«Souverän meiner Zeit»: Opportunity Cost in Leo Perutz’s Zwischen neun und neun WILLIAM H. CARTER I OWA S TATE U NIVERSITY «freiheit beginnt mit f und endet mit t. dazwischen gibt es zweimal ein farbloses ei, ein unsympathisches r und ein versöhnliches h. das ist freiheit. jedes kleinste abweichen verstümmelt die freiheit oder zerstört sie überhaupt. der freie gebrauch des alphabets - wie er der freiheit angemessen wäre - legt die freiheit in fesseln. so demonstriert schon die benennung, das wort, der begriff, die lautfolge von freiheit, wie es um sie steht. sie kann nur unbeschädigt kommuniziert werden, wenn sie sich keine freiheit erlaubt.» Friedrich Achleitner 1 In a letter to the Frankfurter Zeitung dated June 5, 1930, Leo Perutz strongly objects to a characterization of his work published four days earlier in the newspaper’s Literaturblatt. Perutz explains that the piece titled «Kriminalromane, auf Reisen» misleads readers by mentioning him alongside Gaston Leroux, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Anna Katherine Green. He has never written a Kriminalroman. Nor does he care for the suggestion that his work is light reading for a long journey. He summarizes the lines in question: «Die vier saloppen Zeilen, in denen mich der Autor zu Ehren des Kursbuches als einen exakten Begleiter auf Reisen wünscht und in denen er behauptet, die Stationen meiner Erzählungen mit der Uhr in der Hand wie die Provinznester, die an der Strecke liegen, durchfliegen zu können, möchte ich doch Ihrer Aufmerksamkeit empfehlen» (Eckert and Müller, Leo Perutz 129). Not surprisingly, Perutz appreciates neither being considered a welcome alternative to a railway timetable nor having his narratives compared to «provincial backwaters.» 2 In fairness to the author of the piece, Walter Benjamin, he praises Perutz for being more precise than a timetable, «einen exakteren Begleiter, […] der die kräftig rhythmisierten und synkopierten Erzählungen verfaßte» (Benjamin, «Kriminalromane, auf Reisen» 382). 3 The precision of his prose notwithstanding, Perutz is clearly concerned with the presentation of his literary endeavors as trivial and the impression this leaves with readers. He takes the four-line «critique,» as he describes it at the beginning of the letter, very personally. Beyond the inaccurate categorization and unflattering description of his writing, the critic fails to appreciate the amount of time 98 William H. Carter and effort he has invested in his work, as he explains: «Es ist nicht die richtige Art, über einen Autor zu sprechen, der an jedem seiner Romane und an jeder seiner Erzählungen jahrelang sehr mühevoll gearbeitet hat. Zumindest geben diese vier Zeilen Ihren Lesern ein vollständig falsches Bild meiner Art und meiner Ansichten» (Eckert and Müller, Leo Perutz 129). Leo Perutz’s pointed response to the Literaturblatt article underscores his desire to be viewed as a serious author whose works, though easy to read, are more than casual reading. It should be noted that by 1930, Perutz had already enjoyed tremendous success as a writer for well over a decade. Admired by the public and intellectuals alike by this time, his novels had been translated into Czech, English, Finnish, French, Hungarian, Norwegian, Polish, Russian, and Swedish (Müller and Schernus 77-91). Despite contemporaries such as Hermann Broch and Alfred Döblin engaging his work during this period, Perutz remained concerned with the trivialization of his writing and, by extension, his legacy. He voices this apprehension in a letter written from Tel Aviv on May 4, 1946: «Ich bin für Europa ein forgotten writer» (Eckert and Müller, «Einleitung» xii). As if following this pronouncement, literary scholars overlooked Perutz for the next four decades. Fortunately, in the late 1980s his work reemerged and began to receive the well-deserved critical attention it warrants, thanks in large part to the efforts of Hans-Harald Müller. Yet the resurgence of interest in Perutz pales in comparison to the recognition awarded him by readers such as Adorno, Borges, Kirsch, Kracauer, and Tucholsky during the interwar period. 4 One work that helped Perutz gain this notoriety was Zwischen neun und neun (1918). 5 In this novel, Perutz brings together classical and libidinal economics within a Viennese setting. He presents, through various perspectives, an example of the economic principle of opportunity cost, on the one hand, and offers insight into Freud’s «economic» concept of Bindung, on the other. Following a reading of the discourse of time and money in the text, I conclude by considering the significance of the novel for Alfred Hitchcock’s first thriller, The Lodger. Zwischen neun und neun begins with a series of vignettes that take place between approximately seven thirty in the morning and twelve in the afternoon. In the first scene, the Trafikantin Frau Püchl steps out of her shop for a moment before the morning rush begins. A cold, wet day in Vienna, the weather is perfect for some schnapps. Yet with only a small amount left, she chooses to save it for later. In the eight o’clock hour, Frau Püchl tends to her regular customers. Shortly after nine, Frau Schimek, the owner of another Trafik visits the shop and recounts the events surrounding a recent dispute over a shipment of Hungarian cheese. During the course of their conversation, they «Souverän meiner Zeit» 99 notice the peculiar behavior of a man repeatedly walking by and looking inside. Finally deciding to enter, he opens the door with his left elbow and right knee, which takes some time. He keeps his hands underneath his coat, and his pants and boots are soiled. The new customer attempts to order a Butterbrot as Frau Püchl continues her exchange with her colleague. When she asks what he would like, he repeats it and tells her that he is in a hurry. She replies that he must wait his turn because there is someone ahead of him. While the two women continue to discuss the Hungarian cheese incident, he becomes increasingly agitated and repeats his order. At this point, Frau Schimek decides to return to her shop, and Frau Püchl inquires about the gentleman’s occupation. She assumes that he works in an office because he is in such a rush. He responds: «Jedenfalls hab’ ich meine Zeit nicht gestohlen» (Perutz 8). After completing the order, she asks for twenty-four heller. At that point, he begins to act even more unusually. He moves toward the bread but hesitates to take it. The Trafikantin asks whether he would like her to cut it into smaller pieces. He replies affirmatively, but after she does so, he still does not take it. When she asks whether he would like something else, he orders some Extrawurst. She cuts it and places it next to his bread and butter. Again, he partakes of neither. Instead, he begins to wander around the store, studying the labels of different products and the various signs hanging about. After making some small talk, he asks her to deliver the food to his home. The name is Stanislaus Demba. When she replies that she has never had such a request, he explains that he has some errands to run and does not want to carry these items around with him. Demba then turns the conversation to the year’s cherry crop, and two customers enter. Once they