DECEMBER 12

Wilhelm, my troubles have made me into a simple man who feels that some devil is following me wherever I go, destroying my life bit by bit Something inside of me has begun to press upon my chest, making it difficult for me to breathe. I go out for walks in the evenings, even during the worst weather, and enjoy the unpleasantness of everything around me.

Just the day before, I was told that the recent rise in temperature has caused the rivers to flood the countryside I once loved to look at from that hill near the hotel. At midnight I went to the hill. The flood was much more serious and damaging than I had thought. The forests and fields were entirely covered in water, which was rapidly moving across the land. Seeing this, I felt both troubled and happy. I raised my arms toward the flowing water and cried, "Dive!" The idea of taking my life made me feel very good, suddenly. However, it eased my pain only for a brief moment, for then I felt unable to actually do it ... to jump in. I guess that I am not quite ready to die, yet. But, Wilhelm, how attractive the idea was at the moment!

DECEMBER 15

Something is very wrong with me, Wilhelm. I am not myself, lately. My deep feelings for her have always been honest and clean. I have never dreamt of doing anything disgustingly sexual with her. But, my Cod, how badly my dreams have suddenly turned. Every night it is the same. I take her into my arms and kiss her passionately, while she gently tries to refuse me. I lose my mind when I look into her eyes. How awful it is of me to enjoy such dreams, but.. God help me ... I do enjoy them, Wilhelm. Those moments seem so real! She is mine then and the feeling is unbelievably good! I am sorry, Charlotte. My mind is weak! I have a sickness ... but at the same time I am quite healthy. Oh, how I wish I were not living.

Werther clearly could not get the Idea of taking his life out of his mind. He had no other real hopes or desires in the world. However, if he were to do this, he wanted to plan it out very carefully and with a clear and peaceful mind. He did not want to take his life in a moment of passion.

One paper I found, which I believe was supposed to be a letter to Wilhelm, paints a clearer picture of Werther's problems. There is no date on the paper and it was never sent.

"Although I am too tired to cry, her kindness toward me can still bring water to my eyes. To enter into death would be quite easy, you simply walk into the darkness and you are there. So, why is it so hard for me to take that final step? I suppose it is because I do not know what is in that darkness; and because I can never come back. That step is truly final."

The next letter seems to indicate that his decision was finally made.

DECEMBER 20

Thank you, again, Wilhelm, for your good and kind suggestion. I totally agree with you. I ought to leave this place. But, I do not wish to come to your city right away. I would much prefer to travel for a short time beforehand. Your plan to come here personally and help me to leave is a very excellent one. However, I must ask that you wait a couple of weeks before coming. Please, tell my mother that I am sorry to have made her suffer so often. It seems that I have always brought sadness to the people I should have made happy. Goodbye, friend. God bless you. Goodbye.

At that point in time, Charlotte seems to have been attempting to be less close to Werther, Of course, this must have been hard for her. She knew that it would hurt the poor man, but she had to please her husband. Albert, still, never mentioned Werther at all, and Charlotte did the same in order to make him believe that her feelings were no different from his. Sometimes she would give Werther more time than she should have, because she felt quite sorry for him. After all, she was not a cold person.

As soon as he had finished writing the previous letter to Wilhelm, Werther went to visit Charlotte. At the time, she was getting gifts ready for the children, for Christmas was only four days away. As he watched her work, he started talking about how happy Christmas had always made him as a child. He loved to see the tree decorated with all kinds of food and candles.

"If you don't do anything wrong, I will give you a Christmas present this year," Charlotte said.

"What do you mean 'don't do anything wrong?'" he asked.

"We will be opening gifts on Thursday evening. I'd like you to come and join us, but you should stay away from here until then. Our relationship has become uncomfortable for me and I need to be away from you for a few days."

Werther stood up and began to walk back and forth in front of Charlotte, talking to himself the whole time. Seeing that he was so upset, Charlotte tried to change the subject, but he would not allow it.

"Then this is the last time for us to be together!"he said.

"Why do you say that?" she asked. "Do you always have to be so sensitive, Werther? Just try to relax and remember all of the good things about yourself. You are very intelligent, talented, and kind. All of these things will get you very far in life. Be strong and let go of this sadness that controls you. I believe that you only love me so much because you can't have me."

Werther suddenly looked up at her with seriousness in his face. "I guess that your husband told you that! Very intelligent, indeed!"he said with a kind of laugh.

