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The owl's ear by Erkman Katrian.
On the twenty ninth of July eighteen thirty

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five, Kaspar Buck, a shepherd
of the little village of Hirschveller, with

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his large felt hat tipped back,
his wallet of stringy sackcloth hanging at his

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hip, and his great tawny dog
at his heels, presented himself at about

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nine o'clock in the evening at the
house of the burgomaster Petros Maher, who

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had just finished supper and was taking
a little glass of Kirschwasser to facilitate digestion.

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This burgomaster was a tall, thin
man and wore a bushy gray mustache.

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He had seen service in the armies
of the Archduke Charles. He had

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a jovial disposition and ruled the village, it is said, with his finger

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and with a rod. Mister Burgomaster
cried the shepherd in evident excitement. But

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Petros Mahuer, without awaiting the end
of his speech, frowned and said,

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Kasparbuk, begin by taking off your
hat, put your dog out of the

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room, and then speak distinctly intelligibly, without stammering, so that I may

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understand you. Hereupon the Burgomaster standing
near the table Tranquility emptied his little glass

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and wiped his great gray mustaches indifferently. Cusper put his dog out and came

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back with his head off. Well, said Petrus, seeing that he was

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silent. What has happened? It
happens that the spirit has appeared again in

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the ruins of Geyerstein. Ha I
doubt it. You've seen it yourself,

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very clearly, mister Burgomaster, without
closing your eyes. Yes, mister Burgomaster,

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my eyes were wide open. There
was plenty of moonlight. What form

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did it have? The form of
a small man? Good? And turning

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toward a glass door at the left, Carter cried the Burgomaster. An old

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serving woman opened the door, Sir, I am going out for a walk

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on the hillside. Sit up from
me until ten o'clock. Here's the key,

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yes, sir. Then the old
soldier took down his gun from the

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hook over the door, examined the
priming, and slung it over his shoulder.

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Then he addressed Cuspar, book,
go and tell the rural guard to

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meet me in the holy path and
tell him behind the mill. Your spirit

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must be some marauder, But David's
a fox I'll make a fine hood of

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it with long ear laps. Master
Petros Mauer and humble Cusper then went out.

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The weather was superb, the stars
innumerable. While the shepherd went to

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knock at the rural guard's door,
the burgomaster plunged among the elder bushes in

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a little lane that wound around behind
the old church. Two minutes later,

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Cusper and Hans Gerner Winger at his
side. By running overtook Master Petrus in

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the holy path. All three made
their way together toward the ruins of Geyerstein.

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These ruins, which are twenty minutes
walk from the village, seem to

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be insignificant enough. They consist of
the ridges of a few decrepit walls from

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four to six feet high, which
extend among the briar bushes. Archeologists call

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them the aqueducts of Serranus, the
Roman camp of Holderloch, or vestiges of

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Theodoric. According to their fantasy,
the only thing about these ruins which could

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be considered remarkable is a stairway to
a cistern cut in the rock. Inside

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of the spiral staircase. Instead of
concentric circles which twist around with each complete

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turn. The involutions become wider as
they proceed, in such a way that

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the bottom of the pit is three
times as large as the opening. Is

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it an arch tactial freak, or
did some reasonable cause determine such an odd

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construction? It matters little to us. The result was to cause in the

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cistern that vague reverberation which any one
may hear upon placing a shell at his

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ear, and to make you aware
of steps on the gravel path, murmurs

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of the air, rustling of the
leaves, and even distant words spoken by

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people passing the foot of the hill. Our three personages then followed the pathway

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between the vineyards and gardens of Hirschville. I see nothing, the Burgomaster would

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say, turning up his nose derisively, Nor I either, the rural guard

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would repeat, imitating the other's tone. It's down in the hole, muttered

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the shepherd. We shall see,
we shall see, returned the burgomaster.

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It was in this fashion, after
a quarter of an hour, that they

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came upon the opening of the cistern. As I said, the night was

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clear, limpid, and perfectly still. The moon portrayed as far as the

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eye could reach one of those nocturnal
landscapes in bluish lines, studded with slim

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trees, the shadows of which seemed
to have been drawn with a black crayon.

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The blowing brier and broom perfumed the
air with a rather sharp odor,

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and the frogs of a neighboring swamp
sang their oily anthem interspersed with silences.

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But all these details escaped the notice
of our good rustics. They thought of

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nothing but laying hands on the spirit. When they had reached the stairway,

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all three stopped and listened, then
gazed into the dark shadows. Nothing appeared.

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Nothing stirred the devil, said the
Burgomaster. We forgot to bring a

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bit of candle the scent Casper.
You know the way better than I.

