The Diaries of Franz Kafka (74 page)
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Authors: Franz Kafka
98.
An unfinished novel of mine.
99.
Georg Mordecai Langer of Prague. For years, in Eastern Europe, he had sought to lead the life of a Hasid; later he wrote in Czech, German and Hebrew on Kabbalah and related subjects. Among other things he published two small volumes of Hebrew poems.
The wonder-rabbi mentioned here, a relative of the Zaddik of Belz, had fled with his disciples before the Russians from Grodek to Prague.
100.
A suburb of Prague.
101.
Rossmann and K. are the heroes of
Amerika
and
The Trial
, respectively.
102.
Gerti was Kafka’s niece, a child at the time. [The German word
Pferdefuss
means both the devil’s cloven foot and, colloquially, clubfoot – Trans.]
103.
A model of a trench on exhibition near Prague.
104.
A childhood friend of Kafka’s; cf. Kafka’s letters to him, in volume six of the first German edition (Schocken Verlag) of his works.
105.
Abraham Grünberg, a young and gifted refugee from Warsaw whom we saw a great deal of at the time. He died of tuberculosis during the war.
106.
Kafka gave a humorous report of his visit to Mrs M-T. Later he regretted his unintentional ridicule.
107.
A talmudic scholar belonging to the pious Lieben family of Prague. Only two members of this extensive family were saved from the horrors of the Nazi occupation – the scholar mentioned here and a boy in a Palestinian kibbutz.
108.
[Dream and weep, poor race of man, the way can’t be found – you have lost it. With ‘Woe!’ you greet the night, with ‘Woe!’ the day.
I want nothing save to escape the hands that reach out for me from the depths to draw my powerless body down to them. I fall heavily into the waiting hands.
Words slowly spoken echoed in the distant mountains. We listened.
Horrors of hell, veiled grimaces, alas, they bore my body close-pressed to them.
The long procession bears the unborn along.]
109.
Several entries in the octavo notebooks (see Postscript,
this page
] fill, chronologically, the gap that occurs at this point in the
Diaries
. These entries, however, have a different, more ‘objective’ character than the quarto notebooks of the
Diaries
; they are made up solely of short stories, the beginnings of stories, and meditations (aphorisms), but nothing that bears on the events of the day.
110.
A Prague writer who (with Hugo Salus) had exercised a great influence on the generation that preceded ours. His poetic drama (adapted from the Spanish),
Don Gil von den grünen Hosen
, was famous.
111.
This and a number of the succeeding entries are fragments of ‘In the Penal Colony’.
112.
The clause, ‘as if it bore witness to some truth’, was struck out by Kafka in the manuscript.
113.
Between this and the preceding entry the following occurred: the first medical confirmation was made of Kafka’s tuberculosis; he again decided to break off his engagement to F., took a leave of absence from his job, and went to live in the country, with his sister Ottla (in Zürau, Post Flöhau, about five kilometres east of Karlsbad). The trip to Ottla’s house took place on 12 September 1917.
114.
A nephew of Kafka’s. He was murdered by the Nazis.
115.
[The German word for atonement (
Versöhnung
) also means reconciliation – Trans.]
116.
Kafka’s second fiancée, Miss J. W. The engagement lasted only six months or so.
117.
A character in Knut Hamsun’s
Growth of the Soil
, which Kafka was reading at the time. Kafka particularly loved and admired this writer.
118.
The twelfth manuscript notebook of the
Diaries
, which ends at this point, consists only of a number of loose leaves between covers. Much of it was torn out by Kafka and destroyed.
119.
Mrs Milena Jesenská, whose acquaintance Kafka made at the beginning of 1920. She was a clever, able woman of liberal views; an excellent writer. A very intimate friendship developed between her and Kafka, one full of hope and happiness at first but which later turned into hopelessness. The friendship lasted a little more than two years. In 1939 Mrs Jesenská was thrown into prison by the Nazis in Prague and murdered.
120.
The magazine of the Czech scout movement. All problems of education interested Kafka.
121.
‘The Death of Ivan Ilyich’ by Tolstoy. This and his
Folk Tales
(‘The Three Old Men’, particularly), were great favourites of Kafka’s.
122.
