Walpurgisnacht
Gustav Meyrink
Language: English
Pages: 117
ISBN: 1539398978
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Comic, fantastic and grotesque, Walpurgisnacht uses Prague as the setting for a clash between German officialdom immured in the ancient castle above the Moldau, and a Czech revolution seething in the city below. Written in 1917, Walpurgisnacht continues the message of The Green Face, of a decadent society on the brink of collapse and of a Europe past salvation. In it we see Meyrink's exceptional narrative powers at their height.
with a certain justification, Your Excellency, ‘who instructs me without being asked?’ Do not let that worry you; I am here because this is the right point in your life. For some people it never comes. By the way, I am not a schoolmaster. I am a Manchu.” “What are you?!” exclaimed Halberd. “A Manchu. From the highlands of China. From the Middle Kingdom. As you might easily have guessed from my long moustache. This Middle Kingdom is to the east of the Hradschin. Even if you managed to bring
the shadows of leaves, which shone in her eyes and made it impossible for her to make out even the next step. She strained her ears, but there was no sound to be heard in the blackness. Not a leaf stirred. Sometimes she thought she could hear a soft, suppressed breathing close to her, so close indeed, that it seemed to come from the wall on her left. She stared fixedly into the darkness and, careful not to make the least noise, slowly stretched her head forward - the sound disappeared, and did
completely frozen. Then she stood up and went to the door, where she turned round again. “Are you sure of that, Halberd?” “Quite sure. There is no possibility I am wrong, Countess.” “Good. Adieu, Halberd.” “Au-revoir, Coun-Countess.” Halberd just managed to bring the words out. The sound of the old woman’s steps gradually died away in the stone hall. Halberd wiped the sweat from his brow. “The ghosts from my life are coming to say farewell. It’s horrible, horrible! All my life I’ve been
be able to save him, Halberd”, said the Countess, her gaze fixed on the door. “It will be just the same as all those years ago. You remember. He’ll have a dagger in his heart. Again you’ll say ‘He’s beyond all human aid, I’m afraid’.” For a moment the former Court Doctor had no idea what she was referring to. Then he suddenly understood. He had come across it before: she used sometimes to mix up the past and the present. The scene from the past that was confusing her suddenly came to life within
actor! A mask of flesh and blood that could be stretched into another, incomprehensible face every second; a mask such as Death himself would wear, if he should decide to mingle with the living. ‘The face of a being,’ felt Dr. Halberd, who was once more prey to a vague fear that he must have seen this person somewhere before, ‘who can be this man today and someone completely different tomorrow, someone different not only for those around him, but also for himself; a corpse that does not decay and