“...The traveler showed no interest in the apparatus and walked behind the convict clearly indifferently, while the officer, making final preparations, either climbed under the apparatus, into the pit, or climbed the ladder to inspect the upper parts of the machine. These works could, in fact, be entrusted to some mechanic, but the officer performed them with great diligence - either he was a special adherent of this apparatus, or for some other reason no one else could be entrusted with this work ... "
“This is a special kind of apparatus,” the officer said to the scientist-traveler, looking at the apparatus, of course, very familiar to him, not without admiration. The traveler, it seemed, only out of politeness accepted the commandant’s invitation to be present at the execution of the sentence imposed on one soldier for disobedience and insulting his superior. And in the penal colony, the upcoming execution apparently did not arouse much interest. In any case, here, in this small and deep sandy valley, closed on all sides by bare slopes, besides the officer and the traveler, there were only two: the convict - a dull, wide-mouthed fellow with an unkempt head and an unshaven face - and a soldier who did not let out the hands of a heavy chain, to which small chains converged, stretching from the ankles and neck of the condemned man and additionally fastened with connecting chains. Meanwhile, in the whole appearance of the condemned man there was such canine obedience that it seemed that he could be let go for a walk along the slopes, but all you had to do was whistle before the execution began, and he would appear.
The traveler showed no interest in the apparatus and walked behind the convict, clearly indifferent, while the officer, making final preparations, either climbed under the apparatus, into the pit, or climbed the ladder to inspect the upper parts of the machine. These works could, in fact, be entrusted to some mechanic, but the officer performed them with great diligence - either he was a special adherent of this apparatus, or for some other reason no one else could be entrusted with this work.
- Well, that's all! – he finally exclaimed and climbed down the ladder. He was extremely tired, he was breathing with his mouth wide open, and two ladies' handkerchiefs were sticking out from under the collar of his uniform.
“These uniforms are perhaps too heavy for the tropics,” said the traveler, instead of inquiring about the apparatus, as the officer expected.
“Of course,” the officer said and began to wash his hands, stained with lubricating oil, in the prepared bucket of water, “but this is a sign of the homeland, we don’t want to lose our homeland.” But look at this apparatus,” he added immediately and, wiping his hands with a towel, pointed to the apparatus. – Until now, it was necessary to work manually, but now the device will operate completely independently.
The traveler nodded and looked where the officer was pointing. He wished to insure himself against any accidents and said:
- Of course, there are problems: I really hope that today things will go without them, but you still need to be prepared for them. After all, the device must work for twelve hours without interruption. But if any problems occur, they will be very minor, and they will be corrected immediately... Would you like to sit down? - he finally asked and, pulling one out of a pile of wicker chairs, offered it to the traveler; he couldn't refuse.
Now, sitting at the edge of the pit, he glanced into it. The pit was not very deep. On one side of it lay a mound of dug up earth, on the other side there was an apparatus.
- Don't know. - said the officer, - has the commandant already explained to you the structure of this apparatus?
The traveler waved his hand vaguely; the officer did not need anything more, because now he could begin the explanation himself.
“This apparatus,” he said and touched the connecting rod, on which he then leaned, “is the invention of our former commandant. I helped him from the very first experiments, and participated in all the work until its completion. But the credit for this invention belongs to him alone. Have you heard about our former commandant? No? Well, I won’t exaggerate if I say that the structure of this entire penal colony is his business. We, his friends, knew already at the hour of his death that the structure of this colony was so integral that his successor, even if he had at least a thousand new plans in his head, would not be able to change old order at least for many years. And our prediction came true, the new commandant had to admit it. It’s a pity that you didn’t know our former commandant!.. However,” the officer interrupted himself, “I was chatting, and our apparatus - here it is standing in front of us.” It consists, as you can see, of three parts. Gradually, each of these parts received a rather colloquial name. The lower part was called the lounger, the upper part was called the marker, and this middle, hanging part was called the harrow.
- Harrow? – asked the traveler.
He didn't listen very carefully; the sun was too hot in this shadowless valley, and it was difficult to concentrate. He was all the more surprised by the officer, who, although he was wearing a tight, formal uniform, weighed down with epaulettes and hung with aiguillettes, gave explanations so zealously and, in addition, while continuing to speak, even tightened the nut with a wrench here and there. The soldier seemed to be in the same condition as the traveler. Having wound the condemned man's chain around the wrists of both hands, he leaned one of them on the rifle and stood with his head hanging down, with the most indifferent look. This did not surprise the traveler, since the officer spoke French, and French speech Neither the soldier nor the convict, of course, understood. But it was all the more striking that the convict still tried to follow the officer’s explanations. With some sleepy persistence, he constantly directed his gaze to where the officer was pointing at that moment, and now, when the traveler interrupted the officer with his question, the convict, like the officer, looked at the traveler.
“Yes, with a harrow,” said the officer. – This name is quite suitable. The teeth are arranged like a harrow, and the whole thing works like a harrow, but only in one place and much more intricately. However, now you will understand this. Here, on the sunbed, they place the convict... I will first describe the apparatus, and only then proceed to the procedure itself. This will make it easier for you to keep track of her. In addition, one gear in the marker has been severely ground, it grinds terribly when it rotates, and then it is almost impossible to talk. Unfortunately, replacement parts are very difficult to obtain... So, this is, as I said, a sunbed. It is completely covered with a layer of cotton wool, its purpose you will soon find out. The condemned man is placed on this cotton wool, stomach down - naked, of course - here are the straps to tie him: for the arms, for the legs and for the neck. Here, at the head of the lounger, where, as I said, the criminal’s face first falls, there is a small felt peg that can be easily adjusted so that it falls directly into the convict’s mouth. Thanks to this peg, the convict cannot scream or bite his tongue. The criminal willy-nilly puts this felt in his mouth, because otherwise the neck strap will break his vertebrae.
- Is this cotton wool? – the traveler asked and leaned forward.
“Yes, of course,” the officer said, smiling. - Feel it yourself. “He took the traveler’s hand and ran it along the lounger. – This cotton wool is prepared in a special way, which is why it is so difficult to recognize; I’ll tell you more about its purpose.
The traveler was already a little interested in the apparatus; shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand, he looked up at the apparatus. It was a large building. The lounger and the marker had the same area and looked like two dark boxes. The marker was strengthened about two meters above the sunbed and connected to it at the corners with four brass rods that literally shone in the sun. A harrow hung on a steel cable between the boxes.
The officer hardly noticed the traveler’s previous indifference, but he quickly responded to the interest that had now awakened in him; he even suspended his explanations so that the traveler, slowly and without interference, could examine everything. The condemned man imitated the traveler; Since he could not cover his eyes with his hand, he blinked, looking up with unprotected eyes.
“So, the condemned man lies down,” said the traveler and, lounging in a chair, crossed his legs.
“Yes,” said the officer and, pushing his cap back a little, ran his hand over his heated face. - Now listen! Both the deck chair and the marker have an electric battery, the deck chair has one for the deck chair itself, and the marker has one for the harrow. As soon as the convict is tied, the lounger is set in motion. It vibrates slightly and very quickly, simultaneously in the horizontal and vertical directions. You, of course, have seen similar devices in medical institutions, only with our lounger all movements are precisely calculated: they must be strictly coordinated with the movements of the harrow. After all, the harrow, in fact, is entrusted with the execution of the sentence.
-What is the sentence? – asked the traveler.
-You don’t know that either? – the officer asked in surprise, biting his lips. – Sorry if my explanations are confusing, I beg your pardon. Previously, the commandant usually gave explanations, but the new commandant relieved himself of this honorable duty; but what about such a distinguished guest,” the traveler tried to decline this honor with both hands, but the officer insisted on his expression, “that he does not even introduce such a distinguished guest to the form of our sentence, this is another innovation that...” A curse was on the tip of his tongue , but he controlled himself and said: “They didn’t warn me about this, it’s not my fault.” However, I can explain the nature of our sentences better than anyone else, because here,” he patted his breast pocket, “I carry the corresponding drawings made by the hand of the former commandant.
- By the hand of the commandant himself? – asked the traveler. - Did he combine everything in himself? Was he a soldier, a judge, a designer, a chemist, and a draftsman?
“That’s right,” the officer said, nodding his head.
He looked meticulously at his hands; they did not seem clean enough to him to touch the drawings, so he went to the tub and washed them thoroughly again.
Then he pulled out a leather wallet and said:
– Our sentence is not harsh. The harrow writes on the body of the condemned the commandment that he violated. For example, this one,” the officer pointed to the convict, “will have the following written on his body: “Honor your superior!”
The traveler glanced at the condemned man; when the officer pointed at him, he lowered his head and seemed to strain his ears to the utmost to understand anything. But the movements of his thick, closed lips clearly showed that he did not understand anything. The traveler wanted to ask a lot, but when he saw the condemned man he only asked:
– Does he know the verdict?
“No,” said the officer and prepared to continue his explanation, but the traveler interrupted him:
– He doesn’t know the sentence that was handed down to him?
“No,” said the officer, then paused for a moment, as if demanding from the traveler a more detailed substantiation of his question, and then said: “It would be useless to pronounce his sentence.” After all, he recognizes him with his own body.
The traveler was about to fall silent when he suddenly felt that the condemned man was looking at him; he seemed to be asking whether the traveler approved of the procedure described. Therefore, the traveler, who had already leaned back in his chair, leaned over again and asked:
– But does he even know that he’s even convicted?
“No, he doesn’t know that either,” the officer said and smiled at the traveler, as if expecting some more strange discoveries from him.
“That’s how it is,” said the traveler and ran his hand over his forehead. - But in this case, he still doesn’t know how they reacted to his attempt to defend himself?
“He had no opportunity to defend himself,” said the officer and looked to the side, as if he was talking to himself and did not want to embarrass the traveler by stating these circumstances.
“But, of course, he should have had the opportunity to defend himself,” said the traveler and rose from his chair.
The officer was afraid that he would have to interrupt his explanations for a long time; he approached the traveler and took him by the arm; pointing with the other hand at the condemned man, who now that attention was so clearly paid to him - and the soldier had pulled the chain - straightened up, the officer said:
– The situation is as follows. I perform the duties of a judge here in the colony. Despite my youth. I also helped the former commandant administer justice and know this apparatus better than anyone else. When passing judgment, I adhere to the rule: “Guilty is always beyond doubt.” Other courts cannot follow this rule; they are collegial and subordinate to higher courts. Everything is different with us, at least under the previous commandant it was different. The new one, however, is trying to interfere in my affairs, but so far I have managed to repel these attempts and, I hope, I will succeed in the future... You wanted me to explain this case to you; well, it's as simple as any other. This morning one captain reported that this man, assigned to him as an orderly and obliged to sleep under his door, slept through the service. The fact is that he is supposed to get up every hour, with the clock striking, and salute in front of the captain's door. The duty, of course, is not difficult, but necessary, because the orderly who guards and serves the officer must always be on alert. Last night the captain wanted to check whether the orderly was fulfilling his duty. At exactly two o'clock he opened the door and saw that he was huddled and asleep. The captain took the whip and slashed him across the face. Instead of getting up and asking for forgiveness, the orderly grabbed his master by the legs, began to shake him and shout: “Throw away the whip, otherwise I’ll kill you!” Here's the crux of the matter. An hour ago the captain came to me, I wrote down his testimony and immediately passed a verdict. Then I ordered the orderly to be put in chains. It was all very simple. And if I had first called the orderly and began to interrogate him, the result would only have been confusion. He would begin to lie, and if I managed to refute this lie, he would begin to replace it with a new one, and so on. And now he’s in my hands, and I won’t let him go... Well, is everything clear now? Time, however, is running out, it’s time to begin the execution, and I have not yet explained to you the structure of the apparatus.
He forced the traveler to sit back in the chair, walked up to the apparatus and began:
– As you can see, the harrow corresponds to the shape of the human body; here is a harrow for the body, and here are harrows for the legs. Only this small incisor is intended for the head. Do you understand?
