Merry-Go-Round(From the Austrian)
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'v » «5 °x. y y ..., v*—-,y .. y aV ', -» .a •» a/ • : . * ^ ** A y, 'o . y Acy *b a o M o _ ^ , k ' a <£, ^ O J"®’ f ^ ^ Ovwwn^ * ^ c ^ y o > • \0 v*» ^^r^s/m N ^ ^ ' S^ly# * r\ A* * y Of this edition, intended for pri¬ vate circulation only, nine hundred and ninety-nine copies have been printed, after which the type has been distributed. This is copy No. _ Merry Go - Round OTHER WORKS by GEORGES LEWYS The Temple of Pallas-Athenae (Posterite) Florentine Verdun and Ballads The Charmed American (Francois, VAmericain) Adelina Patti, Her Loves and Letters A Woman of Fifty, and Other Poems As God in France In preparation: Yamhill, a novel The Bard of Avon Mata Hari | libretti GjJL Merry-Go-Round (From {Ke Austrian.) BY GEORGES LEWYS Unexpunged and Complete Edition Privately Printed for Subscribers Onb? Copyright 1923 By Georges Lewys Entered in Stationers’ Hall, London. All Rights Reserved for translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian. < I C Printed in the United States of America ©C1A760043 To my friend, Erich von Stroheim, who was the inspiration of this work, “Das Leben ist ein Ring elspiel, da wird oft manchem bang, Dem einen ist zu kurz die Tour, dent anderen zu long” (“Life is a merry-go-round—of joys, of tears, of song9 To one the trip is oft too short, another one too long.99) PREFATORY NOTE Readers of MERRY-GO-ROUND should bear in mind that the story is of a continental (European) flavour and portrays the life and manners of the city of Vienna prior to and since the war. It is not necessary to blush for the truth nor to apologise for realism; the book must be accepted for what it is worth: not the triumph or failure of virtue or vice, but the frank weighing of values in the scale of social de¬ pravity and regeneration. Caution is merely made against any attempt to approach incidents in the story from a too-sensitive (American) viewpoint. The Author wishes to acknowledge thanks to Mr. Erich von Stroheim for invaluable suggestions at all times; to Captain Albert Conti for technical help in describing the retreat at Rawaruska, etc.; and to Count Mario Caracciolo for the Venetian scenes and Italian conditions of internment during the war. Attention is called to the fact that the Radetzky statue, which is the outstanding feature to the Viennese of their late martial spirit, was removed from the Platz Am Hof in 1912 to a position before the K. u. K. Artillerie Arsenal off the Wiedener Giirtel in the 10th District of Vienna—“Favoriten.” . Not wishing to dissociate the old memorial from the life in the inner city, where it was so long renowned and rec¬ ognized, liberty was taken to leave it on the Am Hof after 1912, through war and succeeding peace. Merry-Go-Round Vienna . old . gray. historical. The town of joy ... of gladness . .. and of mirth. of sordid sorrow . and of grief . of song... of wine ... of heart affairs .... of sentimental tears . and heedless prankish laugh¬ ter .... of mediaeval pomp . and martial spirit. .. • . the town of dukes ... of princes .. and of counts .. and beggars .... of women sweet and pure . and harlots. Vienna with a code of morals all its own .. bravely idling away the hours .... to the strains of Strauss and Lehar .... not knowing of tomorrow. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I Franciscus Erasmus Otto Adalbert von der Hohenegg 1 II Franzl. 6 III Morning Following Night. 16 IV Gisella . 27 V The Footwashing. 36 VI The Prater. 44 VII Night Following Morning. 53 VIII The Fat Lady. 64 IX The Light Goes Out. 70 X Madame Elvira. 78 XI Huber Collects His Greatest Crowd. 85 XII Two Months Later. 92 XIII A Tragedy In The Danube. 97 XIV Jock The Lady-Killer. 104 XV Violin and Bow. 112 XVI “Out There In The Blossoming Garden”. 121 XVII Serajevo . 130 XVIII The Merry-Go-Round Goes ’Round. 136 XIX An Emperor Is Also In Sorrow. 145 XX Boniface. 154 XXI Man Is An Imitative Creature. 163 XXII “When Love Dies”. 171 XXIII Lilac. 179 XXIV After The Ball. 188 XXV Punch And Judy. 194 XXVI The Rutschbahn. 206 XXVII The Four Musketeers Of The Court. 216 XXVIII The Gleaners. 224 XXIX All-Souls’ Day. 232 XXX Regarding The Progress Of A Falling Body. 240 XXXI Dragoons! . 251 XXXII The Iron Hand. 259 XXXIII “15.. 29.. 61.”. 268 XXXIV Nicki, Rudi And Eitel. 277 XXXV Profiteers! . 285 XXXVI All The World Was Cold. 292 XXXVII Franz Meier. 300 XXXVIII The Supreme Sacrifice. 311 < % I FRANCISCUS ERASMUS OTTO ADALBERT VON DER HOHENEGG In the year 1280 a castle was lodged on the upper reaches of the Danube River. It was at Pochlarn, above Vienna, in the Ost-Mark, which was the original name of Austria, that later, by the addition of Hun¬ gary, Bohemia, Tyrol and other vassal states, became the great empire of Austria-Hungary. This castle was the stronghold of a robber-knight. He would pillage, storm and burn the countryside, being a man of about fifty years who had spent his life in wars. When the wars ended over that period the Count von der Hohenegg, who was this robber, made a fortress out of his chateau, posting men-at-arms at the loop-holes, watching the highroad for travelers and falling upon these. He murdered as many as he robbed. And those whom he robbed were glad to fly for their lives before the insolent band of highway¬ men, outlaws by profession, outragers of human de¬ cency and despoilers of women I Count von der Hohenegg had a liking for beautiful women and for strong ale. He robbed the abbeys and took the casks of wine. He stopped the trains and de¬ manded toll from wayfarers who journeyed down the shore of the Danube from the provinces into Vienna, then, as now, the most important commercial city of central Europe. The Danube was ordinarily placid, but before his castle raged into a whirlpool of green water! This was just the place for a robber- baron, one of the type with which Germany and Aus¬ tria were infested during the lawless period. 1 2 Merry-Go-Round Count von der Hohenegg was a man of gigantic stature. His hair upstood like a ruff on his head, coal- black, but white at the roots, like his beard, which was also profuse. His cheeks were flaming red—in patches purple when his passions were roused and the conquest of his men brought booty and an occasional high bishop into his clutches, when he tortured him, bringing down the whole condemnation of the church on his head, but in no way interfering with his toll or his licentious dis¬ position. He then took the bishop and defrocked him, made him perform antics, such as running about on all fours as his retainers stuck him in the hinder portion of his anatomy with spears, or walled him up alive in a cask or hanged him to the nearest tree! . Count von der Hohenegg was a sworn enemy of the church. The peasants, who cultivated their crops on the table-lands of the Danube, rejoiced at this. They were much oppressed by the bishops and the clergy.