Addressed to Milena Jesenská.
123.
This remark occurs in Kafka’s first book,
Meditation
, in the piece entitled ‘Bachelor’s Ill Luck’. Cf. also
this page
.
124.
The last clause of this sentence is a reference to a line in Kafka’s story, ‘A Country Doctor’.
125.
Joseph K., the hero of
The Trial
; the novel, written in 1914 and 1915, remained unpublished during Kafka’s lifetime.
126.
The seven ancient Jewish communities in Burgenland.
127.
The beginning of a polemic against Hans Blüher’s
Secessio Judaica
. Here Kafka throws up to Blüher the very faults Blüher maintains he finds in Jewish books.
128.
The name of one of the exhibiting painters.
129.
Makkabi was the name of a Zionist sports club.
Selbstwehr
was a Prague Zionist weekly. The Czech means: ‘I came to help you.’
130.
Der grosse Maggid
(
The Great Preacher
), title of a book by Martin Buber on the hasidic Rabbi Dow Baer of Mezritch, a disciple of the Baal Shem.
131.
In south-eastern Bohemia, where Kafka was recuperating at his sister Ottla’s house.
132.
Frydlant and Liberic, two old towns in northern Bohemia. The text retains Kafka’s German spelling of the names.
133.
Judging from the last entry in the diary of this trip (
this page
), it seems
probable that Kafka visited these places on official business for the Workers’ Accident Insurance Institute, by which he was employed.
This castle may perhaps have influenced Kafka’s conception of the castle in his novel.
134.
A recollection of the trip to Riva, Brescia, in 1909.
135.
Kafka undertook this trip together with the Editor. We planned to write a novel together, called
Richard and Samuel
, one chapter of which has been preserved under the title of ‘The First Long Train Journey’. (See
n. 14
)
136.
Alice R. is the woman who appears as Dora Lippert in ‘The First Long Train Journey’. (See
n. 21
).
137.
As shown in a drawing in the manuscript.
138.
An allusion to the theory of the ‘Indistinct’, with which the book
Anschauung und Begriff
by Felix Weltsch and myself begins. The ‘Indistinct’ is represented there by the graphic symbol, A + x.
139.
A Czech expression for the little envelopes that contain fortunes; a trained parrot would draw one out of a heap.
140.
Writing entries in our diaries.
141.
Paintings in the Louvre.
142.
Paintings in the palace of Versailles.
143.
From this point on the entries were made at the Erlenbach Sanatorium, Switzerland, whither Kafka had gone on alone while I returned home. His leave of absence was a little longer than mine. The entries, however, soon revert to the impressions of Paris that he had just absorbed.
144.
Kafka and I went to Weimar together during our holiday, staying there until 7 July. On 8 July Kafka left for the Jungborn nature therapy establishment in the Harz. Kafka was always interested in
Naturheilkunde
in all its various forms, such as the raw food diet, vegetarianism, Mazdaznan, nudism, gymnastics, and anti-vaccinationism. The curious mixture of irony and respect in his attitude to these cults, and his efforts over the years to live in accordance with several of them, defy all analysis. The ‘Travel Diary’ faithfully reflects Kafka’s attitude.
145.
Patriotic Czech gymnastic societies.
146.
[‘Confession’, by Goethe. The following is a translation by Paul Dyrsen (1878):
Absolution give to us!
And we shall forever
To remember your command
Faithfully endeavour;
Wholly love all worth and beauty
And from doing half our duty
Resolutely sever.]
147.
Johannes Schlaf, with Arno Holz one of the first men in German literature to write in the genre of modern realism, was one of the forerunners of Gerhart Hauptmann. In the years before our visit he had again made himself much talked about by advancing and vehemently defending an anti-Copernican theory according to which the sun moved round the earth.
148.
Wickersdorf was a progressive country boarding school founded in Germany in 1906 in close conformity with the ideals of the German Youth Movement.
1883 – 1924
1883 Born 3 July in Prague.
1901 Graduates from the German Gymnasium. (Incorrectly given in
Diaries
as 1903.)
