Hans Castorp felt a small chill run down his back, although the water was warm. It was not shame, not fear \u2013 it was that unpleasant moment when you realize that another person, quite ordinary, in his quite ordinary life, is handling the same mechanisms that you yourself have perfected for reasons of survival: the blurring, the twisting, the mask.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now?\u201d asked Hans Castorp.<\/p>\n
Morgenstern pulled something out of the pocket of his bathrobe.<\/p>\n
It was a telephone. A handset, as people carry it today, as if it were an organ; the glass of its surface gleamed, and in this glass the blue of the water was reflected. Morgenstern wiped his thumb over it, and Hans Castorp felt, with a slight aversion, how effortlessly morality appears on a screen today.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have five resolutions,\u201d said Morgenstern, and it sounded as if he were speaking of five pills that one has to take daily.<\/p>\n
\u201cFive,\u201d repeated Hans Castorp.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d said Morgenstern. \u201cYou have to\u2026 name it. Otherwise it gets blurred.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp heard the word \u201cblur\u201d and involuntarily thought of the little wooden stick in his pocket. It was as if the motifs had conspired.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirst,\u201d said Morgenstern, and his voice took on that solemn objectivity that modern people have when they try to be serious without seeming pathetic. \u201cRespect.\u201d<\/p>\n
He lifted his gaze from the screen and looked at Hans Castorp, as if he wanted to check whether the word had an effect.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to treat my wife with respect in every situation,\u201d he said, \u201cin words, tone of voice and behavior. Also in front of others. Especially in front of others. No derogatory comments, no mockery, no public jabs. Criticism\u2026\u201d He swallowed. \u201c\u2026only in private. Calm. Factual.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp nodded slowly. He thought of the night, of the French \u201cun peu bourgeois\u201d, of the malice that was at the same time a kiss. He thought how seductive mockery can be \u2013 and how easily, when it is no longer tender, it becomes a kind of violence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tone of voice,\u201d he said softly, \u201cis often the knife. The word is only the sheath.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morgenstern looked at him, and in his gaze there was gratitude \u2013 or perhaps only relief that someone recognizes the knife.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecond,\u201d he continued. \u201cCompassion.\u201d<\/p>\n
He spoke the word as if he had to teach it to himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen my wife is emotionally burdened,\u201d he said, \u201cI react first with compassion and care. Not with evaluation. Not with justification. Feelings\u2026\u201d He exhaled. \u201c\u2026not relativize. Not psychologize. Not see as weakness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp thought of the word \u201chumanity\u201d, of Settembrini, whom he had never seen again; and he thought how unedifying it is that today one formulates humanity in sentences that sound like instruction manuals. And yet, he thought, it is perhaps better to have an instruction manual than none at all. For when left to himself, man often operates the wrong devices.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompassion,\u201d said Hans Castorp, \u201cis sometimes only the ability to postpone one\u2019s own judgment for a moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Morgenstern nodded. He looked back at the telephone, as if he were afraid that the words would disappear.<\/p>\n
\u201cThird,\u201d he said. \u201cResponsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp felt something tighten inside him.<\/p>\n
Responsibility: a word that in his body still sounded like a shot.<\/p>\n
Morgenstern said, striving to be calm:<\/p>\n
\u201cI take responsibility for my share of conflicts. For the dynamics. Not shifting everything onto my wife, not onto circumstances. I want to see my own behavior. My patterns. My impact. When I was wrong\u2026\u201d He faltered and then, as if he had lifted a stone, brought out the word: \u201c\u2026apologize. And change.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp remained silent a moment too long.<\/p>\n
Morgenstern looked at him. \u201cIs that\u2026 does that sound silly to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp slowly shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt sounds,\u201d he said, \u201cdangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n