<p><SPAN name="ch6" id="ch6"></SPAN></p>
<h2> CHAPTER VI </h2>
<h3> [A Sport that Sometimes Kills] </h3>
<p><br/></p>
<p>The third duel was brief and bloody. The surgeon stopped it when he saw
that one of the men had received such bad wounds that he could not fight
longer without endangering his life.</p>
<p>The fourth duel was a tremendous encounter; but at the end of five or six
minutes the surgeon interfered once more: another man so severely hurt as
to render it unsafe to add to his harms. I watched this engagement as I
watched the others—with rapt interest and strong excitement, and
with a shrink and a shudder for every blow that laid open a cheek or a
forehead; and a conscious paling of my face when I occasionally saw a
wound of a yet more shocking nature inflicted. My eyes were upon the loser
of this duel when he got his last and vanquishing wound—it was in
his face and it carried away his—but no matter, I must not enter
into details. I had but a glance, and then turned quickly, but I would not
have been looking at all if I had known what was coming. No, that is
probably not true; one thinks he would not look if he knew what was
coming, but the interest and the excitement are so powerful that they
would doubtless conquer all other feelings; and so, under the fierce
exhilaration of the clashing steel, he would yield and look after all.
Sometimes spectators of these duels faint—and it does seem a very
reasonable thing to do, too.</p>
<p>Both parties to this fourth duel were badly hurt so much that the surgeon
was at work upon them nearly or quite an hour—a fact which is
suggestive. But this waiting interval was not wasted in idleness by the
assembled students. It was past noon, therefore they ordered their
landlord, downstairs, to send up hot beefsteaks, chickens, and such
things, and these they ate, sitting comfortable at the several tables,
whilst they chatted, disputed and laughed. The door to the surgeon's room
stood open, meantime, but the cutting, sewing, splicing, and bandaging
going on in there in plain view did not seem to disturb anyone's appetite.
I went in and saw the surgeon labor awhile, but could not enjoy; it was
much less trying to see the wounds given and received than to see them
mended; the stir and turmoil, and the music of the steel, were wanting
here—one's nerves were wrung by this grisly spectacle, whilst the
duel's compensating pleasurable thrill was lacking.</p>
<p>Finally the doctor finished, and the men who were to fight the closing
battle of the day came forth. A good many dinners were not completed, yet,
but no matter, they could be eaten cold, after the battle; therefore
everybody crowded forth to see. This was not a love duel, but a
"satisfaction" affair. These two students had quarreled, and were here to
settle it. They did not belong to any of the corps, but they were
furnished with weapons and armor, and permitted to fight here by the five
corps as a courtesy. Evidently these two young men were unfamiliar with
the dueling ceremonies, though they were not unfamiliar with the sword.
When they were placed in position they thought it was time to begin—and
then did begin, too, and with a most impetuous energy, without waiting for
anybody to give the word. This vastly amused the spectators, and even
broke down their studied and courtly gravity and surprised them into
laughter. Of course the seconds struck up the swords and started the duel
over again. At the word, the deluge of blows began, but before long the
surgeon once more interfered—for the only reason which ever permits
him to interfere—and the day's war was over. It was now two in the
afternoon, and I had been present since half past nine in the morning. The
field of battle was indeed a red one by this time; but some sawdust soon
righted that. There had been one duel before I arrived. In it one of the
men received many injuries, while the other one escaped without a scratch.</p>
<p>I had seen the heads and faces of ten youths gashed in every direction by
the keen two-edged blades, and yet had not seen a victim wince, nor heard
a moan, or detected any fleeting expression which confessed the sharp pain
the hurts were inflicting. This was good fortitude, indeed. Such endurance
is to be expected in savages and prize-fighters, for they are born and
educated to it; but to find it in such perfection in these gently bred and
kindly natured young fellows is matter for surprise. It was not merely
under the excitement of the sword-play that this fortitude was shown; it
was shown in the surgeon's room where an uninspiring quiet reigned, and
where there was no audience. The doctor's manipulations brought out
neither grimaces nor moans. And in the fights it was observable that these
lads hacked and slashed with the same tremendous spirit, after they were
covered with streaming wounds, which they had shown in the beginning.</p>
<p>The world in general looks upon the college duels as very farcical
affairs: true, but considering that the college duel is fought by boys;
that the swords are real swords; and that the head and face are exposed,
it seems to me that it is a farce which had quite a grave side to it.
People laugh at it mainly because they think the student is so covered up
with armor that he cannot be hurt. But it is not so; his eyes and ears are
protected, but the rest of his face and head are bare. He can not only be
badly wounded, but his life is in danger; and he would sometimes lose it
but for the interference of the surgeon. It is not intended that his life
shall be endangered. Fatal accidents are possible, however. For instance,
the student's sword may break, and the end of it fly up behind his
antagonist's ear and cut an artery which could not be reached if the sword
remained whole. This has happened, sometimes, and death has resulted on
the spot. Formerly the student's armpits were not protected—and at
that time the swords were pointed, whereas they are blunt, now; so an
artery in the armpit was sometimes cut, and death followed. Then in the
days of sharp-pointed swords, a spectator was an occasional victim—the
end of a broken sword flew five or ten feet and buried itself in his neck
or his heart, and death ensued instantly. The student duels in Germany
occasion two or three deaths every year, now, but this arises only from
the carelessness of the wounded men; they eat or drink imprudently, or
commit excesses in the way of overexertion; inflammation sets in and gets
such a headway that it cannot be arrested. Indeed, there is blood and pain
and danger enough about the college duel to entitle it to a considerable
degree of respect.</p>
<p>All the customs, all the laws, all the details, pertaining to the student
duel are quaint and naive. The grave, precise, and courtly ceremony with
which the thing is conducted, invests it with a sort of antique charm.</p>
<p>This dignity and these knightly graces suggest the tournament, not the
prize-fight. The laws are as curious as they are strict. For instance, the
duelist may step forward from the line he is placed upon, if he chooses,
but never back of it. If he steps back of it, or even leans back, it is
considered that he did it to avoid a blow or contrive an advantage; so he
is dismissed from his corps in disgrace. It would seem natural to step
from under a descending sword unconsciously, and against one's will and
intent—yet this unconsciousness is not allowed. Again: if under the
sudden anguish of a wound the receiver of it makes a grimace, he falls
some degrees in the estimation of his fellows; his corps are ashamed of
him: they call him "hare foot," which is the German equivalent for
chicken-hearted.<br/> <br/> <br/> <br/></p>
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