1906 Doctorate in jurisprudence from the Karl-Ferdinand University in Prague.
before
1907 Writes ‘Description of a Struggle’ and ‘Hochzeitsvorbereitungen auf dem Lande’.
1907–08 Temporary employment in the Assicurazioni Generali, an Italian insurance company.
1908 Appointed to post with government-sponsored Arbeiter-Unfall Versicherungs-Anstalt für das Königreich Böhmen in Prag.
1909 Publication of ‘Conversation with the Supplicant’ and ‘Conversation with the Drunken Man’, two dialogues from ‘Description of a Struggle’, in the literary periodical
Hyperion
. Publication of ‘The Aeroplanes at Brescia’ in the Prague newspaper
Bohemia
.
1910 Publication in
Bohemia
of several short pieces later included in
Meditation
.
1911 Trip to Frydlant and Liberic.
Trip to Switzerland, Italy, Paris, and Erlenbach.
Meets Yiddish theatre troupe in Prague.
1912 Publication in the literary periodical
Herderblätter
of ‘The First Long Train Journey’, first chapter of
Richard and Samuel
.
Trip to Weimar and Jungborn.
Meets F.B.
Begins
Amerika
.
Writes ‘The Judgement’.
1913 Publication of
Meditation
.
Publication of ‘The Judgement’ in the literary year-book
Arkadia
.
Publication of ‘The Stoker’, first chapter of
Amerika
.
Trip to Riva.
Writes ‘The Metamorphosis’.
1914 Formal engagement to F.B.
Begins
The Trial
.
Writes first draft of ‘In the Penal Colony’.
Writes ‘The Giant Mole’.
Trip to Denmark.
1915 Publication of ‘The Metamorphosis’.
Completes
The Trial
.
Awarded the Fontane Prize for ‘The Stoker’.
Moves from parental house into a rented room.
1917 Tuberculosis.
Sick leave from the Arbeiter-Unfall-Versicherungs-Anstalt
Final break with F. B.
1918 Writes ‘The Great Wall of China’.
1919 Publication of the collection of stories,
A Country Doctor
. Short-lived second engagement to J.W.
1920 Publication of ‘In the Penal Colony’.
Stay in Meran, Austria.
Resumes work at his office.
Meets Milena Jesenská
1921 Stay in a sanatorium in the Tatra.
Writes
The Castle
.
Publication of ‘The Bucket Rider’ in
Prager Presse
.
1922 Publication of the story ‘A Hunger Artist’ in
Die Neue Rundschau
.
1923 Writes ‘Investigations of a Dog’, ‘The Burrow’, and ‘Josephine the Singer’.
Meets Dora Dymant; goes with her to Berlin.
1924 Publication of the collection of stories,
A Hunger Artist
.
Dies 3 June in a sanatorium near Vienna.
Buried 11 June in the Jewish cemetery in Prague-Strashnitz.
Numerals preceded by an italic
n
refer to notes at the end of the book.
It was not possible to identify all the authors and artists mentioned in the text. In such cases their names are not listed here.
Abramowitsch, Solomon Jacob, see Mendele Mocher Sforim
Abschied von der Jugend
, play by Max Brod
Adler, Friederich (1857–1938), German Jewish poet and playwright from Prague,
n
110
Adler, Jacob P., founder of distinguished family of actors
‘Aeroplanes at Brescia, The’, by Franz Kafka,
n
30
Aktion, Die
, political and literary monthly edited by F. Pfemfert, published in Berlin 1911–32
Alarcos
, by Friedrich Schlegel
Amerika
, by Franz Kafka,
n
48,
n
53,
n
81,
n
90
n
101
Annalen für Naturphilosophie
, monist publication edited by Wilhelm Ostwalt, published in Leipzig 1901–21
Annunzio, Gabriele D’ (1864–1938), Italian poet and novelist,
Arkadia
, poetry yearbook edited by Max Brod, appeared in Leipzig 1913
Arme Spielmann, Der
, by Franz Grillparzer
Arnold Beer
, novel by Max Brod
Asmus Sempers Jugendland
