Beware of Pity (German: Ungeduld des Herzens, literally Impatience of theHeart) is a 1939 novel by the Austrian writer Stefan Zweig. It was Zweig's longest work of fiction. It was adapted into a 1946 film of the same title, directed by Maurice Elvey.[1]
The young lieutenant Anton "Toni" Hofmiller is invited to the castle of the wealthy Hungarian Lajos Kekesfalva. After dinner he asks Kekesfalva's daughter, Edith, to dance not knowing that she is paralyzed from the waist down. She begins to weep inconsolably at the perceived slight, and Toni filled with embarrassment rushes to leave the castle. Soon afterwards he sends her flowers hoping that the Kekesfalvas will forgive him and that his indiscretion will not become the subject of gossip. To his surprise, he is immediately invited back for tea where he is endeared to the young Edith out of pity for her condition. He soon begins to visit Kekesfalvas everyday where he is lavished with the finest foods, cigars, and liquors and at the same time develops a subtle affection and compassion for the crippled girl. Edith falls in love with madly in love with him, but such a possibility never even occurs to Toni. Herr von Kekesfalva compulsively praises Toni's magnanimity at every opportunity despite Toni's protests. One day he asks Toni for a favor. Herr von Kekesfalva worries that Dr. Condor, Edith's doctor, is not being entirely truthful when he insists that she is improving and that her condition may one day be completely cured out of consideration for Herr von Kekesfalva's feelings. He asks to Toni to casually inquire when the good doctor visits about the possibility of a full recovery. When Condor visits, Toni nonchalantly offers to walk with him back into town. Condor makes several ambiguous remarks about Herr von Kekesfalva's ignoble origins which he sees upset Toni. Condor offers to tell him the whole story rather than for Toni to hear a mangled version through gossip. Condor describes Herr von Kekesfalva's origins as a young Jewish businessman who swindled the German companion to the late heiress of the Kekesfalva castle and land out of her fortune before being moved out of compassion to marry the poor woman. He then became a devoted husband and father of Edith caring nothing for money except to provide for his late wife and daughter. Toni is shocked by the story but still manages to inquire after Edith's condition. Condor explains his belief that no one is incurable given the continually progressive nature of medical science but that there is little guarantee that Edith will ever walk again. He off-handedly mentions a possible treatment developed by a French that he had just read about in a medical journal, but he insists that it is uncertain whether it will work in Edith's case. Toni is stopped on his way home by Herr von Kekesfalva who appears almost on the edge of death. Toni tries to calm him down, but out of pity he is moved to lie to the old man that there is a new treatment that Condor is sure will completely cure Edith. Herr von Kekesfalva is overjoyed at the news and rushes home to wake Edith up. At first she too is overjoyed and the castle is filled with happiness. Hoping that her high spirits will lead to improvement of her condition and worrying that disappointment could kill her Condor agrees to let the lie go on as long as Toni takes full responsibility for confessing when the time comes. However, soon after Edith begins to suspect that the treatment is just a ruse for Toni to send her away despite his insistence to the contrary. When she kisses him on the mouth, he realizes to his own horror that she's fallen in love with him without his knowledge or consent. At first he arranges a plan to flee, but Condor tells him that he will be a murderer and a criminal, if he leaves the poor girl now and that he must comfort and entertain her at least until she leaves for the treatment in Switzerland. Out of pity for Herr von Kekesfalva and Edith who seems ready to kill herself no matter what Toni says to her, he promises to marry her when she is recovered after the treatment. However, for fear of ridicule and contempt, he denies the engagement in public. Realizing the mess he's made and the disgrace he's brought his regiment by lying to his fellow soldiers, he plans to kill himself and requests a transfer. He leaves town early that morning without thinking only from the momentum of his decision, but his guilt catches up to him as he waits for his train in Vienna, but he is unable to notify Condor in time. At one of the stops he sends a hasty telegram explaining that he's bee transferred but still intends to keep his promise. Unbeknownst to him Franz Ferdinand had been killed that very day and his telegram never made it to the Kekesfalva's. When Edith learns of his public denial of their engagement, she takes her own life. Toni enters the Great War blinded by guilt but mechanically following orders.
The Russian film Love for Love (Любовь за любовь, 2013) was also based on "Beware of Pity", but transferred the story to a Russian setting and gave it an ambiguous ending. Knowing that World War I has been declared, the lieutenant asks for two days' leave to marry the fiancee whom he has abandoned. In the last scene, he is seen riding to his crippled love as she is about to commit suicide by jumping off a balcony. She stops as she sees him returning. The film, directed by Sergei Ashkenazy, is available in Russian on YouTube.
The Danish film The Kiss (Kysset, 2023) is also loosely based on "Beware of Pity", but is set in Denmark.[4]
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