The Old Man 417He continued to read, but he took in little. Writing was almost impos¬
sible. By August 1801, a friend wrote that Kant was able "only at singular
moments to write down his thoughts on philosophical matters."^13 ' Often he
fell asleep in his chair, slipped out of it, and fell to the ground. Having fallen,
he could not get up. He calmly lay where he fell and waited until someone
helped him up. It is not clear how often this happened, until Wasianski pro¬
vided him with an armchair that prevented him from falling. He still read
in bed. Three times, his nightcap caught fire. Kant stamped out the fire with
his feet. Wasianski provided him with a bottle of water by his bed, and
changed the design of his nightcap. He also instructed him to read at a
greater distance from the candle. Wasianski now had to attend to Kant sev¬
eral times a day. Their friends began to feel sorry for Kant and Wasianski.
As early as November 1801 Kant turned all matters concerning his es¬
tate over to Wasianski. He made Wasianski a present of a commemorative
coin with his likeness on it, giving him a certificate that proved he had re¬
ceived it as a gift. Wasianski did not know who had given him the coin, but
the rumors to the effect that it had been given to him by the Jews for ex¬
plaining a difficult passage in the Talmud seemed "incomprehensible" to
him. To him, as to many of Kant's friends in Königsberg, "Kant and the
Talmud seemed too heterogeneous."^138 Wasianski was now also respon¬
sible for Kant's estate, which amounted to about 20,000 Thalers — not nearly
as much as Hippel's 140,000, but much more than one would have ex¬
pected from a professor at the University of Königsberg. Money had been
important to Kant, and he had invested it wisely. On November 14, 1801,
Kant finally resigned his seat on the senate. He did not write the letter him¬
self but only signed it.^139
Meanwhile, things did not go well at home. Lampe had begun too take
advantage of the "weakness" of his master. He became more quarrelsome,
obtained unreasonable favors, did not do his job, was frequently drunk,
and exhibited a certain kind of "brutality."^140 Wasianski talked to Lampe,
who promised to improve but got worse. In January 1802 Kant reported
to Wasianski: "Lampe has done such wrong to me that I am ashamed to say
what it was."^141 Wasianski saw to it that Lampe, the servant who had been
with Kant for forty years, was dismissed in the very same month. He re¬
ceived a yearly pension, under the condition that neither he nor any of the
relatives were ever to bother Kant again.
Kant continued to call his new servant "Lampe." To remind himself, he
wrote in one of his little notebooks: "the name Lampe must now be com¬
pletely forgotten."^142 This kind of performative contradiction is perhaps