A NEW YEAR'S FABLE
243
throughout his life, he had never possessed such "things" as
other men's approval, their friendship, true love, but had rather
striven all his life towards something devoid of any real value.
Something like a monetary reform had come about. Yes . . ."
Here the narrator's voice grew hoarse. He coughed. "But
the people, the love and the friendship, of which he was
so
much in need, did really exist. He, too, knew them ... There
was a woman. But he could not even appear before her. He
could not reveal himself, he could not
risk
it."
"To sum it up, this man wrote down all his observations
in a long letter addressed to his brothers, the "lawfully bound,"
in which he declared that he was stripping himself of his "rank,"
joining the society of normal, working people, and that he was
resolved, by some outstanding act, to gain for himself what he
had hitherto ignored in life and towards which he was
now drawn, as they say, with all his being. The prison authorities
printed this letter of his
in
a special leaflet.
As
you can well
understand, of course, this document had terrific potentialities
and it was important to make the most of it."
"Now consider the position in which our "big wheel" found
himself. In the course of his life, he had been sentenced to some
two hundred years of penal servitude but, owing to the confusion
of the times, he had not served anything like it! He was aware
that he could expect no "reduction" from the State. On the
other hand, knowing better than anyone the rules of the "law–
fully bound" commune, he realized that his "brethren" would
never overlook his betrayal and that somewhere a keen knife
was already awaiting him. But he felt the need of living just a
few years longer in order to achieve that which had induced
him to take this step. Thus, even before his "brethren" had sat
in judgment upon him, he had made his last break. He was
affluent enough, and, as sometimes happens in fairy tales, doc–
tors were available who were able to graft new skin on
his
face
and hands, as well as new skin and hair on
his
head. They even
did something to
his
voice. They were great craftsmen."
