The Sleepwalkers (131 page)

"I
am
a
Christian,
the
Lutheran
creed
was
taught
me
by
my
parents,
I
took
it
unto
myself
with
repeated
searchings
of
its
foundations,
with
daily
questionings,
and
I
hold
fast
to
it.
Hypocrisy
I
have
never
learnt.
I
am
in
earnest
about
Faith
and
I
do
not
play
with
it."
²²

It
was
the
outburst
of
a
man
of
basic
integrity,
forced
to
swim
in
the
troubled
waters
of
his
time.
He
was
as
sincere
in
matters
of
religion
as
circumstances
permitted
him
to
be;
at
any
fate,
his
deviations
from
the
straight
path
were
perhaps
not
greater
than
those
of
his
orbits
from
God's
five
perfect
solids.

Kepler
was,
then,
made
an
exception
and
permitted
to
return
from
exile
in
October
1599.
Since
his
school
had
been
closed
down
he
could
devote
most
of
his
time
to
his
speculations
on
the
harmony
of
the
spheres;
yet
he
knew
that
the
reprieve
was
only
a
temporary
one,
and
that
his
days
in
Gratz
were
numbered.
He
sank
into
a
profound
depression,
deepened
by
the
death
of
his
second
child;
in
a
despairing
letter
he
asked
Maestlin,
in
August
1599,
for
his
help
in
finding
a
job
at
home
in
Protestant
Wuerttemberg.

"The
hour
could
not
have
been
more
propitious;
but
God
has
offered
this
fruit,
too,
only
to
take
it
away
again.
The
child
died
of
a
cerebral
meningitis
(exactly
as
its
brother
a
year
ago)
after
thirty-five
days...
If
its
father
should
follow
soon,
his
fate
would
not
be
unexpected.
For
everywhere
in
Hungary
bloody
crosses
have
appeared
on
the
bodies
of
men
and
similar
bloody
signs
on
the
gates
of
houses,
on
benches
and
walls,
which
history
shows
to
be
a
sign
of
a
general
pestilence.
I
am,
as
far
as
I
know,
the
first
person
in
our
town
to
see
a
small
cross
on
my
left
foot,
the
colour
of
which
passes
from
bloody
red
to
yellow.
The
spot
is
on
the
foot,
where
the
back
of
the
foot
curves
into
the
instep,
half-way
between
the
toes
and
the
end
of
the
shin-bone.
I
believe
it
is
just
the
spot
where
the
nail
was
hammered
into
the
foot
of
Christ.
Some
carry,
I
am
told,
marks
in
the
shape
of
drops
of
blood
in
the
hollow
of
the
hand.
But
so
far
this
form
has
not
appeared
on
me...

The
ravages
of
dysentry
kill
people
of
all
ages
here,
but
particularly
children.
The
trees
stand
with
dry
leaves
on
their
crowns
as
if
a
scorching
wind
had
passed
over
them.
Yet
it
was
not
the
heat
that
so
disfigured
them,
but
worms..."
²³

He
had
the
worst
fears.
There
was
talk
of
torture
for
heretics,
even
of
burnings.
He
was
fined
ten
dalers
for
burying
his
child
according
to
Lutheran
rites:
"half
of
it
was
remitted
at
my
request,
but
the
other
half
I
had
to
pay
before
I
was
allowed
to
carry
my
little
daughter
to
her
grave."
If
Maestlin
cannot
get
him
a
job
at
once,
would
he
at
least
let
him
know
about
the
present
cost
of
living
in
Wuerttemberg:
"How
much
wine
costs
and
how
much
wheat,
and
how
things
stand
regarding
the
supply
of
delicatessen
(for
my
wife
is
not
in
the
habit
of
living
on
beans)."

But
Maestlin
knew
that
his
university
would
never
give
a
job
to
the
unruly
Kepler,
and
he
was
getting
thoroughly
fed
up
with
Kepler's
unceasing
demands
and
badgerings;
the
more
so,
as
Kepler
had
followed
up
his
S.O.S.
with
the
foolish
remark:

"Of
course,
nobody
would
expel
me;
the
most
intelligent
among
the
members
of
the
Diet
are
the
most
fond
of
me,
and
my
conversation
at
meals
is
much
sought
after."
²⁴

No
wonder
that
Maestlin
underestimated
the
urgency
of
the
situation,
and
delayed
for
five
months
before
he
answered
with
an
evasive
and
grumpy
epistle:
"If
only
you
had
sought
the
advice
of
men
wiser
and
more
experienced
in
politics
than
I,
who
am,
I
confess,
as
unexperienced
in
such
matters
as
a
child."
²⁵