leave, he asks for a glass of milk, which she does not sell. Perhaps schnapps, he suggests. Replying that she does not sell schnapps either, Frau Püchl asks whether he is feeling well. Demba answers that indeed he has not been feeling well and has had a stomachache the entire time. After offering him the schnapps that she keeps in her apartment, she goes upstairs to retrieve it. While filling a glass, it occurs to her that Demba might have seen the money drawer as he was looking around and that he might be robbing her at the very moment. When she gets downstairs, he is gone. She hurriedly checks the money drawer only to find that nothing is missing except the food he had ordered. Fortunately, she still has her schnapps, which puts her at ease. The poor fellow must not have had any money, Frau Püchl concludes, in which case she would have given him the food. After enjoying her well-deserved schnapps, she looks outside for the mysterious Demba, who is nowhere in sight. Upon returning, she sees the twenty-four heller owed her: «Stanislaus Demba hatte das Geld gewissenhaft auf den Tisch gezählt und sich dann mit dem Butterbrot davon geschlichen, als ob er es gestohlen hätte» 100 William H. Carter (Perutz 13). Both time and money may be given or received, lost or stolen, depending upon one’s perspective. The opening scene of Zwischen neun und neun introduces the bizarre case of Stanislaus Demba as viewed through the perspective of those who encounter him on this particular day. His actions underscore the value of time and its relation to money. The following two scenes take place in the Liechtensteinpark between nine thirty and nine forty-five. Though requiring no introduction, according to the narrator, the reader is introduced to Hofrat Klementi, director of the ancient oriental special collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. Professor Ritter von Truxa, a lesser-known member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften, and his dog Cyrus accompany Klementi for their regular morning walk in the park. During the course of their discussion about the state of research in the field of hashish use in the East, the two academics make their way toward their favorite bench in an isolated part of the park. There they come across Stanislaus Demba attempting to eat his breakfast. When Demba sees that these men are not simply passing through, he begins to leave but realizes he has left his food on the bench. With no other options, he takes a seat again. While the gentlemen are busy proofreading and editing, Cyrus settles near Demba. When he asks them to call the dog, it eats two pieces of his Extrawurst. The Hofrat apologizes and calls Cyrus, who responds by eating more and snapping at his owner as he tries to stop him. The Hofrat suggests that perhaps Demba could place his food on the other side of the bench, but he replies that it would spoil in the sun, with which the Hofrat agrees despite there being no sun. In any case, the point is moot because Cyrus has eaten all of the Extrawurst by now. After Demba makes a comment concerning the dog’s free meal, the two men discuss whether they should find another place to sit. For safe measure, they have this conversation in an extinct dialect of the Tuareg language. They decide to stay because it appears that they will be able to continue with their work in relative peace. Demba inquires about the dog and offers him a treat, but when Cyrus approaches him and raises a paw, he kicks him instead and then runs away. When Demba stumbles on his coat, the men hear a metallic sound resembling keys on a ring. Following this abrupt departure, the Hofrat believes he has just encountered a hashish smoker in Europe, as evidenced by how he was wearing his coat: «Als ob er etwas Kostbares unter dem Überzieher vor den Augen der Menge zu verbergen hätte. Sie wissen, der Haschischraucher bildet sich immer ein, irgendeinen geheimnisvollen Schatz bei sich zu tragen» (Perutz 24). 6 They attempt to follow this rare specimen but to no avail. Once again, those who encounter the odd figure interpret his actions according to their own perspective, both times in terms of what they deem valuable and what they perceive as valuable to Stanislaus «Souverän meiner Zeit» 101 Demba. In each case, Demba clearly has something to hide under that coat. All of which, the reader is constantly reminded, takes place within a certain time frame, indeed, many time frames that make up the bigger picture. Before jumping to the next scene, I will take a moment to consider the role of value in the Austrian economist Carl Menger’s theory of subjective value and the related principle of opportunity cost. Subjective value theory dates back to the eighteenth century. Sir James Steuart, the Scottish economist credited with theorizing supply and demand and a contemporary of Adam Smith, ushered in this tradition with the publication of An Inquiry into the Principles of Political Oeconomy (1767). Partially written in Tübingen, the Inquiry was translated into German by 1770 and widely discussed in Germany for the next two decades. During the following century, economic thought gained currency and relevance that continues to shape our world and our understanding of it. Compared with late eighteenthcentury Germany, «an importer rather than an exporter of economic ideas,» as Kenneth Carpenter writes, Austria was even less concerned with recent economic trends (12). «There had not been in Austria,» writes F.A. Hayek, «that great vogue of Smithian economics or that reception of English and French ideas in the field of economics that had swept most parts of Germany during the first half of the last century» (Hayek, «The Place of Menger’s Grundsätze» 5). In the preface to his 1871 Grundsätze der Volkswirtschaftslehre, Carl Menger credits the German tradition with laying the groundwork for his contribution. Beginning in the eighteenth century, this line of economic thought extended well into the twentieth century. 7 With regard to Zwischen neun und neun, a brief look at Menger’s subjective theory of value will provide the background for a reading of Perutz’s novel in terms of opportunity cost. In the Grundsätze, Menger defines value in terms of the satisfaction of human needs: «es ist somit der Werth die Bedeutung, welche concrete Güter oder Güterquantitäten für uns dadurch erlangen, dass wir in der Befriedigung unserer Bedürfnisse von der Verfügung über dieselben abhängig zu sein uns bewusst sind» (Menger 78). He emphasizes the individual decision making process, which is subject to error, and contends that the subjective determination of value is not arbitrary but rather based on its contribution to wellbeing: «Die Bedeutung, welche eine Bedürfnissbefriedigung für uns hat, findet ihr Mass nicht in unserer Willkür, sondern vielmehr in der von unserer Willkür unabhängigen Bedeutung, welche jene Bedürfnissbefriedigung für unser Leben, oder für unsere Wohlfahrt hat» (Menger 121). Menger’s subjective value theory paved the way for the principle of opportunity cost, which the economist Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk viewed as central to the Austrian 102 William H. Carter school. 