104
PARTISAN REVIEW
across the face. Now, instead of getting up and asking forgiveness,
the man seized his superior by the legs, shook him, and shouted:
"Throw that whip away, or I'll eat you up." These are the facts.
The captain came to me an hour ago. I wrote down his statement
and added the sentence immediately. Then I ordered the man to
be put in chains. That was all very simple.
If
I had called the man
first and questioned him, it would have only resulted in confusion.
He would have lied, then, if I had succeeded in contradicting the
first lies, he would have replaced these with new ones, and so forth.
But now I've got hold of him, and I'll not let him go. - Is every·
thing clear now? But time passes, the execution should have begun,
and I am not yet through with the explanation of the apparatus."
He forced the explorer back into his arm·chair, went back over to
the machine and began: "As you see, this harrow corresponds to
the form of a human being; here is the harrow for the upper part
of the body, here are the harrows for the legs. For the head, this
little burin alone is designated. Have I made myself clear?"
He
bent amiably towards the explorer, prepared to give the most
exhaustive explanations.
The explorer looked at the harrow with wrinkled forehead.
The information about the court proceedings had not satisfied him.
After all, he was forced to tell himself, this was a penal colony;
special measures were necessary here, and they were obliged to
proceed according to military regulations up to the very last detail.
Besides, he placed some hope in the new commander who obviously
intended to introduce-slowly, to be sure-a new procedure which
could not penetrate the limited mind of this officer. This train of
thought led the explorer to ask: "Is the commander going to attend
the execution?" "That's not certain," said the officer, painfully
affected by the unmotivated question, and his friendly expression
became distorted. "That's exactly why we have to hurry," he con·
tinued, "I shall even have to cut my explanations short, as much as
I regret to do so. But then I might add further explanations tomor·
row, when the apparatus will have been cleaned again-the fact
that it gets so dirty is its only defect. So now I'll give you only the
most essential facts. - When the man lies on the bed and it has
been made to vibrate, the harrow is lowered onto the body.
Of
itself it assumes a position that permits the sharp points just barely
to touch the body; once it is
in
place, this steel cord tautens at once
