# XXXVII: Opinions of Hinzelmann explained — Figures of Earth

> Chapter companion for Figures of Earth by James Branch Cabell.

## What happens

In the Room of Ageus, Dom Manuel converses with the strange boy Hinzelmann, who appears through a window. Hinzelmann speaks of the inescapable obligations and the geas laid upon every person, while Manuel reflects on the emptiness of his success and his longing for Suskind. Manuel makes excuses to delay fully committing to Suskind, citing his duties to his wife, his estate, and his young daughter Melicent, whom he cherishes despite her ordinariness. Hinzelmann warns that Manuel's gray hairs and the price paid to resurrect Niafer have aged him beyond his years.

## Themes in this chapter

### The Geas of Obligation

Manuel speaks of the inescapable bonds laid upon every person, from duty to family to the expectations of society.

### The Illusion of Success

Manuel questions the value of his achievements, feeling that success has turned him into a complacent idol honored by fools.

### The Loss of Youth and Idealism

Manuel laments the loss of his youth and the death of his godlike discontents, now replaced by the tedium of prosperity.

## Character check-ins

### Dom Manuel

Reflects on the geas of obligation and the emptiness of his success, expressing a longing for Suskind and a deep attachment to his daughter Melicent.

### Hinzelmann

Appears through the third window, speaks of the inescapable obligations of life, and collects his sister Suskind's revenues; he is blood brother to Cain and Seth.

### Melicent

Sits with her father in the Room of Ageus; Manuel defends her as precious despite Hinzelmann's dismissive remarks.

### Suskind

Referred to as Hinzelmann's sister; Manuel speaks of her as his heart's delight and the restorer of his youth.

### Niafer

Mentioned as Melicent's mother and the one for whom Manuel paid a price to resurrect.

## Key lines

> A bond was put upon me to make a figure in this world, and I discharged that obligation. Then came another and yet another obligation to be discharged. And now has come upon me a geas which is not to be lifted either by toils or by miracles.

Manuel explains that he was bound to succeed, and after fulfilling that duty, more obligations followed, culminating in an inescapable fate that cannot be undone by effort or magic.

_Manuel articulates the theme of the geas of obligation._

> I sometimes wonder, for I know that a smaller-hearted creature and a creature poorer in spirit is posturing in Count Manuel's high cushioned places than used to go afield with the miller's pigs.

Manuel reflects that the man he has become, sitting in luxury, is spiritually lesser than the humble swineherd he once was.

_Highlights the theme of the illusion of success._

> She is my heart's delight, and the desire of my desire. It was she for whom, unwittingly, I had been longing always, since I first went away from Suskind, to climb upon the gray heights of Vraidex in my long pursuit of much wealth and fame.

Manuel declares that Suskind is the fulfillment of a lifelong, unconscious yearning that his earlier ambitions only masked.

_Reveals Manuel's emotional attachment to Suskind._

## Links

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