He bowed warmly before the traveler, ready for the most detailed explanations.
End of introductory fragment.
In der Strafkolonie
1914
“This is an unusual device,” the officer said to the traveler-researcher and looked at the device, which he himself had known for a long time, with a gaze that was not devoid of admiration. The traveler seems to have accepted the commandant's invitation to attend only out of politeness. death penalty a soldier convicted of disobedience and insulting his superior. There was, apparently, not so much interest in this execution in the convict settlement itself. At least here, in this small, low-lying sandy valley, closed on all sides by bare slopes, in addition to the officer and the traveler, there were only a condemned, stupid, wide-mouthed man with an overgrown head and a neglected face, and a soldier with a heavy chain in his hands, from which they were moving smaller chains encircling the prisoner at the wrists and ankles and around the neck, and in turn intercepted by other connecting chains. However, the convict had such a devoted dog-like appearance that one got the impression that he could easily be released to run on the slopes and by the time the execution began, all that was needed was a whistle for him to come back.
The traveler cared little about the apparatus and with almost obvious indifference he walked back and forth behind the condemned man, while the officer made the final preparations, either crawling under the apparatus dug deep into the ground, or climbing the ladder to inspect the upper parts. All this work, strictly speaking, could have been done by the driver, but the officer himself did it with great diligence, either because he was a special admirer of this apparatus, or because for some other reason he could not entrust the work to anyone else .
- Well, everything is ready! - he finally proclaimed and went downstairs. He was extremely tired, was breathing with his mouth wide open, and had squeezed two ladies' handkerchiefs made of delicate fabric into the collar of his jacket.
“This uniform, however, is too heavy for the tropics,” said the traveler, instead of inquiring about the apparatus, as the officer expected.
“It’s definitely heavy,” the officer said and washed his oil-smeared hands in a vat of water standing right there, “but it symbolizes our homeland for us; we don't want to lose our homeland. However, I ask you to inspect the device,” he added immediately, wiping his hands with a towel and at the same time pointing to the device. “I had to correct a few things there, but now the device will work completely independently.”
The traveler nodded and looked where the officer was pointing. He decided to protect himself against all unforeseen cases and said:
“Of course, things won’t happen without problems, but I hope there won’t be any today.” Although you can expect anything. After all, the device must be in operation for twelve hours without a break. If something happens, it can only be small things, I will eliminate them immediately.
- Shouldn't you sit down? - he finally asked, pulled out a wicker chair from the pile and offered it to the traveler.
He couldn't refuse. Now he sat on the edge of the pit, which he glanced at briefly. The hole was not very deep. On one side of it there was a mound of dug-out earth, on the other there was an apparatus.
“I don’t know,” said the officer, “whether the commandant has already explained to you the principle of operation of the apparatus.”
The traveler made a vague movement with his hand; the officer didn’t need anything better, because now he could explain everything himself.
“This device,” he began and took the drive handle, which he immediately leaned on, “is the invention of our former commandant.” I took part in the very first launches of the device, and also participated until the end in all other work to improve it. But the credit for inventing the apparatus belongs to the former commandant alone. Have you heard anything about this man yet? No? You know, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the construction of the entire local settlement was his doing. We, his friends, already knew by the time of his death that the entire structure of the settlement was so clearly subordinated to the principle of internal isolation that the commandant’s successor, no matter how many new plans were spinning in his head, would not be able to change anything from the old for many years to come. Our prediction came true; the new commandant had to come to terms with this situation. It's a pity that you didn't know the former commandant! However,” the officer interrupted himself, “I’m chatting here, and his device is here, right in front of us.” As you can see, it consists of three parts. During its existence, each of the parts got its own, let’s say, common name. The lower part is called the bed, the upper part is the draftsman, and this middle, hanging part is called the harrow.
- Harrow? - asked the traveler. He did not listen attentively; the sun lingered too long in this valley, devoid of any shade; It was difficult to collect my own thoughts. And he was all the more amazed by the officer who, in a tight, almost ceremonial uniform, hung with epaulettes and aiguillettes, told him all this with such zeal and, moreover, without ceasing to talk, here and there he was tightening some kind of wrench with a wrench. some kind of nut. The soldier seemed to be in the same state as the traveler. He wrapped the chain leading to the condemned man around his wrists, leaned one hand on his rifle, hung his head deeply and did not worry about anything. This did not surprise the traveler, for the officer spoke French, and neither the soldier nor the convict clearly understood French. And here the fact that the convict still tried to follow the officer’s explanations was even more striking. With some sleepy insistence, he constantly directed his gaze to where the officer was pointing, and when now he was forced to interrupt his speech under the influence of the traveler’s question, the condemned man looked at the questioner in the same way as the officer.
“Yes, a harrow,” answered the officer. - A suitable name. The needles here are arranged like the spikes of a harrow, and the movement is the same as that of a harrow, albeit in one place and much more refined. However, you yourself will understand now. Here, on the bed, they place the condemned... - I will first describe to you the principle of operation of the apparatus, and then we will proceed to the procedure itself. Then you will be able to observe her better. In addition, the draftsman's gear is very worn out; when working, it creaks a lot, which makes it practically impossible to speak. Unfortunately, spare parts are difficult to obtain here. “So this is the bed, as I already said.” It is entirely covered with a layer of cotton wool; for what, you will find out later. The condemned person is placed stomach down on this cotton wool, naked, of course; here are the straps for the arms, here for the legs and here for the neck. Here, at the head of the bed, where, as I told you, a person is first placed face down, there is this small, felt-covered blank, which can easily be adjusted so that it goes straight down the person's throat. Its purpose is to prevent screaming and tongue biting. Naturally, the convict is forced to take this gag into his mouth, since otherwise the neck strap will break his vertebrae.
- Is this cotton wool? - asked the traveler and bent down.
“Yes, of course,” the officer said with a smile, “touch it yourself.” He took the traveler's hand and ran it over the bed. - This is specially prepared cotton wool, that’s why it has such a strange appearance. I will also tell you what it is intended for.
The traveler was already a little carried away by the device. Putting his palm to his forehead to protect himself from the sun, he looked up at the apparatus. It was a large device. The stock and the draftsman were the same size and looked like two dark chests. The draftsman was positioned approximately two meters above the stock; both were connected at the corners by four copper rods, which almost gleamed with bright rays in the sun. Between the chests there was a harrow hanging on a steel belt.
The officer hardly noticed the traveler's previous indifference, but his now awakening interest certainly did not escape him; so he put aside his explanations to give the traveler time to quietly admire the apparatus. The convict repeated the actions of the traveler; since he could not cover his eyes with his palm, he simply squinted upward with his unprotected eyes.
“So the man is lying...” said the traveler, leaned back in his chair and crossed his legs.
“Yes,” said the officer, slightly pushed his cap back and ran his hand over his hot face, “now listen!” Both the stock and the draftsman are provided with their own electric battery; the stock itself needs it, and the draftsman needs it for the harrow. As soon as the person is tied, the bed begins to move. It twitches in small, very fast jerks simultaneously on the sides and up and down. You've probably seen similar devices in hospitals; Only with our stock all movements are precisely calculated, because they must be especially carefully adjusted to the movements of the harrow. Ultimately, it falls to the harrow to carry out the sentence.
- What does the sentence sound like? - asked the traveler.
“You don’t even know that?” — the officer exclaimed in surprise and immediately bit his lip. “I apologize if my explanations are perhaps a little confused; I humbly ask you to excuse me. The fact is that giving explanations used to be the custom of the commandant; the new commandant avoids this honorable duty. But the fact that he does not inform such a distinguished guest...” The traveler tried to brush off these honors with both hands, but the officer insisted on the chosen expression, “the fact that he does not even inform such a distinguished guest about the form of our sentence is again from the category innovations that... - a curse was about to escape his tongue, but he restrained himself and only said:
“I wasn’t notified about this, it’s not my fault.” But, you know, in the end, I am best able to acquaint those interested with the types of our sentences, since I carry with me, here - he hit his breast pocket - the corresponding drawings made by the old commandant with his own hand.
— Drawings made by the commandant himself? - asked the traveler. — Was he here all at once: a soldier, a judge, a designer, a chemist, a draftsman?
“That’s right,” the officer answered, nodding his head and looking ahead with a motionless, thoughtful gaze. Then he looked appraisingly at his hands; they seemed to him not clean enough to be included in the drawings. So he went to the vat and washed them again. Following this, he took a small leather book from his pocket and said:
“Our sentence doesn’t sound so harsh.” The condemned person is written with a harrow on his body the commandment he overstepped. On the body of this convict, for example,” the officer pointed to the man standing next to him, “will be written: “Honor your superior!”
The traveler glanced briefly at the condemned man. When the officer pointed at him, he bowed his head and seemed to strain all his ears to find out something. However, the movements of his bunch of folded lips clearly showed that he did not understand anything. The traveler wanted to ask a lot of things, but when he saw this man, he only asked:
- Does he know his sentence?
“No,” said the officer and wanted to immediately continue his explanation, but the traveler interrupted him:
“He doesn’t know his sentence?”
“No,” the officer answered again, paused for a second, as if demanding from the traveler a more specific justification for the question, and then said:
“It would be useless to announce it to him.” He will still see it on his body.
The traveler wanted to say nothing at all, but he felt the condemned man direct his gaze at him, as if asking whether he could approve of such a course of action. Therefore, the traveler, who had previously leaned back comfortably in his chair, leaned forward again and asked:
- But does he know that he is being sentenced at all?
“No, either,” said the officer and looked at the traveler with a smile, as if expecting some special additional messages from him.
“No...” muttered the traveler and ran his hand over his forehead, “so this man still doesn’t know how they reacted to the arguments of his defense?”
“He had no opportunity to defend himself,” the officer said and looked to the side, as if he was talking to himself and did not want to somehow shame the traveler by stating these things that were completely natural for him.
“But he should have had such an opportunity,” exclaimed the traveler and got up from his chair.
The officer realized that he now risked getting stuck for a long time in his explanations of the operation of the apparatus and therefore walked up to the traveler, glued himself to his hand, pointed his finger at the convict, who now - since all attention was so clearly directed at him - stood poised (a soldier, moreover, , pulled the chain) and said:
- Here's the thing. Here, in the settlement, I was appointed judge. Despite my youth. Because I also helped the former commandant in considering all issues related to punishment, and I am more familiar with the apparatus than anyone else. The principle that guides my decisions is: guilt is always undeniable. Other courts may not follow this principle, since they have more than one judge and, in addition, there are even higher courts above them. Here the situation is different, or at least it was different under the old commandant. The new one has already shown a desire to interfere in the work of my court, but so far I have been able to repel his attempts and, I hope, will continue to succeed. Do you want me to explain to you the essence of today's matter? If you please. It is as simple as all the others. One captain said this morning that this man, who serves as his orderly and sleeps in front of his door, overslept the time of his duty vigil. His duties, among other things, include getting up at the beginning of each hour and saluting at the captain's door. Indeed, it is not a difficult duty and, moreover, a necessary one, considering that he must remain alert at all times both for the purpose of protection and for the purpose of serving the captain. Last night the captain wanted to check whether the orderly was performing his duties properly. At exactly two o'clock he opened the door and found him asleep on the threshold, curled up. He took the whip and hit him in the face. Instead of jumping up and asking for forgiveness, the orderly grabbed his master by the legs, began to shake them and shout: “Drop the whip, otherwise I’ll eat you!” Here's the thing. An hour ago the captain came to me, I wrote down his testimony and immediately after that I pronounced the verdict. Then I ordered chains to be placed on the culprit. It's very simple. If I had first summoned this man to myself and interrogated him, then nothing but confusion would have arisen. He would lie; if I managed to catch him in a lie, he would begin to come up with new lies and so on. Now I hold him and do not allow him to create lawlessness anymore. Have I explained everything to you? However time goes by, it’s time to start the execution, but I haven’t finished introducing you to the apparatus yet.