, by the German novelist Otto Ernst (1862–1926)
Az Est
, Budapest newspaper
Baal Shem Tov
, Israel B. Eliezer (c. 1700–1760), founder of Hasidism
‘Bachelor’s “Ill Luck” ’, by Frank Kafka,
n
31,
n
123,
n
130
Bakunin, Mikhail (1814–76), Russian anarchist
Baluscheck, Hans (1870–1936), German painter
Bar Kokhba
, play by Abraham Goldfaken, 104–6, 108–9
Bartered Bride, The
, Opera by Friedrich Smetana
Baum, Oskar (1883–1941), Jewish author and music critic from Prague,
n
8
Beer-Hofmann, Richard (1886–1946), Austrian-Jewish lyric poet and dramatist,
n
43
Beermann, Richard Arnold, pseud, of Arnold Höllriegel (1883–1939), author of travel books
Beethoven und das Liebespaar
, novel by Wilhelm Schäfer
Belinski, Vissarion Grigorievich (1811–48), Russian critic
Beradt, Martin (1881–1949), German-Jewish novelist
Bergmann, Hugo (1883–1975), Jewish philosopher from Prague, later Professor at the Hebrew University
Berliner Tageblatt
, newspaper edited by Theodor Wolff, founded in 1872, later absorbed by Nazis
Bernhardt, Sarah (1844–1923)
Besuch aus dem Elysium
, by Franz Werfel
Bialik, Hayim Nahman (1873–1934), Hebrew poet
Biberpelz
, by Gerhart Hauptmann
Bible
Bie, Oskar (1864–1938), German art critic
Biedermann, W. von, editor of
Gespräche mit Goethe
Birnbaum, Nathan (1864–1937) Austrian-Jewish author and Zionist publicist
Bizet, Georges (1838–75), French composer
Black Flags
, by Johan August Strindberg
Blanc, Louis (1811–82), French revolutionary and historian
Blei, Franz (1871–1943), German novelist and satirist, 128–9
‘Blinde Gast, Der’, story by Otto Pick, 316
Blüher, Hans (1888–1955), German writer, author of a number of anti-Semitic works
n
127, 421–2
Blumenfeld, Kurt (1884–1963), German Zionist leader, later in Jerusalem
Bohemia
, Prague German-language newspaper, 188–9
Böse Unschuld, Die
, novel by Oskar Baum
Bouvard et Pécuchet
, by Gustave Flaubert
Boy-Ed, Isa (1852–1928), German popular novelist
Brahms, Johannes (1833–97)
Brandenburg, Hans (1885–1968), German poet and critic
‘Brescia’, see ‘Aeroplanes at Brescia, The’, by Franz Kafka
Briefe, die neueste Literatur betreffend
(1759), a series of literary criticisms edited by Friedrich Nikolai in collaboration with Moses Mendelssohn and Gotthold Ephraim Lessing
Briefe
, by Heinrich von Kleist
Briefwechsel zwischen Rahel und David Veit
*
Brod, Max (1884–1968), 45–6,
n
14,
n
30
Brothers Karamazov, The
, by Fyodor Dostoyevsky, 322–3
Bruckner, Ferdinand, see Tagger, Theodor
Buch des Richters
, by Søren Kierkegaard,
n
58
By the Open Sea
, novel by Johan August Strindberg
Carmen
, by Georges Bizet
Castle, The
, by Frank Kafka,
n
18,
n
70
Christliche Welt, Die
, Protestant magazine first published 1886 in Marburg
Claudel, Paul (1868–1955), French poet and playwright,
n
5,
n
63 ‘Confidence Trickster’, see ‘Unmasking a Confidence Trickster’, by Franz Kafka
‘Conversation with the Supplicant’, by Franz Kafka,
n
4
Corriere della Sera
, Milanese newspaper
Country Doctor, A
, collection of stories and prose pieces by Franz Kafka 386–7,
n
87,
n
124
Dalcroze, Emile Jacques (1866–1950), Austrian choreographer, founder of Hellerau school
Daudet, Alphonse (1840–97), French novelist
Dauthendey, Max (1867–1918), German novelist and poet
David Copperfield
, by Charles Dickens
David, Pierre Jean (1789–1856), French sculptor
Davids Geige
, by Joseph Lateiner
‘Death of Ivan Ilyich, The’, by Leo Tolstoy, it 121
