife of Anton Kuh (see the letter of June 25, 1920, and the note concerning Otto Gross).
200 Paul Adler: The writer (1878–1946).
201 brochures about the two sanatoria: Grimmenstein and Wiener Wald (see the letter of August 31, 1920).
202 Kmen and Tribuna: Kafka was thanking Milena for having written and published the translations, since she did not send them to him. Among them were Lev Tolstoy’s ‘The Stranger and the Farmer,’ and some pieces from Kafka’s collection of stories Meditation.
203 […]: Approximately forty words rendered illegible.
204 ‘Kupec’: Kafka’s prose piece ‘The Merchant,’ which, along with five other pieces from Meditation, appeared in Kmen.
205 ‘ghost letters’: In Czech: bubácké dopisy—probably a reference to the Chinese ‘Ghost Book,’ mentioned also below.
206 Ghost Book: In Czech: Bubácká Kniba—the title of this book cannot be ascertained.
207 I also read Mirror Man: Franz Werfel, Spiegelmensch, Magische Trilogie (Munich, 1920).
208 Illový: Rudolf Illový (1881–1943) was a poet and the editor of an anthology (Československá Poesie Sociální) containing poems by Růakzena Jesenská, S. K. Neumann, Josef Reiner, and Illový himself, among others.
209 ‘and even little Illový’: In Czech: i ten malý Illový.
210 Jews of the rightist party: a Zionist party was meant; Červen was a leftist journal.
211 ‘But perhaps you are right …’: In Czech: Ale snad máš pravdu, snad to jiní přeloží lépe.
212 ‘Before the Law’ appeared on Sunday: Kafka’s parable appeared in the Sunday supplement of the daily newspaper Právo Lidu, translated by Rudolf Illový’s wife Milena Illová. Kafka is explaining this situation and conveying his regrets, since he had promised Milena Jesenská the exclusive right to translate his work into Czech.
213 wallowing in anti-Semitic hate: The anti-Semitic riots of November 16–19, directed above all against German-speaking Jews and their institutions. (See letter of September 7, 1920.)
214 a ‘mangy race’: In Czech: praživé plemeno.
215 My sister wants to accompany me: Kafka’s sister Ottla.
216 Ehrenstein: Kafka’s former schoolmate Albert Ehrenstein (1886–1950), the poet and short-story writer, gave a reading in Prague on November 8, 1920, in which he included passages from his pamphlet on Karl Kraus, the Viennese satirist.
217 Do you know Tanya?: Ernst Weiss’s play Tanya, first performed in Prague on October 11, 1919, with Rahel Sanzara in the lead role.
218 Maybe Sergeant Perkins has hold of my hand: A character in Upton Sinclair’s novel Jimmy Higgins; Milena had translated a fragment, which appeared in Kmen.
219 ‘a new knot in the master’s thong’: Compare this with Kafka’s story ‘Preparations for a Wedding.’
220 Venkov: The nationalistic organ of the agrarian movement; Kafka is referring to an anti-Semitic essay by Josef Říha, which appeared on October 3, 1920.
221 […]: Approximately four words rendered illegible.
222 Aleš is out of print: Mikoláš Aleš (1852–1913), a Czech painter.
223 Babička: Božena Němcová’s famous novel.
224 In my case one can imagine 3 circles: Compare this with Kafka’s story ‘Preparations for a Wedding.’
225 Graben, Altstädter Ring, Eisengasse: All were names of streets in Prague. Graben was a boulevard with fashionable restaurants, etc.; Kafka’s parents lived on the Altstädter Ring; and the Eisengasse had been temporarily closed by the police during the anti-Semitic riots.
226 ‘Dashed to pieces on me’: In Czech: O mne rozbil.
227 Čapek: The Czech writer Karel Čapek (1890–1938). Approximately fifteen words which followed were rendered illegible.