He sat the traveler back in his chair, walked up to the device and began:
— As you can see, the shape of the harrow corresponds to the human figure; here are the needles for the body, here for the legs. Only this small incisor is intended for the head. Is everything clear to you? — he kindly inclined his torso towards the traveler, ready for the most detailed explanations.
The traveler, wrinkling his forehead, looked at the harrow. The officer's information about the local legal proceedings did not satisfy him. And yet he was forced to tell himself that he was not just anywhere, but in a settlement for convicts, that here they needed special punishments and that here it was necessary to act according to military standards to the end. In addition, he pinned some hopes on the new commandant, who was obviously determined to introduce, albeit slowly, new judicial methods, which this officer did not want to understand with his limited head. Breaking away from this kind of thoughts, the traveler asked:
— Will the commandant be present at the execution?
“It’s impossible to say with certainty,” answered the officer, sensitively hurt by the sudden question, and his friendly face grimaced. “That’s why we need to hurry.” I will even be forced, as sorry as I am, to shorten my explanations. But, for example, tomorrow, when the device is cleaned again - the fact that it gets very dirty is its only drawback - I could fill in the missing explanations; that is, now - only the most necessary. When a person lies on the bed and it, wound up, vibrates, the harrow lowers onto the body. She adjusts herself so that she only lightly touches the body with the tips of the needles; when the adjustment is completed, this steel cable immediately straightens into a rod and the performance begins. The uninitiated does not notice external differences in punishments. At first glance, the harrow works evenly. Twitching, she sticks her needles into the body, which, in addition, trembles due to the movements of the bed. In order to give everyone the opportunity to check the execution of the sentence, the surface of the harrow is made of glass. True, there were some technical difficulties associated with attaching the needles to this surface, but after many attempts we finally succeeded. We spared no effort. And now everyone can see through the glass how the inscription is applied to the body. Would you like to come closer and look at the needles?
The traveler slowly stood up, walked over to the apparatus and bent over the harrow.
— Here are two types of needles, often scattered over the entire surface. Next to each long needle there is a short one. The long one writes, and the short one delivers water in streams, thus washing away the blood and ensuring the clarity of what is written. Water with blood flows through these small grooves to the main drain, from where it goes through a pipe into the pit. “The officer showed with his finger exactly the path taken by the bloody water. When, in order to most clearly demonstrate this, he made a picking-up gesture with handfuls of his palms at the neck of the sewer, the traveler raised his head and, feeling the space behind him with his hand, began to look for the way back to his chair. Then, to his horror, he saw that the convict, following him, had followed the officer’s invitation to inspect the structure of the harrow from close proximity. He dragged the sleepy soldier on a chain forward a little and also bent over the glass. It was clear how he, with an uncertain gaze, tried to find what the two gentlemen had just examined in front of him, and how, due to the lack of explanations, he absolutely failed. He leaned this way and that; I endlessly looked around the glass. The traveler wanted to drive him away, because what this convict was doing was obviously punishable. But the officer held the traveler with one hand, with the other he took a lump of earth from the sandy slope and threw it at the soldier. The soldier immediately opened his eyes, saw what the convict was allowing himself to do, threw down the rifle, dug his heels into the ground, pulled the convict so that he immediately fell, and then looked from above as he spun at his feet and rattled his chains.
- Put him on his feet! - the officer shouted, for he noticed that this picture of the prisoner was too distracting to the traveler. The traveler even leaned over the harrow, completely forgetting about it, and only wanted to see what would happen to the condemned man.
- Make sure you treat him properly! - the officer shouted again. He ran around the apparatus, grabbed the condemned man under the arms and lifted him, who was constantly losing support under him, to his feet with the help of a soldier.
“Well, now I know everything,” said the traveler when the officer returned to him.
“Except for the most important,” he remarked, touched the traveler by the hand and pointed upward.
“There, inside the draftsman’s body, there is a gear mechanism that regulates the movements of the harrow, and this mechanism is brought into one position or another directly by the drawing, which determines the essence of the sentence. I also use the drawings of the former commandant. Here they are,” he pulled out several sheets of paper from a leather booklet.
“Unfortunately, I cannot give them to you; they are the most precious thing I have. Sit down, I’ll show you them from this distance, so you can see everything clearly. He showed the first piece of paper. The traveler would have been happy to say something laudable, but all that appeared to his gaze were intricate lines drawn in the shape of some kind of labyrinth, intersecting each other in many places, which covered the paper so thickly that it was only with difficulty that one could discern the white spaces between them.
“Read,” said the officer.
“I can’t,” said the traveler.
“Everything is clearly visible right there,” said the officer.
“It was done very skillfully,” the traveler said evasively, “but I can’t decipher anything.”
“Yes,” the officer said, grinned and put his book back in his pocket, “this is not penmanship for schoolchildren.” This font takes a long time to understand. Eventually you would no doubt take it apart too. Of course, you can’t make the font simple; the inscription is not intended to kill immediately, but should allow the procedure to stretch out for an average of twelve hours. The turning point usually occurs around the sixth hour. In short, the direct inscription should be surrounded by a variety of different paintings and monograms, while it itself encircles the body with a thin ribbon, the rest of the place is intended exclusively for decoration. Well, now can you appreciate the work of the harrow and the entire apparatus as a whole? Look!
He jumped onto the stairs, pulled some gear and shouted down:
- Careful, step aside!
And everything started to move. If the gear didn't squeak so much, it would be a great picture. The officer, as if he had seen this unfortunate cog for the first time, threatened her with his fist; turning to the traveler, he spread his hands in an apologetic gesture and hastily descended to observe the operation of the apparatus from below. Something there, visible only to him, was still not right; he climbed up again, put both hands inside the draftsman, then, to make it faster, he slid down one of the copper rods around the stairs, and, straining extremely hard to break through the noise of the apparatus, shouted in the traveler’s ear:
— Do you understand the process? Harrow begins to write; Once she has completed the first inscription on the condemned man's back, the body is slowly turned over on its side to give the harrow room to continue working. At this time, wounds caused by needles on the back are applied to cotton wool, which, due to its special qualities, immediately stops the bleeding and prepares the body for further deepening of the inscription. These teeth along the edges of the harrow tear off the cotton wool from the wounds when the body is turned over again, throw it into the hole and the harrow again has something to do. And so she writes deeper and deeper for twelve hours in a row. For the first six hours, the convict lives almost as before, only he suffers from pain. Two hours after the execution begins, the gag is removed because the person no longer has the strength to scream. Here, in this electrically heated bowl at the head of the bed, warm rice porridge is placed, which he, if he wants, can eat or, better said, take what he can reach with his tongue. Nobody misses this opportunity. In any case, I don’t know anyone like this, but I have a lot of experience. Only around the sixth hour does his desire to eat go away. Then I usually kneel down here and watch this phenomenon. The convict rarely swallows the last piece; he only rolls it around in his mouth and then spits it out into the pit. Then I have to bend down, otherwise he will get in my face. How quiet it becomes, however, by the sixth hour! The crux of the matter gets to the dumbest point. And it starts with the eyes. And from there it spreads everywhere. You know, sometimes you look like you want to lie down under the harrow. Nothing like that happens, the person just begins to make out the inscription, he purses his lips like a tube, as if he is listening to something. You saw that it is not so easy to make out the inscription with your eyes; our man disassembles it with his wounds. True, it's a lot of work; it takes him another six hours to complete it. However, the harrow then completely impales him on its needles and throws him into a hole, where he plops down on bloody water and cotton wool. At this point the trial ends, and we, that is, me and the soldier, bury the body.
The traveler bowed his ear to the officer and, with his hands in the pockets of his coat, watched the operation of the machine. The convict also watched her, but did not understand anything. He bent slightly and watched the swaying needles when the soldier, at a sign from the officer, cut his shirt and pants from behind with a knife so that they fell off him; he wanted to catch the falling goods to cover his nakedness, but the soldier lifted him into the air and shook the last shreds off him. The officer set up the car and in the now ensuing silence the convict was placed under the harrow. The chains were removed from him and instead the belts were strengthened, which, at first, seemed to even mean some kind of relief for him. And so the harrow sank a little more, for the condemned man was a thin man. When the needle points touched him, a thrill ran through his skin; while the soldier was busy with his right hand, he pulled out his left, pulled it out just like that, at random, but this was the direction where the traveler was standing. The officer incessantly looked at the traveler from the side, as if trying to read on his face the impression made on him by this execution, the essence of which he conveyed to him at least superficially. The wrist strap broke; the soldier probably pulled it too tight. The officer was forced to go to help, the soldier showed him the torn piece. The officer walked towards him and said, turning his face to the traveler:
— This machine is a very complex mechanism; here and there something in it just has to tear or break; but you shouldn’t spoil your overall impression because of this. By the way, we will replace the belt right away; I'll take a chain instead, although this will affect the sensitivity of the operating oscillation right hand. And, putting on the chain, he continued: “The means to maintain the machine in proper condition are now extremely limited.” Under the old commandant, I had at my disposal a special cash register for this purpose only. There was also a warehouse in which all kinds of spare parts were stored. I admit, I used all this with some extravagance, I mean before, not now, as the new commandant claims, for whom everything only serves as an excuse to fight the old order. The cash register for the device is now under his care, and if I send someone to him for a new belt, he will demand a torn piece as proof, but the new belt will arrive only in ten days, it will not be of the best quality and will not last long. And how am I supposed to start the car without a belt during this time, no one cares.
The traveler reflected: decisively interfering in the affairs of strangers is always associated with risk. He was neither a resident of this settlement; nor a citizen of the state to which it belonged. If he wanted to condemn this execution or even prevent it, they could have told him: “You are a stranger here, behave quietly!” He would not be able to object to this, perhaps only to note that he does not understand himself in this situation, for he travels only to watch and in no case to change the judicial system of others. However, the situation here was, I must say, very tempting. The injustice of this whole affair and the inhumanity of the execution were obvious. No one could blame the traveler for any self-interest, because the condemned man was unfamiliar to him, he was not his compatriot, and in general a person who evoked a feeling of pity. The traveler himself arrived here with recommendations from high authorities, was greeted with great courtesy, and the fact that he was invited to this execution seems to even indicate that his opinion on this trial was expected of him. This was all the more obvious since the current commandant, as the traveler could have heard more than once today, was not a supporter of the current judicial proceedings and almost did not hide his hostility towards the officer. Suddenly the traveler heard an angry cry from an officer. He had just, not without difficulty, pushed a blank gag into the convict’s mouth when the convict, in an uncontrollable burst of vomiting, closed his eyes and was turned inside out. The officer hastily pulled his head off the block and wanted to turn it towards the pit, but it was too late, the vomit was already flowing down the car.
- It's all the commandant's fault! - the officer cried and began to unconsciously tug at the copper rods in front. - They shit on me here, like in a stable.
With a trembling hand, he showed the traveler what had happened.
“Didn’t I spend hours trying to explain to the commandant that the day before the execution the convict should no longer be given any food!” But the new good breeze, you know, blows in its own way. These commandant's ladies, before they take a person away, stuff him with sweets like no other. All his life he ate stinky fish, and now he eats sweets! Well, even if it were so, I wouldn’t say anything, but why won’t they give me new felt, which I’ve been asking the commandant for for three months now. How can you put this gag into your mouth without disgust, which has already been sucked and bitten by more than a hundred people before they died?
The condemned man's head was again resting on the bed and he looked peaceful; the soldier was busy cleaning the car with the convict's hand. The officer approached the traveler, who, in some kind of premonition, took a step back, but the officer only took him by the hand and took him aside.
“I want to tell you a few words in confidence,” he said, “I can do this, right?”
“Of course,” said the traveler and listened with his eyes downcast.
