Short Fiction · Chapter
Number 13 explained
Mr.
What happens
Mr. Anderson, an English gentleman staying at the Golden Lion hotel in Viborg, Denmark, notices the absence of Room 13 from the hotel's board but later discovers it exists. He becomes intrigued by documents in the Rigsarkiv concerning Bishop Jörgen Friis and a tenant, Mag. Nicolas Francken, accused of secret arts. Strange occurrences in his room—including a door that won't open, a shrinking room, and a missing portmanteau—unsettle him. He later collaborates with Herr Jensen on a mysterious parchment from a copper box, but refuses to draw conclusions about the supernatural.
Themes in this chapter
Supernatural and the Uncanny
The mysterious absence and presence of Room 13, the shrinking room, the hissing breathing, and the missing portmanteau create an atmosphere of uncanny dread.
The Curse of Knowledge
Anderson's research into forbidden documents and the parchment from the copper box suggests that uncovering hidden knowledge may bring danger.
Antiquarianism and the Past
Anderson's work in the archives, examining old letters and a mysterious parchment, emphasizes the allure and peril of historical discovery.
Characters to notice
- Mr. Anderson
The protagonist; an English gentleman researching in Viborg, who experiences strange phenomena in his hotel room and examines historical documents.
- Herr Anders Jensen
A palaeographer who assists Anderson in deciphering the mysterious parchment from the copper box.
- Mr. Karswell
Mentioned indirectly through the context of the story's themes; not directly present in this chapter.
Key passages
“The one and only point which suggested any food for thought was the absence of any Number 13 from the tale of the rooms, and even this was a thing which Anderson had already noticed half a dozen times in his experience of Danish hotels.”
The only detail that gave Anderson pause was that Room 13 was missing from the hotel's list, though he had seen this omission many times before in Denmark.
Introduces the central mystery of the missing room number.
“He could not help wondering whether the objection to that particular number, common as it is, was so widespread and so strong as to make it difficult to let a room so ticketed, and he resolved to ask the landlord if he and his colleagues in the profession had actually met with many clients who refused to be accommodated in the thirteenth room.”
Anderson wondered if the superstition against the number 13 was so strong that hotels struggled to rent such rooms, and he planned to ask the landlord about it.
Highlights Anderson's rational curiosity about the superstition.
“And not before he had been in bed for some minutes, had read his wonted three or four pages of his book, blown out his light, and turned over to go to sleep, did it occur to him that, whereas on the blackboard of the hotel there had been no Number 13, there was undoubtedly a room numbered 13 in the hotel.”
Only after settling into bed did Anderson realize that despite the hotel board listing no Room 13, such a room clearly existed.
The key realization that the room's existence contradicts the hotel's listing.
“It was a curious effect, he thought. Rooms usually look larger in a dim light than a full one, but this seemed to have contracted in length and grown proportionately higher.”
Anderson noticed that his room appeared to have shrunk in length and grown taller in the dim light, which was the opposite of the usual optical illusion.
First sign of the room's supernatural distortion.
“He was a disgrace, they wrote, to the city; he practised secret and wicked arts, and had sold his soul to the enemy.”
The reformers accused the Bishop's tenant of practicing black magic and making a pact with the devil.
Historical accusation of sorcery against Mag. Nicolas Francken.
