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| Still from "Der Spieler" by Fritz Lang |
Nothing good can come of having too much
time at hand…
I must confess that when I read this
chapter for the first time, I was as shocked as Hans by what had happened.
Lulled into comfort during fifty and more chapters of realistic style and the
kind irony of the narrator, I was not prepared to what Hans and the readers
were about to experience…
A very sad chapter…
Edhin Krokowski’s ( first time I notice his
first name ) interest is slipping from the psychoanalytic towards the
paranormal ( hypnotism, somnambulism, etc etc )
The Danish girl Ellen Brand from the city
of Odense ( the city of HC Andersen
Krokowski decides to “take care” of the
young girl. She seems to be haunted by the spirit of a young boy, a child named
Holger who whispers her answers or directions…
( Holger or Olger is the name of one of the
kings of the Mountain) : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_in_the_mountain
Ellen has regular visions and paranormal
experiences, so the bored patients of the Sanatorium decide to organize a
séance of spiritism in the room of Hermine Kleefeld
Using a glass and tokens with the letters
of the Alphabet they summon a ghost. Holger soon enough indicates he is invisibly
present. It starts as a game. Holger appears to be a poet and recites a Romantic
poem by making a glass slide over the table towards the different letters.
When they decide to switch to practical
questions and Hans asks how long he shall remain in the Sanatorium things start
to change. There are knocks, the lights go out, Ellen Brand slips into a sleep-like
state.
Hans gets an enigmatic answer: “Go Across”
and then something about his room nr.34. To his surprise he finds the x-ray
picture of Clawdia on his lap. It seems that the Poltergeist has dropped it
their on purpose for Hans did not have the picture with him at that moment.
The answer to Hans question could be
understood as “Go 3 + ( a cross ) 4 = 7” “Go after seven years?”. But why the
Clavdia picture reappears is not clear. Has something happened to her?
They stop the experience… for now
Settembrini disapproves and is understandably
angry with Hans that he participates in this act of primitive magical mumbo
jumbo.
Hans, who has stayed away from this
paranormal activity for some time, is lured back by his friends, because the
spirit Holger has appeared to the audience and Ellen Brant has promised to
bring back a deceased person.
Hans, with his awful fascination for death,
is thinking about… Joachim. Remember how listening to the Valentin part of the Gounod
opera, has brought Joachim to HC mind.
The séance starts. Light is dimmed, music
is played. ( an ouverture by Millocker )
Ellen goes in trance with spasms and shakes…
“Whom shall friend Holger reveal to us?”. Nobody
dares to say a name until HC frivolously asks to see his cousin Joachim
Ziemssen again. ( That bloody placet experiri of the boy!).
They wait while the girl is in trance for 2
hours! The term scandalous is appropriate for what is happening…
The exhausted Ellen makes pulling movements
with her hands, just like Joachim when he was about to die. After a short
break, they continue. The trancelike state of Ellen is compared to a woman in
labour. Hans suggest to put on another record, Valentin’s prayer from Gounod’s
Faust. Although Hans is sure that the record was not brought to the room, it
seems that by accident ( slipped into the wrong sleeve ) it is available and Wesel
Suddenly Joachim makes his appearance. He
materializes even before Hans notices him. It is an absolutely chilling
passage. Summoning his cousin from the world of the dead is an awful act of
desecration. Hans looks up and looks straight at Joachim. “There was one more
person than before in the room…” It is our Joachim of the last hours, like he
was described on his death-bed, with hollow cheeks and warrior’s beard. His
beautiful eyes look tenderly and in friendly silence at Hans…He is in the field
garb of the coming war, probably with a steel picklehaube on his head.
It is a terrible sad but crucial moment. The
novel’s two basic stitches Love and Death are sewn and complete Hans spiritual
development. Hans understands he has crossed the line and is both physically
sick ( he wants to throw up ) and mentally stunned…he sobs, mumbles “forgive me”
to his cousin …tears blind him…
Hans pulls himself free, leaving Ellen in a
state of shock and Krokowski in anger. Under menace Krokowski hands Hans the
keys of the room and our friend…
A very sad chapter indeed.
I am wondering if the detail of the WW1 German Helmet, the Picklehaube is not intended to merge again the characters of Hans and Joachim into one. Joachim will never wear this "unknown type" of helmet but Hans will in a few months ( year ? ) from now...
I am wondering if the detail of the WW1 German Helmet, the Picklehaube is not intended to merge again the characters of Hans and Joachim into one. Joachim will never wear this "unknown type" of helmet but Hans will in a few months ( year ? ) from now...
