He was initiated into the story of the house. He did not smile. He stood by his resolution. He bought the house at a very low price, moved in at once and kept it unaltered.
This man was called Rotw.a.n.g. Few knew him. Only Joh Fredersen knew him very well. It would have been easier for him to have decided to fight out the quarrel about the cathedral with the sect of Gothics than the quarrel with Rotw.a.n.g about the magician"s house.
There were in Metropolis, in this city of reasoned, methodical hurry, very many who would rather have gone far out of their way than have pa.s.sed by Rotw.a.n.g"s house. It hardly reached knee-high to the house-giants which stood near it. It stood at an angle to the street. To the cleanly town, which knew neither smoke nor soot, it was a blot and an annoyance. But it remained. When Rotw.a.n.g left the house and crossed the street, which occurred but seldom, there were many who covertly looked at his feet, to see if, perhaps, he walked in red shoes.
Before the door of this house, on which the seal of Solomon glowed, stood Joh Fredersen.
He had sent the car away and had knocked.
He waited, then knocked again.
A voice asked, as if the house were speaking in its sleep: "Who is there?"
"Joh Fredersen," said the man.
The door opened.
He entered. The door closed. He stood in darkness. But Joh Fredersen knew the house well. He walked straight on, and as he walked, the shimmering tracks of two stepping feet glistened before him, along the pa.s.sage, and the edge of the stair began to glow. Like a dog showing the track, the glow ran on before him, up the steps, to die out behind him.
He reached the top of the stairs and looked about him. He knew that many doors opened out here. But on the one opposite him the copper seal glowed like a distorted eye, which looked at him.
He stepped up to it. The door opened before him.
Many doors as Rotw.a.n.g"s house possessed, this was the only one which opened itself to Joh Fredersen, although, and even, perhaps, because, the owner of this house knew full well that it always meant no mean effort for Joh Fredersen to cross this threshold.
He drew in the air of the room, lingeringly, but deeply, as though seeking in it the trace of another breath...
His nonchalant hand threw his hat on a chair. Slowly, in sudden and mournful weariness, he let his eyes wander through the room.
It was almost empty. A large, time-blackened chair, such as are to be found in old churches, stood before drawn curtains. These curtains covered a recess the width of the wall.
Joh Fredersen remained standing by the door for a long time, without moving. He had closed his eyes. With incomparable impotence he breathed in the odour of hyacinths, which teemed to fill the motionless air of this room.
Without opening his eyes, swaying a little, but aim-sure, he walked up to the heavy, black curtains and drew them apart.
Then he opened his eyes and stood quite still...
On a pedestal, the breadth of the wall, rested the head of a woman in stone...
It was not the work of an artist, it was the work of a man, who, in agonies for which the human tongue lacks words, had wrestled with the white stone throughout immeasurable days and nights until at last it seemed to realise and form the woman"s head by itself. It was as if no tool had been at work here-no, it was as if a man, lying before this stone, had called on the name of the woman, unceasingly, with-all the strength, with all the longing, with all the despair, of his brain, blood and heart, until the shapeless stone took pity on him letting itself turn into the image of the woman, who had meant to two men all heaven and all h.e.l.l.
Joh Fredersen"s eyes sank to the words which were hewn into the pedestal, roughly, as though chiselled with curses.
HEL.
Born To be my happiness, a blessing to all men.
Lost to Joh Fredersen Dying in giving life to his son, Freder Yes, she died then. But Joh Fredersen knew only too well that she did not die from giving birth to her child. She died then because she had done what she had to do. She really died on the day upon which she went from Rotw.a.n.g to Joh Fredersen, wondering that her feet left no b.l.o.o.d.y traces behind on the way. She had died because she was unable to withstand the great love of Joh Fredersen and because she had been forced by him to tear asunder the life of another.
Never was the expression of deliverance at last more strong upon a human face than upon Hel"s face when she knew that she would die.
But in the same hour the mightiest man in Metropolis had lain on the floor, screaming like a wild beast, the bones of which are being broken in its living body.
And, on his meeting Rotw.a.n.g, four weeks later, he found that the dense, disordered hair over the wonderful brow of the inventor was snow-white, and in the eyes under this brow the smouldering of a hatred which was very closely related to madness.
In this great love, in this great hatred, the poor, dead Hel had remained alive to both men...
"You must wait a little while," said the voice which sounded as though the house were talking in its sleep.
"Listen, Rotw.a.n.g," said Joh Fredersen. "You know that I treat your little juggling tricks with patience, and that I come to you when I want anything of you, and that you are the only man who can say that of himself. But you will never get me to join in with you when you play the fool. You know, too, that I have no time to waste. Don"t make us both ridiculous, but come!"
"I told you that you would have to wait a little while," explained the voice, seeming to grow more distant.
"I shall not wait. I shall go."
"Do so, Joh Fredersen!"
He wanted to do so. But the door through which he had entered had no key, no latch. The seal of Solomon, glowing copper-red, blinked at him.
