The House of Lunatics
The House of Lunatics

Summary/Abstract: The house was in the middle of an open field near the marsh, a mouth like a sinister hollow in the fog and the warm vapours. Inside, however, it was dazzlingly lit, day and night. Each patient had his own room, with thick carpets and an amazing number of ornaments. All the rooms looked two ways: when the big double doors were opened, the whole area formed a luxurious Biedermeier draping room; opening the smaller door created a different view: in the distance it revealed the yard, with an outside toilet where women squatted one by one. They came with their husbands as if for the corso, they took off their new shoes and dresses, went into the privy in bloomers, and without closing the door — maybe the toilet didn't have a door — they sat on the wooden seats.

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