From the beginning he was
aware of this parthenogenesis of the soul, whose capacity to
multiply by taking cuttings was equivalent to bringing forth young
in this life without conception. And for that reason, and so as not
to become life's fool, he wrote under a number of pseudonyms, of
which each one constituted a 'stage on his life's way.' But did you
realise this? The Lord of life, in spite of all these precautions,
made a fool of him after all. Kierkegaard, who fought all his life
against the priesthood and the professional preachers of the State
Church, was eventually forced of necessity to become a professional
preacher himself! Oh yes! Such things do happen.
STRANGER. The Powers That Be play tricks. ...
MELCHER. The Powers play tricks on tricksters, and delude the
arrogant, particularly those who alone believe they possess truth
and knowledge! Number eight in the catalogue. Victor Hugo. He split
himself into countless parts. He was a peer of France, a Grandee of
Spain, a friend of Kings, and the socialist author of _Les
Miserables_. The peers naturally called him a renegade, and the
socialists a reformer. Number nine. Count Friedrich Leopold von
Stollberg. He wrote a fanatical book for the Protestants, and then
suddenly became a Catholic! Inexplicable in a sensible man. A
miracle, eh? A little journey to Damascus, perhaps? Number ten.
Lafayette. The heroic upholder of freedom, the revolutionary, who
was forced to leave France as a suspected reactionary, because he
wanted to help Louis XVI; and then was captured by the Austrians
and carried off to Olmuetz as a revolutionary! What was he in
reality?
STRANGER.
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