The Old Man 421of spectator sport. Many visitors from outside Königsberg engaged in this
pastime as well, most of them quite willingly. Christian Friedrich Reusch,
who was invited in 1803 to attend Kant's dinner parties on a regular basis,
observed that
during the last period of my presence Kant began to speak, as usual, but very quietly
and incoherently, often falling into daydreams when his stomach or his sleeplessness
bothered him. He wanted there to be conversation, but he did not like it when his two
guests spoke with each other. He was long used to be the center and the leader of the
conversation. Now, weak and hard of hearing, he spoke usually alone — usually about
the quality of the food, obscure memories and opinions about his sickness. His old
friends could bring him to remember old times ... he still knew some verse of his fa¬
vorite poem... "The rule remains one must not marry... but, excipe, what honor¬
able pair ... placing special emphasis on "honorable." ... After half an hour Kant was
usually completely exhausted and was brought to his room. His dinner guests left with
bad feelings...^162
Metzger, not one to mince words, found that Kant, who had been his own
doctor for the longest time, was perhaps "too anxious in observing the slow
diminution of his powers," and that during his last years he "entertained
his friends with this ad nauseam. ..." For him, this was the swansong of his
egoism or of his peculiarities.^163 For the others, it was just dreadful.
Kant went to bed early, only to spend the night awake, bothered by
nightmares.^164 "Calm walking in his room was followed by anxiety, and
it was most strong soon after he woke up."^165 He had to be watched every
night. His relatives were called in to help. In December, Kant could not
write his name any longer. Nor could he find his spoon. He had difficul¬
ties expressing himself verbally. During the last few weeks of his life, he
recognized no one. Sitting in a chair, as if asleep, he passed the days. Kant
was "vegetating" rather than living, Wasianski thought. A visitor from
Berlin, who was allowed to see Kant, later wrote that he had found Kant's
husk, but not Kant.
Jachmann, who visited him one evening late in 1803 or early 1804 found
him "roaming through his room restlessly and without a goal, led by his
servant. He was only vaguely aware of me, asking incessantly about the ob¬
scure grounds (Gründe) before him. What he could have meant by grounds
has remained unknown to me, but when he touched my somewhat cool
hands, he cried out about the cool grounds, which he could not grasp."^166
At the beginning of 1804 Kant could eat hardly anything at all. "He
found everything too tough and without taste." At table, he just stammered,
and during the night he could not sleep.^167 Though there were still short