28
Kaspar Hauser.
imprisonment. The account which Hauser wrote himself at 5
later period is only an amplification of the same material, and
does not contradict any of the details.
Ture MEMOIR.
Kaspar Hauser does not know who he is nor where his home
is to be found. He “came into the world” (as he expresses it)
at Nuremberg, as here for the first time he perceived that other
beings existed besides himself, and the man with whom he had
always been. As long as he could remember he had inhabited a
cell about six or seven feet long, four feet wide, and five feet high.
The floor appeared to be of hard earth; in the front wall were
‘wo small windows filled in with wood. He sat always in the
same place, and could only move enough to lie down when he
was tired. There was straw under him and a woollen blanket
over him. His feet were always bare ; for clothing he had only
a shirt and a pair of leather trousers, which were open behind.
Near him, at his left hand, was a vessel sunk in the floor and
covered, which was emptied when he was asleep. On awaking
he always found a jug of water and a piece of bread beside him,
at his right hand. Sometimes the water had a bitter taste, and he
fell asleep directly after drinking it: when he awoke he found
that his clothing had been changed and his nails trimmed. He
<new no difference between day and night ; there was scarcely
any light in his cell: he never saw the sun nor the stars, and
never heard a noise of any kind. He had two wooden horses
and a wooden dog to play with ; also a number of red and blue
ribbons, which he tied around these animals in various ways. All
his waking hours were occupied with his playthings. He had no
sense of time, and could not tell for how long a period he was
imprisoned ; but he had no recollection of any other abode.
The man who took care of him was not unkind, and never hurt
him, excepting once, when he struck him because he made too
much noise with his horses. That blow had caused the wound
‘ound on his arm when he appeared in Nuremberg,
