In the Penal Colony | Page 9

falling in that
incredibly soft flight into the pit, even if hundreds of people are not
gathered like flies around the hole the way they used to be. Back then
we had to erect a strong railing around the pit. It was pulled out long
ago."
The Traveler wanted to turn his face away from the Officer and looked
aimlessly around him. The Officer thought he was looking at the
wasteland of the valley. So he grabbed his hands, turned him around in
order to catch his gaze, and asked, "Do you see the shame of it?"
But the Traveler said nothing. The Officer left him alone for a while.
With his legs apart and his hands on his hips, the Officer stood still and
looked at the ground. Then he smiled at the Traveler cheerfully and
said, "Yesterday I was nearby when the Commandant invited you. I
heard the invitation. I know the Commandant. I understood right away
what he intended with his invitation. Although his power might be
sufficiently great to take action against me, he doesn't yet dare to. But
my guess is that with you he is exposing me to the judgment of a
respected foreigner. He calculates things with care. You are now in
your second day on the island. You didn't know the Old Commandant
and his way of thinking. You are trapped in a European way of seeing
things. Perhaps you are fundamentally opposed to the death penalty in
general and to this kind of mechanical style of execution in particular.
Moreover, you see how the execution is a sad procedure, without any
public participation, using a partially damaged machine. Now, if we
take all this together (so the Commandant thinks) surely one could
easily imagine that that you would not consider my procedure proper?
And if you didn't consider it right, you wouldn't keep quiet about it --
I'm still speaking the mind of the Commandant -- for you no doubt
have faith that your tried-and-true convictions are correct. It's true that
you have seen many peculiar things among many peoples and have
learned to respect them. Thus, you will probably not speak out against

the procedure with your full power, as you would perhaps in your own
homeland. But the Commandant doesn't really need that. A casual word,
merely a careless remark, is enough. It doesn't have to match your
convictions at all, so long as it corresponds to his wishes. I'm certain he
will use all his shrewdness to interrogate you. And his women will sit
around in a circle and perk up their ears. You will say something like,
'Among us the judicial procedures are different,' or 'With us the
accused is questioned before the verdict,' or 'We had torture only in the
Middle Ages.' For you these observations appear as correct as they are
self-evident -- innocent remarks which do not impugn my procedure.
But how will the Commandant take them? I see him, our excellent
Commandant -- the way he immediately pushes his stool aside and
hurries out to the balcony -- I see his women, how they stream after
him. I hear his voice -- the women call it a thunder voice. And now he's
speaking: 'A great Western explorer who has been commissioned to
inspect judicial procedures in all countries has just said that our process
based on old customs is inhuman. After the verdict of such a
personality it is, of course, no longer possible for me to tolerate this
procedure. So from this day on I am ordering . . . and so forth.' You
want to intervene -- you didn't say what he is reporting -- you didn't call
my procedure inhuman; by contrast, in keeping with your deep insight,
you consider it most humane and most worthy of human beings. You
also admire this machinery. But it is too late. You don't even go onto
the balcony, which is already filled with women. You want to attract
attention. You want to cry out. But a lady's hand is covering your
mouth, and I and the Old Commandant's work are lost."
The Traveler had to suppress a smile. So the work which he had
considered so difficult was easy. He said evasively, "You're
exaggerating my influence. The Commandant has read my letters of
recommendation. He knows that I am no expert in judicial processes. If
I were to express an opinion, it would be that of a lay person, no more
significant than the opinion of anyone else, and in any case far less
significant than the opinion of the Commandant, who, as I understand it,
has very extensive powers in this penal colony. If his views of this
procedure are as definite as you think they are, then I'm afraid the time