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I'll follow you at this proposition.
The shepherd recoiled promptly. If he had

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consulted his inclinations, the poor man
would have taken to flight. His pitiful

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expression made the Burgomaster burst out laughing, How well, Hans, since he

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doesn't want to go down, show
me the way, he said to the

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game warden. But mister Burgomaster said
the latter. You know very well that

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steps are missing. We should breaking
our necks. Then what's to be done?

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Yes, what's to be done?
Send your dog, replied petrilas the

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shepherd whistled to his dog, showed
in the stairway urged him, but he

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did not wish to take the chances
any more than the others. At this

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moment, a bright idea struck the
rural guardsman. Ah mister burgomaster said he

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if you should fire your gun inside, faith, cried the other. You're

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right, we shall catch a glimpse
at least, And without hesitating, the

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worthy man approached the stairway and leveled
his gun. But by the acoustic effect

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which I have already pointed out,
the spirit the marauder, the individual who

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chanced to be actually in the cistern, had heard everything. The idea of

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stopping a gunshot did not strike him
as amusing, for in a shrill,

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piercing voice, he cried, stop, don't fire, I'm coming. Then

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the three functionaries looked at each other
and laughed softly, and the burgomaster,

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leaning over the opening again, cried, rudely, be quick about it,

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you varlet or I'll shoot. Be
quick about it. He cocked his gun,

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and the click seemed to hasten the
ascent to the mysterious person. They

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heard him rolling down some stones.
Nevertheless, it still took him another minute

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before he appeared the cistern, being
at a death of sixty feet. What

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was this man doing in such deep
darkness? He must be some great criminal,

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so at least, thought Petrus Maure
and his acolytes. At last a

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vague form could be discerned in the
dark. Then, slowly, by degrees,

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a little man four and a half
feet high at the most frail,

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ragged, his face withered and yellow, his eye gleaming like a magpie's,

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and his hair tangled, came out
shouting, by what right do you come

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to disturb my studies, wretched creatures? This grandiose apostrophe was scarcely in accord

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with his co and physiognomy. Accordingly, the burgomaster indignantly replied, try to

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show that your honest you knave,
or I'll begin by administering our correction.

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A correction, said the little man, leaping with anger and drawing himself up

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under the nose of the burgomaster.
Yes, replied the other, who nevertheless

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did not fail to admire the pigmy's
courage. If you do not answer the

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questions satisfactorily, I am going to
put to you I am the Burgomaster of

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Hirshville. Here are the rural guard, the shepherd and his dog. We

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are stronger than you. Be wise
and tell me peaceably who you are,

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what you are doing here, and
why you do not dare to appear in

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broad daylight. Then we shall see
what's to be done with you. Oh

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that's none of your business, replied
the little man in his cracked voice.

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I shall not answer in that case. Forward march, ordered the burgomaster,

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who grasped him firmly by the nape
of the neck. You are going to

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sleep in present, the little man
writhed, like a weasel. He even

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tried to bite, and the dog
was sniffing at the calves of his legs.

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When quite exhausted, he said,
not without a certain dignity, let

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go, sir. I surrendered the
superior force. I'm yours. The burgomaster,

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who was not entirely lacking in good
breeding, became calmer. Do you

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promise, said he. I promise
very well. Walk in front, And

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that is how On the night of
the twenty ninth of July eighteen thirty five,

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the burgomaster took captive a little red
haired man issuing from the cavern of

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Geyerstein. Upon arriving at Hyershville,
the rule guard ran to find the key

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of the prison, and the vagabond
was locked in and double locked, not

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to forget the outside bowlden petlock.
Every one then could repose after his fatigues,

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and Petros Mahor went to bed and
dreamt till midnight of this singular adventure.

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On the morrow to, at nine
o'clock, Hans Gerner, the rural

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guard, having been ordered to bring
the prisoner to the town house for another

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examination, repaired to the cooler with
four husky dar devils. They opened the

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door, all of them curious to
look upon the will of the wisp.

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But imagine their astonishment upon seeing him
hanging from the bars to the window by

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his neck tie. Some say that
he was still writhing, others that he

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was already stiff, however that may
be. They ran to Petrous Mauer's house

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to inform him of the fact.
And what is certain is that upon the

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letter's arrival, the little man had
breathed his last. The Justice of the

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peace and the doctor of Heirschville drew
up a formal statement of the catastrophe.