"Yes, I believe it is correct," she continued, "Find another girl, Werther. There are so many out there that could make you very happy. I cannot understand why you don't open your eyes to other possibilities. Go out into the world and look for your happiness. It's out there. I know it is."

"I'll be fine. I just need a little while to get used to things," he responded.

"Well, take the time you need, I suppose, but don't come back here until Thursday."

Just then, Albert entered the room. The two men silently greeted one another with a movement of their heads. Several meaningless words were exchanged between them and then they fell silent again. Werther watched as Albert talked with his wife very briefly. He seemed a bit unfriendly and impatient toward her, and this upset Werther. He wanted very much to leave, but could not. Instead, he stayed several more hours, until finally he was no longer able to stand his discomfort.

When he got home, he went straight to his bedroom, where he fell heavily onto his bed and began to cry. Eventually, his servant came in to help him get ready for bed. Werther remained silent until the servant was about to leave. "Thank you. However, don't come tomorrow until I call for you," he said.

As soon as he woke up the next day, he began work on a letter to Charlotte. The letter was not found until after he died. It was then given to Charlotte to read. It seems that he wrote it at different times over several days, so I will include it here in bits and pieces, as I believe he wrote it.

"I have decided, Charlotte, to kill myself. I am very clear and calm now. Today will be our last day together. When your eyes read over this page, this very unhappy man shall already be deep in the ground, resting peacefully, finally free from his sadness. I left your home yesterday feeling absolutely terrible. The last small amount of hope that I still had was finally gone. The world suddenly became completely empty of all joy. I spent the night in terrible pain. All kinds of thoughts entered and left my mind. Only one idea would not go away: death. I then fell asleep and awoke in the morning with the same idea in my brain. You must understand that I did not kill myself in a moment of wild anger. I knew for a while that one of us: you, Albert, or I would have to die. Now, I am clear that it must be me. When you go to the hill in Walheim that looks over the countryside, remember the many times I came from that land below to see you. Then look over at the cemetery, where my body rests, and watch as the wind gently blows the grass that grows above my resting body. Ah, and now my eyes have filled with tears again."

Later that morning, Werther informed the servant that he would be going on a trip. He asked the man to help him prepare by getting together his clothes and taking eight weeks' pay to the poor people in the area whom he often helped.

He had his morning meal alone and then went to see the judge. The fellow was out at the time, so Werther waited for him to return. He, therefore, had much time to think again, and all of his unhappy memories came rushing back into his mind.

Charlotte's children found Werther waiting in the garden and immediately gathered around him. They were excited about getting their gifts in a few days, and were haring fun trying to guess what their sister had gotten them. "Yes, children. Just a few days more!" Werther repeated, taking each of them in his arms. As he was about to stand up to leave, the smallest boy spoke something softly into his ear, "My big brother made several wishes for the New Year for our dad, Charlotte, Albert, and you! You'll all get your wish the morning of the new year!" This moved Werther. He thanked the boy and then quickly left.

Early in the evening, he went back to his home and asked the servant to make a few more preparations for the coming trip. It seems that he then sat down and added another paragraph to his letter to Charlotte.

"I know that you think you will not see me until the day before Christmas. However, this cannot happen, for I will be gone by that time. No, I must see you today, one last time. I cannot tell you how good it feels to know that I will soon be dead!"

Since their last talk, Charlotte had been feeling quite guilty. She knew that what she had said had hurt Werther. She felt sorry for him and, actually, missed having him around so often.

Charlotte told Albert that she had asked Werther not to visit until the day before Christmas. As usual, he made no response, but simply changed the subject for a bit and then left to do some necessary business with another person in town. After Albert was gone, Charlotte found herself alone with her thoughts. She was very pleased with her marriage. It seemed almost perfect to her, and she truly loved her husband. At the same time, she had become quite close to Werther. From the very first day they met, it was obvious that they shared the same ideas and interests. She very much enjoyed their conversations, and would often share her most personal thoughts with him. Now, after not seeing him for several days, she began to feel a little empty. It was her hope that he might fall in love with one of her friends and get married. Then she could see him as often as before, but without any uncomfortable feelings between them.

As she thought about which friend to introduce him to, Charlotte found them all unsatisfactory. Then she realized that she did not really want him to many anyone. She did not want to share Werther with anybody. This realization upset her terribly and made her feel even guiltier. She did not like to admit that she had such a purpose, and yet it was clearly the truth.

