XLII
Schwerdtfeger delivers L.’s marriage proposal and is rejected. Shortly after, feeling encouraged by the way Godeau reacted during their meeting, he proposes on his own behalf and is accepted. The news spreads and soon after, Z. and many of L.’s friends assemble to hear Schwerdtfeger give one last concert with the Zapfenstösser orchestra before he and Godeau will move to Paris. At the concert, Z. witnesses the oppressive atmosphere that has fallen upon Munich cultural life. In the aftermath of the performance, a distraught Inez Institoris shoots Schwerdtfeger on a public tram. He dies in Z.’s arms, and Z. is left to deliver the news to her husband.
Time of composition: October 13–23, 1946. Time of narration: Late March 1945. Narrated time: 1925.
| to walk with his head and upper body tilted to one side | Impediments that also characterized Nietzsche in the years immediately preceding his syphilitic collapse in 1889. |
| when one’s own right hand is perjured to the bosom […] such a friend is now. | Quotations from V.3 of The Two Gentlemen of Verona. See 460/635. |
| so foolish that it reminds me […] It is no sin or shame to be trusting | A quotation from Much Ado about Nothing II.1. Remarkably, Z. answers L. with the correct line, even though he does not seem cognizant of the allusive game. |
| faithfully restrained emotions might burst forth | The original is Durchbruch: the same term that has been used for several other kinds of “breakthroughs” over the course of the book. (See 258/354). |
| | Name of an actual musical ensemble in Paris, which was, however, not founded until 1933. |
| | An actual journal that was published from 1902–1933. |
| Sparks of electricity constantly flashed […] cold flames scattered | The association of electrical sparks with fire is even stronger in the original, which speaks of elektrisches Feuer rather than “sparks of electricity.” The notion of a “cold” electrical fire links this scene to a thematic cluster first introduced on 8/15. |
| never had he more regretted […] but a mere numismatist | Kranich will voice the same sentiment again on 527/728. |
| doctors tend to be musical […] so many who are Jewish | Another example of Z.’s unconscious anti-Semitism, first noted on 10/17. |