
Aboard the crowded steamship Oceania, a weary traveler secures a cramped cabin beneath the engine room, where oil‑laden air and the constant whir of a metallic fan create a suffocating backdrop. The bustling promenade deck teems with restless passengers, their chatter and clamor echoing the restless sea outside, while the narrator observes the strange, almost theatrical drama that unfolds during the night cargo‑unloading in Naples.
Amid this claustrophobic world, rumors of a bizarre accident swirl through cafés and theatres, hinting at a hidden violence that has already left its mark on the ship’s crew. As the days pass, the narrator’s fascination with the mystery deepens, and the oppressive environment begins to stir a restless, almost obsessive yearning to understand the hidden forces at play. The story captures the tension between external chaos and the inner turmoil that threatens to drive a man toward the brink.
Language
de
Duration
~7 hours (426K characters)
Publisher of text edition
Project Gutenberg
Credits
Produced by Peter Becker, Jens Sadowski, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net. This transcription was produced from images generously made available by Bayerische Staatsbibliothek / Bavarian State Library.
Release date
2018-09-05
Rights
Public domain in the USA.

1881–1942
Best known for elegant, emotionally intense novellas and vivid historical biographies, this Austrian writer was one of the most widely read authors of the interwar years. Forced into exile as Europe darkened, he later captured the lost world of prewar Vienna in his memoir The World of Yesterday.
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