“These judicial methods and this execution, which you now have the opportunity to witness, currently have no open supporters in our settlement. I am their only representative and at the same time the only representative of the legacy of the old commandant. I no longer have to think about further development of these methods; I am already doing my best to preserve what is left. When the old commandant was alive, the settlement was filled with his followers; I partially have the old commandant's power of persuasion, but I lack his power; As a result, all the former adherents hid in all directions, there are still many of them, but no one admits it. If, for example, today, that is, on the day of the execution, you go into our teahouse and listen to the conversations there, you will probably hear only ambiguous statements. These are all adherents, but under the current commandant with his current views, they are completely unsuitable for me. And now I ask you: is such a gigantic creation,” he pointed to the car, “should die because of some commandant and his ladies, under whose influence he is?” Can this be allowed? Even if you are not from here and came to our island for just a few days? However, there is no more time to waste, they are starting something against my legal proceedings, the commandant’s office is already holding meetings in which I am not involved; even your presence here today seems to me indicative of the whole situation; they are cowardly and send you, the newcomer, ahead. And what was execution like in the old days! Already the day before the execution, the entire valley was filled to capacity with people; everyone came just to watch; early in the morning the commandant appeared with his ladies; the fanfare woke up the entire camp; I reported that everything was ready; local society - none of the higher ranks had to be absent - was distributed around the machine; this pile of wicker chairs is all that remains from that time. The freshly cleaned car was shining, I took new spare parts for almost every execution. In front of hundreds of eyes - all the spectators stood on tiptoe from here to those hills over there - the commandant himself laid the condemned man under the harrow. What an ordinary soldier can do today was at that time my job as the chairman of the court and an honor for me. And then the execution itself began! Not a single extra sound disturbed the operation of the machine. Some of the spectators no longer looked at all, but lay with their eyes closed on the sand; everyone knew: justice was now being done. In the silence, only the moans of the condemned man, squeezed by the gag, could be heard. Today, the machine can no longer extract moans from the condemned man greater than those that the gag can suppress; Previously, writing needles also emitted a caustic liquid, which today is no longer allowed to be used. Finally the sixth hour arrived! It was impossible to satisfy everyone's request to move closer to the center of the action. The commandant wisely gave orders to take children into account first; I, as you understand, due to my position, could always remain directly with the apparatus; Often I just sat there on my haunches, holding a child in my left and right hands. How we all absorbed this expression of enlightenment from our exhausted faces! How we exposed our cheeks to the radiance of this justice, finally established and already leaving us! What times those were, my comrade!
The officer apparently forgot who was standing in front of him; he hugged the traveler and laid his head on his shoulder. The traveler was very embarrassed; he impatiently looked ahead of him over the officer. The soldier had finished cleaning the apparatus and was now dumping rice porridge from a tin into a bowl. As soon as the condemned man saw this - it seemed that he had completely come to his senses - he began to grab the porridge with his tongue. The soldier kept pushing him away, since the porridge was intended for a later time, but he himself, which, of course, was also no good, reached into it with his dirty hands and managed to grab something for himself even before the suffering convict. The officer quickly got ready.
“I didn’t mean to upset you or anything,” he said. “I know that today it is impossible to convey the spirit of those times. However, the car still works and is impressive in itself. Impressive, even if it stands alone in this valley. And in the end the dead body still flies into the hole in that incomprehensibly smooth flight, even if hordes of flies do not gather around the hole as then. Back then, I remember, we surrounded the pit with strong railings; they were demolished long ago.
The traveler wanted to take his face away from the officer and looked aimlessly here and there. The officer believed that he was busy looking at this dull valley, so he took him by the hands, began to spin around him to catch his eye, and asked:
- Do you notice all the shame?
But the traveler was silent. The officer released him for the time being; with his legs spread wide, his hands on his sides, he stood silently and looked at the ground. Then he smiled encouragingly at the traveler and said:
“Yesterday I was not far from you when the commandant invited you to attend the execution. I heard him inviting. I know our commandant. I immediately understood what purpose he was pursuing with this invitation. Although he has enough power to speak out against me, he has not yet decided to do so, however, apparently, he wants to expose me to your opinion - the opinion of an authoritative person from the outside. His calculation is subtly thought out: this is only your second day on the island, you were not familiar with the old commandant, as well as with the circle of his thoughts, you are biased in your modern European views, perhaps you are a principled opponent of the death penalty in general and such a mechanical method of execution in particular, besides, you see that this execution is carried out without the involvement of the public, in some pitiful situation, with the help of an already damaged car - taking all this into account (so the commandant thinks), isn’t it very probable that Do you think my judicial methods are incorrect? And if you consider them wrong (I am still speaking from the position of the commandant), you will not remain silent, because you certainly rely on your convictions, proven by long experience. True, you have seen many strange customs of many peoples and learned to treat them with respect, therefore, you, most likely, will not speak too harshly about my methods, as you probably would have done in your homeland. But the commandant does not need this at all. A fleetingly spoken word, just a careless word, will be enough. And what you say should not at all resonate with your beliefs if it, by its very appearance, will meet his desire. That he will question you with all his cunning, I am sure of that. And his ladies will sit in a circle and prick up their ears. Suppose you say: “Our legal proceedings are different,” or: “In our country, the convicted person is first interrogated before passing a sentence,” or: “We used torture only in the Middle Ages.” These are all statements that are as fair as they seem completely natural to you, innocent remarks that do not affect the principles of my legal proceedings. But how will the commandant perceive them? I can see him in front of me, the glorious commandant, how he immediately pushes his chair aside and flies out onto the balcony, I see his ladies, how they rush after him at once, I hear his voice - the young ladies call him thunderous - the voice that speaks : “A great researcher from Europe, authorized to check judicial proceedings in all countries, has just said that our court, based on old traditions, is inhumane. After this conclusion from such a high-ranking official, it is, of course, no longer possible for me to tolerate our judicial practice. WITH today I command..." and so on. You want to intervene, they say, you did not say what he proclaims, you did not call my trial inhuman, on the contrary, in your deep conviction, you find it the most humane and the most human, you are also delighted with this machine approach - but it’s too late; you don’t even manage to go out onto the balcony, which is already full of ladies; you want to somehow attract attention to yourself; you want to scream, but some lady’s hand is covering your mouth - both I and the old commandant’s creation are gone!
The traveler had to suppress a smile; So easy was the task that seemed so difficult to him. He said evasively:
- You overestimate my influence. The commandant read my letter of recommendation; he knows that I am not an expert in judicial matters. If I were to express my opinion, it would be the opinion of a private person, no higher than the opinion of any other person, and in any case much lower than the opinion of the commandant, who, as far as I know, is endowed with very extensive rights. And if his opinion about this legal proceeding is as categorical as you believe, then, I’m afraid, this legal proceeding has come to an end, and this is by no means without my humble assistance.
Did the essence of what was said reach the officer? No, I haven't gotten there yet. He briskly shook his head a couple of times, turned briefly to the convict and the soldier, who shuddered and stopped grabbing the rice, came close to the traveler, fixed his gaze not on his face, but somewhere on his coat, and said more quietly than before:
- You don’t know the commandant; Compared to him and all of us, you are distinguished, forgive me for this expression, by a certain simplicity. Your influence is difficult to overestimate, believe me. I was overjoyed when I heard that you alone were to be present at the execution. This order of the commandant was directed precisely against me, but now I will turn it to my advantage. Without being exposed to false whispers and disdainful glances - which cannot, say, be avoided when there is a large crowd of people at an execution - you listened to my explanations, got acquainted with the machine and now intend to monitor the progress of the death penalty. You probably already have an opinion, and if there are still any minor doubts, the execution process itself will eliminate them. And now I turn to you with a request: help me in this war with the commandant!
- How can I do this? - he exclaimed. - This is impossible. My help can be as scanty as the harm I cause.
“No, you can help me,” the officer said. The traveler watched with some apprehension as the officer clenched his fists.
“You can,” the officer repeated even more urgently. - I have a plan that should succeed. You believe that your influence is not enough. I know that it is enough. But let’s say you are right, but then shouldn’t you try to go through everything, even, perhaps, through insurmountable obstacles, in order to preserve this legal proceeding? Listen to my plan. To implement it, it is first of all necessary that, if possible, you refrain today in the settlement from expressing your opinion regarding what you saw. Unless you are asked directly, you should not speak up at all; and if you really have to, then your statements should be short and vague; let those around you notice that it’s hard for you to talk about this in more detail, that you are extremely upset; that if you suddenly have to speak openly, you will burst out with almost the last curses. I do not require you to lie, under any circumstances; you should answer only briefly, like: “yes, I saw this execution,” or “yes, I listened to all the explanations.” Only this, nothing more. And there are plenty of reasons for grief, which should be obvious to everyone, even if they are not in the spirit of the commandant. He, of course, will understand this completely wrong and will interpret everything in his own way. This is what my plan is based on. Tomorrow at the commandant's office, chaired by the commandant, there will be a large meeting of all senior administrative officials. The commandant became well-versed in making such meetings a public spectacle. By his order, an entire gallery was built there, where spectators are always present. This time I am forced to take part in the meeting, but I shudder with disgust. In any case, you will be invited to the meeting; and if you behave today in accordance with my plan, this invitation will take the form of an urgent request. If, for some inexplicable reason, you are still not invited, then, of course, you yourself will have to demand an invitation; I have no doubt that you will receive it. And so, tomorrow you are sitting with the ladies in the commandant’s box. He himself will often look up to be sure of your presence. After a series of meaningless, ridiculous, protocol questions intended only for the public - mainly, this is port construction, port construction alone! - the matter will come to court proceedings. If this point is not touched upon by the commandant or its consideration is delayed by him, then I will add my word. I will get up and give a report on today's execution. Very briefly, just to the point. Although such messages are not accepted there, I will still do it. The commandant will thank me, as always, with a friendly smile, and now - he cannot restrain himself, he sees an opportune moment. “Just now,” he will say, or something like this, “I was given a report on the execution. In addition to it, I would only like to add that this execution was attended by a prominent researcher, about whose honorable stay in our settlement you all know. And the significance of our meeting today is enhanced by his presence in this room. Would we like to now turn to our guest with a question regarding how he feels about this Old Believer execution and the judicial methods that preceded it? Of course, there is applause all around, general approval, I shout and clap louder than everyone else. The commandant bows before you and says: “Then on behalf of everyone I ask this question.” And so you go out to the parapet, put your hands on it so that everyone can see, otherwise the ladies will pull your fingers... - Then, finally, it’s the turn of your speech. I don’t know how I will withstand the stress of oppressive hours by then. In your speech, you should not restrain yourself in anything, let the truth pour out of you noisily, lean over the parapet, shout at the top of your voice - otherwise what? - shout to the commandant your opinion, your undeniable opinion. But maybe this doesn’t suit you, it doesn’t suit your character, in your homeland, maybe they behave differently in such situations, and this is also correct, and this is also quite enough, then don’t get up at all, tell me just a couple of words, say them in a whisper so that they can just be heard by the officials sitting below you, this will be enough, you don’t need to talk at all about the unsatisfactory spectator interest in the execution, about the squeaky gear, the torn belt, the lousy felt, no, that’s all I will take on the rest and, believe me, if my words do not make the commandant run out of the hall, then they will force him to kneel down and confess : old commandant, I bow to you! - That's my plan. Do you want to help me make it happen? Well, of course you want, even more than that - you must!
And the officer again grabbed the traveler by both hands and, breathing heavily, looked into his face. He spoke the last phrases so loudly that even the soldier and the convict were wary; although they could not understand anything, they still left their food and, chewing, looked at the traveler. The answer that the traveler had to give was not subject to any doubt for him from the very beginning; in his life he had collected enough experience to suddenly waver in his position here; in essence he was an honest man and had no fear. Nevertheless, now he hesitated slightly, looking at the soldier and the condemned man. In the end, however, he said what he had to say:
The officer blinked his eyes several times, but did not take his gaze off the traveler.
- Would you like to listen to an explanation? - asked the traveler. The officer nodded silently.