When, later that evening, she heard Werther's voice come from the front door, her heart began to beat quickly. She felt that she could not control herself. When he entered the room she said, "You promised not to come!"

"No, I didn't," he replied.

"Please, it is very important that you stay away! Please!" she cried.

Without thinking, she asked the servant to call for her friends to come and visit, in order to have other people around during Werther's visit. He laid some books on the table and asked about a few others he had lent her before. Meanwhile, Charlotte was secretly hoping her friends would not come.

Her mind was wild. She moved from her seat to the piano, and from there to the window, until she finally ended up seated next to Werther on the sofa.

"Well, if you haven't any books to look through now, I still have Ossian's songs, which you debt me," Charlotte said, "I would very much like to hear you read them to me."

Werther got up and took the book from the shelf. His body shook for a moment as he opened it. Then, sitting down again and with tears in his eyes, he started to recite the words before him.

The poem was about a gathering of souls on a beautiful hillside. They were the souls of heroes who had died in battle long ago. There on the hillside, the gods of music joined them and sang songs that told the story of each fallen hero. One song was about Salgar, whose lover, Colma, waited for him to return to her from a battle in which he had to fight against her father and brother, who hated him. Sadly, all three of them died. Yet, poor Colma continued to sit alone on the hill, waiting and asking herself, "Why does he not come back to me?" She sat through the worst storms, fully expecting her dead lover to keep his promise and return to her. She called out to him, "Salgar! Come to me! I am lonely!" The souls of her dead brother and father appeared before her and she begged them to speak to her. However, they did not say a word. Colma saw the blood on their weapons and she knew that her lover was dead. She then decided to join her lost lover in death.

Another song then told the story of Morar, who was one of the greatest fighters in history. He was famous for his skill with the sword and for his quickness on the battlefield. He had reached true greatness in his life, and yet, he eventually died just like everyone else, but without any mother or lover to cry over his tomb. He had no child to carry on his name. This song would remind the world of his greatness.

All the souls felt sad hearing such stories. The saddest among them, however, was a living human, named Armin who was also present on the hillside. He was thinking of his son, who died quite young. Another living man, next to him, asked him why he was feeling so badly when he heard such beautiful music was being sung to them.

Armin turned to his neighbor and said, "You have not lost any children. Your home and family are doing very well. I, however, am the last living member of my family. My poor daughter, Daura, is deep in the cold ground. I hear no songs being sung for her."

Armin then called upon the moon to remind him of the terrible day when he lost both of his children: Arindal and Daura.

"She was very beautiful, my daughter. And my son was a great fighter. One day, another man, a famous soldier named Armar, came to ask for Daura to marry him. She agreed. However, then a man named Erath came to find Armar. He was angry because Armar had killed his brother. Discovering Armar's love for Daura, Erath decided to play a cruel trick on her. He pointed to an island far out in the sea and told her that her lover, Armar, was there waiting for her. She let Erath take her to the island in a boat. "Armar! I have come to you!"she cried; however, no answer came. When she turned around, she saw that Erath had taken the boat and left her alone on the island. Daura then called for her brother and me. My son, Arindal, heard her cries while he was hunting. He ran down to the sea and found Erath standing next to his boat Full of anger, he tied the evil man to a tree and then took the boat to get his sister. Meanwhile, Armar returned and misunderstood the situation. He heard his lover crying out from the island and thought that the man in the boat was responsible for her troubles. He threw his great spear with all of his strength and killed Arindal. The boat turned over as the young man fell into the water. Armar then jumped into the sea to swim to Daura, but the water pulled him under and he drowned."

"For many days and nights I stood on the beach, helplessly listening to my daughter's cries. I could see her in the moonlight. A terrible storm came in the night. By sunrise her voice could hardly be heard, because she had lost so much strength. Soon after, she died of sadness and hunger. Now, I have no one. I am alone in the world. All of my courage, all of my hope is gone. Everyday I spend my time looking out at that island. I can sometimes see the spirits of my son and daughter over there in the moonlight."

Charlotte became full of emotion and soon started to cry. Hearing this, Werther closed the book and ran over to comfort her on the sofa. He, too, began to cry. Both of them were sad now, for they could see much of themselves in this poem. Werther rested his head on Charlotte's shoulder. She was shaking. She wanted to leave him, but her pity and sadness would not let her. After gathering some strength, she begged Werther to go. He was moved by this show of emotion, and his heart filled with feeling. Immediately, he reopened the book and, with a shaking voice, finished the last lines of the poem.

