BooksBarbecue
Back Married Life Save as PDF
Chapters (42)
  1. About the Author
  2. Title Page
  3. PART ONE
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. PART TWO
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. PART THREE
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. PART FOUR
  30. 24
  31. 25
  32. 26
  33. 27
  34. 28
  35. 29
  36. PART FIVE
  37. 30
  38. 31
  39. 32
  40. 33
  41. 34
  42. 35

The two women helped him to get undressed and laid him down on the couch. With utter indifference Gurdweill allowed them to do as they wished with him. Only from time to time did a deep groan escape his lips. The oil lamp was lit, and the old woman fetched a thermometer and stuck it in his armpit. Franzi Mitteldorfer moved about the room impatiently in her hat and coat. The thermometer showed a temperature of 39.8 degrees. Franzi Mitteldorfer told the old woman to call a doctor without delay. Herr Gurdweill was very ill, and to her regret she had to hurry home immediately. She would come back the next day to see how he was. And she said goodbye and left.

The doctor, who came two hours later, diagnosed a severe shock to the nervous system.

PART FIVE

PART FIVE

The End

30

30

Three weeks had passed since Gurdweill rose from his sickbed. On the evening of the day that his sickness was discovered, his friends were sitting in the Café Herrenhof when Thea dropped in for a moment and informed them of the baby’s death. Since they had not seen Gurdweill for some days and knew how attached he was to the child, they were concerned about him, and they all got up immediately — Lotte, Dr Astel, and Ulrich — and took a tram to Kleine Stadtgutgasse. They arrived shortly after the doctor had left and found Gurdweill, whose fever in the meantime had risen even higher, lying unconscious on his back, his glassy eyes staring hollowly at the ceiling. Frau Fischer, who was busy soaking a towel for a cold compress to place on his head, told them everything, in detail and at length.

For eight days Gurdweill had lain feverish and delirious, seeing visions alternately terrifying and blissful, in which the objects and people around him appeared in weird and fantastic combinations. He was taken care of by the old landlady and his friends, including Franzi Mitteldorfer, who came to see him every day and seemed to regard him as her own private patient. Thea went out to work and to meet her friends as usual, without making any concessions to his illness or lifting a finger to help him. Then the crisis came to an end, and the doctor announced that the worst was over.