Kaspar Hauser
Translated account of the wolf Captain Hans von Vessenig,
June 5th, 1828
I remember the day that I saw him- the 26th day of May, in the year of our Lord 1828. The shoemaker Weimacker had told me about a vagrant teenager in ripped clothing ambulating lost through the city. Though not a thief or swindler, his haggard and poor appearance caused many of the customers in the shopping district to shy away from the stores and the garrison was informed to take him for interrogation. He was a fox, not particularly as good-looking as the rest of the species is known for, with bald splotches about where the red fur ought to have been, a defect I attributed to a lack of sunlight and time spent outdoors. He was short, unnaturally so for any canid, less than 4 ft. tall and I deduced based on his raggedy appearance that he had been the victim of some form of abuse from his parents. I saw him wandering lost through the city of Nuremberg and asked him "Ver send sie?" to which the fox did not respond. So I came up to him and grabbed him by the fur of his neck and found that he was carrying a letter addressed to me, the captain of the guard. I asked the poor wretched creature to read it only to realize that he was illiterate in every language, and had no knowledge of German so I read the letter after escorting him to the barracks to read the contents of the letter in privacy. It was barely-legible, probably written in haste and the parchment was as brittle and yellowed as the envelope surrounding it by the time it was read.
"The fox carrying this letter is named Kaspar Hauser. He was given to me, as I was entrusted to be his custodian on the 7th of October, 1812 and he has never been outside in years. I saw to it that he was trained in the Christian faith and that he can write and read, though he is not prone to talking. This fox seeks to be a cavalryman like his father before him. I am running out of money to take care of such a growing individual and will need to take him into the custody of the military for his education or that he will take an ignoble profession such as beggar or thief, which would be of no use to the city of Nuremburg or its people." There was no return address and curiously enough, the letter was anonymous.
There were too many vulpine cavalrymen in my post to know who this fox belonged to and because this fox had special needs (his fragile frame showed signs of neglect or abuse, and he was practically mute, though not illiterate), none of the officers would accept paternity for him. Faced with this concrete responsibility none of my officers would accept, I took it upon myself to serve as his temporary father despite my difference in species. I gave the fox room and board and a few books on the city's history to read, which he devoured voraciously. Upon further examination, I have noticed a limp in the way he walks and his knowledge of only one or two phrases, mostly dealing with his dreams of becoming an officer "to fulfill his father's dream." Due to my military duties, I cannot take care of this teenage fox indefinitely and thus I will entrust him to my friend, a lion by the name of the Andreus Hiltel, warden of the Vestner Gate Jail. I realize the irony of leaving a fox who has been shut-in his entire life, if what the letter says is true, being left to a warden but Andreus is not cruel and I told him this fox merely requires a place to say and has committed no lewd acts. Though I have orders to fulfill, I keenly await whatever new information about this Kaspar Hauser as it becomes apparent and will still be his caretaker until the time he is able to live independently.
August 18, 1828
A report by Herr Hiltel has brought the story of Kaspar Hauser to light. At first, I thought this child was raised in the forests as a feral cub but no. During conversations between Hauser, myself, Hiltel and Mayor Bender we now have learned that the letter is at least partially true. His muteness has over the past few weeks disappeared and now we know that he was indeed locked away in a house, not seeing the sun for sixteen years until that day he was released onto the streets of Nuremberg. He has always spent his life in a darkened rectangular room about two metres wide and one metre long, with a bed of straw providing little luxury in that otherwise Spartan surrounding and a toy rocking horse to ride on. The only book he has ever read is the Bible and he can be seen at the library each waking moment, in an attempt to read anything he can get his paws on. The fox's fur has returned, though it is a slow process and he is still somewhat ungainly-looking, though his injuries and limp have reduced considerably since the day we met. Herr Hauser also still holds the dream of being a cavalryman, just as his father, whoever he may turn out to be was. Anyone who would turn his cub to such a disgraceful and neglectful custodian has no place in the militia. When and if we do find out who was behind this, we shall remove him from the army for dereliction of duty, not for actions on the field of battle but for what he has done at home.
January 8, 1829
Paul Anselm Feuerbach, the head of the Bavarian Court of Appeals has taken an interest in the fox's story and is expected to give a verdict even as his condition and physical appearance improve by the day. A steady diet of fruits, vegetables, milk, and meat- a far cry from the bread and water he received from his custodian- has increased the redness of his coat and now the fox has taken on desirable features typical of his species. The fur coat was thick enough to survive this frigid winter with only the addition of a jacket. Dr. Daumer, that eagle with all the crazy ideas on magnets and their impact on health reported that Hauser seems to react strangely to compasses, unlike the rest of his patients. When a compass is drawn, the needle points towards him not to magnetic north. When a magnet is drawn, the fox walks towards it with remarkable haste, as if drawn by the magnetic force itself and the limp disappears. Through the use of magnets, Daumer believes that we can remove his physical handicap and banish his limp.
