The words ‘Es muss sein!’ had acquired a much more solemn ring; they seemed to issue directly from the lips of Fate. In Kant’s language, even ‘Good morning’, suitably pronounced, can take the shape of a metaphysical thesis, German is a language of heavy words. ‘Es muss sein!’ was no longer a joke; it had become ‘der schwer gefasste Entschluss’ (the difficult or weighty resolution).
