Fates Worse Than Death: An Autobiographical Collage (Kurt Vonnegut Series) (25 page)

Happy Birthday, Kurt.

Dresden, the capital of Saxony, is situated on both banks of the river Elbe, and stands at approximately 360 feet above sea level. The left bank, with the Altstadt, or old town, as nucleus is the larger of the two parts; in it are found the commercial centre, the residential area and public buildings, and some industries, mainly in its S-Suburbs. Neustadt, on the right bank, and its suburbs contain industrial centres and administration.

In peace time tobacco, chocolate, and confectionery manufacture played a large part in Dresden’s industrial activity; there are also a large number of light engineering works and makers of machinery which are now engaged on all kinds of war production, many of which are too small to be listed individually. Several important factories are making electric motors, precision and optical instruments and chemicals.

The munitions workshops in the old arsenal occupy an extensive area to the North of Neustadt, along the railway to Klotsche, in the industrial region which extends past the aerodrome to the Dresdner Heide. In the Heide, a large heath, munitions are reported to be stored in quantities.

Dresden is an important railway centre. The main connections between South and East Germany and the direct line from Berlin to Prague and Vienna pass through Dresden whence several branch lines lead to Leipzig and other parts of industrial Saxony. The river harbour is of considerable importance to the freight traffic of the Elbe.

To the SW. of the town in the valley of the Weisseritz is the industrial town of Freital (dealt with under its own heading) and a small coal field which supplies the light industries that have been developed in Dresden.

Along the northern bank of the Elbe between Dresden and Meissen are a number of industrial settlements which are outside the municipal area of Dresden. These have been dealt with separately under the town headings Radebeul, Coswig near Dresden, and Meissen.

This is a page from a sort of directory kept aboard British and American bombers, from which crews might pick targets on their own in case they hadn’t been able to carry out their assigned mission that night or day. I reproduce it here to show that there wasn’t much in the Dresden area worth bombing out of business according to our own Intelligence experts. So burning the whole place down wasn’t an exercise in military science. It was religious. It was Wagnerian. It was theatrical. It should be judged as such.

Rest eternal grant them, O Lord,

and let light perpetual shine upon them.

A hymn befits Thee, O God, in Zion,

and to Thee shall be paid a vow in Jerusalem.

Hear my prayer,

to Thee all flesh shall come.

Lord, have mercy upon us.

Rest eternal grant them, O Lord,

and let light perpetual shine upon them.

A day of wrath, that day,

it will dissolve the world into glowing ashes,

as attested by David together with the Sibyl.

What trembling there will be

when the Judge shall come

to examine everything in strict justice!

The trumpet’s wondrous call sounding abroad

in tombs throughout the world

shall drive everybody toward the throne.

Death and nature shall stand amazed

when Creation rises again

to give answer to its Judge.

A written book will be brought forth

in which everything is contained

from which the world shall be judged.

So when the Judge is seated,

whatever sin is hidden will be made known.

Nothing sinful shall go unpunished.

Death and nature shall stand amazed

when Creation rises again

to give answer to its Judge.

What shall I, a wretch, say at that time?

What advocate shall I entreat to plead for me

when scarcely the righteous shall be safe from damnation?

King of awesome majesty,

Who to those that are to be saved givest the grace of salvation,

save me, O fount of pity.

Recall, dear Jesus,

that I am the reason for Thy journey into this world:

Do not cast me away from Thee on that day.

Seeking me, Thou didst sit down weary.

Thou didst redeem me, suffering death on the cross:

Let not such toil have been in vain.

Just Judge of vengeance,

grant me the gift of pardon

before the day of reckoning.

I groan like one condemned;

my face blushes for my sins;

spare a suppliant, O God.

Thou who didst absolve Mary Magdalen,

and heard the prayer of the robber,

hast given me hope as well.

My prayers are not worthy;

but Thou, of Thy goodness, deal generously with me,

that I burn not in the everlasting fire.

Give me a place among the sheep,

and separate me from the goats,

setting me on Thy right hand.

That day will be one of weeping,

on which shall rise again from the embers

the guilty man, to be judged.

When the accursed have been confounded

and sentenced to acrid flames,

call me along with the blessed.

That day will be one of weeping,

on which shall rise again from the embers

the guilty man, to be judged.

Therefore spare him, O God.

Merciful Lord Jesus,

grant them rest. Amen.