A soft, far-off voice laughed.
Joh Fredersen had stopped still, his back to the room. A quiver ran down his back, running along the hanging arms to the clenched fists.
"You should have your skull smashed in," said Joh Fredersen, very softly. "You should have your skull smashed in... that is, if it did not contain so valuable a brain... "
"You can do no more to me than you have done," said the far-off voice.
Joh Fredersen was silent.
"Which do you think," continued the voice, "to be more painful: to smash in the skull, or to tear the heart out of the body?"
Joh Fredersen was silent.
"Are your wits frozen, that you don"t answer, Joh Fredersen?"
"A brain like yours should be able to forget," said the man standing at the door, staring at Solomon"s seal.
The soft, far-off voice laughed.
"Forget? I have twice in my life forgotten something... Once that Aetro-oil and quick-silver have an idiosyncracy as regards each other; that cost me my arm. Secondly that Hel was a woman and you a man; that cost me my heart. The third time, I am afraid, it will cost me my head. I shall never again forget anything, Joh Fredersen."
Joh Fredersen was silent.
The far-off voice was silent, too.
Joh Fredersen turned round and walked to the table. He piled books and parchments on top of each other, sat down and took a piece of paper from his pocket. He laid it before him and looked at it.
It was no larger than a man"s hand, bearing neither print nor script, being covered over and over with the tracing of a strange symbol and an apparently half-destroyed plan. Ways seemed to be indicated, seeming to be false ways, but they all led one way; to a place that was filled with crosses.
Suddenly he felt, from the back, a certain coldness approaching him. Involuntarily he held his breath.
A hand grasped along, by his head, a graceful, skeleton hand. Transparent skin was stretched over the slender joints, which gleamed beneath it like dull silver. Fingers, snow-white and fleshless, closed over the plan which lay on the table, and, lifting it up, took it away with it.
Joh Fredersen swung around. He stared at the being which stood before him with eyes which grew gla.s.sy.
The being was, indubitably, a woman. In the soft garment which it wore stood a body, like the body of a young birch tree, swaying on feet set fast together. But, although it was a woman, it was not human. The body seemed as though made of crystal, through which the bones shone silver. Cold streamed from the glazen skin which did not contain a drop of blood. The being held its beautiful hands pressed against its breast, which was motionless, with a gesture of determination, almost of defiance.
But the being had no face. The beautiful curve of the neck bore a lump of carelessly shaped ma.s.s. The skull was bald, nose, lips, temples merely traced. Eyes, as though painted on closed lids, stared unseeingly, with an expression of calm madness, at the man-who did not breathe "Be courteous, my parody," said the far-off voice, which sounded as though the house were talking in its sleep. "Greet Joh Fredersen, the Master over the great Metropolis."
The being bowed slowly to the man. The mad eyes neared him like two darting flames. The ma.s.s began to speak; it said in a voice full of a horrible tenderness: "Good evening, Joh Fredersen."
And these words were more alluring than a half-open mouth.
"Good, my Pearl! Good, my Crown-jewel!" said the far-off voice, full of praise and pride.
But at the same moment the being lost its balance. It fell, tipping forward, towards Joh Fredersen. He stretched out his hands to catch it, feeling them, in the moment of contact, to be burnt by an unbearable coldness, the brutality of which brought up in him a feeling of anger and disgust.
He pushed the being away from him and towards Rotw.a.n.g, who was standing near him as though fallen from the air. Rotw.a.n.g took the being by the arm.
He shook his head. "Too violent," he said. "Too violent. My beautiful parody, I fear your temperament will get you into much more trouble."
"What is that?" asked Joh Fredersen, leaning his hands against the edge of the table-top, which he felt behind him.
Rotw.a.n.g turned his face towards him, his glorious eyes glowing as watch fires glow when the wind lashes them with its cold lash.
"Who is it?" he replied. "Futura... Parody... whatever you like to call it. Also: delusion... In short: it is a woman... Every man-creator makes himself a woman. I do not believe that humbug about the first human being a man. If a male-G.o.d created the world (which is to be hoped, Joh Fredersen) then he certainly created woman first, lovingly and revelling in creative sport. You can test it, Joh Fredersen: it is faultless. A little cool-! admit, that comes of the material, which is my secret. But she is not yet completely finished. She is not yet discharged from the workshop of her creator. I cannot make up my mind to do it. You understand that? Completion means setting free. I do not want to set her free from me. That is why I have not yet given her a face. You must give her that, Joh Fredersen. For you were the one to order the new beings."
"I ordered machine men from you, Rotw.a.n.g, which I can use at my machines. No woman... no plaything."