8 Writing in The Quarterly Journal of Economics in 1894, David I. Green explains opportunity cost as follows: «By devoting our efforts to any one task, we necessarily give up the opportunity of doing certain other things which would yield us some return; and it is, in general, for this sacrifice of opportunity that we insist on being paid rather than for any pain which may be involved in the work performed» (Green 222). Green measures cost not in terms of physical effort expended but in the light of lost opportunity. The principle of opportunity cost emphasizes the central role that time plays in modern life and addresses the question of how one chooses to spend one’s time and the time of others. Green offers the following lucid, concise exposition of opportunity cost: The day is short, life itself is short, one’s powers are limited, and one’s possessions are seldom as large as he would like. Our opportunities, therefore, whether for pleasure, for work, or for acquisition, must be economized. It is not only our right, but it is our duty, to yield none of these opportunities without securing adequate return. The return may be in the general form of money, or it may be in recreation, direct happiness, or the pleasure which comes from helping others and the consciousness of rectitude. (Green 223). 9 The case of Stanislaus Demba provides an exceptional example of how quickly a day or a life might pass, the limits of one’s ability to act, and the extent to which possessions, either owned or desired, influence decisions and actions. Demba must repeatedly sacrifice opportunities because of the bind in which he finds himself. Constrained by time and money, he proceeds on his quest for freedom. In the third chapter of Zwischen neun und neun, Perutz introduces another decisive factor that his protagonist must economize along with time and money, namely, risk associated with the other. Still in the park from the previous episode, Demba encounters a nanny named Alice Leitner, who regularly brings two children there to play. She spends her time flirting with men who are quick to approach her. As she exchanges pleasantries with her acquaintance Frau Buresch, with whom she is sharing the bench, Demba, needing a moment of rest following his last encounter, takes a seat between the two. Preferring to crochet, the older woman retires to one end of the bench. Demba, wearing his coat draped over the shoulders, eventually notices the attractive woman seated next to him. Despite or perhaps because of his bohemian appearance, the young woman is drawn to him. Following a brief discussion of Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler, which Demba notices she is reading, she allows her umbrella to fall to the ground. To her surprise, her interlocutor does not pick it up, as the men she meets in the park usually do. Intrigued by his inaction, she allows the conversation about Ibsen to continue until Demba proclaims: «Souverän meiner Zeit» 103 «Küssen, Streicheln, Körper an Körper schmiegen […] sind nur dazu da, um uns abzulenken von dem einen, das wir der Natur schulden» (32). She considers leaving after this pronouncement, but Demba changes the topic by announcing that he has not eaten since yesterday afternoon. It is almost a quarter to ten. He explains that he cannot stay long because he has much to do but that he could not forego the opportunity to make her acquaintance. Asking if he might see her again, she responds that rather than taking the chance of missing each other in the park, he should write her and gives him the address. When she asks why he is not writing it down, he first says that he has memorized it but then tells her that he is illiterate. While he tries to convince her of this, the wind blows his hat off, and he asks her to give him a hand with it. When she asks the reason, he replies that he does not have any arms, explaining that he lost them in an accident at a bread factory. Fearful that he will show her what remains of them, she decides to leave. Her initial impression of him was wrong: «Alles, was ihr vorher als stolz zur Schau getragene Originalität, als die gewollte Uneleganz des Bohemiens erschienen war, erkannte sie jetzt als das, was es wirklich war: Als mühsam verborgenes Elend» (36). As she departs, she places some coins on the bench without his notice. Only after she and the children have left the park does it occur to her that without arms, he would be unable to pick up the money. The scene concludes with Frau Buresch witnessing Demba’s response to finding her charity: «Sie beobachtete, wie sein Gesicht sich in eine Grimasse der Bestürzung, des Ekels und der Enttäuschung entstellte, und sie sah mit Staunen, wie aus seinem Mantel zwei Fingerspitzen hervorkam, die das Geld mit wütender Gebärde auf den Boden warfen» (37). Up to this point in the novel, Demba’s encounter with the other has consisted of a transaction and a dispute. When he attempts to take a moment for himself, a timeout, he finds himself seated next to a beautiful woman. This chance meeting, though different in nature from the previous ones, is equally restricted by Demba’s dilemma. Unwilling to reveal his situation to this stranger, he chooses to lie. Because she takes him at his word, she believes that she is acting out of kindness when she leaves behind money for him. For Demba, the coins represent his inability to act as he wishes. Money is of no value to him, at least, for the time being. In the following chapter, we finally learn why Stanislaus Demba is in such a hurry. Perutz chooses an office as the setting for chapter four, a space where rumor maintains its currency through circulation. Unlike Demba’s earlier encounters, the office staff is familiar with him. He had once tutored Etelka Springer’s younger brother, and it is through her that he met Sonja Hartmann. For days, Sonja’s upcoming vacation to Italy with her boyfriend Georg Weiner has been the topic of discussion in the office. When Etelka asks Sonja what 104 William H. Carter Demba will think of the trip, she replies: «Der soll sagen, was er will. Wir sind endgültig fertig miteinander» (43). A conversation then begins about how handsome Georg Weiner is. When Demba comes up again, Herr Neuhäusl, playing with his pocket watch, recounts how about twelve hours ago he had to listen to Demba’s «Liebesgram» and «Rachepläne» in Café Sistiana (45). He explains: «Anfangs war er sehr aufgeregt, zum Schluß ist ihm dann eine Idee gekommen, da hat er sich beruhigt. Von sechshundert Kronen hat er etwas gesagt, die er sich verschaffen will, und damit wird er mit dem Fräulein Hartmann nach Paris fahren, hat er gesagt, oder an die Riviera» (46). Not reacting to this information in any particular way, Sonja continues about her business. While she is away taking a call from Georg, those in the office think they hear their boss coming up the stairs, but it turns out to be Demba. Once he and Sonja are alone, he confronts her about the trip and demands that she not go. Seeing that she fully intends to leave the following morning, his anger and frustration grow. Repeatedly looking at the clock, he explains that he is losing valuable time. She replies that he is not losing it but rather wasting it. At this point, she wonders what he has up his sleeve. Despite his assurance that he will have the money