“I am against these judicial methods,” the traveler began to explain. “Even before you initiated me into your secrets - I, naturally, will not abuse your trust under any circumstances - I was already thinking about whether I had the right to speak out against the local judicial practice and whether my performance will have even the slightest hope of success. To whom in this case I first needed to turn was clear to me: the commandant, of course. And you made this goal even clearer to me; however, it cannot be said that this somehow strengthened me in my decision; on the contrary, I take your sincere conviction to heart, even if it cannot turn me away from my path.
The officer remained silent; he turned to the machine, took hold of one of the copper rods and, slightly moving his body back, looked up at the draftsman’s body, as if checking if everything was in order. The soldier and the convict seem to have become friends during this time; the condemned man made signs to the soldier, no matter how difficult it was in his position as a tightly attached person, the soldier leaned towards him, the condemned man whispered something to him and the soldier nodded his head. The traveler approached the officer and said:
“You don’t know yet what I want to do.” I will indeed convey my opinion about this trial to the commandant, but not at a meeting in the commandant’s office, but face to face; besides, I will not stay here long enough to be involved in any meeting; I'm leaving tomorrow morning, or at least boarding a ship tomorrow.
It didn't look like the officer was listening to him.
“It turns out that my judicial methods did not convince you,” he muttered and grinned, like an old man grins at some child’s tomfoolery, covering with this grin his own deep thought. “Then it’s time,” he finally said and suddenly looked at the traveler with clear eyes, in which some kind of appeal was read, some kind of call for participation.
- What time is it? - the traveler asked with concern, but received no answer.
“You are free,” the officer said to the convict in his language. At first he did not believe what he heard.
“I say you are free,” said the officer. For the first time, the convict's face truly came to life. What was that? Is it really true? Or an officer's whim, which could quickly disappear? Or was it the foreign traveler who achieved favor for him? What was the matter? Such questions seemed to be reflected on his face. But not for long. Whatever the matter, he really wanted to be free, if he was given such an opportunity, and he began to break free, as far as the harrow allowed.
- You'll break my belts! - the officer shouted. - Lie quietly! Now we will unfasten them.
And giving the soldier a sign, he set to work with him. The condemned man only chuckled quietly to himself and turned his face first to the left, towards the officer, then to the right, towards the soldier, not forgetting the traveler.
“Get him out,” the officer ordered the soldier. Due to the proximity of the harrow, some caution was necessary. The impatience of the convict had already led to the fact that several small lacerations were now visible on his back. From that moment on, the officer was almost no longer interested in him. He approached the traveler, again pulled out his leather book, leafed through it, finally found the piece of paper he was looking for and showed it to the traveler.
“Read,” he said.
“I can’t,” said the traveler, “I already said that I can’t read these sheets.”
“Take a closer look,” said the officer and stood next to the traveler to read with him. When this did not help, in order to make it easier for the traveler to read, he began to move his little finger over the paper, at such a great distance, as if touching it was not allowed at all. The traveler tried his best to at least please the officer in this regard, but still could not make out anything. Then the officer began to read the inscription from the warehouses and then said the whole thing.
- “Be fair!” “It’s written here,” he said. - Now you see.
The traveler bent so low over the paper that the officer, fearing to be touched, moved it further away; and although the traveler said nothing now, it was clear that he still could not read the inscription.
“It says here: ‘be fair!’” the officer said again.
“Maybe,” said the traveler. - I believe you that it is written there.
“Well, okay,” said the officer, at least partially satisfied, and climbed onto the stairs with the sheet. With great care, he straightened the sheet of paper in the draftsman and, as it seemed, completely rearranged something in the gear mechanism; it was a very painstaking job, since, apparently, he had to get to very small gears; The officer’s head sometimes completely disappeared into the interior of the draftsman, so carefully was he forced to examine the mechanism. The traveler, without looking up, watched the officer’s work from below; his neck was stiff and his eyes hurt from the flood sunlight sky. The soldier and the convict could no longer be separated. The soldier pulled the convict's shirt and pants, which had previously been thrown into the pit, out of it at the tip of a bayonet. The shirt was terribly dirty and the convict washed it in a vat of water. When he then put on both his shirt and trousers, he burst into loud laughter along with the soldier, because the clothes were cut in two at the back. Perhaps the convict thought that he was obliged to entertain the soldier, he twirled in front of him in cut clothes, and he squatted and, laughing, slapped his palms on his knees. Still, they pulled themselves together in a timely manner, remembering that there were still two gentlemen nearby. When the officer finally got rid of the mechanism upstairs, he once again looked at everything part by part with a smile, now closed the draftsman's lid, which had been open before, went down, looked into the pit and then at the condemned man, noting with satisfaction that he had pulled out his clothes, then went to a vat of water to wash his hands, belatedly noticed the disgusting dirt inside, was saddened that he could not wash his hands now, and ended up wiping them with sand - it was a weak solution, but what did he do? there was still more to do,” then he stood up and began to unbutton his jacket. At the same time, two ladies’ handkerchiefs, which he had previously pushed into his collar, fell into his hands.
“Here are your handkerchiefs,” he said and threw them to the condemned man. He explained to the traveler: “Gifts from the ladies.”
Despite the obvious haste with which he took off his jacket and stripped naked, he still handled every item of his clothing extremely carefully; he even deliberately ran his fingers along the silver ailets of his military uniform several times and carefully returned one braid to the desired position . True, this neatness somehow had little to do with the fact that the officer, as soon as he finished examining one or another part, then immediately threw it into the pit with an indignant gesture. The last thing he had left was a short sword on his belt. He pulled the sword out of its sheath, broke it, then collected everything together, pieces of the sword, scabbard and belt, and threw them away with such force that there was a loud ringing in the pit below. Now he stood naked. The traveler bit his lips and said nothing. Although he knew what was about to happen, he had no right to prevent the officer from doing anything. If the judicial methods that the officer loved so much were in fact on the verge of being eliminated - perhaps as a result of the intervention of the traveler, to which he, for his part, felt obliged - then the officer acted absolutely right; in his place the traveler would have acted no differently. The soldier and the convict did not understand anything at first; at first they did not even look in the officer’s direction. The condemned man was very happy that he received the handkerchiefs back, but his joy was short-lived, for the soldier took them away from him with a quick, unexpected movement. Now the condemned man tried to snatch the handkerchiefs from the soldier from under the belt into which he had put them, but the soldier was vigilant. So they, half amused, argued with each other. Only when the officer was completely undressed did they turn their attention to him. The condemned man seemed to be particularly struck by a premonition of some great turn of events. What had happened to him was now happening to the officer. Perhaps this will bring things to the last extreme. Probably the foreign traveler gave such an order. So this is revenge. And although he himself did not suffer to the end, he will still be avenged to the end. A wide, silent smile appeared on his face and never left him. The officer, however, turned to the car. If it had already become clear that he knew her well, now the almost stunning effect was produced by the way he controlled her and how she obeyed him. He had just brought his hand close to the harrow when it rose and fell several times until it was in the right position to meet him; he just touched the edge of the bed and it already began to vibrate; the felt piece began to move closer to his mouth, it was clear how the officer, in fact, wanted to move away from it, but the confusion lasted only a moment, and now he had resigned himself to his fate and allowed the gag to enter his mouth. Everything was ready, only the belts were still hanging down on the sides, but obviously there was no need for them, the officer did not need to be fastened. Then the convict noticed the dangling belts; in his opinion, the execution was not yet quite ready to be carried out if the seat belts were not fastened; he nodded briskly to the soldier, and they ran to buckle up the officer. He stretched out one leg to push the drive handle that launched the draftsman, when he saw that two were already standing next to him, so he removed his leg and obediently allowed himself to be fastened. Now, however, he could no longer reach the handle; neither the soldier nor the convict would find her, and the traveler decided not to move. But the handle was not needed; As soon as they fastened their seat belts, the car itself began to work; the bed trembled, the needles danced on the skin, the harrow hovered back and forth. The traveler was so riveted by this spectacle that he did not immediately remember that in the draftsman there should have been one gear creaking, but everything was quiet, not the slightest noise was heard. Because of this quiet movement of the car, attention to it was completely dulled. The traveler looked to where the soldier and the convict were. The convict was distinguished by a more lively nature; everything in the car interested him; he either bent down or stretched up, and constantly poked his index finger around to show something to the soldier. This picture was unpleasant for the traveler. He was determined to stay here until the end, but he would not have tolerated these two for long in front of his eyes.
- Go home! - he said. The soldier might have agreed to this, but the convict regarded this order as downright punishment. With his hands folded in prayer, he began to conjure the traveler to leave him here, and when he, shaking his head, did not want to make any concessions, the condemned man even knelt down. The traveler realized that nothing could be achieved here with orders, and he wanted to go and drive them both away. Suddenly he heard some noise upstairs, in the draftsman's building. He raised his head. So, the gear was still playing tricks? However, there was something different here. The draftsman's lid slowly rose and then folded back completely. In the opened hole, the teeth of a gear appeared and protruded upward, and soon it came out entirely; it was as if some powerful force was pressing on the draftsman from all sides so that there was no more room left for this gear; She reached the edge of the draftsman, fell down upright, rolled a little on the sand and, falling on her side, fell silent. But then another one appeared at the top, followed by many others, large, small and barely distinguishable from each other, the same thing happened to everyone, and every time the thought arose that the draftsman should now be empty, from his suddenly a new, especially numerous group appeared in the depths, rose up, fell, rolled along the sand and then lay down. Under the impression of such a picture, the condemned man forgot to even think about the traveler’s order, the gears fascinated him completely, he kept wanting to touch one of them, at the same time urging the soldier to help him, but he pulled his hand away in fear, since the next gear was already rolling there, frightening him at least with its first approach. The traveler was very worried; the car was clearly falling apart; her quiet progress was a deception; he felt that he now needed to take care of the officer, since he could no longer act on his own. However, completely distracted by the loss of gears, the traveler lost sight of the rest of the machine; when he now, after the last gear had left the draftsman’s gut, bent over the harrow, a new, even darker surprise appeared before his eyes. The harrow did not write, but only pricked, and the bed did not rock the body, but only pushed it onto the needles with short pushes. The traveler wanted to take urgent measures, to stop this whole carousel if possible, because this was not torture, as the officer had planned, it was a real murder. He extended his arms. But the harrow had already moved to the side with the body impaled on needles, which it usually did only at the twelfth hour. Blood flowed in hundreds of streams without mixing with water - the water supply pipes also failed this time. And now the last one still didn’t work: the body didn’t fly off the long needles of the harrow, blood splashed, but it hung over the hole and didn’t fall. The harrow was about to return to its previous position, but, as if noticing itself that it had not yet freed itself from its load, it still remained hanging over the pit.
- Help! - the traveler shouted to the soldier and the convict and took the officer by the legs. He wanted to rest against them, those two had to take hold of the officer's head on the other side, and thus he could be slowly removed from the needles. However, neither one nor the other dared to approach now; the condemned man openly turned away; the traveler had to go to them and force them to take the officer by the head. At the same time, almost against his will, he looked into his dead face. It was the same as it was during life; not a single trace of the promised deliverance could be found on him; what everyone else found in the arms of this car, the officer did not find here; his lips were tightly compressed, his eyes were open, the expression of life was frozen in them, his gaze was calm and convinced, the tip of a large iron spike protruded from his forehead.
When the traveler, pursued by the soldier and the convict, approached the first houses of the settlement, the soldier pointed to one of them and said:
- This is a tea shop.
Occupying the first floor of the house, the tea room was a low, grotto-like room extending far into the interior, the walls and ceiling of which were yellow with smoke. The side facing the street was open to its full length. And although the teahouse differed little from the other houses of the settlement, which, with the exception of the commandant’s palace buildings, all had a very neglected appearance, it still gave the traveler the impression of a certain historical monument and he felt the power of the old days. He approached the teahouse, accompanied by his companions, walked between the unoccupied tables that stood in front of it on the street, and inhaled the cool, musty air that came from inside.
“The old commandant is buried here,” said the soldier. — The priest did not allocate a place for him in the cemetery. For some time in the settlement they could not decide where to bury him and in the end they buried him here. The officer probably didn’t tell you this, because this, of course, was what he was most ashamed of. He even tried more than once to dig out the old man at night, but he was always driven away.