Dehmel, Richard (1863–1920), German poet
‘Description of a Struggle’, by Franz Kafka,
n
4
Deutschen in Russland, Die
, by Paul Holzhausen (1860–), German author of a number of works on Napoleon
Deutsches Abendblatt
, Prague German-language newspaper
Dichtung und Wahrheit
, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Dick, Eisik Meir (1808–94), Yiddish author and novelist
Dickens, Charles (1812–70)
Diederich, Eugen (1868–1930), German publisher
Diener zweier Herrn, Der
, by Carlo Goldoni
Dilthey, Wilhelm (1833–1911), German historian and philosopher,
n
64
Dostoyevsky, Fyodor (1821–81), 322–3
Dream of a Spring Morning
, play by Gabriele D’Annunzio
Dubrovačka Trilogijia
, play by Ilo Vojnovič
Edelstatt, David (1866–92), Yiddish poet
Education sentimentale
, by Gustave Flaubert
Eheleute
, by Martin Beradt
Ehrenfels, Christian von (1859–1932), German philosopher and playwright
Ehrenstein, Albert (1886–1950), Austrian-Jewish poet
Eiserne Frau, Die
, novel by Naum Meir Schaikewitz
Either-Or
, by Søren Kierkegaard
Eleseus, see
Growth of the Soil
Eliezar ben Schema
, by Jacob Gordin
Erdgeist
, play by Frank Wedekind
Erlebnis und die Dichtung, Das
, essays by Wilhelm Dilthey,
n
64
Ernst, Paul (1866–1933), German author
Er Und Seine Schwester
, comedy by the Hungarian-born German playwright, novelist, and journalist Bernhard Buchbinder (1852–1922)
Esther, Kaiserin von Persien
, play by Franz Werfel, 318–19
Excelsior
, illustrated newspaper published in Paris from 1910 to 1942
Fall Jacobsohn, Der
, by Siegfried Jacobsohn
Fidelio
, by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827)
‘First Long Train Journey, The’, by Max Brod and Franz Kafka,
n
14
Fishke der Krummer
, by Mendele Mocher Sforim
Flaubert, Gustave (1821–80)
Fliegenden Blätter, Die
, Satirical magazine published in Munich
Foerster, Friedrich Wilhelm (1869–1966), German pacifist, writer on politics and pedagogy, later in the United States
‘Fogs of London, The’, chapter in
My Past and Thoughts: The Memoirs of Alexander Herzen
Franz Kafka, a Biography
, by Max Brod, n 30
Franzi
, novel by Max Brod
Franziska
, novel by Ernst Weiss, n 77
Fred, W., pseud, for Alfred Wechsler (1879–), German-Jewish writer
Freud, Sigmund (1856–1939)
Freytag, Gustav (1816–95), German novelist
Fromer, Jacob (1865–1941), Jewish philosopher and historian
Frug, Simon Samuel (1860–1916), Yiddish poet
Gabriel Schillings Flucht
, by Gerhard Hauptmann
Galeere, Die
, by Ernst Weiss,
n
57
Gespräche mit Goethe
, edited by W. von Biedermann
‘Giant Mole, The’, story by Franz Kafka
Glaube und Heimat
, by Karl Schönherr
Gluck, Christoph Willibald (1714–87), German-born French operatic composer
Goat Song
, drama by Franz Werfel
Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (1749–1832),
n
44,
n
45
Goethe
, Philosophical biography by Wilhelm Dilthey
Goethe Yearbook
, Edited by L. Geiger, appeared in Frankfort (1880–1913) 196
Gogol, Nikolai Vasilievich (1809–52)
Goldfaden, Abraham (1840–1908), Hebrew and Yiddish poet and playwright
Goldoni, Carlo (1707–93), Italian dramatist
Gordin, Jacob (1853–1909), Yiddish dramatist
Gordon, Judah Loeb (1830–92), poet of the Russian Haskalah
Gothic Rooms, The
, novel by Johan August Strindberg
Gott, Mensch, Teufel
, by Jacob Gordin
Graetz, Heinrich (1817–91), German-Jewish historian
Graf von Gleichen
, by Wilhelm Schmidtbonn
Great Wall of China, The
, by Franz Kafka,
n
61
