On his own bed he lay and pondered over the limitations of his discovery.
To reveal the truth, wholly and absolutely, was not within the power of
the elixir, nor unfortunately did it possess the efficacy to lead one to
a perfect knowledge of oneself; on the other hand it was capable of
forcing any one who used it to be absolutely honest in his dealings with
his neighbours, and that surely was no small gain. Indeed it was enough
to place him among the most famous discoverers in all ages, and to
inscribe his name beside those of the noblest benefactors of man in the
whole round world.
Sleepless, yet filled with triumphant joy, like a general who has won a
glorious victory, he watched through the night. When Frau Schimmel came
to the house on the following morning she found him with the little Zeno
between his knees.
Her suspicion was immediately aroused that the father had misused the
child in order to try the effect of the elixir upon it, and she stood at
the door and listened.
But the little bottle tightly corked peered from the doctor's breast-
pocket and, instead of questioning Zeno, he was talking to him earnestly:
"Your mother," he was saying, "was more precious to me than life or aught
else, and you, my little one, are dear to me, too, chiefly because it was
she who gave you to me, but who knows if I might not have sacrificed you
if the success of the work, to which I have devoted so many years, had
depended upon it.
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