to take her on vacation the next day, she remains firm. Once it becomes clear to him that her travel plans do not include him, he sets his sights on a photo of Weiner that is lying on a table. When she attempts to grab the picture out of his hands before he can destroy it, she feels something cold and metallic. Sonja is convinced that he has a weapon and intends to use it. Initially uncertain about its type, she quickly decides that it is a Browning pistol. After he finishes tearing the picture apart with his feet, Demba turns to her and asks if she still plans to travel with Weiner. Because he meant the question rhetorically, he is surprised when she replies that she is still undecided. She needs to think it over, she says, trying to stall: «Durch Sonjas Kopf raste ein einziger Gedanke: Zeit gewinnen! Nur Zeit gewinnen. Er hatte eine Waffe in den Händen, er war jähzornig, er stand kaum sechs Schritte weit von ihr -» (58). Now convinced that she will choose him over his rival, Demba guarantees that he will have the funds he needs by that evening. Before leaving, he asks her to promise that she will go with him the following day, assuming he has the money. Believing to be under duress, she agrees as he hurries away «auf seine wütende Jagd nach Geld» (61). Leo Perutz had office experience. After attending courses in Differential- und Integralrechnung, Versicherungsmathematik, and Volkswirtschaftslehre at the Universität Wien, he studied Versicherungsmathematik, Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung, Mathematischer Statistik, Volkswirtschaft, and Handels- und Privatrecht at the Technische Universität (Eckert and Müller, Leo Perutz «Souverän meiner Zeit» 105 15-16). In October 1907, Perutz began work as an actuary at the insurance company Assicurazioni Generali in Triest, where he compiled and analyzed statistical data in order to calculate risks and determine premiums. The same month, Kafka took a position at the firm’s branch in Prag, thanks to the help of his uncle. 10 Coincidentally, both Kafka and Perutz left Assicurazioni Generali in July 1908. While Kafka’s departure was apparently due to health reasons, Perutz had a new position in Vienna. 11 At the beginning of October 1908, Perutz joined the mathematical department of the Anker Insurance Company. 12 With the exception of his military service during World War I, he continued to work there until July 1923, enjoying the challenges of this new field. 13 During his first few years at Anker, Perutz published articles titled: «Zinsfußschwankungen und Dividendenquote» and «Die theoretischen Grundlagen der mechanischen Ausgleichung» (both in Oesterreichische Revue), «Zum Kapitel der Dividendenreserverechnung» (Mitteilungen des Österreichisch-ungarischen Verbandes der Privat-Versicherungs-Anstalten), and «Über Sterblichkeitsgewinn» (Der National-Oekonom) (Eckert and Müller, Leo Perutz 20-21). In 1914, as Ulrike Siebauer points out, the insurance company relocated to Hoher Markt, where the firm had commissioned Franz Matsch to design the Anker clock. Completed between 1911 and 1917, the clock displays a figure from Viennese history each hour, and reminds passers-by of how time flies, the value of life, and the need to insure it (Siebauer 53). Stanislaus Demba requires no reminder of the essence of time. Time is his adversary in this race to get the money he believes will win Sonja Hartmann’s affection. After leaving her office, Demba encounters a series of lost opportunities. A Geldbrief containing payment for a Kolportageroman he has translated into Polish arrives for him, but he is unable to sign for it (70, 72). When he attempts to collect an advance on a tutoring job, he must leave before receiving the eighty crowns he sought. At one point, when an acquaintance actually puts seventy crowns in Demba’s pocket and sends him on his way, the wallet falls out. As a patrol officer tries to return it to him, he denies that it is his and watches another person claim it. He follows the man until he is in a position to confront him, but he turns out to be a criminal, who initially mistakes Demba for a business associate. In the end, Demba gets chased and, not surprisingly, does not recover his rightful property. This string of mishaps is not due to his lack of cunning or commitment. Rather, his inability to close these various transactions results directly from the fact that he has been handcuffed since the beginning of the novel. In chapter eight, the university student Demba confides his predicament to Steffi Prokop, a sixteen-year-old friend. Earlier that morning, he was attempting to sell an antique dealer a book that he had taken from the univer- 106 William H. Carter sity library under his coat. Although he had previously sold two other books obtained in the same manner, he had not intended to part with this one: «Ich hab’ es auch nicht hergegeben, die ganze Zeit über, und wenn ich noch so sehr in Geldnot war. Und in Geldverlegenheit war ich fast immer» (95). He was unwilling to part with it, Demba continues, even in the dead of winter when he could have used the money the most. However, when he learned of Sonja’s plans, he decided to sell it, but not before spending the entire night reading it. He explains: «Mein Herz hing an dem Buch» (99). He was willing to exchange one love for another, or so he had planned. Meanwhile, the antique dealer had offered two hundred and forty crowns for the book, not letting on that he had called the police. When they arrived on the scene and Demba realized that he had been set up, he lunged at the dealer and was subsequently handcuffed. He explains to Steffi that he had managed to escape and had locked himself into a room in the attic, where he had a moment to reflect on the prospect of freedom: «Und ich sah, wie reich ich gewesen war bei all meiner Armut, daß ich Souverän meiner Zeit gewesen war, es wurde mir deutlich wie nie zuvor, was das zu bedeuten hat: Freiheit. Und jetzt war ich gefangen, war ein Sträfling, die Schritte, die ich in der engen Dachkammer zwischen dem Gerümpel machte, waren meine letzten freien Schritte. Mir schwindelte, es gellte mir in den Ohren: Freiheit! Freiheit! Freiheit! Freiheit! Das Herz wollte mir bersten vor dem einen Wunsch: Freiheit! Nur noch einen Tag Freiheit, nur noch zwölf Stunden Freiheit! Zwölf Stunden! » (107-08). Perutz had originally titled the novel Freiheit before placing the emphasis on time. Constrained and confined to a small room with no apparent way out, Demba ponders the value of his own time, which he has now lost. As the police attempted to enter, he tells Steffi, he decided that he would rather die than be caught. Mustering the courage to jump out of the window, he hears a gramophone playing «Prinz Eugenius, der edle Ritter» - the song that plays on the Anker clock during the ten-o’clock hour (108). He finally jumped and, as he was falling, heard «wie die Glocke vom Kirchturm her neun Uhr zu schlagen begann, und dann -» (108). Steffi asks what happened next. «Nichts,» he replies, «Ich verlor das Bewußtsein» (108). After recovering his senses, he realized that he was free, despite remaining bound by time and now handcuffs. At this point, the novel restarts. Steffi and Demba quickly devise a plan to have a key made for the handcuffs, but it will not be ready until eight o’clock in the evening. In the meantime, Demba must get back to work, as he puts it, if he wishes to leave the next day with Sonja Hartmann. Considering the dilemma in which Demba finds himself, bound and determined to meet his self-imposed deadline, Zwischen neun und neun offers a unique example of Freud’s concept of binding (Bindung). Less well known, «Souverän meiner Zeit» 107 perhaps, than condensation (Verdichtung) and displacement (Verschiebung), binding plays an equally important «economic» role in Freud’s metapsychology. 