The Weatherproof Cape
From the Innsbruck lawyer Enderer, our guardian, we obtained the next (verbatim) account . . . for twenty years, primarily within the Saggengasse and primarily at about midday, I’ve been crossing paths with this individual with out figuring out who this individual is; complementarily, for twenty years, primarily within the Saggengasse and primarily at about midday, this individual has been crossing paths with me, with out figuring out who I’m . . . furthermore, this individual hails from the Saggengasse!, albeit from the higher Saggengasse, whereas I hail from the decrease Saggengasse; each of us grew up within the Saggengasse and actually, I believe, I’ve all the time seen this individual with out figuring out that he hails from the Saggengasse and with out figuring out who he’s; complementarily this individual has recognized nothing about me . . . now it happens to me that there’s something about this person who I ought to have seen years in the past, that I ought to have seen his weatherproof cape . . . reproachfully I say to myself, we cross paths with an individual for years, many years, with out figuring out who this individual is and if we ought to note something concerning the individual, we discover nothing concerning the individual, and we may cross paths with such an individual over the course of a life-time with out noticing something concerning the individual . . . immediately we discover one thing about this individual with whom we now have been crossing paths for 20 years, we discover one thing, be it his weatherproof cape, be it one thing else solely; immediately I seen this individual’s weatherproof cape and in reference to this I immediately realized that this individual lived within the Saggengasse and was a fan of taking walks alongside the Sill . . . every week in the past this individual accosted me within the Herrengasse and the person went up with me into my workplace; as we had been climbing the steps I noticed, you’ve gotten been seeing this individual for 2 full many years, all the time the identical individual, all the time the identical ageing particular person within the Saggengasse, at about midday on this weatherproof cape, on this fairly atypical however fairly positively worn-out weatherproof cape; nonetheless, as we had been climbing the steps it was not but obvious to me why the individual’s weatherproof cape specifically was arousing my consideration; immediately, at shut quarters, the person’s weatherproof cape was arousing my undivided consideration . . . nevertheless it actually is kind of an atypical weatherproof cape, I believed; there are tens of 1000’s of such weatherproof capes in these mountains; tens of 1000’s of weatherproof capes worn by the Tyrolians . . . regardless of who these persons are, it doesn’t matter what they do, once they come right here all of them sport these weatherproof capes; a few of them sport the gray ones, and the remainder of them the inexperienced ones, as a result of all of them put on these weatherproof capes, and the quite a few loden factories within the valleys simply hold thriving; these weatherproof capes are exported to each nook of the world, however there was one thing fairly distinctive concerning the weatherproof cape of my new consumer: its buttonholes had been trimmed in goat leather-based! I’ve seen these goat leather-trimmed buttonholes solely as soon as earlier than in my life, specifically, on the weatherproof cape of my uncle, who drowned eight years in the past within the decrease Sill . . . to suppose that this individual is sporting precisely the identical weatherproof cape as my drowned uncle’s, I believe as I’m strolling as much as my workplace with the person . . . immediately I recall that once they pulled my Uncle Worringer out of the Sill, opinion had been divided over whether or not his drowning had been an act of desperation or an accident, however I’m firmly of the idea that it was with so-called suicidal intent that Worringer threw himself into the Sill; for me there will be little question about it; Worringer killed himself; every thing in his life and in the end every thing in his enterprise life factors to suicide . . . by the point they had been in search of the drowned man upstream of the glass manufacturing unit, he had already been washed up onto the riverbank downstream of Pradl; the newspapers devoted whole pages to the incident; our whole household was hauled into public view by the press; the phrases a ruined enterprise, ruined timber, the dying of a sawmill, and eventually monetary and social spoil haunted the journalists’ sensation-mongering minds . . . the funeral in Wilten was one of many largest there has ever been; I keep in mind 1000’s of individuals in attendance, writes Enderer . . . it’s exceptional, I say to the person with whom I used to be climbing the staircase resulting in my workplace, that I can’t get your weatherproof cape out of my thoughts; a number of occasions I’ve did not get your weatherproof cape out of my thoughts . . . your weatherproof cape, consider it or not . . . I couldn’t assist pondering however didn’t say, there’s essentially the most intimate connection between your weatherproof cape and my uncle; who is aware of whether or not the person is aware of what I’m speaking about, I believed and I invite the person to step into the workplace; step inside! I say, as a result of the person is hesitating; subsequent I’m within the workplace and taking off my coat and the person is coming in . . . it very a lot seems as if the person was ready for me within the entrance doorway of the constructing; at present I’m working twenty minutes late, I believe, after which: what does this man need? I used to be alternately irritated by his taciturnity and his weatherproof cape; as quickly as we had been each contained in the workplace, I noticed much more clearly, extra distinctly, after I had turned the sunshine on, that the buttonholes of the person’s weatherproof cape had been trimmed with goat leather-based, with black goat leather-based, and I discerned that my new consumer’s weatherproof cape had been tailor-made precisely just like the weatherproof cape of my Uncle Worringer, tailor-made within the easiest fashion. I inform the person he should sit, that very first thing of all I need to see to the heating of the workplace, that I’m alone, that my secretary is ailing, influenza, I say, the flu; I need to mild a hearth, however final evening I received every thing prepared upfront, I say, in order that getting the workplace heated gained’t current the slightest difficulties now; I inform the person he should sit; he takes a seat; this dreary fog-saturated environment, I say, every thing is obscured in gloom, this time of the yr exacts the utmost self-discipline, one should grasp oneself and get by way of it; the sentence was quickly uttered, for all its weightiness; on the identical time I believed, what a preposterous sentence, these superfluous, preposterous matutinal sentences, I believed; every thing is subjected to a colossal take a look at of its endurance, I say, the physique, the mind, the thoughts, the mind, the physique. Fairly naturally when folks are available right here, they hold their coats on, and my new consumer is likewise retaining on his weatherproof cape; now within the workplace he appeared to really feel even colder than within the doorway; it gained’t be lengthy earlier than it warms up, I say; as soon as the warmth is on, I say, the heat spreads rapidly; I made some extent of emphasizing to him the superb high quality of American cast-iron stoves; I made a comment concerning the insalubriousness of central heating; I stored saying, it’s a lot too darkish for workplace work; one can half the curtains, nevertheless it doesn’t do any good, activate extra lamps, nevertheless it doesn’t do any good; there’s, I believed, a sure uncanniness about this example, about being in my gloomy workplace within the morning with an odd individual, an individual who is totally wrapped up in his weatherproof cape, however when one considers, I say, that the shortest day of the yr is simply 4 weeks from now; I mentioned this to no impact; I spoke about each attainable factor whereas I used to be standing on the range, however I used to be completely preoccupied with my new consumer’s weatherproof cape.
[Published by Seagull, translated by Douglas Robertson]
