TRANSLATION - Rainer Maria Rilke - page a month

At last, contact with his commander. Next to his horse the great man towers. His long hair has the sheen of iron. The man from Langenau asks nothing. He recognizes the General, swings himself down from his horse into a cloud of dust, and bows. The General has with him a letter, it must be orders from the lords. He spits: “Read that crap to me,” without moving his lips. He adds nothing; the cursing, enough. Anything more would be superfluous, authority states. That is the point. And one regards it. The young man reads and it is a long time until he reaches the bottom. Once there, he does not know any more where he is. These orders are for everyone. The sky is gone away. As the orders say, so the looming General:
“Cornet.”
And that is plenty.