He placed them on the table, the way one sets up relics.<\/p>\n
One was dark yellow, the other grass green. The colors were so distinct that they almost became symbolic: yellow like spice, like sun, like medicine; green like plant, like hope, like lagoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis,\u201d said Dr. Porsche, and you could hear that he loves this moment, \u201cis my morning longevity ceremony.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp felt a smile come to him, not out of mockery, more out of amazement. Ceremony. A doctor who says ceremony. And yet it fit, because in this house everything is ceremony.<\/p>\n
Dr. Porsche continued, very precise, very calm \u2013 and in this precision lay the crack: the passion.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the morning you weigh out,\u201d he said, \u201cthree to three and a half grams of this health powder.\u201d<\/p>\n
He tapped on the yellow tin.<\/p>\n
\u201cDark yellow. Turmeric forty-five percent, pepper five, ginger thirty, black cumin ten, amla five, coriander five.\u201d<\/p>\n
He spoke the percentages as if they were prayers. Hans Castorp thought of children listing ingredients; and of pharmacists mixing poisons.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mix it with a little water,\u201d Dr. Porsche went on, \u201cand you drink it slowly, in individual sips \u2013 and before each sip you gargle a little.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGargle,\u201d repeated Hans Castorp.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d said Dr. Porsche seriously. \u201cThe mouth is a gate. And gates need care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp thought of threshold guardians, of the dog in the dome. Gates everywhere.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen,\u201d said Dr. Porsche, \u201cyou take a little more than one gram of bitter drops \u2013 classic \u2013 in a shot glass. A little lemon juice with it. Drink.\u201d<\/p>\n
He made a small hand movement, as if he were drinking himself. Hans Castorp saw the orange tie, how it moved a little, and thought that this man, as dapper as he is, is also a bit of a priest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen,\u201d continued Dr. Porsche, \u201chibiscus white tea. Prepared the evening before. A small handful of dried hibiscus blossoms, and \u2026\u201d He paused briefly, as if checking a formulation. \u201c\u2026a pinch of dried white tea leaves. You let it steep with not quite boiling water. In the morning you filter it. The color is deep red. It is probably the healthiest drink made from 2 ingredients that you can take.\u201d<\/p>\n
Deep red.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp thought of blood. Of tunnels. Of lilies. Of Venice perhaps \u2013 of water that can turn red if you look at it too long.<\/p>\n
Dr. Porsche moved the green tin a little forward, as if that were the real act.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd into this tea,\u201d he said, \u201cyou mix two point five to three grams of my longevity powder. Grass green. Ratio two to two to one: NMN powder, betaine powder, matcha powder.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said matcha with a slight, modern pride, as if he had invented Japan.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp looked at the tin. Grass green. And inwardly heard Morgenstern\u2019s phrase: blue grass. Here it was now, the grass, but green, correct, dosed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd with that you take the tablets,\u201d said Dr. Porsche, and now, for all the ceremony, he became quite prosaic, almost businesslike \u2013 here the crack showed itself as a change of register.<\/p>\n
\u201cBase: vitamin D3\/K2. One hundred milligrams of acetylsalicylic acid. Resveratrol. Magnesium, if you exercise. Multivitamin, multimineral, multi-trace elements \u2013 with iodine, important. Q10. And for blood sugar stabilization: metformin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Metformin.<\/p>\n
The word sounded as if it were being spoken in an engine room. Hans Castorp swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is a lot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dr. Porsche nodded, and now he was warm again, almost apologetic.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is not a lot,\u201d he said, \u201cif you understand it as a ritual. It is a lot if you understand it as a burden. We want it as \u2026\u201d He searched for the word, and you could see that he meant it seriously. \u201c\u2026hygiene.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp thought: today hygiene is the new morality. You wash yourself, and you wash yourself, and you hope that guilt is washable.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what about my blood pressure?\u201d asked Hans Castorp.<\/p>\n
Dr. Porsche reached for a small device that lay on the table as if it were there by chance: a blood pressure monitor, clean, modern, with cuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom now on you measure daily,\u201d he said, \u201cbefore going to bed. Always at the same time. Not obsessively.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said the word obsessively quickly, as if he knew that this is exactly what can happen.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou write it down,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp felt the little wooden stick in his pocket. Writing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd the stay?\u201d he asked, cautiously.<\/p>\n
Dr. Porsche smiled, and this time the smile was both friendly and businesslike.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least three overnight stays,\u201d he said, and you could hear that he has the brochure in his head. \u201cBut if you ask me \u2013 and you are asking me, otherwise you wouldn\u2019t be sitting here \u2013 then it would be wise to stay longer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d asked Hans Castorp, although he guessed the answer.<\/p>\n
Dr. Porsche looked at him. And now came the sentence that sums everything up without admitting it:<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause you don\u2019t do optimization in passing,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd because you \u2013 forgive me for putting it this way \u2013 are not the type who finishes quickly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp smiled politely.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll stay,\u201d he said, and in that sentence there was, as so often, more truth than he had intended.<\/p>\n
Dr. Porsche nodded with satisfaction, and now the crack showed itself in a small, human tiredness: as if he knew that this staying is not only a success, but also a danger.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood,\u201d he said. \u201cThen we\u2019ll turn your \u2018normally high\u2019 into \u2018normally good\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n
Normally good.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp thought: here language becomes a thermostat.<\/p>\n
Dr. Porsche stood up, handed Hans Castorp the two tins, as if he were giving him not powder but a new identity.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne more thing,\u201d he said, and his voice became quiet again. \u201cYou are healthy, Mr. Castorp. Don\u2019t forget that. But today health is no longer a condition. It is a task.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp took the tins.<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
He stood up, took the cuff, the printouts, the numbers. And he had the feeling that he no longer left the room as a guest, but as a case. As a project. As a program.<\/p>\n