I was compelled with shame to turn back. The man in
the gray coat, when he had calmly finished his tune, laughed at me,
set the shadow right again for me and informed me that it would
hang fast and remain with me only when I was disposed to become the
rightful proprietor. "I hold you," continued he, "fast by the shadow,
and you cannot escape me. A rich man, like you, needs a shadow;
it cannot be otherwise, and you only are to blame that you did not
perceive that sooner."
I continued my journey on the same road; the comforts and the splendor
of life again surrounded me; I could move about free and conveniently,
since I possessed a shadow, although only a borrowed one; and I
everywhere inspired the respect which riches command. But I carried
death in my heart. My strange companion, who gave himself out as
the unworthy servant of the richest man in the world, possessed
an extraordinary professional readiness, prompt and clever beyond
comparison, the very model of a valet for a rich man, but he stirred
not from my side, perpetually debating with me and ever manifesting
his confidence that, at length, were it only to be rid of him, I
would resolve to settle the affair of the shadow. He had become as
burdensome to me as he was hateful. I was even in fear of him. He had
made me dependent on him. He held me, after he had conducted me
back into the glory of the world from which I had fled.
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