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Then they buried the Unknown in a
field of meadow grass, and it was

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all over. Now. About three
weeks after these occurrences, I went to

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see my cousin Petrus Mauer, whose
nearest relative I was, and consequently his

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heir. This circumstance sustained an acquaintance
between us. We were at dinner,

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talking on indifferent matters, when the
burgomaster recounted the foregoing little story. As

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I've just reported it tis strange,
cousin said, I, truly strange.

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And you have no other information concerning
the Unknown, none, And you have

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found nothing which could give you a
clue as to his purpose, Absolutely nothing

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Christian. But as a matter of
fact, what could he have been doing

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in the cistern? On? What
did he live? The burgomaster shrugged his

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shoulders, refilled our glasses, and
replied, with to your health, cousin,

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to yours. We remained silent a
few minutes. It was impossible for

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me to accept the abrupt conclusion of
the adventure, and in spite of myself,

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I mused with some melancholy on the
sad fate of certain men who appear

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and disappear in this world like the
grass of the field, without leaving the

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least memory or the least regret.
Cousin, I resumed, how far may

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it be from here to the ruins
of Geyerstein? Twenty minutes walk at the

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most? Why? Because I should
like to see them. You know that

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we have a meeting of the municipal
council, and that I can't accompany you.

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Oh, I can find them by
myself. No, the rural guard

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will show you the way. He
is nothing better to do. And my

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worthy cousin, having wrapped on his
glass, called his servant Cartel, go

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and find Hans Gerner. Let him
hurry and get here. By two o'clock

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I must be going. The servant
went out, and the rural guard was

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not tardy in coming. He was
directed to take me to the ruins,

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while the burgomaster proceeded gravely towards the
hall of the municipal Council. We were

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already climbing the hill. Hans Gerner, with a wave of the hand,

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indicated the remains of the aqueduct.
At the same moment, the rocky ribs

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of the plateau, the blue distances
of Hunsruck the sad crumbling walls covered with

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somber ivy, the tolling of the
Hirschwiller bell summoning the notables to the council,

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the rural guardsmen panting and catching at
the brambles, assumed in my eyes

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a sad and severe tinge for which
I could not account. It was the

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story of the hanged man which took
the color out of the prospect. The

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cistern staircase struck me as being exceedingly
curious, with its elegant spiral, the

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bushes bristling in the fissures at every
step, the deserted aspect of its surroundings,

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all harmonized with my sadness. We
descended, and soon the luminous point

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of the opening, which seemed to
contract more and more and to take the

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shape of a star with curved rays, alone senterus its pale light. When

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we attained the very bottom of the
cistern, we found a superb sight was

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to be had of all those steps, lighted from above and cutting off their

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shadows with marvelous precision. I then
heard the hum of which I have already

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seen spoken. The immense granite conch
had as many echoes as stones. Has

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nobody been down here since the little
man, I asked the rural guardsman.

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No, sir, the peasants I
are afraid. They imagine that the hanged

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man will return, can't you ai
Ah, I'm not curious, but the

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justice of the peace his duty was
to ha What could he have come to

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the owl's ear? For they call
this the owl's ear. Yes, that's

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pretty near it, said I,
raising my eyes. This reversed vault forms

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the pavilion well enough. The under
side of the steps makes the covering of

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the tympanum, and the winding of
the staircase, the cocklear, the labyrinth,

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and the vestibule of the ear.
That is the cause of the murmur

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which we hear. We are at
the back of a colossal ear. It's

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very likely, said Hans Goerner,
who did not seem to have understood my

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observations. We started up again,
and I had a sended the first steps

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when I felt something crush under my
foot. I stopped to see what it

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could be, and at that moment
perceived a wide object before me. It

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was a torn sheet of paper.
As for the hard object which I had

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felt grinding up, I recognized it
as a sort of glazed earthenware. Jug

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ah ha, I said to myself, this may clear up the Burgomas's story.

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I rejoined Hans Gerner, who was
now waiting for me at the edge

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of the pit. Now, Sir
cried he, where would you like to

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go? First, Let's sit down
for a while. We shall see.

