Kaleidoscope Two
KALEIDOSCOPE TWO STEFAN ZWEIG 1 CONTENTS BUCHMENDEL - 3 LEPORELLA - 21 THE INVISIBLE COLLECTION - 37 IMPROMPTU STUDY OF A HANDICRAFT - 43 THE ROYAL GAME - 52 LETTER FROM AN UNKNOWN WOMAN - 73 RACHEL ARRAIGNS GOD - 127 VIRATA, OR THE EYES OF THE UNDYING BROTHER - 135 The Royal Game was translated from the German by B. W. Huebsch; the other stories were translated by Eden and Cedar Paul. 2 BUCHMENDEL HAVING just got back to Vienna, after a visit to an out-of-the-way part of the country, I was walking home from the station when a heavy shower came on, such a deluge that the passers-by hastened to take shelter in doorways, and I myself felt it expedient to get out of the downpour. Luckily there is a cafe at almost every street corner in the metropolis, and I made for the nearest, though not before my hat was dripping wet and my shoulders were drenched to the skin. An old- fashioned suburban place, lacking the attractions (copied from Germany) of music and a dancing-floor to be found in the centre of the town; full of small shopkeepers and working folk who consumed more newspapers than coffee and rolls. Since it was already late in the evening, the air, which would have been stuffy anyhow, was thick with tobacco-smoke. Still, the place was clean and brightly decorated, had new satin-covered couches, and a shining cash-register, so that it looked thoroughly attractive. In my haste to get out of the rain I had not troubled to read its name - but what matter? There I rested, warm and comfortable, though looking rather impatiently through the blue-tinted window panes to see when the shower would be over, and I should be able to get on my way.
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