Translation:The Mysterious Individual/IX

That great event, which seemed to completely obliterate Germany, had nevertheless come to pass. The appearance of everything suddenly changed, and one could foresee that within a few years even those institutions which had survived for the time being would have to give way to the new spirit. A general paralysis had seized people's minds. For in the case of such enormous and rapid reversals most people tend to feel their misfortunes less keenly than would be the case if they seemed ready for it and had to take leave of normality gradually. Necessity is a strict teacher and we rarely admit to ourselves how unconditionally we must follow her, as she does not listen to objections and brooks no delays. If the patriots had yielded to despair, as someone caught in a storm might, they might have quickly thrown overboard, along with their lives, all their remaining goods; then the addicts of innovation would have triumphed over them and would not have been able to conceal a certain Schadenfreude, because now at least all those things would have to vanish against which they had preached so often, sometimes to deaf ears. The common man was stunned; he suffered and complained, without giving it much thought, and old men, who fancied themselves more experienced, supposed innocently enough that this war, like previous wars, would blow over with all its consequences, and then make way once more for those things which it had only displaced temporarily.

For many weeks Kronenberg was laid up in his sickbed and received no tidings of any events, whether great or insignificant; for he had not yet recovered consciousness, and the physician had given him up for lost on more than one occasion. The sick man said nothing, and also seemed to be unable to see or to hear anything. The entire family took turns to look after him, especially the kind mother, who was tireless in her care of him. This was all the more commendable, as the large household over which she herself presided already demanded all her attention; all the more so, now that the estate was being plagued on a daily basis with soldiers marching through it and being billeted on the grounds. The big house was often so busy that the turmoil even penetrated into the sick man's secluded chamber, and though the attendants were often frightened, at least for now the dazed man remained unaware of all this unrest. The daughters of the family, as well as their father, often saw the sufferer, whom they believed to be a member of their family; but many welcome visits from their neighbours, as well as from travellers, but mostly from the unwelcome guests, disturbed and diluted their sympathy for the invalid, which would have been expressed even more strongly without these circumstances.

The first snowfall of the winter arrived. The physician and the Countess, along with the nurse and an elderly servant, were present in the infirmary. Suddenly the patient got up in the bed, sat up straight, looked at the bystanders, and then gazed at the window, where only one of the curtains was drawn.

Ha! he exclaimed: is my carriage not here yet? Christoph, I fear, will arrive all alone with his bearskin cap and his sheepskin coat; but at the very least be sure to look after the noble stranger back there in his little chamber, I will gladly reimburse you, whatever the cost, my dear landlady.

Heavens! cried the Countess, he has lost his mind.

He is probably just delirious, surmised the physician: but when he took the patient's pulse, even he began to have doubts and thought that these words were perhaps merely memories, which often burst out suddenly in illnesses, whereas other, intermediate states would be repressed, as it were, in the long run. So it was with the patient, who thought that he was still in that inn in which he had waited for his friend Wildhausen's message the previous spring; perhaps it was the snowstorm that evoked those particular memories. The physician declared him to be otherwise out of danger, and surmised that as he regained his strength, he would gradually recover his memory.

The next day the physician found that his patient was already feeling much better. He was already able to connect up his memories into a more distinct and reliable pattern; just how he had got there, and under what circumstances, this still remained a complete mystery to him.

Next to the Heavens, said the physician, you have the venerable Countess to thank for your recovery; such motherly care is more powerful than all of us doctors put together.

When the physician left, the Countess returned and kept the patient company. She was delighted to find that he was out of danger and already well on the road to recovery.

But, cried Kronenberg, however did I get here? What did I do to deserve all this kindness? Who are you, Madam? How ever can I thank you for all this affection?

Hush, replied the Countess, the doctor has strictly forbidden you to talk. Can you not yet remember, then, that we have been expecting you for a long time, dear cousin? Finally our distant relatives wrote to inform us on which day you would be arriving; and just as we are stretching forth our arms to greet you, a terrible fate casts you bleeding and broken at our feet. You can imagine how much grief this caused us I, my husband, all my children, we were so looking forward to making your acquaintance. Not to mention Cecilia.

Cecilia? cried the invalid, as though he were horrified. She is here?

Where else would she be? continued the Countess. But let's wait until you are better. The poor girl has suffered endless grief. How strange, how painful, the manner in which we have been obliged to become acquainted.

Through more frequent visits, from both the physician and the members of the family, the patient was finally able to put two and two together and come to the conclusion that they had mistaken him for a certain Baron Feldheim, whom they had been expecting that same day. He had to assume that there had been a plan for the Baron to become engaged to the eldest daughter of this countly house of Werthheim. Gradually he became acquainted with all the members of the family, and even the daughters visited him occasionally when he was feeling better, and these, like the sons, he found to be amiable; he could not but adore the parents, but a blissful sensation filled his soul if he caught sight of Cecilia for even a few minutes; for at such times it was as though a heavenly apparition had approached his bed.

His illness made it impossible for him to think much about the peculiar situation in which he found himself, much less talk about it; so he quietly accepted all the care and cordial affection which were being shown to him as though it were the most natural thing in the world. In quieter moments he promised himself that he would clear up the mistake under which everyone was labouring as soon as he felt stronger; but now he dreaded the moment, and therefore he allowed the hours, days and weeks to slip by in pleasant thoughtlessness. Whenever his conscience pricked him, he appeased it with the weak excuse that it was not he who had brought about this situation; he had not contrived the mistake, and therefore he had not deceived the family.

O Cecilia! he said to himself one quiet night. Now you are avenged, for this angel here is lacerating my heart and soul; I cannot recover; I cannot remain and I cannot depart. Ah, what a poor, wretched man I am! How vain I have been all my life! Can not repentance and a firm will put everything to rights again? Yes, I feel new strength awakening within me; perhaps I have not yet forfeited all hope of salvation.

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