- And where is the grave? - asked the traveler, who could not believe the soldier.
Immediately both, the soldier and the condemned man, ran forward and pointed with outstretched arms to where the grave was located. They led the traveler to the back wall, where guests were sitting at several tables. Apparently they were port workers, strong men with short, shiny black beards. Everyone was without frock coats, in tattered shirts, poor, humiliated people. When the traveler approached them, some of them stood up, pressed themselves against the wall and looked askance at him from there. “This is a stranger,” whispers spread around the traveler, “he wants to see the grave.” They moved one of the tables to the side and a gravestone was indeed discovered underneath it. It was a very ordinary stove, low enough to be hidden under a table. There was some kind of inscription written on it very finely; the traveler had to kneel down to read it. The inscription read: “Here lies the old commandant. His followers, who now have no names, dug this grave for him and placed a stone on it. There is a prophecy according to which the commandant, after a certain number of years, will resurrect and lead his followers from this house to recapture the settlement into his own hands. Believe and wait!”
When the traveler read this and stood up, he saw that those present were standing around him and grinning, as if they had just read the inscription with him, found it funny and were now inviting him to join in their opinion. The traveler pretended not to notice this, handed out a few coins, waited a little until the table was moved back into place, left the teahouse and moved towards the port.
The soldier and the convict met acquaintances in the teahouse, who detained them. However, they must have escaped from them quite quickly, for the traveler was only halfway up the long staircase leading to the boats when they were already running after him. They're probably in last moment they wanted to force the traveler to take them with him. While the traveler was negotiating with the boatman about crossing to the steamer, both of them rushed down the stairs - silently, because they did not dare to shout. However, when they were below, the traveler was already sitting in the boat and the boatman was just untying it from the pier. They could still have jumped into the boat, but the traveler lifted a heavy knot of rope from its bottom, threatened them, and thereby kept them from jumping.
Franz Kafka(July 3, 1883, Prague, Austria-Hungary - June 3, 1924) - one of the main German-language writers of the 20th century, most of whose work was published posthumously. Kafka was born on July 3, 1883, into a Jewish family living in the Josefov district, the former Jewish ghetto of Prague (Czech Republic, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire). His father, Herman, was a wholesale merchant of haberdashery goods. The surname "Kafka" is of Czech origin (kavka literally means "daw"). After graduating from Charles University in Prague, he received a doctorate in law (Kafka’s thesis was supervised by Professor Alfred Weber), and then entered the service as an official in the insurance department.
"I'm a completely awkward bird. I am Kavka, jackdaw (in Czech - D.T.)... my wings have died. And now for me there is neither height nor distance. Confused, I jump among people... I am gray as ashes. Jackdaw passionately wanting to hide among the stones". This is how Kafka characterized himself in a conversation with a young writer.
His stories were simply told at times from the point of view of animals. But it becomes truly scary when in his most famous story " Transformation"
For many years, Kafka purposefully left the world of people. Animal world, born from his pen, is only an external, most simplified idea of what he felt. To some extent, Kafka's personal world emerges from the diaries he began keeping at the age of 27. This world is a continuous nightmare.
He was unhappy in his personal life. He fell in love several times, but was never able to connect with any of his chosen ones. It is not surprising that Kafka's diary constantly reveals suicide theme.
Kafka did not like decadents and, unlike Nietzsche, did not consider God dead. And yet his view of God was no less paradoxical, no less pessimistic.
The world of Kafka's works is an interweaving of many realities connected by the continuity of internal transitions and mutual transformations. Metametaphor is found in the overlap of two worlds, in the collision of something unnatural with the real, that is, in an absurd situation. But to realize the existence of these two worlds means to begin to unravel their secret connections. U F. Kafka these two worlds - the world everyday life and fantastic. Kafka's art is prophetic art.
Novella "Metamorphosis"(1916). In a dry, laconic language, Kafka talks about the understandable everyday inconveniences that began for the hero and for his family from the moment of Gregor’s transformation. The complex of guilt towards the father and family is one of the strongest in this complex nature, in the most precise sense of the word, and from this point of view, the short story “Metamorphosis” is a grandiose metaphor for this complex. Gregor is a pathetic, useless, overgrown insect, a shame and torment for the family, who do not know what to do with him. The story “Metamorphosis”, in turn, is the embodiment of the ethics of a clear mind, but it is also a product of the boundless surprise that a person experiences when he feels like an animal when he becomes one without any effort.
Samsa is a traveling salesman by profession, and the only thing that bothers him about his unusual transformation into an insect is that his owner will be unhappy with his absence. But most surprising of all, as Albert Camus noted, lack of surprise from the main character himself. Transformation into an insect is just hyperbola ordinary human condition.
The autobiographical subtext of "Metamorphosis" is associated with the relationship between Kafka and his father. In a letter to his father, the son admits that he inspired him with “indescribable horror.”
The ending of the story is a philosopher Maurice Blanchot called it “the height of horror.” It turns out kind of parody on “happy ending”: The Samsas are full of “new dreams” and “wonderful intentions”, Greta has blossomed and become prettier - but all this is thanks to Gregor’s death. Thus, “The Metamorphosis” resembles a parable, an allegorical story - in all respects, except for one, the most important one. All interpretations of this parable will remain doubtful.
The story "In the penal colony", for example, is now read as a terrible metaphor for the sophisticated, soulless, mechanical inhumanity of fascism and all totalitarianism. Metametaphor - equally soulless and mechanical bureaucracy. The way Kafka showed the absurdity and inhumanity of the total bureaucratization of life in the 20th century is amazing. A trial that is appalling in its unjustified cruelty. The characters in the text “In a Correctional Colony” are designated not by names, but by functions; these are a kind of noun-pronouns: officer(simultaneously judge and executor of punishment), scientist-traveler (observer), soldier(escort), convicted, who has not yet been convicted.
The power structure in the colony is built on the opposition of these “animal” creatures as silent and speaking people. The structure of power is vertical: an imperative command, in word or gesture, is given only from top to bottom. Kafka's text is characterized by a special form of narration, which can be called a subjectivized narration; the boundaries between the actual speech of the narrator and the speech of the characters are not clear. The story ends with a threatening gesture - the traveler's imperative, and this ending seems to leave the reader no hope for the best.
"The Trial" - Josef K. discovers that he is under arrest. He finds out about this at the beginning of the novel. The lawsuit haunts him, but if Josef K... tries to stop the case, he makes all his attempts without any surprise. We will never cease to be amazed at this lack of surprise. Unexpressed protest, clear and silent despair, a strange freedom of behavior that the characters in the novel enjoy until their death.
Current page: 1 (book has 2 pages in total)
Franz Kafka
In a penal colony
“This is a special kind of apparatus,” the officer said to the scientist-traveler, looking at the apparatus, of course, very familiar to him, not without admiration. The traveler, it seemed, only out of politeness accepted the commandant’s invitation to be present at the execution of the sentence imposed on one soldier for disobedience and insulting his superior. And in the penal colony, the upcoming execution apparently did not arouse much interest. In any case, here, in this small and deep sandy valley, closed on all sides by bare slopes, besides the officer and the traveler, there were only two: the convict - a dull, wide-mouthed fellow with an unkempt head and an unshaven face - and a soldier who did not let out the hands of a heavy chain, to which small chains converged, stretching from the ankles and neck of the condemned man and additionally fastened with connecting chains. Meanwhile, in the whole appearance of the condemned man there was such canine obedience that it seemed that he could be let go for a walk along the slopes, but all you had to do was whistle before the execution began, and he would appear.
The traveler showed no interest in the apparatus and walked behind the convict, clearly indifferent, while the officer, making final preparations, either climbed under the apparatus, into the pit, or climbed the ladder to inspect the upper parts of the machine. These works could, in fact, be entrusted to some mechanic, but the officer performed them with great diligence - either he was a special adherent of this apparatus, or for some other reason no one else could be entrusted with this work.
- Well, that's all! – he finally exclaimed and climbed down the ladder. He was extremely tired, he was breathing with his mouth wide open, and two ladies' handkerchiefs were sticking out from under the collar of his uniform.
“These uniforms are perhaps too heavy for the tropics,” said the traveler, instead of inquiring about the apparatus, as the officer expected.
“Of course,” the officer said and began to wash his hands, stained with lubricating oil, in the prepared bucket of water, “but this is a sign of the homeland, we don’t want to lose our homeland.” But look at this apparatus,” he added immediately and, wiping his hands with a towel, pointed to the apparatus. – Until now, it was necessary to work manually, but now the device will operate completely independently.
The traveler nodded and looked where the officer was pointing. He wished to insure himself against any accidents and said:
- Of course, there are problems: I really hope that today things will go without them, but you still need to be prepared for them. After all, the device must work for twelve hours without interruption. But if any problems occur, they will be very minor, and they will be corrected immediately... Would you like to sit down? - he finally asked and, pulling one out of a pile of wicker chairs, offered it to the traveler; he couldn't refuse.
Now, sitting at the edge of the pit, he glanced into it. The pit was not very deep. On one side of it lay a mound of dug up earth, on the other side there was an apparatus.
- Don't know. - said the officer, - has the commandant already explained to you the structure of this apparatus?
The traveler waved his hand vaguely; the officer did not need anything more, because now he could begin the explanation himself.
“This apparatus,” he said and touched the connecting rod, on which he then leaned, “is the invention of our former commandant. I helped him from the very first experiments, and participated in all the work until its completion. But the credit for this invention belongs to him alone. Have you heard about our former commandant? No? Well, I won’t exaggerate if I say that the structure of this entire penal colony is his business. We, his friends, knew already at the hour of his death that the structure of this colony was so integral that his successor, even if he had a thousand new plans in his head, would not be able to change the old order, at least for many years. And our prediction came true, the new commandant had to admit it. It’s a pity that you didn’t know our former commandant!.. However,” the officer interrupted himself, “I was chatting, and our apparatus - here it is standing in front of us.” It consists, as you can see, of three parts. Gradually, each of these parts received a rather colloquial name. The lower part was called the lounger, the upper part was called the marker, and this middle, hanging part was called the harrow.
- Harrow? – asked the traveler.
He didn't listen very carefully; the sun was too hot in this shadowless valley, and it was difficult to concentrate. He was all the more surprised by the officer, who, although he was wearing a tight, formal uniform, weighed down with epaulettes and hung with aiguillettes, gave explanations so zealously and, in addition, while continuing to speak, even tightened the nut with a wrench here and there. The soldier seemed to be in the same condition as the traveler. Having wound the condemned man's chain around the wrists of both hands, he leaned one of them on the rifle and stood with his head hanging down, with the most indifferent look. This did not surprise the traveler, since the officer spoke French, and neither the soldier nor the convict, of course, understood French. But it was all the more striking that the convict still tried to follow the officer’s explanations. With some sleepy persistence, he constantly directed his gaze to where the officer was pointing at that moment, and now, when the traveler interrupted the officer with his question, the convict, like the officer, looked at the traveler.
“Yes, with a harrow,” said the officer. – This name is quite suitable. The teeth are arranged like a harrow, and the whole thing works like a harrow, but only in one place and much more intricately. However, now you will understand this. Here, on the sunbed, they place the convict... I will first describe the apparatus, and only then proceed to the procedure itself. This will make it easier for you to keep track of her. In addition, one gear in the marker has been severely ground, it grinds terribly when it rotates, and then it is almost impossible to talk. Unfortunately, replacement parts are very difficult to obtain... So, this is, as I said, a sunbed. It is completely covered with a layer of cotton wool, its purpose you will soon find out. The condemned man is placed on this cotton wool, stomach down - naked, of course - here are the straps to tie him: for the arms, for the legs and for the neck. Here, at the head of the lounger, where, as I said, the criminal’s face first falls, there is a small felt peg that can be easily adjusted so that it falls directly into the convict’s mouth. Thanks to this peg, the convict cannot scream or bite his tongue. The criminal willy-nilly puts this felt in his mouth, because otherwise the neck strap will break his vertebrae.
