Day two: now comes the manhood phase. His virility must be tested. Gisela finds occasion to punish him cruelly for his failures. They copulate continuously. Her ability to spur him on to climax after climax is stupendous. As is her ability to invent more and more reasons to mistreat him. Nor is the element of surprise lacking: a supposed pimp invades the room while the two are lying in bed, takes him unawares, thrashes him good and proper, and robs him of his last penny. Gisela watches with a wicked smile, calling words of encouragement to the pimp. The line between pretending and real life blurs. Gisela forgoes her roles and presents herself frankly as what she is: a heartless whore. “As-if” becomes nightmarish reality. She makes continuous demands, expresses expensive wishes. He is in a condition of utter lack of will, completely exhausted mentally and physically. His head is seething with drugs and alcohol. He writes checks for sums that really frighten him. He wants to flee but finds himself at her mercy, powerless and even enjoying it.

Day three: now he gets chained up. It’s done with such skill that he can’t move a finger without excruciating pain. He hangs in his chains, his arms extended, crucified. Gisela ridicules him, belabors him with a whip, and leaves him alone. Hours go by. He starts to cry for help, but no one comes to release him. At last the cleaning lady shows up but pretends he isn’t there. She starts to straighten up, all the while uttering complaints about what a mess the room is in. She tosses his clothes into the trash can and pays no attention to his cries. After scrubbing the floor, she leaves. After another eternity, they finally set him free. They say one of his employees is waiting for him downstairs. He’s there to gain his release with a hefty ransom of several thousand marks. (Later, the police would suggest that Gisela not overdo things; the Hanseatic town’s reputation was at stake.)

And yet the object of such treatment was so eager to find as yet unpublished material that in one of the pauses to catch his breath, he was able to take a look at a pile of typewritten pages one of his predecessors had forgotten among the illustrated magazines on Gisela’s bedside table.

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