Belding banner. (Belding, Mich.) 1889-1918, 1900-08-23
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WITH A DEAD MAN F:
. A Story by Guy de,Maupassant =
which Has just Come
= to Light. =
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

de Maupassant has just come to light
and is published for the first time in
Paris. For years the author astonish-
ed the world by his grim conceptions,
but the world was not surprised when
he became insane
According TO Maupassants manu-
script. the story was told 10 him by a
German, who, with friend, spent the
night in Schopenhauer's funeral cham
ber
The great German philosopher had
died during the day, and his two adj
mirers prepared to watch over his re-
mains during the dark hours.
Said the German:
"Schopenhauer had just died, and we
two had decided to stay In his room
until morning. Two lights were burn
ing on the table.
"At midnight our watch began, and
after the two others who had remained
with the body till that hour had gone
away, we took up our position at the
foot of the bed. The face of the dead
man was unchanged.
at smiled.
"The wrinkle which we knew SO
well was firmly marked, and the
countenance looked altogether so nat
ural that ii would not have surprised
us If our dead friend had opened his
eyes and laughed at us.
"Yet the memory of his profound
thoughts weighed upon us, and we felt
ourselves surrounded by the atmos-
phere of his genu. The body of such
man may be stilled by death, but the
man remains, and not without fear can
one remain In his presence. We spoke
about him softly; we recalled those
wonderful maXims of his which threw
such a clear light on many of the dark
problems of life.
81 can almost fancy l hear him
speak,, whispered my companion, and
at the mere thought we became still
more uneasy, as we sat quite still, our
eyes fixed on the motionless, smiling
face.
Suddenly we felt weak and as
though something oppressed us. |
| stammered
81 don't know what is the matter,
but | assure you | am sick There
upon my companion suggested that we
should go into the adjoining room and
leave the door open, and | took his adj
vice. Taking with us one of the can
dies, we sat down at the farther end Of
the other room i'm such a manner that
we had a full view OF the bed and of
the dead man.
"Still, however, strange uneasiness
possessed us. 1t seemed ms though we
were wholly enthralled by the dispm-
bodied genius of the dead philosopher.
"All at once we heard a slight noise
in the death chamber We looked To-.
ward the body. and then quite dis
tinctly both of us saw something white
roll over the bed, fall on the carpet and
vanish under sofa.
"At the sight we sprang to our feet,
terrified beyond measure. Our hearts
beat wildly. | spoke first.
Ibid you see itT
eyes, saw it.
"Tsn't he dead thenr
"'He must be-
"'What are we to dor
"'We must see what IL MEANS was
my companions hesitating reply.
II took our light, led the way into the
| death chamber and then cast a hasty
look around. Nothing stirred and
approached the bed. The next mo-
ment, however, a great terror seized
me, for | saw that Schopenhauer was
no longer smiling.
"His face, on the contrary, presented
a horrible appearance, for his lips were
tightly pressed together, and in his
cheeks there were two great hollows
! / stammered:
"'He is not dead And | stood star
ing at him as though bereft OF my
| senses.
"Thereupon my companion took the
other candle and stopped down, and In
n moment or two he touched my arm
| but did not utter a word. | looked
where he pointed. and | saw on the
ground beside the sofa something white
that cleaned strangely on the dark
carpet, and | saw ut once what II was
1t was Schopenhauer's false teeth,
and they seemed to be I'm the act OF
biting. AS the body had decayed the
| fastening that held the teeth in posi-
ton had gradually become so loose that
they dropped from the mouth and roll
ed from the bed on TO the floor."-Ex-
| chonOa