34 pages 1 hour read

Hermann Hesse

Journey to the East

Fiction | Novella | Adult | Published in 1956

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Chapter 4

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 4 Summary

H.H. goes to Seilergraben many times and goes to Andreas’s apartment, 69a, but never rings. One day while on the porch at the apartment he hears happy whistling from an upstairs window and believes that it must be Leo. The whistling stops and a young man comes out of the front door a few moments later. It is Leo from the directory, but also Leo from the Journey to the East. H.H. follows Leo on his walk as he moves down the lane. After he follows Leo to a park, Leo sits on a bench and speaks to him, saying that it will rain. H.H. tells Leo that he used to be a musician and enjoyed playing the violin, which reminds Leo of King David and how he played the harp for Saul: “He was a much happier and better person when he was a musician” (70) he tells H.H. Then he says that life is nothing but a happy game and must be treated as such.

Leo walks away and H.H. chases him, asking if he has forgotten that they once knew each other in the League. Leo replies, “Well, what person really knows another or even himself? As for me, I am not one who understands people at all.