He paused, and in this pause you could, if you wanted, look at the grand piano that stood silently on the stage, black, shiny, as if it were an animal that was sleeping. You could also look outside, where the landscape acted as if it knew no projects.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince about eleven o\u2019clock,\u201d Dr. AuDHS continued, \u201cthe picture has been getting even more exciting \u2013 because what we call \u2018human\u2019 becomes more clearly visible.\u201d<\/p>\n
He spoke the word \u201chuman\u201d with a caution, as if it were a concept that is too easily misused in a pathetic way.<\/p>\n
\u201cUpright walking becomes normal \u2013 and with that the hands become free,\u201d he said. \u201cThat changes hunting, food, tools, everyday life. Free hands mean: more possibilities. More shaping. More culture.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans looked at his hands. He saw how they lay calmly on the table, as if they did not belong to him, but to a picture.<\/p>\n
\u201cPolitics arises,\u201d said Dr. AuDHS. \u201cAnd by politics I do not mean parties here. I mean the ability to consciously ensure good coexistence: through visibly obliging behavior, through alliances, through social cleverness. That is useful to this day \u2013 and for many people even a life goal: to get along well with people.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looked into the room, and his gaze brushed, just a hint too long, Morgenstern, as if he knew that this man was currently working on such a life goal, not out of ideology, but out of necessity.<\/p>\n
\u201cGrief becomes conscious,\u201d said Dr. AuDHS. \u201cWe learn to bear loss. Rituals help to accept, to let go. Grief is an enormous form of stress \u2013 and at the same time profoundly human. Even today, the ability to allow grief and at some point transform it is a protective factor for the soul.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans thought of the war, of the noise, of the fireworks, of the twitching of his body. He thought: Grief is perhaps also what you do not feel because you cannot afford to.<\/p>\n
\u201cIntoxication appears,\u201d Dr. AuDHS continued, \u201coccasionally. As an exception. As a stress valve. And this is important: Occasional intoxication is something different from the constant availability that comes later. \u2018Sometimes\u2019 can become \u2018always\u2019 \u2013 and then benefit tips into harm.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said it as if it were self-evident; and yet in the sentence there was a warning that did not sound like morality, but like biology.<\/p>\n
\u201cCooperation and hierarchy,\u201d he said. \u201cWe create things together that are impossible alone. And we organize ourselves. Good cooperation works best when responsibility is linked to suitability \u2013 not to ego.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans thought of Settembrini and Naphta, of responsibilities and egos; but he thought it only fleetingly, because these names no longer counted in this world, or only as literary shadows.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then,\u201d said Dr. AuDHS, \u201cthe awareness of death. The knowledge: I am finite.\u201d<\/p>\n
He left the sentence standing. It was the moment when the music room, warm as it was, acquired a hint of cold.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd precisely from that something decisive arises,\u201d he continued, more quietly: \u201cThe present becomes valuable. The here and now becomes the center.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans felt something answer inside him \u2013 not as a thought, but as a body: a small, heavy yes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe human being can plan the future, remember the past,\u201d said Dr. AuDHS, \u201cbut he lives only in the present. And whoever loses this present loses a part of life.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outside, the present stood in green; inside it stood in words.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince about eight o\u2019clock,\u201d said Dr. AuDHS, \u201cmany things have been emerging that we take for granted today \u2013 and that nevertheless have a deep effect within us.\u201d<\/p>\n