Konrad and Alexandra (pdf) - Rolf Gross

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Professor Dahl began to laugh. "I support Katharina. The horoscope is the answer: higher coincidences! We know nothing about such a correlation. But Alexandra’s example has a strange meaning, the anthropological origins of the penitence movement, as well as Christ’s death all relate to Carnival. This orgiastic festival is ancient." He shook his head again and mused. "Come to think of it: Saturn reigns and the Moon is waning! How could I have forgotten? Katharina is right!" Thus vindicated, Katharina pursed her lips smugly. "That is what I meant, Fasching and the Church festivals are governed by the lunar calendar, which is a female calendar, isn’t it?" Caught by his future daughter-in-law, Dahl gave himself charmed. "Yes, all religious ideas follow lunar cycles: four times seven equals twenty-eight days! Who invented the number seven, matriarchy? Was the moon female first—i selene, la luna, la lune-–and after it God created woman? Presumably so, and I have foolishly entertained the vain hope that by using rational psychology we could do away with this kind of religious superstition. But what would we do without our charming women? I consider myself defeated!" He lifted his glass to the women around the table. Konrad said. "Ash Wednesday, Lenten, Easter is in a couple of weeks. Easter and the Mysteries, Joachim, have you ever heard the story of the Easter play at Zedazeni, which my mother-in-law produces every year?" Joachim shook his head. "I have heard rumors of it, but in my official position in Tiflis I never dared attending, and nobody could explain to me what was happening up there during Easter Night. But Alexandra, what has your dear mother to do with these things?" Alexandra laughed. "Konrad, may I tell our story including your tentative interpretation and its latest modification with Persephone eating the pomegranate pits?" Konrad smiled, thinking of Zaguramo. "If everyone agrees to listen to a lengthy tale which has become part of the Chavchavadze-Dadiani family lore, so be it. I see, we have entered the charmed circles of Hauff’s fairy tales." Claiming everyone’s rapt attention Alexandra told of the strange Easter happenings at Zedazeni. "You know, Lexako," said Niko who had listened to his sister with increasing fascination. "I have never heard that story. Of course, I knew that Deda attended Easter service at Zedazeni, but she never told me what happened up there, nor that she acted in that play." Alexandra nodded. "It was a well-kept family secret, only Ilia and Papa knew of her acting in the play, and Papa was not going to tell anybody. Besides neither he nor Ilia had ever seen Deda perform at Zedazeni. The whole matter was much too embarrassing. I am still proud of my mother’s daring. Imagine a married woman acting and against the expressed will of her husband—in Georgia!" Now Niko wanted to hear more of the details. "And what about that strange woman, Persephone? Was she really a close friend of Deda’s? The witch of Shavnabada?" Konrad, restless, looked at his watch. "Niko, it is almost ten, we should be going home." But he was outvoted by the Dahls and the Bredows. Very animatedly Mrs. Dahl pleaded. "Now that we have entered “Hauff’s maze”, as Konrad says, we want to hear the next story nested in Alexandra’s story, please Konrad let her continue." Alexandra took off her necklace and handed it to Clara. "It all started with this necklace." Konrad shook his head, but Alexandra continued undaunted. "Konrad met an Armenian 196
goldsmith, and under his tutelage he made this necklace for me. Henri is a Sufi, he took Konrad as his student and introduced him to his tekke. Persephone was the sheik of this tekke." Joachim became agitated. "During my six years in Tiflis I have tried several times unsuccessfully to penetrate the Sufi circles, and your necklace I have admired so often and never dared to ask who made it. Konrad, you? A Sufi?!" Konrad smiled about Joachim’s excitement. "Not quite a Sufi, only an apprentice to an exceptional Sufi master." Urged on by Joachim and Clara, Konrad and Alexandra alternatingly told the stories of the necklace, of Henri and Persephone. At two in the morning Friedrich drove them home in his father’s car. "What an extraordinary evening!" exclaimed Joachim when they separated at the Bredow’s hotel, "I should have had to come to Munich to discover the hidden life of Tiflis!" A week later Joachim visited Konrad and Alexandra to bring them the encouraging news that the Tsar had appointed Witte President of the Council of Ministers, the emperor’s advisory cabinet. Witte had immediately forced the Tsar to dismiss the incapable ministers in the cabinet and replaced them with energetic and trustworthy men of his own choice. The political situation must have frightened Nicholas sufficiently, commented Joachim, to accept this horse cure. Konrad remarked that Witte was hardly a revolutionary. Joachim, the diplomat he was, pointed out that this was exactly the encouraging aspect of the development. Witte would strengthen the vacillating hand of the Emperor. A more radical government would create total chaos at this time. Witte had first to settle the war and stabilize Russia’s economy, before he could persuade the Emperor to accept a constitution. Thank God, the threat of a radical revolution had once again been averted. After Joachim left, Konrad and Alexandra got into a heated political argument. Alexandra, stung by Joachim’s conservative pessimism, demanded the head of the Emperor, which Konrad countered with the sarcastic remark that she had a sharp mind but lacked, as did most Russian subjects of His Majesty, a sense for a constructive Realpolitik. Alexandra became angry, broke off the discussion, and went to bed in tears of frustration. 197
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Konrad and Alexandra The Chronicle
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24.The Dahl's House, Katharina, 190
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One piece of luggage after another
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I sank into a restless sleep and th
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jokes. Fifteen years ago Leist had
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goats, and driven from behind by sh
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two of us." Tiflis 1898 Tiflis and
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comprehension that fortune had sent
