In these great times A SY) which I knew when they were this small; which will become small again, provided th org: have time left for it; and which, because in the realm of growth no such transformation is possible, we had better call times and, truly, hard times as well; in these times in which things are hap- pening that could not be imagined and in which what can no longer be imagined happen, for if one could imagine it, it would not happen; in these serio nes which have died laughing at the thought that they might sus; which, surprised by their own tragedy, are reaching for diversion and, catching themselves redhanded, a 2 for words: in these loud times which boom with the horrible symphony of actions which produce reports and of reports which causeactic become ser P Bro] in these times youshould not expect any words of my own from me ~~ none but these words which barely manag toprevent silence fr immutability, the sub m being misinterpreted. Respect for the dination of language before this misfortur is too 7deeply rooted in me. In the realm of poverty of imagination where people“ die of spiritual famin Lfeeling spiritual hunger, where pensare dipped in blood and swords ik, that whi jot thought must be done, but that which is only thought is unutterable. Expect no words of my own from me. Nor would I be able Lo say anything new, for in the room in which one writes there dat this time one should not determine whether it comes from animals, from children, or mercly from mortars, He who encourages deeds with words desecrates words and deeds and is doubly despicable, This occupation is not extinct. Those who now have nothing to say because actions are speaking continue to talk. Let him who has some- thing to say come forward and be silent! Nor may T bring out old words as long as deeds are committed that are new Lo us and spectators say that they were not to be expected of them. My words were able to drown out rotary presses, and if these were not brought to a standstill, this is no reflection on my words. Even the greater machine has not managed to do it, and an car that hears the trumpets of the Last Judgment is by no means closed to the trumpets of the day. All that blood has not made the muck of life congeal in fright, nor has it made printer's ink blanch. The maw, rather, swallowed up the many swords, and we looked only at the maw and measured greatness only by the maw. And “gold for iron” fell from the altar into the operetta, was a music-hall song, and fifteen thousand prisoners were pul in a special edition of the newspaper which a soubrette read from the stage so that a librettist might take a curtain call. For m ble one who does not have sacrifices enough), the line com- fate has not been reached. For me it is war only if only those who are unfit are sent off to it. Otherwise my peace has no peace; I secretly prepare for the great times and think thoughts that I can tell only to the Good Lord and not to the good state which now does not. permit me to tell it that too tolerant. For if the state does not now have the idea of choking off the so-called freedom of the press, which does not noti few white spots, then it never will; and if I were to put this into its head, the state would do violence to the idea, and my text would be the only victim, So I shall have to wait, though I am the only Austrian who cannot wait but would like to see the end of the world replaced by a simple auto-da-fé. The idea which I should like to put into the heads of the actual holders of nom- inal power is only an idée fire of mine. But an unstable state of ownership, that of a state and of a civilized world, is saved by such fixed ideas. A such noise, a 1, People were urged to aid the war effort by surrendering objects made of gold, Jewelry, and other valuables in return for rings and ather items made of various lesser metals, ineluding iron, igeneral is not believed when he talks about the importance of swamps — until one day Europe is viewed only as the surroundings of swamps.” Of a terrain I see only the swamps, of their depth I see only the surface, of a situation I see only its manifestations, of these I see only a reflection, and even of that I see only the outlines. And sometimes an intonation or even a hallucination suffices me. Do me the favor, just for fun, of following me to the surface of this problem-deep world which was not created until it became cultured, which revolves around its own axis and wishes the sun revolved aroun Above that exalted manifesto,* that prose poem which initiated a time full of action, the only poem this time has produced till now, above the most humane poster which the street was able to offer our eyes there hangs ‘the head of a vaudeville comedian, larger than life. Next to it amanufacturer of rubber heels desecrates the mystery of creation by saying of a kicking infant that this is the only way a human being ought to come into the world, using this particular brand. If Tam of the opini they are, it would be better if people did not come into the world at all, Tam But if I maintain that under such circumstances no one will come into the world in the future and that at a later date boot-heels may come into the world but without the persons to go with them, because they were not able to keep pace with their own development and stayed behind as the last obstacle to their progress — if | maintain this sort of thing, Tam a fool who deduces the whole condition from a symptom, the plague from a bubo. If I were not a fool but an educated man, I would draw such bold conclusions from a bacillus and not from a bubo, and people would believe me. How foolish to say that one should + cate the bubo to rid oneself of the plague! But I am truly of the opinion that in this time, however we may call it or evaluate it, Whether it is out of joint or already set right, whether it is accumulating murder and rottenness before the eyes of a Hamlet or is already becoming ripe for the arm of a Fortinbras—that in its condition the root lies at the surface, This sort of thing can be made clear by a great confusion, and what was once paradoxical is now confirmed by the great times. Since I am neither a politician nor his half-brother, an esthete, I would not dream of denying the necessity of anything that is happening or of complaining that mankind does not know how to n beauty. I know 1 that, things being the way an eccent 2. A reference to Paul von Hindenburg, whose idée jize, the strategic importance of the Masurian swamps in East Prussia, was derided. Important battles were subse- quently fought at the Masurian Lakes. 3. An meine Volker (To My Peoples), Franz Josef’s proclamal ‘This was the solitary apex of Kraus’s appreciation of the Aus henceforth lampooned as “the Hapsburg demon incarnate.” of August 1914, emperor whom he 72