228 Leviné: Eugen Leviné (1883–1919), a leader of the Munich Räte Republic and publisher of the Münchener Rote Fahne, was executed on June 5, 1919.
229 especially the last one on spring: Milena Jesenská, ‘Spring Hats: A Letter from Vienna,’ Tribuna, February 4, 1922.
230 I was in Spindelmühle: From January 27 to February 17 Kafka was on a cure in Spindelmühle.
231 the essay about the cooks: ‘The Cooks’ by Paul Wiegler (Národní Listy, August 27, 1920).
232 Your aunt, Eichendorff, Kerner: Růžena Jesenská had criticized the Germans very strongly in past years: ‘The hostility of the Germans against the Slavs and against France is rooted in envy, in the lust for absolute power, unchecked demands of an egoistic nature. And this led to the terrible war’ (Národní Listy, January 30, 1921). Similar complaints in later articles apparently led Kafka to cite the poems as examples of a different German mentality. Eichendorff’s poem from 1810 is entitled ‘Abschied’ (Parting); Justinus Kerner’s poem from 1830 is entitled ‘Der Wanderer in der Sägemühle’ (The Wanderer in the Sawmill). Other German popular national poets whom Kafka especially admired included Matthias Claudius and Johann Peter Hebel.
233 ‘for my friend of many years’: In Czech: Dlouholetému příteli.
234 Policejní Štára: In Czech: The Police Raid.
235 that copy of Indian Summer: A novel by Adalbert Stifter (1805–1865).
236 I’ll get hold of the ‘Devil’: Milena’s article ‘The Devil at the Hearth’ (included in the Appendix, p. 254).
237 Georg Kaiser: Milena had written an article about the trial of the dramatist Georg Kaiser (1878–1945) which appeared in the Tribuna of March 3, 1921.
238 the words of the angel whenever possible: The passages quoted in the dialogue below, from Milena’s essay ‘The Devil at the Hearth,’ are in Czech.
‘If there’s anything that avenges itself …’: Mstí-li se nečo na tomto světě, jsou to účty a cifry v duševnich zaležitostech.
‘The only good reason …’: Dva lidé mobou mít jen jediný rozumný důvod proto aby se vzali, a to je ten že se nemohou nevzit.
‘What lies deep down …’: v hloubce člověk klame, ale na povrchu ho poznáš.
‘But why don’t people promise one another …’: Proč si lidé neslibují, že nebudou třeba křičet, když se spálí pečeně atd.
‘Why don’t they promise one another …’: Proč si neslibují, že si vzájemně ponechají svobodu mlčení, svobodu samoty, svobodu volného prostoru?
‘Either accept your fate …’: bu přijmout svůj osud … pokorně … anebo hledat svůj osud …
‘seeking requires faith!’: … na hledání je zapotřebí víry!
239 ‘On the High Road’: A one-act play by Anton Chekhov.
240 ‘Will of the Mill’: A story by Robert Louis Stevenson.
241 I’ll send you Franzi: Max Brod, Franzi oder Eine Liebe zweiten Ranges (Franzi, or a Second-Class Love) (Munich, 1922).
242 with the help of my oldest sister: Kafka went to Müritz with his sister Elli and her children in July 1923. There he discovered the summer colony of the Berlin Jüdisches Volksheim (Jewish People’s Home), wh
ich he had first become acquainted with through Felice Bauer in 1916, and whose work he had promoted for some time.
243 help in this matter: Kafka is referring to the companion of his last year, Dora Dymant (1898–1952), then twenty-four years old, who came from a religious family of Eastern Jews.
244 in a small villa with a garden: Kafka’s apartment in Berlin-Steglitz, Grunewaldstrasse 13, where he lived with Dora Dymant from November 15, 1923, to February 1, 1924.
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First published by Vintage in 1999
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INTRODUCTION
fn1 Brieftasche: literally ‘letter-case’ (German).
LETTERS TO MILENA
fn1 Are you Jewish?
fn2 I don’t understand.