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Wine Merchants, Tiflis Bazaar, 1890
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I can never completely shake off vi
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couches. They were given big towels
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Alexandra Dadiani Tiflis 1898 She w
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Dadiani laughed so heartily that Ko
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eally introverted. We love tragedy,
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"Konrad, come and join us, it must
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Chekhov's "Chaika" and Henri the Go
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He handed her the necklace. She str
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curtain. Konrad, raised on the clea
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Henry nodded. "I know what you mean
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"I know you feel overawed by the ta
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Alexandra's Necklace Konrad’s emo
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Georgia on Horseback 1898 Konrad’
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Konrad laughed. "That was exactly w
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came from the desert, a jackal or a
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Around the white cathedral that tow
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The Engagement Konrad and Alexandra
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find the love she needed. He had pu
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The half hour ride took them up a v
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After the dance ended, a deep silen
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Ilia Chavchavadze, Tiflis, 1900 (Wi
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Irakli raised his glass. "Do bury t
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New Year 1899 The jeunesse d’oré
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"May I look at your watch? What is
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possibility of a physical abduction
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well in Telavi, return tomorrow. A
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Alexandra described the sequence of
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It was Easter night. On his last vi
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hoarsely, "Mein Gott, you are right
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sharply. Konrad smiled. "We left he
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that no publisher would touch the m
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The Last Feudal Wedding in Kakheti
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Alexandra sees in me. A remarkably
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Alexandra had phonetically translit
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"Listen my love, try to lie absolut
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over dark waters to an undisclosed
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The Wolfsons Fiesole and Florence 1
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anecdote: my brother studied theolo
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vanishing lines. They are not shown
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Alexandra tried to compare both pai
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Sisakians, she found, disconcerted,
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existed no viable political alterna
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Russian aristocrats are blind or si
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The ball became a great, albeit con
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He was not interested in controllin
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would have fainted." Niko laughed.
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women as you are now. His skill suc
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erated him. Had he not himself said
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Otto's Birth 1900 At four in the mo
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at the height of the contraction sh
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today you look even more gorgeous."
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Alexandra had waited for him and fi
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The Gulf of Finnland near Lisi Nos
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Count Nikolai Prshevalsky had broug
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The entire ground floor had been op
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She finally learned to distinguish
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pouring out of the palais, the elec
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Indian Masters were fabricated by h
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Berlin 1904 Alexandra had received
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pretty women. They are hanging on S
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He pointed at a monument everybody
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Rheinsberg 1904 They traveled by tr
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under Friedrich’s eyes. Friedrich
Page 146 and 147: off her horse, and embraced her. Ar
Page 148 and 149: lethargy and got me into this adven
Page 150 and 151: "Look, I will give you a recipe for
Page 152 and 153: The Dahl's House Katharina Weisshub
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Page 156 and 157: "I urgently need some new clothes a
Page 158 and 159: They went to the late show in an ol
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Page 168 and 169: She glanced furtively at Katharina.
Page 170 and 171: "You guessed right," she said in Ge
Page 172 and 173: He switched back to German. "Can on
Page 174 and 175: "It describes Wagner arriving at th
Page 176 and 177: the cello, a red rectangle driven b
Page 178 and 179: Had Herr Schönberg or Herr Webern
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Page 182 and 183: Fashing Munich 1905 Once a year Dio
Page 184 and 185: cuirass. The audience watched breat
Page 186 and 187: They sank into each other’s arms.