Grillparzer, Franz (1791–1872), Austrian dramatic poet
Grosse Maggid, Der
, by Martin Buber (1878–1965), Austrian-born Jewish philosopher and scholar later in Israel,
n
130
Growth of the Soil
, by Knut Hamsun
Grünbaum, Fritz (1880–1940), German-Czech author, playwright, and artist
Gutsgeschichte, Eine
, by Selma Lagerlöf
Haas, Willi (1891–1973), German-Jewish writer, editor, from Prague,
n
47
Hässliche, Die
, by Oskar Baum
Halbe, Max (1865–1944), German novelist and playwright
Hamlet
, by William Shakespeare
Hamsun, Knut (1859–1952), Norwegian novelist
Harden, Maximilian (1861–1927), German-Jewish journalist
Hardt, Ludwig (1886–1947), German-Jewish elocutionist
Hašek, Jeroslav (1883–1923), Czech writer,
n 15
Hasenclever, Walter (1890–1940), German-Jewish writer and playwright
Hauptmann, Gerhart (1862–1946), German dramatist,
n
2
Hebbel, Christian Friedrich (1813–63), German poet and dramatist
Hegner, Jakob (1882–1962), German publisher,
n
63
Heiligenlegenden
, see
Schönsten Heiligenlegenden in Wort und Bild, Die
Heine, Heinrich (1797–1856)
Herder, Johann Gottfied von (1774–1803), German author and philosopher
Herderblätter, Die
, literary magazine published in Prague,
n 47
Hermann und Dorothea
, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe,
n
44
Hermann, Hugo (1887–1940), Zionist editor and author from Prague
Hermann, Leo (1888–1951), Zionist worker and author from Prague
Herzele Mejiches
, by Moses Richter
Herzen, Alexander (1812–70), Russian author and revolutionist,
n
60
Hippodamie
, by Jaroslav Vrchlicky
Histoire de la Littérature Judéo-Allemande
, by Meyer Isser Pines
‘History of the Devil’, by Gustav Roskoff
History of the Jews
, by Heinrich Graetz
Hofmannsthal, Hugo von (1874–1929), Austrian poet
Hose
, by Karl Sternheim
Hugo, Victor (1802–85)
Humboldt, Wilhelm von (1767–1835), German philologist and man of letters
‘Hunter Gracchus, The’, by Franz Kafka,
n
61
Ibsen, Henrik Johan (1828–1906), Norwegian poet and dramatist
Ingres, Jean Auguste Dominique (1780–1867), French painter
Insel Almanach
, Literary almanach, first published in 1905 in Leipzig by Insel-Verlag
‘In the Penal Colony’, by Franz Kafka
Iphigenie auf Tauris
, by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Ivan Ilyich, see ‘Death of Ivan Ilyich, The’
Jacobsohn, Siegfried (1881–1927), German-Jewish publicist and editor of
Die Weltbühne
Jammes, Francis (1868–1938), French poet and novelist
Jerusalem, Karl Wilhelm (1747–72), prototype of Goethe’s Werther
Johanna von Neapel
, drama by Hanna Rademacher (1881–), German author and playwright
Jolie Fille de Perth, La
, by Georges Bizet
Jordaens, Jacob (1593–1678), Flemish painter
Journalisten
, play by Gustav Freytag
Journey Through Planetary Space, A
, by the French author, Jules Verne (1828–1905)
Judas
, tragedy by Gerdt von Bassewitz
‘Judgement, The’, by Franz Kafka,
n
52
Jüdinnen
, by Max Brod
Jung-Stilling, Johann Heinrich (1740–1817), German Pietist writer
Jungfern vom Bischofsberg
, by Gerhart Hauptmann,
n
2
Kabale und Liebe
, play by Freidrich Schiller
Kainz, Josef (1858–1910), great Austrian actor
Karl Stauffers Lebensgang. Eine Chronik der Leidenschaft
,by Wilhelm Schäfer
Keller, Gottfried (1819–90), Swiss poet and novelist
Kellermann, Bernard (1879–1951), German novelist
Kerner, Justinus (1786–1862), German poet
Kestner, Johann Christian (1741–1800), a legation secretary; prototype of Albert in Goethe’s
The Sorrows of Werther