rescuing her from an adventure that would have led nowhere, and that with her embrace she was handing on to him, like a legacy, the bitter-sweet burden of love for his future life. The child of that time understood none of this, but he felt that it was very delightful to be loved so much, and that through this love he was already drawn into the great secret of the world.
When she drew back her hand from him, her lips left his, and her quiet figure went away, skirts rustling, a warmth was left behind, breathing softly over his lips. And he sensed a sweet longing to feel such soft lips many times again, and be so tenderly embraced, but this mysterious anticipation of the secret he longed to know was already clouded by the shadows of sleep. Once again all the images of the last few hours passed vividly through his mind, once again the book of his youth opened enticingly. Then the child fell asleep and began to dream the deeper dream of his own life.
Other Stefan Zweig titles published by
P USHKIN P RESS
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Beware of Pity
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Confusion
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Copyright
First published in German as
Brennendes Geheimnis in 1913
© S Fischer Verlag
English translation © Anthea Bell 2008
Print edition first published in 2008 by
Pushkin Press
12 Chester Terrace
London NW1 4ND
Reprinted 2010
This ebook edition first published 2011
ISBN 978 1 906548 55 1
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from Pushkin Press
Cover: Composition IV Wassily Kandinsky 1911
Courtesy of Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen Düsseldorf
Frontispiece: Stefan Zweig
© Roger-Viollet Rex Features
Set in 10.5 on 12.5 Baskerville MT
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