Page 188 and 189: They woke up late next morning. Kon
Page 190 and 191: Walking on Ice After the cold and f
Page 192 and 193: in the shadows, and green edges aro
Page 194 and 195: Germany an alternative. He surely d
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Page 200 and 201: Alexandra was the first to notice t
Page 202 and 203: arena. Aïda in the immense Roman o
Page 204 and 205: Fiesole 1905 "Walter, we have not s
Page 206 and 207: Last time Walter had taken her to t
Page 208 and 209: Alexandra's Time "Friedrich," said
Page 210 and 211: points I felt the eyes of the Gods
Page 212 and 213: Meeting Clara Westhoff München and
Page 214 and 215: "I rented the large dining hall and
Page 216 and 217: Despite the scarf, Alexandra could
Page 218 and 219: adoration of her bizarre beauty. Ev
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Page 222 and 223: Snowbound in Eydtkuhnen 1905 "Konra
Page 224 and 225: the platform. Someone unrolled a re
Page 226 and 227: The von Bredow's Snow Casle From be
Page 228 and 229: They tiptoed downstairs and along t
Page 230 and 231: Return to St. Petersburg 1905 Konra
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Page 236 and 237: And her narrow hand in rings. "Ever
Page 238 and 239: They had, one day, swum out to a lo
Page 240 and 241: impression on us, you have to conce
Page 242 and 243: his best to bring some kind of stab
Page 244 and 245: Uncle Muravi's Benz Tiflis 1907 "Ma
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you have ever known me. Can’t you
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after me. I would have liked to bri
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From the very beginning little Soph
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like he: They look at someone and k
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long ride with Claudia and her pare
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In the evening, alone with Dahl and
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maternal rule?" Alexandra burst out
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hair and build. Cousin Tamara was t
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along, which I will tie to the pers
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I could live just as well in Svanet
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suspected to suffer from tuberculos
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The dinner feast became a grand aff
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things." Alexandra surprised Shalva
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cut the bread effigy into small pie
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her hands during her examination. W
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Adishi Gocha Teaching Dream Work Ad
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talked to me during the night, but
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Ilia Chavchavadze's funeral train a
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Their slightly feminist-tinged conv
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he spent six hours with her and twi
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and patience are most important. A
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strokes on large pieces of newspape
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while Izabel became their quietly d
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ankles, this très-solide, yet well
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in 1907! At first, this fact and th
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my company. Together, we could have
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covered with faded, dark-red plush,
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not sell me this painting, I will d
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Konrad in China 1911-1912 In Octobe
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father is very impressed by your so
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Niko. "You asked me what would happ
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teachers of the great Medresses in
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The patient, an old man suffering f
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Konrad's Return from China St. Pert
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which I did not understand. When I
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Konrad dug a thick, battered sketch
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everybody. "Konrad, will you let me
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Alexandra let out a peal of laughte
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Alexandra's Journey to Munich 1913
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ediscovering the old sympathies. Pe
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Dahl's Examination of Alexandra Mun
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in Svaneti may not have been perman
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"My shadow-soul flies into an embra
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Ever since Claudia’s outbreak in
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A Visit to Kandinsky Murnau 1913 Al
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sexual arousal, dance rhythms, and
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He invited them to dinner in the vi
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any thought to. A group of children
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Petersburg. They will have a simple
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you smile meekly and remain silent.
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herself to sleep. With the last mai
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of his faithful. One night around t
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ead and the resignation of the Empe
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Vladimir gulped down his glass of v
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Their Flight to Georgia May 1918 In
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It was an unreal night, the scare a
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negotiate the bad mountain tracks.
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was very much of her own mind. Meli
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director at the hospital until the
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Kräuterfrau, a herbalist in the Ge
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He paused and took a sip from his g
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German Troops in Tbilisi 1918 - 191
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would crown the tombstone on his gr
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we are late." "Tell me what was you
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adventure on that German ship to Ha
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"Friedrich, who was a very successf
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Alexandra’s diminutive scribble w
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The snotty character in the shaft-b
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final reckoning with Georgia. Withi
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again war was raging behind the mou
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She undid it and let it flow into m
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ut she did not explain why―a Sufi
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weeks among the obscurer Greek writ
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A List of people "Konrad and Alexan
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Sources Little information exists o
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