Impatience of the heart (novel)

In this novel, Stefan Zweig shows Austria-Hungary at the beginning of the 20th century on the eve of the First World War , describing the mores and social prejudices of that time. Like the best novels of the author, the novel is replete with the smallest psychological nuances in which the feelings and motivations of the actions of the characters are revealed. In the epigraph to his novel, Stefan Zweig wrote:

“There are two kinds of compassion. One is cowardly and sentimental, it, in essence, is nothing but the impatience of the heart, hastening to quickly get rid of the painful sensation at the sight of someone else's misfortune; it is not compassion, but only an instinctive desire to protect one’s peace from the suffering of one's neighbor. But there is another compassion - true, which requires action, not sentiment, it knows what it wants, and is determined, suffering and compassion, to do everything in human power and even beyond them. ”

The novel begins in 1913 in a small town near Vienna . The narration is conducted on behalf of the main character - Anton Hoffmiller. At the beginning of the novel, he is a young man at the age of 25, a lieutenant of the cavalry of the Austrian army, who grew up in a poor large family and early fell into military service, which was considered prestigious for a man. The young man was spared from the need to make independent decisions in his life, he was only required to follow the orders of the command, but, on the other hand, the monotonous life in the garrison of a small town and the lack of prospects quickly became a burden for him.

Once Anton is invited to dinner at the castle of the richest landowner in the district - Mr. von Kekesfalva. There he meets two charming young girls: the owner’s only daughter, Edith, and her cousin Ilona. Anton and Ilona quickly find common topics for conversation, have fun, dance a lot. Anton, who almost forgot about the owner’s daughter, invited Edith to a waltz, but the girl burst into tears in response. Not understanding what is happening, Anton turns to Ilona for clarification, who tells him that Edith has paralysis of her legs and she cannot move without crutches and outside help. In dismay, Anton leaves Kekeshfalva Castle, even forgetting to say goodbye. His conscience tormented him all night, he pitied Edith and even felt involuntary shame because of his good health, which had never happened to him before. The next morning, Anton buys a huge bouquet of red roses for the last money and sends them to Edith along with a note with an apology. Edith writes in response that she is not offended, thanks for the flowers and invites them to visit them at any time.

Anton begins to spend all his free time in the castle, trying to entertain the girls. All the inhabitants of the castle are very happy about his visits and accept as a native. In one of the conversations, Ilona says that she has a bridegroom, but out of love for her cousin and at the request of her uncle, she agreed to wait a while with her marriage and devotes all her time and energy to caring for Edith. At first, Anton likes to communicate with the Kekeshfalva family, because here the young man found what he lacked for many years: home, family comfort, comfort, communication with educated people, a pleasant female society. About his visits to the castle it becomes known to his comrades who are treated differently: some mock, others envy, some believe that he wants to get rich this way, because Edith is a rich heiress. Anton tries to clearly distinguish between his life in the garrison and visits to the castle out of fear of public opinion.

In the meantime, Dr. Condor arrives at the castle for a new medical exam Edith. Kekeshfalva asks Anton to find out from the doctor when Edith will recover. Anton is bewildered, but under pressure from Kekeshalva and wanting to help, he agrees. Condor, in conversation with Anton, talks about the past of Kekeshfalva: his Jewish background, the source of his wealth, the death of his wife and the accident with his daughter. Condor also tells Anton about his blind wife - a former patient - whom the doctor married after he realized that he could not cure her, thereby taking responsibility for another person. Condor is trying to make the young man understand the difference between pity and helping another person, and the doctor says that the girl is getting better about Edith’s state of health. Anton and Kekeshfalva misinterpret Condor’s words: the young man thinks that the doctor is confident in Edith’s speedy recovery, and his father hurried to make his daughter happy. The doctor severely reports Anton for the false hope involuntarily presented to the Kekeshfalva family.