"No plaything, Joh Fredersen, no... you and I, we no longer play. Not for any stakes... We did it once. Once and never again. No plaything, Joh Fredersen but a tool. Do you know what it means to have a woman as a tool? A woman like this, faultless and cool? And obedient-Implicitly obedient... Why do you fight with the Gothics and the monk Desertus about the cathedral? Send the woman to them Joh Fredersen! Send the woman to them when they are kneeling, scourging themselves. Let this faultless, cool woman walk through the rows of them, on her silver feet, fragrance from the garden of life in the folds of her garment... Who in the world knows how the blossoms of the tree smell, on which the apple of knowledge ripened. The woman is both: Fragrance of the blossom and the fruit...
"Shall I explain to you the newest creation of Rotw.a.n.g, the genius, Joh Fredersen? It will be sacrilege. But I owe it to you. For you kindled the idea of creating within me, too... Shall I show you how obedient my creatures is? Give me what you have in your hand, Parody!"
"Stop... " said Joh Fredersen rather hoa.r.s.ely. But the infallible obedience of the creature which stood before the two men brooked no delay in obeying. It opened its hands in which the delicate bones shimmered silver, and handed to its creator the piece of paper which it had taken from the table, before Joh Fredersen"s eyes.
"That"s trickery, Rotw.a.n.g," said Joh Fredersen.
The great inventor looked at him. He laughed. The noiseless laughter drew back his mouth to his ears.
"No trickery, Joh Fredersen-the work of a genius! Shall Futura dance to you? Shall my beautiful Parody play the affectionate? Or the sulky? Cleopatra of Damayanti? Shall she have the gestures of the Gothic Madonnas? Or the gestures of love of an Asiatic dancer? What hair shall I plant upon the skull of your tool? Shall she be modest or impudent? Excuse me my many words, you man of few! I am drunk, d"you see, drunk with being a creator. I intoxicate myself, I inebriate myself, on your astonished face! I have surpa.s.sed your expectations, Joh Fredersen, haven"t I? And you do not know everything yet: my beautiful Parody can sing, too! She can also read! The mechanism of her brain is as infallible as that of your own, Joh Fredersen!"
"If that is so," said the Master over the great Metropolis, with a certain dryness in his voice, which had become quite hoa.r.s.e, "then command her to unriddle the plan which you have in your hand, Rotw.a.n.g... "
Rotw.a.n.g burst out into laughter which was like the laughter of a drunken man. He threw a glance at the piece of paper which he held spread out in his fingers, and was about to pa.s.s it, antic.i.p.atingly triumphant, to the being which stood beside him.
But he stopped in the middle of the movement. With open mouth, he stared at the piece of paper, raising it nearer and nearer to his eyes.
Joh Fredersen, who was watching him, bent forward. He wanted to say something, to ask a question. But before he could open his lips Rotw.a.n.g threw up his head and met Joh Fredersen"s glance with so green a fire in his eyes that the Master of the great Metropolis remained dumb.
Twice, three times did this green glow flash between the piece of paper and Joh Fredersen"s face. And during the whole time not a sound was perceptible in the room but the breath that gushed in heaves from Rotw.a.n.g"s breast as though from a boiling, poisoned source.
"Where did you get the plan?" the great inventor asked at last. Though it was less a question than an expression of astonished anger.
"That is not the point," answered Joh Fredersen. "It is about this that I have come to you. There does not seem to be a soul in Metropolis who can make anything of it."
Rotw.a.n.g"s laughter interrupted him.
"Your poor scholars!" cried the laughter. "What a task you have set them, Joh Fredersen. How many hundredweights of printed paper have you forced them to heave over. I am sure there is no town on the globe, from the construction of the old Tower of Babel onward, which they have not snuffled through from North to South. Oh-If you could only smile, Parody! If only you already had eyes to wink at me. But laugh, at least, Parody! Laugh, rippingly, at the great scholars to whom the ground under their feet is foreign!"
The being obeyed. It laughed, ripplingly.
"Then you know the plan, or what it represents?" asked Joh Fredersen, through the laughter.
"Yes, by my poor soul, I know it," answered Rotw.a.n.g. "But, by my poor soul, I am not going to tell you what it is until you tell me where you got the plan."
Joh Fredersen reflected. Rotw.a.n.g did not take his gaze from him. "Do not try to lie to me, Joh Fredersen," he said softly, and with a whimsical melancholy.
"Somebody found the paper," began Joh Fredersen.
"Who-somebody?"
"One of my foremen."
"Grot?"
"Yes, Grot."
"Where did he find the plan?"
"In the pocket of a workman who was killed in the accident to the Geyser machine."
"Grot brought you the paper?"
"Yes."
"And the meaning of the plan seemed to be unknown to him?"
Joh Fredersen hesitated a moment with the answer.
"The meaning-yes; but not the plan. He told me he has often seen this paper in the workmen"s hands, and that they anxiously keep it a secret, and that the men will crowd closely around him who holds it."
"So the meaning of the plan has been kept secret from your foreman."
"So it seems, for he could not explain it to me."
"H"m."
Rotw.a.n.g turned to the being which was standing near him, with the appearance of listening intently.