At any rate, one day in April 1805 it was found that he had either fallen or thrown himself into the canal from an upper storey of a granary; it was generally concluded that it was a case of suicide. Schopenhauer was seventeen at the time of this catastrophe, by which he was naturally greatly affected.

Frl. Schroeder can go on like this, without repeating herself, by the hour. When I have been listening to her for some time, I find myself relapsing into a curious trance-like state of depression. I begin to feel profoundly unhappy. Where are all those lodgers now? Where, in another ten years, shall I be, myself? Certainly not here.

Il était sans ambitions, sans joie, et comme beaucoup d'hommes qui ainsi d'année en année s'effacent davantage, il en était venu à mettre une application maniaque dans les petites choses auxquelles il se réduisait. J'ai connu moi-même ces honorables tentations de la minutie et du scrupule. L'expérience avait développé chez mon père à l'égard des êt