Gradually, Anton realizes that his acquaintance with the Kekeshfalva family, which began with a pleasant pastime, began to weigh him more and more. Once, Edith herself was the first to kiss Anton, and this becomes a complete surprise for him. The young man does not know what to do next and, in particular, how he will continue to behave with Edith and is not ready for responsibility for her. Soon he receives love letters from Edith. She is aware of the hopelessness of her love, but hopes that they can be together when Edith is recovered. Anton, who received letters, is horrified by this uninvited passion. He decides to leave the service and leave Austria. Anton goes to Dr. Condor to say goodbye and confesses to him that he is no longer able to endure Edith’s love, and that he is more likely to be scared by public opinion rather than the girl’s mutilation. Nevertheless, Dr. Condor manages to convince Anton to stay, because with his flight he signs the death sentence of Edith. Anton agrees to stay until Edith leaves for Switzerland to continue a new course of treatment.

Soon Anton again arrives at the Kekeshfalva estate. He firmly decided to endure these eight days and not show Edith his feelings: fear and pity. However, he fails to pretend to assure Edith of his love, and this causes a "strange hostility" in the girl. Three days later, von Kekeshfalva himself visits Anton, begging him to save Edith, to help her. Tormented by pity and compassion, Anton asks to tell Edith that they will be together when the girl recovers. Under pressure from Kekeshalwa Condor, Anton agrees to be engaged to Edith. However, he still feels compassion for her, not love, and fears the ridicule of his comrades. Moreover, he is confused by the Jewish origin of the girl’s father, he is afraid of public opinion. When comrades in the barracks directly ask Anton whether it is true that he was engaged to Kekeshfalva’s daughter, he does not have the courage to admit, and he denies everything. The depressed Anton decides to commit suicide, but meets a colonel to whom he talks about his lies. The colonel promises to settle everything and sends Anton to Chaslavitsa. Before the trip, Anton leaves a letter to Dr. Condor asking him to tell Edith everything. Nevertheless, Anton does not renounce the engagement, asks the girl for forgiveness and wants to stay with her, redeeming his cowardice, his lies.

Anton sends a telegram, which later does not reach the addressee. On the trip, Anton tries to reach Kekeshfalva Castle and Dr. Condor, but all lines are overloaded.

Edith, having received no news from the groom and accidentally hearing the accusations in her direction, chooses the moment when Ilona does not have time to keep track of her, rushes down from the castle terrace and crashes to death.

Anton blames himself for what happened, reflecting on the fact that Edith was the only person who really loved him, who really needed him. Tormented by remorse, Anton goes to the front, running away from life, looking for death in battle, but survives and at the age of 28 he is awarded for the courage shown in the war by the Order of Maria Theresa .

Years pass, Anton’s life is gradually getting better, he gained courage and began to live, allowing himself to forget about that old story with Edith. But once in the Vienna Opera House, Anton Hoffmiller accidentally sees Dr. Condor with his wife, - a man,

“Whose compassion was not murderous weakness like mine, but saving power and self-sacrifice — the only one who could condemn me, the only one who was ashamed of me! <...> from that moment I finally became convinced that no guilt could be betrayed oblivion, as long as her conscience remembers. ".

• Lieutenant Anton Hofmiller, 25 years old
• Freulein Edith von Kekeshalva, 17-18 years old
• Mr. Lajos von Kekeshfalva, father Edith - Hungarian aristocrat, wealthy landowner (formerly Jewish Leopold (Lemmel) Kanitz, broker )
• Dr. Emmerich Condor
• Ilona, ​​niece of Kekeshfalva and actually nurse Edith
• Joseph, a servant in the house of Kekesfalva
• Ferenc, Comrade Hoffmiller
• Yogi, Comrade Hofmiller
• Balinkai
• Colonel Svetozar Bubenchich
• Pharmacist
• Clara, wife of Dr. Condor
• Frau Gurtner, flower girl

Cinema

The novel was repeatedly filmed:

• 1946 - The Beware of Pity (UK) black and white film directed by Maurice Elvey, starring Lilly Palmer and Albert Lieven.
• 1979 - color television movie " Dangerous Pity " (France), directed by Eduard Molinaro , starring Marie-Helene Breuil and Mathieu Carrier .
• 2013 - mini-series "Love for Love" (Russia), based on the novel, directed by Sergey Ashkenazi .

Theater

• 2012 - Théâtre du Lucernaire (France), performance, director Stefan Olivier-Bisson.

• Ungeduld des Herzens. In: Projekt Gutenberg-DE.