WITOLD GOMBROWICZ
555
that he could no longer manage to conceal the true nature of the
King from Renata, the Chancellor determined to openly transform
the banquet into a struggle for the dignity of the Crown. Yes, there
was no other way out-with complete ruthlessness, the banquet was
to repeat not only the actions of the King that were fit to be repeated,
but especially and above all those that were not fit to be re–
peated - only in this way could they remake his deeds into arch–
deeds - and such violence to the person of the King became
necessary and unavoidable. Therefore, when the crazed Gnulo
thumped the table with his fist, breaking two dishes, the Chancellor
without a moment's hesitation broke two dishes and everyone broke
two dishes at a time, as if in the Lord's honor, and the trumpets
roared! The banquet was victorious over the King! The maddened
King sat down and remained seated, timid as a mouse, but the ban–
quet only lay in wait for his slightest movement. Something ex–
treme, something fantastic-was appearing and disappearing in the
vapors of the abandoned feast.
The King jumped up from his place at the head of the table!
The banquet jumped up as well! The King stepped forward several
paces. The banqueters also. The King began to circle the hall
aimlessly. The banqueters also began to circle. And this circling, in
its monotonous and infinite circling, attained such dizzy heights of
archcircling that Gnulo, seized by a sudden feeling of dizziness,
yelled- and with blood-filled eyes threw himself on the Arch–
duchess - and, not knowing what to do, proceeded to gradually
strangle her in front of the entire court!
Without a moment's hesitation, the helmsman of the ship of
state threw himself on the first lady at hand and strangled her-and
the remaining guests followed his example-while this archstran–
gling, repeated by a host of mirrors, gasped out of its infiniteness
and grew, and grew, and grew-until the ladies' last wheezing gasp
was stifled .... So then the banquet snapped its last ties to the nor–
mal world and took the reins into its own hands!
The Archduchess sank down onto the floor-dead. The stran–
gled ladies sank down . And motionlessness, hideous motionlessness,
speechless, augmented by the mirrors, began to grow and
grow... .
And grew. Grew without stop. And increased, increased in
oceans of silence, in the vastness of silence and reigned, archmo–
tionlessness itself, and descended, took control and ruled .. . and
its rule was absolute.