14 The theory of the economic - the most theoretical of the three components of Freud’s metapsychology - tends to receive less attention than the dynamic and the topographical. While the dynamic approach deals with the pressure that the unconscious exerts, the topographical deals with the Unconscious, Preconscious, and Conscious and later the familiar distinctions of ego, id, and superego. The economic covers both the dynamic and the topographical with respect to cathexes. Unlike the French and Italian translations of «cathexis» as investissement and investimento, James Strachey’s translation of Freud’s term Besetzung undervalues the economic aspect of this concept, which is fundamental to the understanding of the circulation and distribution of psychical investments, in other words, libidinal economics. 15 In addition, Bindung plays an increasingly important role for Freud as he explores the relation between Eros and Thanatos, according to Laplanche and Pontalis: «Lastly, in the framework of Freud’s final theory of instincts, binding becomes the major characteristic of the life as opposed to death instincts» (Laplanche and Pontalis 52). 16 Indeed, it is within the framework of libidinal economics that Freud addresses the prospect of happiness. Consider what he writes in Das Unbehagen in der Kultur (1930): Das Glück in jenem ermäßigten Sinn, in dem es als möglich erkannt wird, ist ein Problem der individuellen Libidoökonomie. Es gibt hier keinen Rat, der für alle taugt; ein jeder muß selbst versuchen, auf welche besondere Fasson er selig werden kann. Die mannigfachsten Faktoren werden sich geltend machen, um seiner Wahl die Wege zu weisen. Es kommt darauf an, wieviel reale Befriedigung er von der Außenwelt zu erwarten hat und inwieweit er veranlaßt ist, sich von ihr unabhängig zu machen; zuletzt auch, wieviel Kraft er sich zutraut, diese nach seinen Wünschen abzuändern. (Freud, GW 14: 442) Despite or because there is no guaranteed course to happiness, the complete attainment of which always remains just out of reach, we must continue to strive toward it, Freud explains. There are simply too many factors involved that «machen sich geltend,» which might be read generally as «assert themselves» or, more specifically, in the monetary sense of «become valid» or in the legal sense of «being in force,» and hence enforceable. In the case of Stanislaus Demba, all of the above apply. Further, we shall see whether his «real satisfaction» meets his projected expectations, how much he is willing to risk on this venture, and to what extent he alters his outlook, in order to meet his own demands. 17 The events that transpire in chapter fifteen encapsulate the high and low points of Demba’s day. In keeping with his earlier stops and chance meetings, 108 William H. Carter Demba again finds himself in a situation where the money he needs - this time more than enough of it - is at hand yet, once more, unattainable. Attempting to collect money owed to him, he becomes involved in underground Bukidomino, a domino game in which bets are placed on individual players. In a back room of Café Turf, Demba allows the man who owes him money to bet his ten remaining crowns on Demba’s behalf. He instantly triples his money because the payout is 2: 1 (the original ten crowns plus twenty more), places the same bet with his earnings, and wins 90 crowns. Deciding to push his luck one more time because he has nothing to lose at this point, he bets everything. His acquaintance cautions him, «Du hasardierst! » To which Demba replies, «Das tu’ ich heute schon den ganzen Tag» (179). Against impossible odds, he wins two hundred and seventy crowns, which is more than enough to take Sonja on vacation the next day. While Demba is busy devising a way to collect his money, a situation arises with one of the players. A certain Dr. Rübsam cannot find his gold pocket watch. He insists that each of the players allow him to search them. When he asks Demba to remove his coat, he refuses and painfully looks on as Dr. Rübsam collects the money on the table as compensation for the watch. «Ich kann nicht anders,» he explains, «Not bricht Eisen,» the irony of which is not lost on Stanislaus Demba (186). Whereas the doctor now has his winnings and perhaps his timepiece as well, Demba still has neither time nor money. Disheartened by this setback and exhausted, he decides to walk home in the rain. With his unfortunate day nearing an end, he says to himself, after stepping in a puddle, «Es ist Zeit, daß ich meine Engagements lose» (189). He realizes that he is speaking the language of business: «Und auch diese Redewendung tat ihm auf seltsame Weise wohl. Sie klang so geschäftsmäßig kühl, so kaufmännisch berechnend und log die Gefühle weg, die schlecht verborgen hinter all den tönenden Worten lagen: Schmerz, Eifersucht und brennendes Verlangen» (189). Just as Demba seems to have resigned himself to the present situation, he sees Georg Weiner’s apartment, which happens to be along the short cut he decided to take home. Initially believing that Sonja is with him, he becomes extremely jealous, but, to his surprise, Weiner leaves the apartment alone. Determined to see Sonja one last time, Demba follows him to a restaurant. Once there, Demba invites himself to the table where Weiner’s acquaintances are gathered, and it is not long before the unwelcome guest has wine thrown in his face. Instead of reacting violently, as he has throughout the day, Demba finds he is powerless against their laughter. He wishes instead for revenge, and his wish is soon fulfilled: «Und er schrie zu Gott verzweifelt nach einer Waffe. Gott gab sie ihm» (209). As Weiner mockingly asks whether Demba would like another glass of wine, Sonja enters warning that Demba has a revolver. With one word, Sonja trans- «Souverän meiner Zeit» 109 forms Demba’s material problem to a perceived advantage. Not divine intervention but the word «Revolver» makes him the most powerful person in the room (209). In control of his situation for the first time today, not despite but because of the secret he fought so hard to keep, he relishes the role reversal. Regardless of this bit of good fortune, however, Demba remains a fugitive, believed to be armed and dangerous, and subject to flight. Georg Weiner, fearing for his life, blames Sonja for the current situation. She had pursued him, constantly calling and writing. Sonja becomes visibly upset, and Demba tells Weiner to stop. When he persists, she admits that it is true, and they agree that their relationship is over. Throwing the tickets to Italy at him, she says: «Und jetzt - da hast du dein Geld zurück» (215). Demba appears to have won