O Lord Jesus Christ, King of Glory,

deliver the souls of all the faithful departed

from the pains of hell and from the bottomless pit.

Save them from the lion’s jaws,

that hell may not engulf them,

that they may not fall into darkness,

but let St. Michael the standard-bearer lead them into the holy light

which Thou of old didst promise to Abraham and his seed.

Sacrifices and prayers of praise to Thee, O Lord, we offer:

Do Thou receive them on behalf of those souls

whom this day we commemorate.

Allow them, O Lord, to pass from death unto life.

Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth,

heaven and earth are full of Thy Glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Blessed is he who cometh in the name of the Lord.

Hosanna in the highest.

A day of wrath, that day,

it will dissolve the world into glowing ashes,

as attested by David together with the Sibyl.

Hear my prayer,

to Thee all flesh shall come.

Merciful Jesus, who takest away the sins of the world,

grant them rest.

O Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,

grant them eternal rest:

Let eternal light shine upon them,

O Lord with Thy saints forever, for Thou art merciful.

Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death on that

dread day when the heavens and earth shall quake,

when Thou shall come to judge the world by fire.

I am seized with trembling and I am afraid

until the day of reckoning shall arrive and the wrath to come.

Hear my prayer.

Deliver me, O Lord, from everlasting death.

That day, a day of wrath, calamity, and misery:

Rest eternal grant them, O Lord,

and let light perpetual shine upon them.

Rest eternal grant them, O Cosmos,

and let not light disturb their sleep.

A hymn is naught tSo Thee, O flying Stones,

nor a vow unratified

in a dream in Jerusalem.

Yet I pray:

From Thee all flesh did come;

Time, have mercy upon us;

Elements, have mercy upon us.

Rest eternal grant them, O Cosmos,

and let not light disturb their sleep.

A day of wrath, that day:

We shall dissolve the world into glowing ashes,

as attested by our weapons for wars

in the names of gods unknowable.

Let not the ashes tremble,

though some Judge should come

to examine all in some strict justice!

Let no trumpet’s wondrous call sounding abroad

in tombs throughout the world

drive ashes toward any Throne.

Let ashes remain as ashes,

though summoned to approach in terror,

as in life, some Judge or Throne.

Must a written book be brought forth

in which everything is contained

from which the ashes shall be judged?

Then when some Judge is seated,

and whatever is hidden is made known,

let him understand

that naught hath gone unpunished.

Let Death and Nature say what they will

when ashes sleep like ashes

when commanded to give answers to some Judge.

What shall I, a wretch, say at that time?

What advocate shall I entreat

when even the righteous have been damned

by wars in the names of gods unknowable?

Structure of awesome majesty,

donor of sleep or wakefulness,

Thou fount of random pain or pity,

give me the innocence of sleep.

Gambler with flesh,

Thou art the reason for my journey:

Do not cast the dice again on that day.

My wild and loving brother

did try to redeem me by suffering death on the cross:

Let not such toil have been in vain.

I groan like one condemned;

my face blushes for my sins.

Spare a suppliant from more such wakefulness.

Thou who didst neither condemn nor forgive Mary Magdalen

and the robber on the cross

hast given me hope as well.

My prayers are unheard,

but Thy sublime indifference will ensure

that I burn not in some everlasting fire.

Give me a place among the sheep

and the goats, separating none from none,

leaving our mingled ashes where they fall.

That day will be one of comical disappointment

to any who hoped to see rise again from the embers

the guilty to be judged.

When the litigious have been confounded

and sentenced to comical disappointment,

count me among the gratified.

That day will be one of comical disappointment,

on which shall rise again from the embers

no guilty man or woman or child to be judged.

I depend on you to spare them, O Stones,

O Time, O Elements.

Grant them rest. Amen.

O Cosmos, O structure of awesome majesty,

deliver without exception the souls of the departed

from the pains of Hell and from the bottomless pit.

Save them from the lion’s jaws,

that Hell may not engulf them,

that they may only fall into darkness which is still and sweet. Dazzle them not with light promised in a dream to Abraham and his seed.

Sacrifices and prayers of praise to Thee, O Cosmos,

we have offered for millennia.

Reward us with Thy continued indifference to the destinies past death

of those souls whom we this day commemorate.

Life was sport enough!

Allow them to pass from death unto sleep.

Holy, holy, holy, Time and the Elements:

Heaven and Earth are full of Thy Glory.

Hosanna in the highest.

Humbled and amazed are he and she who have experienced life.