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Presently I sat down on a large
stone, while the rural guard cast its

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falcon eyes over the village to see
if there chanced to be any trespassers in

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the gardens. I carefully examined the
glazed vase, of which nothing but splinters

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remained. These fragments presented the appearance
of a funnel lined with wool. It

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was impossible for me to perceive its
purpose. I then read the piece of

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a letter written in an easy running
and firm hand. I transcribe it here

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below word for word. It seems
to follow the other half of the sheet

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for which I looked vainly all about
the ruins. My microcoustic ear trumpet thus

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has the double advantage of infinitely multiplying
the intensity of sounds, and of introducing

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them into the air without causing the
observer the least discomfort. You would never

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have imagined, Dear Master, the
charm which one feels in perceiving these thousands

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of imperceptible sounds, which are confounded
on a fine summer day in an immense

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murmuring. The bumble bee has his
song as well as the nightingale. The

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honey bee is the warbler of the
mosses, The cricket is the lark of

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the tall grass. The maggot is
the wren. It is only a sigh,

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but the sigh is melodious. This
discovery, from the point of view

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of sentiment, which makes us live
in a universal life, surpasses in its

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importance all that I could say on
the matter. After so much suffering,

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privations and weariness, How happy it
makes one to reap the rewards of all

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its labors, how the sole source
towards the divine author of all these microscopic

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worlds, the magnificence of which is
revealed to us. Where now are the

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long hours of anguish, hunger,
contempt which overwhelmed us before? Gone,

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Sir, Gone, tears of gratitude
moisten our eyes. One is proud to

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have achieved through suffering, new joys
for humanity, and to have contributed to

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its mental development. But how soever
vast, howsoever admirable, may be he

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the first fruits of my microcustic ear
trumpet, these do not delimit its advantages.

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There are more positive ones, more
material and ones which may be expressed

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in figures. Just as the telescope
brought the discovery of myriads of worlds performing

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their harmonious revolutions in infinite space,
so also will my microcosmick ear trumpet extend

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the sense of the unbearable beyond all
possible bounds. Thus, Sir, the

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circulation of the blood and the fluids
of the body will not give me pause.

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You shall hear them flow with the
impetuosity of cataracts, shall perceive them

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so distinctly as to startle you.
The slightest irregularity of the pulse. The

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least obstacle is striking and produces the
same effect as a rock against which the

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waves of a torrent are dashing.
It is doubtless an immense conquest in the

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development of our knowledge of physiology and
pathology. But this is not the point

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on which I would emphasize. Upon
applying your ear to the ground, sir,

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you may hear the mineral waters springing
up at immeasurable deaths. You may

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judge of their volume, their currents, and the obstacles which they meet.

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Do you wish to go further enter
a subterranean vault which is so constructed as

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to gather a quantity of loud sounds. Then at night, when the world

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sleeps, when nothing will be confused
with the interior noises of our globe.

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Listen, sir, all, that
it is possible for me to tell you

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at the present moment, For in
the midst of my profound misery, of

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my privations, and often of my
despair, I am left only a few

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lucid instants to pursue my geological observations. All that I can affirm is that

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the seething of glow worms, the
explosions of boiling fluids, is something terrifying

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and sublime, which can only be
compared to the impression of the astronomer whose

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glass fathom's deaths of limitless extent.
Nevertheless, I must avow that these impressions

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should be studied further and classified in
a methodical manner, in order that definite

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conclusions may be derived. Therefrom Likewise, as soon as you shall have deainned,

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dear and noble Master, to transmit
the little sum for use at noistud,

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as I asked to supply my first
needs. We shall see our way

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to an understanding in regard to the
establishment of three great subterranean observatories, one

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in the valley of Catania, another
in Iceland, then a third in kabak

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Un Songai or kayembe Uren, the
deepest of the cordilleries. And consequently here

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the letter stopped. I let my
hands fall into perfection. Had I read

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the conceptions of an idiot or the
inspirations of a genius which had been realized?

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What am I to say to think? So this man, this miserable

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creature, living at the bottom of
a barrow like a fox dying of hunger,

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had had perhaps one of those inspirations
which the Supreme Being sends on earth

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to enlighten future generations. And this
man had hanged himself in disgust despair.

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No one had answered his prayer,
though he asked only for a crust of

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bread in exchange for discovery. It
was horrible, long long I sat there,

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dreaming, thanking Heaven for having limited
my intelligence to the needs of ordinary

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life, for not having desired to
make me a superior man in the community

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of martyrs. At length, the
rural guardsman, seeing me with fixed gaze

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and mouth agape, made so bold
as to touch me on the shoulder.

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Mister Christian said, he see it's
getting late. The burgomaster must have come

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back from the council. Ah,
that's a fact, cried I, crumpling

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up the paper. Come on we
descended the hill. My worthy cousin met

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me with a smiling face at the
threshold of his house. Well, well,

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Christian, so you've found no trace
of the imbecile who hanged himself.

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No I thought as much. He
was some lunatic who escaped from Stephensfeld or

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somewhere. Faith he did well to
hang himself. When one is good for

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nothing, that's the simplest way for
it. The following day I left Hirschveller.

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I shall never return.