the battle and seems to be on the verge of winning his war with Weiner, all without raising a finger: «Von selbst war sein Triumph gekommen, er hatte erreicht, was er sich den ganzen Tag hindurch gewünscht hatte, ohne Mühe, ohne Kampf hatte er es erreicht, nur weil er seine Hände unter dem Mantel versteckt hatte» (215). Not only is he no longer in need of money, Sonja has chosen him over Weiner despite having no idea what he has gone through for her. Precisely at this point, having obtained everything he sought, Demba loses interest in Sonja, and his ambivalence toward her surfaces: «Die Liebe war tot, nicht gestorben, o nein: verreckt, wie ein krankes, häßliches Tier. Aber der Haß lebte, der ließ sich nicht verscharren, der war groß und mächtig und zwang ihn, seine Rache zu vollenden» (216). Demba seeks retribution for the events that transpired against him, the freedom he lost, and the time he will never regain. He informs the men who enjoyed themselves at his expense that they have five minutes left. As the time approaches nine o’clock, the Kellner enters, giving the men a chance to jump on Demba. During the ensuing mêlée, Weiner believes he has been shot, and Sonja returns to his side. When one of the men wrestles Demba’s hands free from under his coat, revealing the handcuffs, there is a moment of collective shock, during which Demba escapes. Enraged that a «Schatten,» «Lüge,» and «Phantom» had threatened them with an imaginary revolver, the group hurries to inform the police (221). Fortunately, Sonja knows where he lives. Arriving home, Demba finds Steffi waiting for him. She had been there half an hour and mentions that a letter arrived for him. In the letter, Demba finds an apology from Dr. Rübsam, who found his gold watch, and two hundred and twenty crowns - Demba’s acquaintance had borrowed fifty crowns. Of course, the money is no longer of any value to him: «Was war ihm jetzt das Geld! Ein paar Fetzen bemalten Papiers, nichts weiter. Es kam zu spat» (223). Expecting the police to arrive at any moment, Demba wants only his freedom at this point. Steffi tries the key she had made, but it does not fit. She ex- 110 William H. Carter plains that the locksmith had lost the wax impression given him and asked her mother for Steffi’s diary, for which he thought he was fabricating the key. She suggests, again, that he turn himself in, adding that the punishment could not be that bad. Surely, he would be free in no time. «Bis auf die Handschellen,» he replies (225). When she does not understand the comment, he explains: «Die behalt ich mein Leben lang. Die behält ein jeder, der aus dem Kerker kommt» (225). When the police arrive and attempt to enter the room, Demba says that he had thought of Steffi twelve hours ago. He had wished to see her and to be in her company during his final moments, but now he wants her to go. His search for freedom has exhausted him, he says. There is no response. When he asks for her, he receives no answer. Suddenly, he realizes that he is in an attic and that the clock tower is striking nine o’clock: «Neun Uhr! Morgens? Abends? Wo bin ich? Wo war ich? Wie lange steh’ ich schon hier und hör’ die Turmuhr schlagen? Zwölf Stunden? Zwölf Stunden» (226)? Perutz does not set off in quotation marks these final thoughts of Stanislaus Demba. Rather, they blend into the description of his surroundings: the morning sun, swallows flying about, and a gramophone playing «Prince Eugen» (226). The novel concludes with the police arriving shortly after nine o’clock in the morning. Barely alive, Demba wanted to flee, but his injuries were so severe that he could not get up. His eyes, we are told, exhibited the last bit of life as they flashed back to the events leading up to this end. They then grew tired and finally shut. Zwischen neun und neun closes with the following description: «Die Handschellen waren durch die Gewalt des Sturzes zerbrochen. Und Dembas Hände, die Hände, die sich in Angst versteckt, in Groll empört, im Zorn zu Fäusten geballt, in Klage aufgebäumt, die in ihrem Versteck stumm in Leidenschaft gezittert, in Verzweiflung mit dem Schicksal gehadert, in Trotz gegen die Ketten rebelliert hatten - Stanislaus Dembas Hände waren endlich frei» (227). An ironic reminder and material remainder of Demba’s day, the handcuffs emphasize his «sacrifice of opportunity» and raise the question of time in the narrative (Green 222). In his reading of Perutz’s novels as «proleptische Rätselromane,» Matías Martínez includes a table listing the novels along with two categories: «Erzählrahmen» and «Erzählerfigur.» 18 Under these headings, Zwischen neun und neun has an anonymous narrator and the narrative takes place chronologically. Martínez describes the narrative’s time frame as «12 h vs. 12 sec.» (Martínez 117). The indeterminate amount of time the novel spans, whether twelve hours or twelve seconds, sometime in between or beyond, underscores Demba’s singular experience of time. As the novel clearly demonstrates, a few seconds may be either a lot or a little, depending on one’s perspective. In Zwischen neun und neun, Perutz intricately and inextricably binds together time and narrative leading up to «Souverän meiner Zeit» 111 the surprise ending that has been compared to Ambrose Bierce’s An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge (1891). 19 The conclusion of the novel underscores the role of time in a text, where time is meticulously measured, and confronts the reader with the question of how she has just spent her time. Upon waking from a dream, one has no conception of how much time has passed either in the dream or in the waking world. At the end of a novel, however, one has a sense of how much time was invested and whether it was worth it. Presenting a lesson in economics within the context of Stanislaus Demba’s libidinal economy, Zwischen neun und neun cleverly draws attention to time as an increasingly scarce resource in the modern world. Perutz’s novel deserves credit for its insight into the value of time, both our own and other’s. The final image of this «sehr filmischer Roman» characterizes its cinematic quality (Siebauer 93). A great fan of the movies, Perutz was a regular in Viennese movie houses. 20 In 1915, he collaborated with Paul Frank to write the novel Das Mangobaumwunder, whose publication a year later led to a film contract and eventual adaptation. 21 Before publishing Zwischen neun und neun at the end of 1918, Perutz previewed it in newspapers in Berlin, Prague, Zürich, and Vienna. 22 Filmmakers quickly showed interest in the story, and Perutz sold the film rights before the novel appeared in print. 23 Directors also saw the potential to bring this work to the cinema. In 1925, Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau had an inquiry made on his behalf asking «ob [Perutz] nicht vielleicht eine wesensverwandte Idee oder Novelle wie die Geschichte des Stanislaus Demba für ihn schreiben könnte» (Eckert and Müller, Leo Perutz 88). Although this collaboration never materialized, one aspect of Demba’s story eventually appeared on screen in Alfred Hitchcock’s silent film The Lodger (1927). Hitchcock described the film to François Truffaut as the «first true Hitchcock movie,» and it was very successful (Truffaut 30). The title character, suspected of being a serial killer, is handcuffed near the end of the film and dies attempting to escape. During their discussion of this scene and the visual effect of handcuffs, Truffaut comments, «Handcuffs are certainly the most concrete - the most immediate - symbol of the loss of freedom» (Truffaut 34). «There’s also a sexual connotation, I think,» Hitchcock replies. He then credits Zwischen neun und neun as his likely source of inspiration (Truffaut 34). 