Hans Castorp remained seated.<\/p>\n
He looked at his notebook. He looked at the ring. He looked, down below, at the hall, at Kautsonik, who was moving like clockwork.<\/p>\n
He thought: So go.<\/p>\n
And at the same time he thought: So another recommendation.<\/p>\n
For was that not exactly what this world had perfected? That it even sells leaving as a program? That even the break itself is organized as a service?<\/p>\n
He stood up.<\/p>\n
It is disheartening, esteemed reader, dear reader, how quickly one sets oneself in motion as soon as a plan exists. The plan acts like a relief; it takes away the responsibility of wanting something oneself. Hans Castorp walked toward the stairs, this time not hesitating.<\/p>\n
On the way down he saw the chandelier from the side. He saw how it consisted of individual pieces of glass, of many small, perfect parts that together make a great light \u2013 and he thought that this might be the image of optimization: improving individual parts until the whole shines.<\/p>\n
But to shine, he thought, does not mean to live.<\/p>\n
He reached the bottom.<\/p>\n
Kautsonik was there.<\/p>\n
Of course.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are leaving,\u201d said Kautsonik, without asking.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d said Hans Castorp.<\/p>\n
Kautsonik nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cJoy to him who goes,\u201d he said, and this time it did not sound like routine, but like a sentence one says to someone who is doing something improper: withdrawing.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp pulled the envelope out of his pocket once more, as if he had to prove that it was not his own idea.<\/p>\n
Kautsonik looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t need to show anything,\u201d he said. \u201cI believe you anyway that you are leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou believe a lot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see a lot,\u201d replied Kautsonik.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp felt himself grow cold, although the hall was warm. He thought of registers, of entries, of names.<\/p>\n
Kautsonik did not take the envelope from him. He did not take his luggage from him. He only took from him, with a look, a part of the fear \u2013 or he pretended to.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are traveling with Mr. Gustav,\u201d said Kautsonik.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d said Hans Castorp.<\/p>\n
\u201cA creator,\u201d said Kautsonik, and the word sounded in his mouth like a mixture of respect and mockery.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know him?\u201d<\/p>\n
Kautsonik shrugged his shoulders.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn hotels,\u201d he said, \u201cone does not know the people. One knows their habits. He drinks his coffee black. He always sits at the edge. He pays on time. And he has\u2026\u201d \u2013 Kautsonik made a small pause \u2013 \u201ca way of looking as if everything he sees were already the past.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I?\u201d he asked, almost childlike.<\/p>\n
Kautsonik looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou,\u201d he said, \u201cwear your name like a mask. And you wear your ring like a guardian angel. That is a modern combination.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp wanted to say something, but then he heard a voice behind him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoctor!\u201d<\/p>\n
He turned around.<\/p>\n
Dr. AuDHS was standing in the hall, dapper, inconspicuously expensive, with that smooth calm that says: I am not here privately \u2013 and which, if you look more closely, does have a crack, a slight restlessness, as if he were never entirely there, but always already in a thought.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp stepped up to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDoctor,\u201d he said, and he noticed how much this form of address was a support to him.<\/p>\n
Dr. AuDHS smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are leaving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
It was strange how everyone in this house could say \u201cYou are leaving\u201d without Hans Castorp having told them. As if leaving, once it is in the air, were a rumor that immediately becomes true.<\/p>\n
\u201cRecommendation,\u201d said Hans Castorp.<\/p>\n
Dr. AuDHS raised his eyebrows.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cGustav,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Dr. AuDHS nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAh,\u201d he said. \u201cSouth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know everything,\u201d he said, half reproachful, half relieved.<\/p>\n
Dr. AuDHS smiled, and the smile had, very briefly, something like tiredness.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know everything,\u201d he said. \u201cI only know patterns.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what is this pattern?\u201d asked Hans Castorp.<\/p>\n
Dr. AuDHS looked up at the chandelier, as if he wanted to look at the circle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pattern,\u201d he said, \u201cis that when people improve themselves, at some point they believe they must also change. And change always sounds like movement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp was silent.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will wear your ring,\u201d said Dr. AuDHS, and it was not a question.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp looked at the ring.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d he said, and he did not know whether it was agreement or dependence.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood,\u201d said Dr. AuDHS. \u201cThen do me a favor.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Dr. AuDHS leaned forward a little, and at this closeness one could feel the crack: the private tone in the professional voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t believe everything the ring tells you,\u201d he said softly. \u201cAnd don\u2019t believe everything the South tells you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what should I believe?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Dr. AuDHS looked at him for a moment, and this look, esteemed reader, dear reader, was again remarkable: not stern, not soft, but both at once.<\/p>\n
\u201cBelieve,\u201d he said, \u201cthat you were up there as well. That the mountain remains in you. And that what you will see down there is not automatically truth just because it is beautiful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBeautiful and disheartening,\u201d murmured Hans Castorp.<\/p>\n
Dr. AuDHS nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd one more thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you begin to tell yourself about yourself,\u201d said Dr. AuDHS, \u201cthen do not tell it in numbers. Tell it in sentences. Otherwise everything becomes\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
He made a small pause, searching for a word.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026bestforming,\u201d he finally said.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp laughed briefly.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are making fun of me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d said Dr. AuDHS. \u201cI am diagnosing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he stepped back, as if he had to turn the closeness back into duty.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave a good trip,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd: stay slow.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp nodded.<\/p>\n
Slow.<\/p>\n
System 2.<\/p>\n
He left.<\/p>\n