- Is this cotton wool? – the traveler asked and leaned forward.
“Yes, of course,” the officer said, smiling. - Feel it yourself. “He took the traveler’s hand and ran it along the lounger. – This cotton wool is prepared in a special way, which is why it is so difficult to recognize; I’ll tell you more about its purpose.
The traveler was already a little interested in the apparatus; shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand, he looked up at the apparatus. It was a large building. The lounger and the marker had the same area and looked like two dark boxes. The marker was strengthened about two meters above the sunbed and connected to it at the corners with four brass rods that literally shone in the sun. A harrow hung on a steel cable between the boxes.
The officer hardly noticed the traveler’s previous indifference, but he quickly responded to the interest that had now awakened in him; he even suspended his explanations so that the traveler, slowly and without interference, could examine everything. The condemned man imitated the traveler; Since he could not cover his eyes with his hand, he blinked, looking up with unprotected eyes.
“So, the condemned man lies down,” said the traveler and, lounging in a chair, crossed his legs.
“Yes,” said the officer and, pushing his cap back a little, ran his hand over his heated face. - Now listen! Both the deck chair and the marker have an electric battery, the deck chair has one for the deck chair itself, and the marker has one for the harrow. As soon as the convict is tied, the lounger is set in motion. It vibrates slightly and very quickly, simultaneously in the horizontal and vertical directions. You, of course, have seen similar devices in medical institutions, only with our lounger all movements are precisely calculated: they must be strictly coordinated with the movements of the harrow. After all, the harrow, in fact, is entrusted with the execution of the sentence.
-What is the sentence? – asked the traveler.
-You don’t know that either? – the officer asked in surprise, biting his lips. – Sorry if my explanations are confusing, I beg your pardon. Previously, the commandant usually gave explanations, but the new commandant relieved himself of this honorable duty; but what about such a distinguished guest,” the traveler tried to decline this honor with both hands, but the officer insisted on his expression, “that he does not even introduce such a distinguished guest to the form of our sentence, this is another innovation that...” A curse was on the tip of his tongue , but he controlled himself and said: “They didn’t warn me about this, it’s not my fault.” However, I can explain the nature of our sentences better than anyone else, because here,” he patted his breast pocket, “I carry the corresponding drawings made by the hand of the former commandant.
- By the hand of the commandant himself? – asked the traveler. - Did he combine everything in himself? Was he a soldier, a judge, a designer, a chemist, and a draftsman?
“That’s right,” the officer said, nodding his head.
He looked meticulously at his hands; they did not seem clean enough to him to touch the drawings, so he went to the tub and washed them thoroughly again.
Then he pulled out a leather wallet and said:
– Our sentence is not harsh. The harrow writes on the body of the condemned the commandment that he violated. For example, this one,” the officer pointed to the convict, “will have the following written on his body: “Honor your superior!”
The traveler glanced at the condemned man; when the officer pointed at him, he lowered his head and seemed to strain his ears to the utmost to understand anything. But the movements of his thick, closed lips clearly showed that he did not understand anything. The traveler wanted to ask a lot, but when he saw the condemned man he only asked:
– Does he know the verdict?
“No,” said the officer and prepared to continue his explanation, but the traveler interrupted him:
– He doesn’t know the sentence that was handed down to him?
“No,” said the officer, then paused for a moment, as if demanding from the traveler a more detailed substantiation of his question, and then said: “It would be useless to pronounce his sentence.” After all, he recognizes him with his own body.
The traveler was about to fall silent when he suddenly felt that the condemned man was looking at him; he seemed to be asking whether the traveler approved of the procedure described. Therefore, the traveler, who had already leaned back in his chair, leaned over again and asked:
– But does he even know that he’s even convicted?
“No, he doesn’t know that either,” the officer said and smiled at the traveler, as if expecting some more strange discoveries from him.
“That’s how it is,” said the traveler and ran his hand over his forehead. - But in this case, he still doesn’t know how they reacted to his attempt to defend himself?
“He had no opportunity to defend himself,” said the officer and looked to the side, as if he was talking to himself and did not want to embarrass the traveler by stating these circumstances.
“But, of course, he should have had the opportunity to defend himself,” said the traveler and rose from his chair.
The officer was afraid that he would have to interrupt his explanations for a long time; he approached the traveler and took him by the arm; pointing with the other hand at the condemned man, who now that attention was so clearly paid to him - and the soldier had pulled the chain - straightened up, the officer said:
– The situation is as follows. I perform the duties of a judge here in the colony. Despite my youth. I also helped the former commandant administer justice and know this apparatus better than anyone else. When passing judgment, I adhere to the rule: “Guilty is always beyond doubt.” Other courts cannot follow this rule; they are collegial and subordinate to higher courts. Everything is different with us, at least under the previous commandant it was different. The new one, however, is trying to interfere in my affairs, but so far I have managed to repel these attempts and, I hope, I will succeed in the future... You wanted me to explain this case to you; well, it's as simple as any other. This morning one captain reported that this man, assigned to him as an orderly and obliged to sleep under his door, slept through the service. The fact is that he is supposed to get up every hour, with the clock striking, and salute in front of the captain's door. The duty, of course, is not difficult, but necessary, because the orderly who guards and serves the officer must always be on alert. Last night the captain wanted to check whether the orderly was fulfilling his duty. At exactly two o'clock he opened the door and saw that he was huddled and asleep. The captain took the whip and slashed him across the face. Instead of getting up and asking for forgiveness, the orderly grabbed his master by the legs, began to shake him and shout: “Throw away the whip, otherwise I’ll kill you!” Here's the crux of the matter. An hour ago the captain came to me, I wrote down his testimony and immediately passed a verdict. Then I ordered the orderly to be put in chains. It was all very simple. And if I had first called the orderly and began to interrogate him, the result would only have been confusion. He would begin to lie, and if I managed to refute this lie, he would begin to replace it with a new one, and so on. And now he’s in my hands, and I won’t let him go... Well, is everything clear now? Time, however, is running out, it’s time to begin the execution, and I have not yet explained to you the structure of the apparatus.
He forced the traveler to sit back in the chair, walked up to the apparatus and began:
– As you can see, the harrow corresponds to the shape of the human body; here is a harrow for the body, and here are harrows for the legs. Only this small incisor is intended for the head. Do you understand?
He bowed warmly before the traveler, ready for the most detailed explanations.
The traveler frowned and looked at the harrow. Information about the local legal proceedings did not satisfy him. Still, he kept telling himself that this was, after all, a penal colony, that special measures were necessary here, and that military discipline had to be strictly observed. In addition, he pinned some hopes on the new commandant, who, for all his slowness, clearly intended to introduce a new legal procedure, which this narrow-minded officer could not understand. As his thoughts progressed, the traveler asked;
– Will the commandant be present at the execution?
“We don’t know for sure,” said the officer, stung by this sudden question, and the friendliness disappeared from his face. “That’s why we have to hurry.” I'm very sorry, but I'll even have to shorten my explanations. However, tomorrow, when the device is cleaned (heavily dirty is its only drawback), I could explain everything else. So, now I will limit myself to the bare necessities... When the convict lies on a sunbed, and the sunbed is set into an oscillating motion, a harrow is lowered onto the body of the convict. It automatically adjusts so that its teeth barely touch the body; as soon as the adjustment is completed, this cable tightens and becomes inflexible, like a barbell. This is where it begins. The uninitiated does not see any external difference in our executions. It seems that the harrow works in the same way. Vibrating, it pricks the body with its teeth, which in turn vibrates thanks to the lounger. So that anyone could check the execution of the sentence, the harrow was made of glass. Fastening the teeth caused some technical difficulties, but after many experiments the teeth were finally strengthened. We spared no effort. And now everyone can see through the glass how the inscription is applied to the body. Would you like to come closer and see the teeth?
The traveler slowly stood up, walked over to the apparatus and leaned over the harrow.
“You see,” said the officer, “two types of teeth arranged in various ways.” Near each long tooth there is a short one. The long one writes, and the short one releases water to wash away the blood and preserve the legibility of the inscription. The bloody water is drained through the gutters and flows into the main gutter, and from there through the sewer pipe into the pit.
The officer pointed with his finger the way the water flowed. When, for greater clarity, he grabbed an imaginary stream from a steep drain with both handfuls, the traveler raised his head and, groping with his hand behind his back, started to back away to the chair. Then, to his horror, he saw that the convict, like him, had followed the officer’s invitation to inspect the harrow up close. Dragging the sleepy soldier by the chain, he also bent over the glass. It was clear that he, too, was hesitantly searching with his eyes for the object that these gentlemen were now examining, and that without explanation he could not find this object. He leaned this way and that way. Again and again he ran his eyes over the glass. The traveler wanted to drive him away, because what he was doing was probably punishable. But holding the traveler with one hand, the officer with the other took a clod of earth from the embankment and threw it at the soldier. The soldier, startled, raised his eyes, saw what the condemned man had dared to do, threw the rifle and, pressing his heels into the ground, pulled the condemned man back so hard that he immediately fell, and then the soldier began to look down on him as he floundered, rattling his chains.
- Put him on his feet! - the officer shouted, noticing that the convict was distracting the traveler too much. Leaning over the harrow, the traveler did not even look at it, but only waited to see what would happen to the condemned man.
– Handle him with care! – the officer shouted again. Having run around the apparatus, he himself picked up the convict under the arms and, although his legs were moving apart, he stood him up straight with the help of a soldier.
“Well, now I already know everything,” said the traveler when the officer returned to him.
“Besides the most important thing,” he said and, squeezing the traveler’s elbow, pointed upward: “There, in the marker, there is a gear system that determines the movement of the harrow, and this system is installed according to the drawing provided for by the court verdict.” I also use the drawings of the former commandant. Here they are,” he took out several sheets of paper from his wallet. – Unfortunately, I cannot give them to you, this is my greatest value. Sit down, I will show them to you from here, and you will have a clear view of everything.
He showed the first piece of paper. The traveler would have been glad to say something in praise, but in front of him there were only maze-like, repeatedly intersecting lines of such density that it was almost impossible to distinguish the gaps on paper.
“Read,” said the officer.
“I can’t,” said the traveler.
“But it’s written legibly,” said the officer.
“It’s written very skillfully,” the traveler said evasively, “but I can’t make out anything.”
“Yes,” said the officer and, grinning, hid his wallet, “this is not a copybook for schoolchildren.” It takes a long time to read. Eventually you would figure it out too. Of course, these letters cannot be simple; after all, they should not kill immediately, but on average after twelve hours; The turning point according to calculations is the sixth. Therefore, the inscription in the proper sense of the word must be decorated with many patterns; the inscription as such encircles the body only in a narrow stripe; the rest of the space is for patterns. Now can you evaluate the work of the harrow and the entire apparatus?... Look!