24 Neither Murnau nor Hitchcock ever filmed the story of Stanislaus Demba. Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Corporation eventually gained the rights to the novel but never filmed it. 25 Despite his efforts either to see his novel adapted or to regain the film rights to it, Perutz never saw his story materialize on the big screen. 26 Perhaps in time a version of it will appear, but until we see the movie, we will have to continue to read the book, one that certainly rewards re-reading. 112 William H. Carter Notes 1 Achleitner 12. 2 In a 1919 Arbeiter-Zeitung article, Perutz had employed the term «Provinznest» when considering the future of Vienna in Europe: «Wenn es wirklich so kommen soll, daß Wien zum Rang eines abseits liegenden Provinznestes Europas herabsinkt, wenn Wien als Großstadt stirbt, dann haben wir hier den sonderbaren Fall einer Euphonie des Städtetodes» (qtd. in Schmidt-Dengler 14; originally in: Eckert and Müller, Leo Perutz 105). 3 «Vielleicht wünscht man sich zu Ehren des Kursbuchs einen exakteren Begleiter, wie Leo Perutz, der die kräftig rhythmisierten und synkopierten Erzählungen verfaßte, deren Stationen mit der Uhr in der Hand wie Provinznester, die an der Strecke liegen, durchflogen werden […]» (Benjamin, «Kriminalromane, auf Reisen» 382). Doron Rabinovici mistakenly attributes the review to Bertolt Brecht (Rabinovici 39). 4 «Dennoch ist Leo Perutz, der zwischen 1918 und 1933 einer der ‹meistgelesenen Erzähler deutscher Sprache› (Friedrich Torberg) war und dessen Werk so prominente Fürsprecher wie Theodor W. Adorno, Jorge Luis Borges, Egon Erwin Kirsch, Siegfried Kracauer und Kurt Tucholsky fand, bis heute für die Literaturgeschichte und für die literarische Öffentlichkeit eine nahezu unbekannte, vergessene Gestalt» (Eckert and Müller, «Einleitung» xii). 5 I would like to thank Maria-Regina Kecht and Helga Schreckenberger, co-directors of the 2006 NEH Summer Institute in Vienna dedicated to the topic of «Melting Pot Vienna: Then and Now,» for introducing me to this text, among many others, the National Endowment for the Humanities for its generous support, and my wonderful colleagues from the Institute. 6 Walter Benjamin, incidentally, had researched this topic and had planned a book on it. Cf. Über Haschisch. 7 Commenting on Menger’s acknowledgement of the influence of German economic thought in the preface to the Grundsätze der Volkswirtschaftslehre, Erich W. Streissler writes, «This statement has to be taken seriously and is, in fact, true of the whole Austrian school at least up to about the beginning of the First World War.» He further elaborates on the connection between the two schools of economic thought: «The Austrian school continued the older German tradition insofar as it treated the same topics, which were not central to other branches of ‹orthodox› economics: money, economic fluctuations (‹crises›), entrepreneurship and the determination of profits» (Streissler 493). 8 Citing an 1891 article Böhm-Bawerk published in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, Streissler and Weber write, «Böhm-Bawerk first tells us that the central doctrine of the Austrians was the discovery and use of the principle of opportunity cost; it is indeed true that this idea can be found in Menger» (Streissler and Weber 230). In his introduction to the Grundsätze, F.A. Hayek writes concerning Menger’s subjective value theory, «A theory of value can hardly be called complete and will certainly never be quite convincing if the rôle that cost of production plays in determining the relative value of different commodities is not explicitly explained. At an early point of his exposition Menger indicates that he sees the problem and promises a later answer. But the promise is never fulfilled. It was left to Wieser to develop what later became known as the principle of opportunity cost or ‹Wieser’s Law,› i.e. the principle that the other uses competing for the factors will limit the quantity available for any one line of production in such a way that the value of the product will not fall below the sum of the value which all the factors used in its production obtain in these competing uses» «Souverän meiner Zeit» 113 (Hayek, Introduction 19-20). Eugen von Böhm-Bawerk and Friedrich von Wieser were two of Menger’s most successful disciples, who each made substantial contributions to the Austrian school. 9 «Economizing» is central for Menger as well: «Throughout his work, Menger emphasizes the individual as a starting point for the causal explanation of all economic phenomena. The author considers human behaviour which seeks to satisfy needs as the most simple premise upon which everything may be built. This is defined as the principle of ‹economizing›» (Gloria-Palermo 15). 10 «Sein Onkel Alfred Löwy hatte Beziehungen zur Assicurazioni Generali; am 1. Oktober 1907 trat Kafka eine Stellung als Aushilfskraft in der Prager Niederlassung der in Triest beheimateten Versicherungsfirma an. Die Assicurazioni Generali war ein altrenommiertes Unternehmen für Transport-, Feuer- und Lebensversicherungen (gegründet 1831), das in vielen Weltgegenden Filialen unterhielt» (Hermsdorf and Wagner, «Schreibanlässe» 24). 11 «K[afka] kündigt bei der ‹Assicurazioni Generali› angeblich aus gesundheitlichen Gründen; ein Dr. Hahn bescheinigt ihm Nervosität und Herzbeschwerden» (Hermsdorf and Wagner, «Chronik» 981). 12 In her excellent Perutz biography, Ulrike Siebauer explains the type of work he would have done at Anker: «Alfred Breyer, bis 1995 Chefmathematiker beim ‹Anker,› der zu Beginn seiner beruflichen Laufbahn noch nach denselben Methoden gearbeitet hat wie Leo Perutz, erklärt den Tätigkeitsbereich so: ‹Anläßlich einer Volkszählung wird nicht nur die genaue Einwohnerzahl eines Beobachtungsgebietes festgestellt, sondern auch das Alter und das Geschlecht jedes einzelnen erhoben. Aus diesen Daten ergibt sich je Geschlecht die sogenannte Alterspyramide. Weiters werden in der Nähe des Volkszählungstermins in einem mehrjährigen Beobachtungszeitraum die Alter aller Verstorbenen erfaßt. Die Gegenüberstellung dieser Daten … liefert dem Demographen die Rohdaten für eine Perioden-Sterbetafel. Der Vergleich mehrerer derartiger Tafeln zeigt dann dem Versicherungsmathematiker die Entwicklungstendenz … . Die Barwerte und die Nettoprämien, also jene Grundwerte, die sich aus der Sterbetafel und dem Zinsfuß ohne Berücksichtigung von Kosten ergeben, waren teils in Büchern, teils in Mappen von losen Tabellen vorbereitet. Jede einzelne Tarifposition … wurde mittels einer Handkurbelrechenmachine aus dort nachgeschlagenen Grundwerten unter Einbeziehung der Zuschläge für die unterstellten Kosten errechnet und wieder in eine Tabelle eingetragen. Hierzu waren je nach dem Tarif ca. 5-20 oder auch mehr Schritte erforderlich›» (Siebauer 312-13, n. 7). 