"I feel that my time has come. Even though, the warm air of spring tells me that there are many beautiful days ahead, I know that my body is tired and weak. Today's storm shall wash me away from the earth."

Werther closed the book, feeling very upset. He then ran over to Charlotte and took her hands in his. He wildly brought her hands over his eyes and cheeks. Charlotte suddenly began to truly understand her friend's sadness. She pulled him toward her and let the side of her face rest against his. Everything in the world was gone. Only the two of them existed at that moment. Werther held her tightly and then turned his lips upon hers, kissing her very deeply. "Oh! No, Werther!" she weakly cried, turning her head to the side. She then cried out again, "No, Werther!" He let go of her and then pulled himself free from her arms, before dropping to the ground. Charlotte spoke with a voice full of emotion, "We shall never meet again, Werther!" Then she ran into the next room and closed the door behind her. The sound of the key being turned in the door could be heard.

Werther remained on the floor for another thirty minutes until the servant came into the room. He walked over to the bookshelf and pretended to be looking for something until the servant finally walked out again. He then walked over to the door Charlotte had locked and whispered into it. "Just let me say goodbye to you one last time!" No response came from inside. He waited a while longer and then, forcing himself away, he cried out once more, "Goodbye, Charlotte! Goodbye for all time!"

Werther quickly left the village, passing through the front gate without a word from the guards who stood there. The weather was terrible that night. The ground was covered with a mixture of rain and snow. He made it home before midnight The servant found him standing in extremely wet clothes in the doorway. His hat was missing. It was later found high upon a rock that overlooked the countryside. How he managed to climb it in such bad weather and not fall to his death is a mystery.

When the servant brought him some coffee late the following morning, he found Werther busily adding to his letter to Charlotte.

"This shall be my final morning, dearest woman! Never again will I see the sunrise. But, in truth, the sun has been hidden from me for quite some time now. Therefore, dead or alive, I would miss it all the same. What a feeling it gives me to say out loud to myself, 'This is the end! The very end!' It is amazing to think that I am here now, full of young, healthy blood, but that tomorrow my body will be silent and cold. What does dying mean? So little do people understand it Today I live and I am completely yours. Tomorrow we will no longer be together. Think about that for a moment. I will be dead, Charlotte. I will lay deep in the earth, in a small, dark box! My closest friend in the world died when I was younger. I remember the sounds of death at her funeral: the sound of the ropes lowering her box into the ground, the sound of dirt falling upon wood as they began to fill in the hole. Those sounds filled me with so much sadness that I grew weak and fell to the ground. Oh, death!

I am so sorry about what happened yesterday. I should have died as soon as I left you. That brief moment when we held one another was the happiest moment in my life. I can still feel your kiss upon my lips. Please, do not hate me for this!

Since that first night we danced together, I guessed that you felt something special for me. Yet, whenever Albert was around, it seemed impossible that you could feel anything but common friendship for me. The time when you gave me those flowers, I spent the entire night holding them, believing that they proved your love for me. But then, after a while, this feeling began to disappear little by little, until it was completely gone.

Though all things die and eventually are completely forgotten, our kiss will go on forever. At that moment you loved me. For me, that moment can never die. / was yours and you were mine, and that shall never change!

I know that what I did yesterday was wrong. I know that the world would think of me as a bad man. Yet, I do not regret what I did. In fact, I feel that it was the greatest thing I have ever done. Let the world be angry. I will accept whatever punishment comes to me. From now on, you belong to no one but me. Albert may be called your husband, but in truth you belong to me and only me. In heaven I shall wait for you. The moment you arrive, I will announce to God that you are mine and together, with Him, we will live forever.

And we will be with your mother, as well. I shall meet her and love her just as you love her. No, I am not crazy now. I see things more clearly the closer I approach the time to die. I will share my most personal dreams and desires with your mother, so that she will know me as well as you know me."

Later that morning, Werther gave his servant a note to deliver to Albert. In it, he wrote only one sentence:

"I am going on a trip. May I borrow your guns? Goodbye."

Charlotte had remained sleepless the entire night before, for her greatest fears had all suddenly come true. All kinds of thoughts were rushing into her head, demanding her immediate attention. She felt upset and confused. Did she enjoy that moment in Werther's arms? Did she feel angry with him for doing such a thing? Did she miss the simpler days of the past, when she was unaware of such confusing feelings inside of herself? Why was she hiding what happened yesterday from Albert? She wondered whether it would be a good way to break the silence that had been between them for some time now. She wanted him to know everything about her, so that he could completely understand and accept her. At the same time, she was afraid to share her deepest, most personal thoughts with him. How would he feel about her then? But would she be able to hide such feelings from someone she was so close to? And, of course, there was Werther, who was now gone from her life, but whom she could not stop thinking about. She was well aware that he could never be happy without her.

