A Tramp Abroad

by Mark Twain

  CHAPTER V

  At the Students' Dueling-Ground

  [Dueling by Wholesale]

  One day in the interest of science my agent obtained permission to bringme to the students' dueling-place. We crossed the river and drove upthe bank a few hundred yards, then turned to the left, entered a narrowalley, followed it a hundred yards and arrived at a two-story publichouse; we were acquainted with its outside aspect, for it was visiblefrom the hotel. We went upstairs and passed into a large whitewashedapartment which was perhaps fifty feet long by thirty feet wide andtwenty or twenty-five high. It was a well-lighted place. There was nocarpet. Across one end and down both sides of the room extended a row oftables, and at these tables some fifty or seventy-five students [1. SeeAppendix C] were sitting.

  Some of them were sipping wine, others were playing cards, others chess,other groups were chatting together, and many were smoking cigaretteswhile they waited for the coming duels. Nearly all of them wore coloredcaps; there were white caps, green caps, blue caps, red caps, andbright-yellow ones; so, all the five corps were present in strongforce. In the windows at the vacant end of the room stood six or eight,narrow-bladed swords with large protecting guards for the hand, andoutside was a man at work sharpening others on a grindstone.

  He understood his business; for when a sword left his hand one couldshave himself with it.

  It was observable that the young gentlemen neither bowed to nor spokewith students whose caps differed in color from their own. This did notmean hostility, but only an armed neutrality. It was considered thata person could strike harder in the duel, and with a more earnestinterest, if he had never been in a condition of comradeship with hisantagonist; therefore, comradeship between the corps was not permitted.At intervals the presidents of the five corps have a cold officialintercourse with each other, but nothing further. For example, when theregular dueling-day of one of the corps approaches, its president callsfor volunteers from among the membership to offer battle; three or morerespond--but there must not be less than three; the president lays theirnames before the other presidents, with the request that they furnishantagonists for these challengers from among their corps. This ispromptly done. It chanced that the present occasion was the battle-dayof the Red Cap Corps. They were the challengers, and certain caps ofother colors had volunteered to meet them. The students fight duels inthe room which I have described, _two days in every week during sevenand a half or eight months in every year_. This custom had continued inGermany two hundred and fifty years.

  To return to my narrative. A student in a white cap met us andintroduced us to six or eight friends of his who also wore white caps,and while we stood conversing, two strange-looking figures were led infrom another room. They were students panoplied for the duel. They werebareheaded; their eyes were protected by iron goggles which projected aninch or more, the leather straps of which bound their ears flat againsttheir heads were wound around and around with thick wrappings whicha sword could not cut through; from chin to ankle they were paddedthoroughly against injury; their arms were bandaged and rebandaged,layer upon layer, until they looked like solid black logs. These weirdapparitions had been handsome youths, clad in fashionable attire,fifteen minutes before, but now they did not resemble any beings oneever sees unless in nightmares. They strode along, with their armsprojecting straight out from their bodies; they did not hold them outthemselves, but fellow-students walked beside them and gave the neededsupport.

  There was a rush for the vacant end of the room, now, and we followedand got good places. The combatants were placed face to face, each withseveral members of his own corps about him to assist; two seconds, wellpadded, and with swords in their hands, took their stations; a studentbelonging to neither of the opposing corps placed himself in a goodposition to umpire the combat; another student stood by with a watch anda memorandum-book to keep record of the time and the number and natureof the wounds; a gray-haired surgeon was present with his lint, hisbandages, and his instruments.

  After a moment's pause the duelists saluted the umpire respectfully,then one after another the several officials stepped forward, gracefullyremoved their caps and saluted him also, and returned to their places.Everything was ready now; students stood crowded together in theforeground, and others stood behind them on chairs and tables. Everyface was turned toward the center of attraction.

  The combatants were watching each other with alert eyes; a perfectstillness, a breathless interest reigned. I felt that I was going tosee some wary work. But not so. The instant the word was given, the twoapparitions sprang forward and began to rain blows down upon each otherwith such lightning rapidity that I could not quite tell whether I sawthe swords or only flashes they made in the air; the rattling din ofthese blows as they struck steel or paddings was something wonderfullystirring, and they were struck with such terrific force that I could notunderstand why the opposing sword was not beaten down under the assault.Presently, in the midst of the sword-flashes, I saw a handful of hairskip into the air as if it had lain loose on the victim's head and abreath of wind had puffed it suddenly away.

  The seconds cried "Halt!" and knocked up the combatants' swords withtheir own. The duelists sat down; a student official stepped forward,examined the wounded head and touched the place with a sponge once ortwice; the surgeon came and turned back the hair from the wound--andrevealed a crimson gash two or three inches long, and proceeded to bindan oval piece of leather and a bunch of lint over it; the tally-keeperstepped up and tallied one for the opposition in his book.

  Then the duelists took position again; a small stream of blood wasflowing down the side of the injured man's head, and over his shoulderand down his body to the floor, but he did not seem to mind this. Theword was given, and they plunged at each other as fiercely as before;once more the blows rained and rattled and flashed; every few momentsthe quick-eyed seconds would notice that a sword was bent--then theycalled "Halt!" struck up the contending weapons, and an assistingstudent straightened the bent one.

  The wonderful turmoil went on--presently a bright spark sprung froma blade, and that blade broken in several pieces, sent one of itsfragments flying to the ceiling. A new sword was provided and the fightproceeded. The exercise was tremendous, of course, and in time thefighters began to show great fatigue. They were allowed to rest amoment, every little while; they got other rests by wounding each other,for then they could sit down while the doctor applied the lint andbandages. The law is that the battle must continue fifteen minutes ifthe men can hold out; and as the pauses do not count, this duel wasprotracted to twenty or thirty minutes, I judged. At last it was decidedthat the men were too much wearied to do battle longer. They were ledaway drenched with crimson from head to foot. That was a good fight, butit could not count, partly because it did not last the lawful fifteenminutes (of actual fighting), and partly because neither man wasdisabled by his wound. It was a drawn battle, and corps law requiresthat drawn battles shall be refought as soon as the adversaries are wellof their hurts.

  During the conflict, I had talked a little, now and then, with a younggentleman of the White Cap Corps, and he had mentioned that he was tofight next--and had also pointed out his challenger, a young gentlemanwho was leaning against the opposite wall smoking a cigarette andrestfully observing the duel then in progress.

  My acquaintanceship with a party to the coming contest had the effect ofgiving me a kind of personal interest in it; I naturally wished he mightwin, and it was the reverse of pleasant to learn that he probably wouldnot, because, although he was a notable swordsman, the challenger washeld to be his superior.

  The duel presently began and in the same furious way which had markedthe previous one. I stood close by, but could not tell which blows toldand which did not, they fell and vanished so like flashes of light. Theyall seemed to tell; the swords always bent over the opponents' heads,from the forehead back over the crown, and seemed to touch, all theway; but it was not so--a protecting blade, invisible to me, was alwaysinterposed
between. At the end of ten seconds each man had struck twelveor fifteen blows, and warded off twelve or fifteen, and no harm done;then a sword became disabled, and a short rest followed whilst a new onewas brought. Early in the next round the White Corps student got an uglywound on the side of his head and gave his opponent one like it. In thethird round the latter received another bad wound in the head, and theformer had his under-lip divided. After that, the White Corps studentgave many severe wounds, but got none of the consequence in return.At the end of five minutes from the beginning of the duel the surgeonstopped it; the challenging party had suffered such injuries that anyaddition to them might be dangerous. These injuries were a fearfulspectacle, but are better left undescribed. So, against expectation, myacquaintance was the victor.