13 «Der Versicherungsmathematik, einer relativ jungen, expandierenden Disziplin, die vor allem im Bereich der Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung und der mathematischen Statistik anspruchsvolle Probleme aufwarf, galt jedoch nicht nur [Perutz’] berufliches, sondern auch sein persönliches wissenschaftliches Interesse. Er war aktives Mitglied der ‹Mathematisch-statistischen Abteilung› des ‹Österreichisch-Ungarischen Verbandes der Privat- Versicherungs-Anstalten›; an den Veranstaltungen der ‹Mathematisch-statistischen Abteilung› nahm er regelmäßig teil und hielt eine Reihe von Vorträgen zu versicherungsmathematischen Problemen. In den Jahren 1909 bis 1911 veröffentlichte er mehrere versicherungsmathematische Abhandlungen; die ‹Perutzsche Ausgleichsformel› war noch in der Versicherungsmathematik der zwanziger Jahre ein Begriff» (Eckert and Müller, Leo Perutz 20). 14 Here I am following the definition of «economic» as presented in Laplanche and Pontalis’s The Language of Psycho-Analysis: «Qualifies everything having to do with the hy- 114 William H. Carter pothesis that psychical processes consist in the circulation and distribution of an energy (instinctual energy) that can be quantified, i.e. that is capable of increase, decrease and equivalence» (127). 15 Donald Nicholson-Smith, the translator of The Language of Psycho-Analysis, writes in a note, «‹Cathexis› is the generally accepted rendering of ‹Besetzung.› James Strachey coined the word in 1922 from the Greek kat°xeiu, to occupy. He records in the Standard Edition that Freud was unhappy with this choice because of his dislike of technical terms (S.E., III, 63, n. 2). The German verb ‹besetzen› is indeed part of everyday usage; it has a variety of senses, the chief one being to occupy (e.g. in a military context, to occupy a town, a territory). An alternative English translation, used occasionally, is ‹investment,› ‹to invest›» (Laplanche and Pontalis 65). 16 They cite Freud, who writes in «An Outline of Psycho-Analysis» (1940), «The aim of [Eros] is to establish even greater unities and to preserve them thus - in short, to bind together; the aim of [the destructive instinct] is, on the contrary, to undo connections and so to destroy things» (Laplanche and Pontalis 52; SE 23 148; GW 17 71). 17 Following this passage, Freud offers the following advice on diversifying one’s portfolio: «Wie der vorsichtige Kaufmann es vermeidet, sein ganzes Kapital an einer Stelle festzulegen, so wird vielleicht auch die Lebensweisheit raten, nicht alle Befriedigung von einer einzigen Strebung zu erwarten. Der Erfolg ist niemals sicher, er hängt vom Zusammentreffen vieler Momente ab, von keinem vielleicht mehr als von der Fähigkeit der psychischen Konstitution, ihre Funktion der Umwelt anzupassen und diese für Lustgewinn auszunützen» (Freud GW 14 443). 18 Martínez elaborates on the «proleptic» quality of many of Perutz’s novels: «In jedem Fall wird analytisch in Form einer spezifischen, proleptischen Rätselstruktur erzählt: Der Leser wird zu Beginn des Textes, in der Erzählgegenwart des Vorwortes, mit einem erklärungsheischenden Sachverhalt konfrontiert, der durch die nachfolgend mitgeteilte Handlung genetisch erklärt wird. Deshalb taufe ich diese Romane proleptische Rätselromane» (Martínez 117). A few pages later, he concedes: «Der Roman Zwischen neun und neun, ebenfalls ohne Erzählrahmen, bildet einen noch zu erörternden Sonderfall» (Martínez 119). Cf. Eichner on Perutz’s narrative technique. 19 Hans-Harald Müller compares the two texts in the afterword to Zwischen neun und neun (Perutz 235-44). Martínez notes that these two texts may have inspired Jorge Luís Borges’s El sur (1944) and Julio Cortázar’s La noche boca arriba (1966) (Martínez 128, n. 17). 20 «Sehr häufig zog es Perutz ins Kino bzw. ins ‹Kinematographentheater.› In Wien gab es 1909 bereits 62 Kinolokale, drei davon faßten bis zu 2000 Personen» (Siebauer 59). 21 «Am 16. Juli 1915 und am 10. Januar 1916 bekam Perutz jeweils 200 Mark vom Langen-Verlag überwiesen, am 6. September 1917 für ein Filmangebot von ‹Mester-Film› 500 Kronen. Der Stoff wurde 1921 von der ‹Maxim-Film-Gesellschaft Ebner & Co› in Berlin unter der Regie von Rudolph Biebrach verfilmt und lief unter dem Titel ‹Das Abenteuer des Dr. Kircheisen›» (Siebauer 77-78). 22 These early installments appeared in the Berliner Tageblatt (1 June to 29 July 1918) and the Deutsche Zeitung Bohemia. Abendausgabe in Prague (1 August to 6 December 1918) under the title «Freiheit.» Further installments were published as «Zwischen neun und neun» in the Züricher Post und Handelszeitung. Abend-Ausgabe (29 September to 20 November 1919) and later in the Arbeiter-Zeitung in Vienna (20 November 1921 to 15 January 1922) (Müller and Schernus 66). 23 «Am 8. August 1918, kurz nachdem der Vorabdruck im Berliner Tageblatt beendet war, notierte Perutz: ‹Telegramm von Ambross-Film, kauften «von 9-9»›» (Siebauer 95). «Souverän meiner Zeit» 115 24 «Anyway, getting back to the handcuffs in The Lodger, I think the idea was inspired, to a certain extent, by a German book about a man who spends a whole day in handcuffs and tells about all the problems he runs into during that day» (Truffaut 34). When asked if the book was Perutz’s From Nine to Nine, Hitchcock responds: «It might be that one» (Truffaut 34). 25 «Die amerikanische Filmfirma ‹Universal Film Manufacturing Company,› die spätere ‹Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures Corporation,› erwarb bereits im April 1922 die Weltfilmrechte für den Roman ‹Zwischen neun und neun.› Am 7. September 1929 übertrug Perutz MGM - für unbegrenzte Zeit - auch die exklusiven Tonfilm- und Sprechfilm- Rechte. MGM hat den Roman jedoch nie verfilmt» (Eckert and Müller, Leo Perutz 87). 26 «Am 4. Januar 1941 berichtete Perutz dem im New Yorker Exil als Literaturagent tätigen Schriftsteller Franz Horch aus Tel-Aviv über seine vergeblichen Bemühungen, MGM entweder zur Verfilmung oder zur Freigabe der Rechte zu bewegen: ‹[…] teile ich Ihnen hiermit mit, daß ich die Sprechrechte von «Zwischen neun und neun» nur einmal, u[nd] zwar bereits im Jahre 1930 oder 31 an die Metro-Goldwyn verkauft habe. Seit dem Jahre 1935 habe ich mich eben so dauernd wie vergeblich bemüht, durch Anwälte und durch Vermittler die Metro-Goldwyn zu bestimmen, den Film entweder zu drehen oder mir die Filmrechte freizugeben. Zuletzt hat sich ein Pariser Anwalt noch im Jahre 1939 mit der Sache befaßt, aber mir nach Studium der Rechtslage von der Führung eines Prozesses abgeraten, da ich sachfällig werden müsse […]» (Eckert and Müller, Leo Perutz 87). Works Cited Achleitner, Friedrich. «freiheit.» einschlafgeschichten. München: Deutscher Taschenbuch Verlag, 2005. 12. Benjamin, Walter. «Kriminalroman, auf Reisen.» Gesammelte Schriften. Ed. Tillman Rexroth. Vol. 4: 1. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1972. -. Über Haschisch. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp Taschenbuch, 1972. Carpenter, Kenneth E. Dialogue in Political Economy: Translations from and into German in the 18 th Century. Boston: Graduate School of Business Administration Harvard University, 1977. 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