The fact that she and her husband had gone for so long without talking to each other upset her a great deal. Why did they behave in such a way? They were two good people who truly loved each other. All they needed to do, in order to be happy, was be open and honest; and yet, they could not for some strange reason. She felt that she and her husband were a little to blame for Werther's troubles. If she and Albert had made their feelings clear to one another much earlier, the bad relationship that developed between she and Werther might have been avoided.

Charlotte and Albert did not take Werther's talk about killing himself very seriously. He talked of it often to both of them. Albert hated listening to such things and began to criticize Werther for it. He told him that he did not believe that he really wanted to die, but that he just liked the attention he got when talking about it. Charlotte, also, began to think in this way, but would sometimes become a little worried. She, of course, did not tell her husband about such occasional worries.

When Albert came home that night, Charlotte was clearly uncomfortable. He had had a bad day himself. The work he had hoped to finish was still incomplete, and he felt that the villager he was dealing with was a very unpleasant fellow. Therefore, he was in quite a bad mood.

Right away, Charlotte told him that Werther had come by the night before. Albert said nothing in response, but simply asked for his mail. After learning from the servant that everything was on the table in the next room, he left Charlotte by herself in the living room.

Albert's presence helped ease Charlotte's pain a little. She thought about how loving and kind he had been to her in the past and this made her feel good again. She went to join him in his office and found him looking through his mail. His face seemed unhappy with what he was reading. She asked him what was wrong, and he responded with a very short and unclear answer and then began to write at his desk.

Charlotte sat silently with him, doing her sewing for quite a long while. As time went along, her overall feeling returned to sadness again. She did not know how to talk with Albert about her troubles. And the more she tried to hide her sadness from him, the worse she felt.

When Werther's servant came knocking on the office door with a letter for Albert, Charlotte felt very uncomfortable. Albert looked at it briefly and then said without feeling, "Take the guns and tell him to have a nice trip." Charlotte's heart nearly jumped out of her chest when she heard him say this. She walked as if she were in a dream over to the other side of the room. There, with her hands shaking, she picked up the guns and stood staring at them for a moment. Albert looked at her and gestured for her to hurry up. She then silently gave the guns to the servant. As soon as he disappeared out of the door, she ran up to her bedroom feeling quite frightened for her poor friend. She guessed that something terrible was going to happen. Her first thought was to go and tell Albert about Werther's last visit, and how she was to blame in some ways for what happened. But she then realized that this would not change her husband's mind about Werther.

She went down to the dining room for dinner. A friend of hers joined the couple at the table and, by talking the whole time, did a good job covering up the discomfort between husband and wife. Eventually, no one thought any more about what had happened that morning.

Werther was extremely pleased to hear from his servant that Charlotte had personally given him the guns. It seemed very appropriate to him. After having some food and drink, he encouraged the servant to go and have dinner at the hotel. Then he began to write some more.

"These two instruments of death were last touched by your fingers. I hold them to my chest and run my hand over them very gently, trying to imagine the way you gave them to my servant. For me, this is a sign that you and God support my plan. It is a dream come true for me. My servant told me how you gave him the guns with shaking hands. However, it seems you did not ask him to tell me goodbye. I suppose that I did not deserve a goodbye. I behaved so badly toward you the other day. Still, it upsets me terribly that you should be so cold toward me after receiving my kisses. How can you feel nothing towards a man whose love for you is so great?"

When the servant came back, Werther asked him to finish making the preparations for his trip. Werther then left his home to go and pay certain people whom he owed money. He came back home for a short time and then left again even though it was raining outside. He spent several hours walking further and further from town, but finally returned home in order to write some more.

"My friend, Wilhelm, I just came back from a long walk, where I took the time to observe the beauty of the countryside one final time. Goodbye! I hope that my mother can understand why I have done this and will not feel too badly toward me. Please, help her to understand, Wilhelm. Thank you! All of the money I owed people has been paid! I am leaving the world an honest man! Goodbye! I shall see you in Heaven one day. Then we can all be together again in a happier place.