He jumped onto the ramp, turned a wheel, and shouted down: “Attention, step aside!” – and everything started to move. If one of the wheels didn't clunk, it would be great. As if embarrassed by this unfortunate wheel, the officer shook his fist at him, then, as if apologizing to the traveler, spread his arms and hastily descended to observe the operation of the apparatus from below. There was still some problem, noticeable only to him; he stood up again, climbed inside the marker with both hands, then, for the sake of speed, without using the ladder, he slid down the bar and at the top of his voice, in order to be heard among this noise, began shouting in the traveler’s ear:
– Do you understand the operation of the machine? Harrow begins to write; As soon as she finishes the first tattoo on her back, a layer of cotton wool, rotating, slowly rolls her body onto her side to give the harrow a new area. Meanwhile, the places covered in blood are placed on cotton wool, which, being prepared in a special way, immediately stops the bleeding and prepares the body for a new deepening of the inscription. These teeth at the edge of the harrow tear off the cotton wool adhering to the wounds as the body continues to roll and throw it into the hole, and then the harrow comes into action again. So she writes deeper and deeper for twelve hours. For the first six hours, the convict lives almost the same as before, he only suffers from pain. After two hours, the felt is removed from the mouth, because the criminal no longer has the strength to scream. Here, in this bowl at the head - it is heated by electricity - they put warm rice porridge, which the convict can lick with his tongue if he wishes. No one neglects this opportunity. In my memory there has never been such a case, but I have a lot of experience. Only at the sixth hour does the convict lose his appetite. Then I usually kneel here and watch this phenomenon. He rarely swallows the last lump of porridge - he will only swirl it around in his mouth a little and spit it out into the pit. Then I have to bend over, otherwise he will hit me in the face. But how the criminal calms down at the sixth hour! Enlightenment of thought occurs even in the most stupid. It starts around the eyes. And it spreads from here. This sight is so seductive that you are ready to lie down next to the harrow. In fact, nothing new happens anymore, the convict just begins to make out the inscription, he concentrates, as if listening. You saw that it is not easy to make out the inscription with your eyes; and our convict dismantles it with his wounds. Of course it is great job, and it takes him six hours to complete it. And then the harrow pierces him entirely and throws him into a hole, where he flops into bloody water and cotton wool. This ends the trial, and we, the soldier and I, bury the body.
Bowing his ear to the officer and putting his hands in his jacket pockets, the traveler watched the operation of the machine. The convict also watched her, but did not understand anything. He stood, bending slightly, and looked at the oscillating teeth, when the soldier, at a sign from the officer, cut his shirt and trousers from behind with a knife, so that they fell to the ground; the condemned man wanted to grab the falling clothes to cover his nakedness, but the soldier lifted him up and shook off the last rags. The officer set up the car, and in the ensuing silence the convict was placed under the harrow. The chains were removed and belts were installed in their place; at first it seemed almost like a relief for the condemned man. Then the harrow lowered a little more, because this man was very thin. When the teeth touched the condemned man, a shiver ran through his skin; while the soldier was busy with his right hand, he extended his left, without looking where; but this was precisely the direction where the traveler was standing. The officer kept looking sideways at the traveler, as if trying to determine from the foreigner’s face what impression the execution with which he had now at least superficially introduced him was making on him.
The wrist strap broke, probably because the soldier had pulled it too tight. Asking the officer to help, the soldier showed him a torn piece of the belt. The officer approached the soldier and said, turning to face the traveler:
– The machine is very complex, something can always tear or break, but this should not confuse the overall assessment. For the belt, by the way, a replacement will be found right away - I’ll use a chain; however, the vibration of the right hand will no longer be so gentle.
– Funds for car maintenance are now very limited. Under the previous commandant, I could freely dispose of the amount allocated specifically for this purpose. There was a warehouse where all kinds of spare parts were available. I must admit, I actually squandered them - I squandered them, of course, before, and not at all now, as the new commandant claims, who is only looking for a reason to abolish the old order. Now he manages the money allocated for the maintenance of the car, and when I send for a new belt, I have to present a torn one as proof, and a new one will arrive only in ten days and will certainly be of poor quality, worthless. Meanwhile, what is it like for me to drive a car without a belt? It doesn’t bother anyone.
The traveler thought: decisive interference in other people's affairs is always risky. He was neither a resident of this colony nor a resident of the country to which it belonged. If he had decided to condemn, let alone disrupt this execution, they would have told him: you are a foreigner, so keep quiet. He could not object to this; on the contrary, he could only add that he was surprised at in this case to yourself; after all, he travels only for educational purposes, and not at all in order to change the judicial system in foreign countries. But the surroundings were very seductive. The injustice of the trial and the inhumanity of the punishment were beyond doubt. No one could suspect the traveler of self-interest: the condemned man was neither his acquaintance nor his compatriot, and in general did not have any sympathy. The traveler had recommendations from high institutions, he was received here extremely politely, and the fact that he was invited to this execution even seemed to mean that he was expected to give feedback on the local justice system. This was all the more likely because the current commandant, as he, the traveler, was now fully convinced, was not a supporter of such legal proceedings and was almost hostile towards the officer.
Then the traveler heard the cry of an enraged officer. He finally, with difficulty, pushed the felt peg into the condemned man’s mouth, when suddenly the condemned man, unable to overcome the nausea, closed his eyes and began to shake in vomit. The officer hastily pulled him up from the peg to turn his head towards the pit, but it was too late - sewage had already flowed through the car.
“It’s all the commandant’s fault!” - the officer shouted, shaking the bars furiously. - They dirty the car like a pigsty.
With trembling hands, he showed the traveler what had happened.
“After all, I spent hours explaining to the commandant that the day before the execution it was necessary to stop issuing food.” But supporters of the new, soft course have a different opinion. Before the convict is taken away, the commandant's ladies stuff him with sweets. All his life he ate rotten fish, and now he has to eat sweets. However, this is all right, I would reconcile myself with this, but is it really impossible to buy new felt, which I have been asking the commandant for for three months now! Is it possible to take this felt into your mouth without disgust, sucked and bitten before death by a good hundred people?
The condemned man laid his head down and looked most peaceful; a soldier was cleaning a car with a convict's shirt. The officer approached the traveler, who, guessing about something, took a step back, but the officer took him by the hand and pulled him to the side.
“I want to tell you a few words in confidence,” he said, “will you allow it?”
“Of course,” answered the traveler, listening to him with lowered eyes.
“This justice and this execution, which you were lucky enough to witness, currently no longer have open adherents in our colony. I am their only defender and at the same time the only defender of the old commandant. Now I don’t even think about the further development of this legal procedure; all my strength goes into preserving what already exists. Under the old commandant the colony was full of his supporters; I partially have the power of persuasion that the old commandant possessed, but I do not have his power to any extent; That’s why his supporters are hiding, there are still many of them, but everyone is silent. If you go into a coffee shop today, on the day of the execution, and listen to the conversations, you will probably hear only ambiguous hints. These are all entirely supporters of the old, but with the current commandant and with his current views, they are of no use, and so I ask you: is it really because of this commandant and his women that this is the work of a lifetime,” he pointed to the car, “should die? Can this be allowed? Even if you are a foreigner and came to our island only for a few days! But there is no time to waste, something is being done against my judicial power; There are already meetings in the commandant’s office to which I am not invited; Even your visit today seems to me indicative of the general situation; They themselves are afraid and send you, a foreigner, first... As it happened, the execution took place in the old days! Already on the day of the execution, the entire valley was filled with people; everyone came for such a spectacle, early in the morning the commandant appeared with his ladies, fanfare woke up the camp, I gave a report that everything was ready, those gathered - none of them senior officials had no right to be absent - they were located around the car. This pile of wicker chairs is a pitiful remnant of that time. The polished car sparkled; for almost every execution I took new spare parts. In full view of hundreds of people - the spectators stood on tiptoe up to those high-rise buildings - the commandant personally laid the convict under the harrow. What a simple soldier does today was then my honorable duty as the chairman of the court. And so the execution began! There have never been any interruptions in the operation of the machine. Some did not look at the car at all, but lay with their eyes closed on the sand; everyone knew: justice was now triumphant. In the silence, only the moans of the condemned man, muffled by the felt, could be heard. Nowadays, the machine is no longer able to squeeze out a groan from the convict with such force that it could not be muffled by the felt, and then the writing teeth released a caustic liquid, which is now not allowed to be used. Well, then came the sixth hour! It was impossible to satisfy the requests of everyone who wanted to take a closer look. The commandant wisely ordered that children be allowed through first; I, due to my position, of course, always had access to the machine itself; I often squatted there, holding a child on each arm. How we caught the expression of enlightenment on the exhausted face, how we turned our faces to the radiance of this finally achieved and already disappearing justice! What times those were, my friend!
The officer had clearly forgotten who was standing in front of him; he hugged the traveler and laid his head on his shoulder. The traveler was in great confusion; he looked past the officer impatiently. The soldier finished cleaning the car and shook some more rice porridge out of the tin into a bowl. As soon as the convict, who seemed to have completely recovered, noticed this, he began to reach for the porridge with his tongue. The soldier kept pushing him away; the porridge was apparently intended for a later time, but, of course, it was also a violation of order that the soldier put his dirty hands into the porridge and ate it in front of the hungry convict.
We do not know either the exact time or the exact place where the author placed his heroes. Besides the fact that this is some kind of tropical island for convicts, where the authorities speak French. The enclosed space of the island is an ideal place for a literary experiment on any topic, especially social. The fact that the traveler, at least, is a contemporary of the author, is indicated by the mention in the text of an electric battery as one of the components of the infernal machine.
The story is such that it may well have several interpretations and can safely be considered a parable or allegory. I still have doubts that my version is amateurish, but let me present it to you anyway.
The state apparatus, the mechanism of the state, the system of government bodies... The apparatus, mechanism, system and other technical terms simply scream that the state is a machine and it is opposed to man as an individual. The state is a soulless and faceless machine, and everyone who serves it is nothing more than cogs. A machine is not only an apparatus for executions. In the story, the machine personifies the system of power; it is a metaphor for a soulless and mechanical bureaucracy. In this context, power is certainly the embodiment of evil and absurdity, and is intended to suppress and destroy the individual. This story is, in fact, a paraphrase of the novel “The Trial”, in which the author briefly reflected on the problem of power and violence against the individual, i.e. everything that will later unfold in the misadventures of Josef K.
Just a few decades after the story was written, the largest and most powerful totalitarian systems in the history of mankind will appear on the world stage, destined to grind millions of human destinies in their millstones. But Kafka saw all this already in 1914. Good writer must be a bit of a prophet.
The most terrible fragment of the story is the one that describes withdrawal human personality. The executor believes that this moment begins with the appearance of " ... enlightenment on the exhausted face..." Sadism in pure form, but the system can break a person not only through pain. " Enlightenment of thought occurs even in the most stupid. It starts around the eyes. And it spreads from here. This sight is so seductive that you are ready to lie down next to the harrow. In fact, nothing new happens anymore, the convict just begins to make out the inscription, he concentrates, as if listening. You saw that it is not easy to make out the inscription with your eyes; and our convict dismantles it with his wounds».
An officer who performs his duty as he understands it is terrible. After all, not everyone was forced into Einsatzgruppen; many joined them at the behest of their hearts.
When describing the commandant, the characters that first come to mind are the characters from the novels by Joseph Conrad “Hearts of Darkness” and Blaise Cendrars “The Ripper Prince, or the Womanmore.” Commandant " there was a soldier, a judge, a designer, a chemist, and a draftsman" He is the creator of the infernal machine and is certainly an extraordinary person, who has his own obvious or secret followers. " his supporters are hiding, there are still many of them, but everyone is silent». « ... there is a prediction that after a certain number of years the commandant will resurrect and lead his followers to retake the colony..." His ideas are popular, and their seeds will lie in fertile soil for a long time. " the structure of this colony is so integral that his successor, even if he had at least a thousand new plans in his head, would not be able to change the old order, at least for many years" And this once again proves that the power of the system is absolute, it seems that formally it no longer exists, but it still sits in our heads.
The story leaves many questions mainly with its ending. Why doesn’t a representative of an enlightened society, such as a learned traveler, want to sail in the same boat with people who have just gotten rid of the old order and law? After all, it seems to be a well-known fact that against all kinds of “isms” (fascism, Nicism, Stalinism, etc.) there is only one cure - education. This can still be somehow understood by attributing it to the eternal half-heartedness of the actions of humanists of all stripes, but why did the executioner become the victim? What kind of strange suicide is this? This is what I can't understand.
Regarding other interpretations, I would like to say the following. The religious interpretation, to which there are several references in the text, was not further developed by me, but I thought about it. " Barona writes on the body of the condemned the commandment that he violated" This version is just a special case of the system, when the institution of the church plays its role. But it is no longer the “guilt-suffering-enlightenment (suppression)” mechanism that works in it, but “sin-suffering-redemption.” The car is Moloch. Moreover, if in the first case, as the officer claims, “ Guilt is always certain“, then in the second, sinfulness is also given to humanity a priori.