第 2 节
作者:
双曲线 更新:2021-02-18 21:32 字数:4109
of Russia and his eldest son; twenty…one and a half lines;
and the other tells about the atrocious destruction of a
peasant child by its parents; forty lines; or one…fifth
of the total of the reading…matter contained in the paper。
Consider what a fifth part of the reading…matter of an American
daily paper issued in a city of one hundred and seventy
thousand inhabitants amounts to! Think what a mass it is。
Would any one suppose I could so snugly tuck away such a
mass in a chapter of this book that it would be difficult
to find it again in the reader lost his place? Surely not。
I will translate that child…murder word for word;
to give the reader a realizing sense of what a fifth
part of the reading…matter of a Munich daily actually
is when it comes under measurement of the eye:
〃From Oberkreuzberg; January 21st; the DONAU ZEITUNG
receives a long account of a crime; which we shortened
as follows: In Rametuach; a village near Eppenschlag;
lived a young married couple with two children; one of which;
a boy aged five; was born three years before the marriage。
For this reason; and also because a relative at Iggensbach
had bequeathed M400 (100) to the boy; the heartless
father considered him in the way; so the unnatural
parents determined to sacrifice him in the cruelest
possible manner。 They proceeded to starve him slowly
to death; meantime frightfully maltreating himas the
village people now make known; when it is too late。
The boy was shut in a hole; and when people passed
by he cried; and implored them to give him bread。
His long…continued tortures and deprivations destroyed
him at last; on the third of January。 The sudden (sic)
death of the child created suspicion; the more so as the
body was immediately clothed and laid upon the bier。
Therefore the coroner gave notice; and an inquest was held
on the 6th。 What a pitiful spectacle was disclosed then!
The body was a complete skeleton。 The stomach and intestines
were utterly empty; they contained nothing whatsoever。
The flesh on the corpse was not as thick as the back of
a knife; and incisions in it brought not one drop of blood。
There was not a piece of sound skin the size of a dollar
on the whole body; wounds; scars; bruises; discolored
extravasated blood; everywhereeven on the soles of
the feet there were wounds。 The cruel parents asserted
that the boy had been so bad that they had been obliged
to use severe punishments; and that he finally fell over
a bench and broke his neck。 However; they were arrested
two weeks after the inquest and put in the prison at Deggendorf。〃
Yes; they were arrested 〃two weeks after the inquest。〃
What a home sound that has。 That kind of police briskness
rather more reminds me of my native land than German
journalism does。
I think a German daily journal doesn't do any good to
speak of; but at the same time it doesn't do any harm。
That is a very large merit; and should not be lightly
weighted nor lightly thought of。
The German humorous papers are beautifully printed upon
fine paper; and the illustrations are finely drawn;
finely engraved; and are not vapidly funny; but deliciously so。
So also; generally speaking; are the two or three terse
sentences which accompany the pictures。 I remember one
of these pictures: A most dilapidated tramp is ruefully
contemplating some coins which lie in his open palm。
He says: 〃Well; begging is getting played out。 Only about
five marks (1。25) for the whole day; many an official
makes more!〃 And I call to mind a picture of a commercial
traveler who is about to unroll his samples:
MERCHANT (pettishly)。NO; don't。 I don't want to buy anything!
DRUMMER。If you please; I was only going to show you
MERCHANT。But I don't wish to see them!
DRUMMER (after a pause; pleadingly)。But do you you mind
letting ME look at them! I haven't seen them for three weeks!
End