They sat down again.<\/p>\n
Gustav wrote.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp sat there, and his thoughts were, despite all practice, despite all rituals, back down on the highway again: they were driving, they were speeding, they were making noise.<\/p>\n
He looked at his ring.<\/p>\n
The ring showed him, soberly, that his pulse was slightly elevated. It showed him that the skin temperature had risen. It showed him that the day was \u201cactive\u201d.<\/p>\n
It was as if, in the middle of a tragedy, he were getting fitness feedback.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp felt a rage that was foreign to him.<\/p>\n
He took the ring with his other hand, turned it a little, as if one could change something by turning.<\/p>\n
He thought: I have learned to improve values. I have not learned to keep people.<\/p>\n
Next to him Gustav was writing.<\/p>\n
Then Hans heard a sound.<\/p>\n
It was not loud. It was a cough, a gagging, something you do not want to hear on the beach, because the beach is supposed to be a stage for health.<\/p>\n
Gustav suddenly stood up, too quickly.<\/p>\n
He took two steps, stopped, bent forward slightly, as if he were looking at something \u2013 the water perhaps, the discoloration \u2013 and then he went, faster, away, behind the loungers, behind the sunshades.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp remained seated.<\/p>\n
He did not know whether he should get up. He did not know whether he should follow. He did not know whether he should pretend that nothing was happening.<\/p>\n
This is, esteemed female reader, esteemed male reader, the moment in which civilization reveals itself: in the art of not knowing how to help without disturbing the order.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp finally stood up.<\/p>\n
He took, out of a movement that was not conscious, his thermos bottle \u2013 perhaps because it gave him support, perhaps because it was an object that promised him \u201chygiene\u201d.<\/p>\n
He went after Gustav.<\/p>\n
Behind the loungers there was a narrow passage, a wooden walkway that led to the cabins.<\/p>\n
Gustav was standing there, by a wall that was painted white, and was holding on with one hand. The other hand was in front of his mouth, as if he were holding something back.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp stepped closer.<\/p>\n
\u201cGustav,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Gustav raised his gaze.<\/p>\n
In this gaze there was no mask anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo,\u201d said Gustav.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d said Hans Castorp.<\/p>\n
Gustav laughed briefly \u2013 a dry, sick laugh.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are like a nurse,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was never a nurse,\u201d he said. \u201cI was\u2026\u201d He paused, because he did not know what he was.<\/p>\n
Gustav briefly closed his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is nothing,\u201d he said again.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp looked at him. He saw the moisture on his forehead, the paleness under the makeup, the slight restlessness in his hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are lying,\u201d he said softly.<\/p>\n
Gustav opened his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is the point of the mask.\u201d<\/p>\n
And then \u2013 as if the body had had enough of sentences \u2013 he doubled over, very briefly, and Hans Castorp heard again that sound that one does not want to hear.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp laid his hand on his back.<\/p>\n
It was warm. It was too warm.<\/p>\n
Gustav was breathing heavily.<\/p>\n
\u201cI do not need a doctor,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need\u2026\u201d Hans Castorp searched for a word that is not banal.<\/p>\n
Gustav said, with a sudden sharpness:<\/p>\n
\u201cI need my sentence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp was silent.<\/p>\n
That was the Tonio axis, which suddenly was no longer theory but body: the creator who believes that he may exist only as a creator.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the body does not work,\u201d Gustav had once said, \u201cone cannot create.\u201d<\/p>\n
And now the body was not working.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp felt a sentence come into his head that he did not want:<\/p>\n
Perhaps this is the punishment: not for false sentences, but for the belief that sentences save.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome,\u201d said Hans Castorp. \u201cWe are going to the hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gustav shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Hans Castorp exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cToo long,\u201d he said, and he did not know whether he was saying it to Gustav or to himself.<\/p>\n
Gustav looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n