IN THE PENAL COLONY
155
Now he stood there naked. The explorer bit his lips and said nothing. ·
To be sure, he knew what was going to happen, yet he had no right to
prevent the officer from doing anything.
If
the court procedure to which
the officer was so attached really was about to be abolished-possibly as
a consequence of the action which the explorer had felt obliged to take–
then the officer was acting entirely rightly; the explorer would not have
acted differently in his place.
The guard and the condemned man understood nothing at first; in the
beginning, they did not even look on. The condemned man was overjoyed
at having got back his pocket-handkerchiefs, but he was not allowed to
enjoy them very long, for the soldier snatched them away from him with
a quick, unpredictable gesture. The condemned man now tried once more
to pull the handkerchiefs from the soldier's belt, into which the latter had
caref~lly
put them, but the soldier was on his guard. So they struggled,
half in jest. Only when the officer was completely naked did they pay any
attention to him. The condemned man especially seemed to be seized with
a foreboding of some great change. What had happened to him, was now
happening to the officer. It might even go on to the very end. Most likely,
the foreign explorer had given the order for it. So this was revenge.
Without himself having suffered to the end, he was nevertheless avenged
to the end. A broad, noiseless laughter appeared now on his face, and
remained there.
The officer turned towards the machine.
If
it had already been clear
before that he understood the machine well, it was now almost horrifying
to see the way he took charge of it, and the way it obeyed him. He had
hardly brought his hand near the harrow when it rose and sank several
times until it had reached the right position to receive him; he took hold
of the bed by the edge only, and it started to vibrate right away; the ball
of felt came toward his mouth. One saw that the officer did not really
want to take it, but his hesitancy lasted just a moment, he submitted at
once and took it in his mouth. Everything was ready, only the straps were
still
hanging down at the sides, but they were obviously unnecessary, as
the officer did not need to be strapped in. Then the condemned man
noticed the hanging straps; in his opinion the execution would not be
complete unless the straps were tightly fastened; he waved excitedly to
the guard and both of them ran to buckle the officer in. The latter had
already stretched out one foot in order to push the crank that was to
start
the draughtsman going; then he saw that the two men had come near
him. He drew his foot back and let himself be strapped in. Now, however,
he was no longer able to reach the crank; neither the guard nor the con·
demned man would be able to find it, and the explorer was determined not
to
make a move. This was not necessary; hardly had the straps been
fastened, when the machine began to work; the bed trembled, the needles
danced on the skin, the harrow swung up and down. The explorer had
been
staring at it quite a while before he remembered that a wheel in the
