Death in Venice and Other Tales by Thomas Mann

Author:Thomas Mann
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2015-05-21T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

TOWARD AUTUMN, Tonio Kröger said to Lisaveta Ivanovna:

“Well, I’m taking a trip, Lisaveta: I need some fresh air. I’m heading out, out into the wide world.”

“And where to, batushka? Are you deigning to revisit Italy?”

“Goodness, don’t get me started on Italy, Lisaveta! I’m so indifferent to Italy that I practically despise it! It’s been a long time since I imagined I belonged there. Art—right? Velvety blue sky, hot wine, and sweet sensuality. In short, I don’t like it. Thanks, but no thanks. That whole bellezza business makes me nervous. And I can’t stand all those horribly vibrant people down there, with their black animal eyes. Those Latins have no conscience in their eyes.... No, I’m going to spend a little time in Denmark.”

“Denmark?”

“Yes. And I feel it’ll do me good. It happens that I’ve never gotten up there, even though I was so near the border throughout my youth, and yet I’ve always known and loved that country. I probably got this northern bent from my father; my mother really leaned more toward bellezza, so far as she wasn’t indifferent to everything, you know. But take the books that are written up there, these deep, pure, humorous books, Lisaveta—there’s nothing I like better; I love them. Take the Scandinavian meals—those incomparable meals, which can be digested only in strong, salty air. I have no idea whether I can still endure them; I became a bit familiar with them at home, for those are the only kinds of meals that are now eaten back there. And take just the names, the first names that adorn the people up there—and by now there are a lot of those names in my hometown. A set of sounds like Ingeborg‘—a stroke of the harp producing the most pristine poetry. And then the sea—they’ve got the Baltic up there! ... In a word, Lisaveta, I’m heading north. I want to see the Baltic again, I want to hear those names again, I want to read those books right where they were written. I also want to stand on the terrace of Kronborg, where the ’ghost’ appeared to Hamlet, bringing anguish and death to the poor noble young man....”

“How are you traveling, Tonio, if I may ask? What route are you taking?”

“The usual one,” he said, shrugging and noticeably reddening. “Yes, I’m touching my ... my point of departure, Lisaveta, after thirteen years, and that might be rather comical.”

She smiled. “That’s what I wanted to hear, Tonio Kröger. And so bon voyage and God be with you. And don’t forget to write me, do you hear? I’m looking forward to a letter bursting with your experiences on your trip to ... Denmark.”

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