XIII
It was midnight and no light was burning. Only through the window there fell the radiance of the city, lying like a pale gleam upon the face of the girl who sat, leaning back against the wall, without moving, with closed eyelids, her hands in her lap.
вАЬWill you never answer me?вАЭ asked the great inventor.
Stillness. Silence. Immobility.
вАЬYou are colder than stone, harder than any stone. The tip of your finger must cut through the diamond as though it were waterвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ I do not implore your love. What does a girl know of love? Her unstormed fortressesвБ†вАФher unopened ParadisesвБ†вАФher sealed-up books, whom no one knows but the god who wrote themвБ†вАФwhat do you know of love? Women know nothing of love either. What does light know of light? Flame of burning? What do the stars know of the laws by which they wander? You must ask chaosвБ†вАФcoldness, darkness, the eternal unredeemed which wrestles for the redemption of itself. You must ask the man what love is. The hymn of Heaven is only composed in HellвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ I do not implore your love, Maria. But your pity, you motherly one, with the virgin faceвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶вАЭ
Stillness. Silence. Immobility.
вАЬI hold you captiveвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ Is that my fault? I do not hold you captive for myself, Maria. Above you and me there is a Will which forces me into being evil. Have pity on him who must be evil, Maria! All the springs of good within me are choked up. I thought them to be dead; but they are only buried alive. My being is a rock of darkness. But deep within the sad stone I hear the springs rushingвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ If I defy the Will which is above you and meвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ If I destroy the work I created after your imageвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ It would only be what Joh Fredersen deserves and it would be better for me!вБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ He has ruined me, MariaвБ†вАФhe has ruined me! He stole the woman from me, who was mine, and whom I loved. I do not know if her soul was ever with me. But her pity was with me and made me good. Joh Fredersen took the woman from me. He made me evil. He, who grudged the stone the imprint of her shoe, made me evil to take her pity from me. Hel is dead. But she loved him. What a fearful law it is by which the beings of Light turn themselves to those of Darkness, but pass by those in the shade. Be more merciful than Hel was, Maria! I will defy the Will which is above you and me. I will open the doors for you. You will be able to go where you list and nobody shall stop you. But would you remain with me of your own free will, Maria? I long to be goodвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ will you help me?вАЭ
Stillness. Silence. Immobility.
вАЬNeither do I implore your pity, Maria. There is nothing on earth more incompassionate than a woman who only loves one single beingвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ You cool murderesses in the name of LoveвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ You goddesses of Death, with your smile!вБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ The hands of your Beloved are cold. You ask: вАШShall I warm your hands for you, Beloved?вАЩ You do not wait for his вАШYes.вАЩ You set fire to a city. You burn down a kingdom, so that you can warm the hands of your Beloved at its blazeвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ You rise up and pluck from the heaven of the world its most radiant stars, without caring that you destroy the Universe and put the dance of the Eternal out of balance. вАШDo you want the starsвБ†вАФBeloved?вАЩ And if he says вАШNoвАЩ then you let the stars fallвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ Oh! you blessed harmdoers! You may step, fearfully inviolable, before the throne of God and say: вАШGet up, Creator of the World! I need the throne of the World for my beloved!вБ†вАКвБ†вА¶вАЩ You do not see who dies by your side if only the one is living. A drop of blood on the finger of your Beloved frightens you more than the destruction of a continentвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ All this I know, and have never possessed it!вБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ IвБ†вАФNo, I do not call upon your pity, Maria. But I call upon your fidelityвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶вАК!вАЭ
Still. Silence. Immobility.
вАЬDo you know the subterranean City of the Dead? There, I used a girl called Maria, nightly to call her brothers together. Her brothers wear the blue linen uniform, the black caps, the hard shoes. Maria spoke to her brothers of a mediator, who would come to deliver them. вАШThe Mediator between Brain and Hands must be the HeartвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶вАЩ WasnвАЩt it so?вБ†вАФThe brothers of the girl believed in the girl. They waited. They waited long. But the mediator did not come. And the girl did not come. She sent no message. She was not to be found. But the brothers believed in the girl, for they had found her as true as gold. вАШShe will come!вАЩ they said. вАШShe will come again! She is faithful. She will not leave us alone! She said: вАЬThe mediator will come!вАЭвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ Now he must comeвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ Let us be patient and let us waitвАЩвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶вАК! But the mediator did not come. AndвБ†вАФthe girl did not come. The misery of the brothers has grown from day to day. Where once a thousand murmuredвБ†вАФnow murmur ten thousand. They will no more be fed with hope. They languish for fight, for destruction, for ruin, for downfall. And even the believers, even the patient ones ask: вАШWhere is Maria? Can it be that gold is faithless?вАЩ Will you leave them without an answer, Maria?вАЭ
Stillness. Silence. Immobility.
вАЬYou are silentвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ You are very obstinateвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ But now I shall tell you something which will surely break your obstinacyвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ Do you think I am holding you captive here for fun? Do you think Joh Fredersen knew no other way of getting you out of his sonвАЩs sight than shutting you up behind the SolomonвАЩs seal on my doors? Oh no, MariaвБ†вАФoh no, my beautiful Maria! We have not been idle all these days. We have stolen your beautiful soul from youвБ†вАФyour sweet soul, that tender smile of God. I have listened to you as the air has listened to you. I have seen you angry and in the depths of despair. I have seen you burning and dull as the earth. I have listened to you praying to God, and have cursed God because he did not hear you. I have intoxicated myself with your helplessness. Your pitiful weeping has made me drunken. When you sobbed the name of your Beloved, I thought I must die, and reeledвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ And thus, as one intoxicated, as one drunken, as one reeling, I became a thief of you, Maria, I created you anewвБ†вАФI became your second God! I have stolen you absolutely! In the name of Joh Fredersen, the Master over the great Metropolis, have I stolen your ego from you, Maria. And this stolen egoвБ†вАФyour other selfвБ†вАФsent a message to your brothers, calling them by night into the City of the DeadвБ†вАФand they all came. When you spoke to them before, you spoke for PeaceвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ but Joh Fredersen does not want Peace any moreвБ†вАФdo you see?вБ†вАФHe wants the decision! The hour has come! Your stolen ego may not speak for Peace any more. The mouth of Joh Fredersen speaks from out itвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ And among your brothers there will be one who loves you and who will not realizeвБ†вАФwho will not doubt you, MariaвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ Only just give me your hands, MariaвБ†вАФonly your hands, no moreвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ I do not ask for moreвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ your hands must be wondrous. Pardon is the name of the right, Redemption of the leftвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ If you give me your hands I will go with you into the City of the Dead, so that you can warn your brothers, so that you can unmask your stolen egoвБ†вАФso that the one who loves you finds you again and does not have to doubt youвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶ Did you say anything, Maria?вАЭ
He heard the soft, soft weeping of the girl. He fell, where he stood, upon his knees. He wanted to drag himself along on his knees to the girl. And suddenly stopped still. He listened. He stared. He said in a voice which was almost like a shriek, in its wide-awake attention:
вАЬMariaвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶вАК? MariaвБ†вАФdonвАЩt you hearвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶вАК? ThereвАЩs a strange man in the roomвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶вАЭ
вАЬYes,вАЭ said the quiet voice of Joh Fredersen.
And then the hands of Joh Fredersen seized the throat of Rotwang, the great inventorвБ†вАКвБ†вА¶