October 17, 1829
My wife Hildegarde and I were waiting for our fox whom we treat as beloved as any son to eat lunch with him. But he never came until a courier informed us that he was outside in the courtyard, fainted and with an open wound. Fearing the hypothermic effects of Germany in the fall, we wasted no time in coming to his aid. With my expertise in crime scene, I could see that Hauser's assailant took an iron pipe to the top of his head and knocked him unconscious, the pipe next to him warped by the force of the blow. He had also suffered a cut on his tail that was not there before and he yelped in pain whenever one of the doctors tried to apply balm to it. Not surprisingly after receiving such a blow to cause bleeding, the fox has no knowledge of who attacked him, other than to say that "someone in a hood" came behind him and yelled "You must die and never leave Nuremberg."
Given the rumors of his possible descent from one of the ruling houses of Europe, we no longer feel that it is safe for either us or for Hauser to stay any longer in Nuremberg and we must regrettably entrust our beloved fox to the Lord Stanhope, a British patron and noblewolf who has professed in interest in discovering Hauser's parentage. The military escort arrived earlier today for his carriage ride from here to Normandy and then to Britain to stay with his new family.
March 3, 1830
While waiting for the winter snows to melt, Bilderbach, the rabbit who was entrusted with his care pro tempore saw a brick and gunshot enter the room in which Hauser was sleeping. The note read that the "pretenders to the House of Biden will be destroyed" and while Bilderbach was investigating and Hauser was waking up, a shot from a pistol came through the window and narrowly missed both the rabbit and the fox. I would love to take him back into my custody but after two assassination attempts, we need to give him the most security and protection we can. Whether the fox is indeed the son of rulers or not, he has committed no crime that would warrant such continued attempts on his life and we must find bodyguards to protect him at all hours of the day and night.
It is indeed droll and ironic that someone locked up for the better part of his life and freed at the age of sixteen must now spend his days in a prison of fear but we cannot risk his life. Much to our disappointment, a message from Lord Stanhope told us that he has reneged on his offer to spirit him away to England but has given money for his further education. A fox by the name of Johann Meyer, a Hungarian schoolmaster in Ansbach and teacher of the German language there has offered to take him and protect him.
December 26, 1832
As part of an unexpected Yuletide celebration for our fox, my wife and I have decided to spend our Christmas in Hungary watching our beloved adopted cub. The fox, consistent with his love of reading, has become a typesetter and bookbinder, though he does still wish at some point to be a cavalryman. However, joining the military would not be a good idea for a fox who has proven to need more protection from mysterious assailants who have twice threatened his life. Ansbach seems to be a safe place for him to live, though the fox confessed to me his need for a bodyguard even in a safe city such as this. At the dinner last night, Hauser confessed that Meyer has insulted him on a daily basis and claimed that within the next year he would die for being the "bastard cub of the House of Biden". We still have no idea what blood runs through this fox's veins but my greatest hope is it will not be shed in vain.
May 26, 1833
It is with great dismay that I must report the death by what the doctors believe is cancer of Paul Anselm Feuerbach, forever clouding the waters of Hauser's true heritage. Only he knew the truth about the fox's true family and with his death (and lack of record-keeping) the secrets of the fox's parentage pass into the grave. Hauser himself has taken this job with great happiness and has received a promotion since the time he started, though we are unaware if he is a cub of royalty. The employees he works alongside as well as his manager say he is one of the better workers. But it is truly a shame that no one really knows the true story of his pedigree.
December 19, 1833
Terrible, horrible news out of Ansbach, Hungary. Only half a year since our last visit we must now commit Hauser to the grave. Hildegarde and I will now be spending our Christmas wearing the funeral black for our adopted cub, who vanished from our lives as mysteriously as he appeared. The investigation into his death revealed what claimed the poor fox was a stab wound to his chest cavity. Kaspar's last reports, given to a nurse, tell of being lured by a courier who had important advice for him at the Ansbach garden. There, rather than give him the letter which would "prove his heritage once and for all," the cruel spy stabbed him in the abdomen and left him to die. Miraculously, a passer-by came and took him to the local hospital/monastery of St. Benedict but after a week, the limited medical supplies outweighed the altruism of the monks and knowledge of the doctors and the fox died.
A purse was left at the scene of the crime and it reveals a typewritten letter folded in the triangular style that our fox would leave notes in, filled with black marks for censorship:
"Hauser will be able to tell you quite precisely how I look and from where I am. To save Hauser the effort, I want to tell you myself from where I come _ _ . I come from from _ _ _ the Bavarian border _ _ On the river _ _ _ _ _ I even want to tell you the name: M. L. Ã-."
We have no idea who this "MLO" was but right now, our family has been shocked by the loss of this innocent soul who did nothing to deserve the hatred of his enemies, including my sons who regarded him as somewhat of a brother, albeit with a different fur color. Now, that his body has returned to the Earth, we leave the secrets and mystery of who he was to the Almighty. As the stone on his grave reads, "Hic jacet Casparus Hauser Aenigma sui temporis ignota nativitas occulta mors. MDCCCXXXIII." Here lies Kaspar Hauser. A mystery of his own time- his birth was hidden as was his death. 1833.
Perhaps in future generations, the historians will be able to discover whether or not this fox was indeed the son of royalty or just another pretender but as for me and my household, he was a beloved, adopted cub. We will miss him dearly.