The menace is a threat to a commonplace world, coming from outside, somehow. I note the word choice, in keeping with Grabinski's alleged concern with modernity: 'traditional arrangement of things'. Yet the restlessness of the railway employees and the nervousness of the officials had been gradually transmitted, creating a receptive soil for the sowing of secret conspiracies. Thus far the public did not know anything about any problem. They communicated with each other by telling glances, specific gestures, and a play on well-chosen words. A truly amazing solidarity united these people: they were silent.

Thus far the matter had been miraculously confined to the circle of railwaymen connected with it. It was appropriate to conceal any countermeasures, so that this strange affair would not come to light in the newspapers and create a public uproar. Therefore, they were ashamed of themselves and humiliated before the public.Īt present it was most important that the problem should not spread, that “the general public” should not find out anything about it. Something incalculable like a chimera, capricious like madness had arrived, and it shattered with one blow the traditional arrangement of things. But something totally different was at issue here. If the problem had concerned a so-called “accident,” which, admittedly, one could not foresee but for which an explanation could be provided afterwards, then they, the professionals, were vulnerable but certainly not desperate. As noted already, the translation is a major factor in this achievement. Grabinski does a fine job setting the stage despite the ephemeral nature of the menace.

The Dark Domain by Stefan Grabiński