"Albert, I have been unkind to you. I apologize for tills. I have troubled your relationship with Charlotte. The two of you are less happy together now. Goodbye! I hope that by dying, I can save your marriage and, once again, bring you joy! Please, Albert! I beg you! Do everything you can to keep that sweet woman ... the sweetest of all women ... happy. May God protect you both!"

When the day grew dark, he began to gather all of his important papers. He threw some of them in the fire and arranged the others neatly in an envelope for Wilhelm. I have looked through those pages myself. They are a collection of Werther's thoughts as he wrote them out from time to time over the years.

Later that night, he had a fire built in his fireplace and a bottle of wine delivered to his table. He then sent his servant to bed for the night. The servant did not bother to change into his bedclothes, for he wanted to be ready for Werther's trip, which would begin early in the morning at sunrise.

"It is now after eleven! The world is quiet and I am feeling very peaceful. I appreciate God giving me the power and bravery I need in these last few hours. I can see the stars high up in the sky, giving light to all of the worlds beyond ours. You will always shine, stars! God supports us both! I just finished looking at my favorite group of stars, the Greater Bear, which always guided me hack to my home after being with Charlotte. God, how happy I have felt in the past when looking at it. It has seen me in my finest moments, full of thoughts about the one I love. But, of course, everything I look at seems to remind me of her. I keep all things that her hand has touched and look at them as though they were gold.

I am giving your picture back to you now. Please, take care of it, for it brought me many happy moments. It is covered with my kisses.

I have made it clear to your father that I want to be buried so that my tombstone lies under the shade of the two large trees in the cemetery, facing the fields beyond. Please be sure that this is done. He was a friend of mine. I am sure he will not fail me. If, however, the townspeople feel that I do not deserve to lie in the same cemetery as their family members, then bury me in some place in the countryside where nobody goes. Or put me near the main road, where traveling priests can pray for my soul as they walk by.

I am not afraid of death, Charlotte. I am not afraid to swallow the poison you have personally prepared for me. Everything is over for me now. I have done all that I wish to do in this life. I am approaching death's door with courage. To die for you would have been my greatest achievement, my greatest gift to you. If I knew that by dying I could make your life as pleasant as it once was before, I would go running, happily, into the arms of death. Unfortunately, it is seldom that people get to die as heroes.

Please, make sure that they put me in the ground wearing the clothes I died in. These were the clothes I wore when we shared that special moment together in your living room. I have not changed them since that time. Your father is aware of this wish. Please, remind him not to let anyone check my pockets. I have here this ribbon that once was a part of the dress you were wearing when we first met. Oh, how I remember seeing you among those children of yours! Give them all many kisses and let them know what happened to me! God, how I love you, Charlotte ... and everything about you! From the moment my eyes rested upon your beautiful figure, I loved you. The ribbon you gave me on my birthday should be put in my box, next to my heart. It is amazing to think back to those days! I never would have guessed that things would turn out this way. Ah, but all is well! All is well! The guns have been prepared. It is now midnight. Goodbye, Charlotte! Goodbye!"

The people next door to his home heard the gunshot, but because no other sound followed, they guessed that nothing was wrong.

The servant came into Werther's room at sunrise and saw him lying in a pool of blood on the floor. Immediately, he checked to see if his master was still living. He heard a very soft heartbeat and quickly called for a doctor. He then went to get Albert.

Charlotte awoke to the sound of his knock at their door. Both she and her husband went to the front door. The servant was terribly upset. Tears poured down his cheeks. He managed to tell them what happened. Hearing his words, Charlotte suddenly grew weak and fell to the ground.

Werther's hands and feet were beginning to turn cold by the time the doctor arrived. He examined the poor man and saw that the gun had successfully shot its bullet through the front of the head. The doctor cut an area on his patient's arm to let the blood flow.

It was clear, looking at how the blood had spilled onto the floor, that Werther had shot himself while seated at his desk. He had fallen from his chair to the ground. The servant discovered him facing up. He was completely dressed.

The news quickly spread throughout the town and everyone came outdoors. Albert got to the house and found Werther lying in his bed with a cloth wrapped around his head. His face was deathly white. He lay there very very still; his chest rising and falling in very small, delicate breaths. The doctor told Albert that he expected death to come at any moment.

A bottle of red wine was sitting upon Werther's desk. Only one glass had been drunk the night before.

I will not bother to mention anything about Albert's feelings, nor Charlotte's, as this should be rather obvious to the reader.

The old judge came with his two oldest sons to say goodbye as soon as he heard the news. He was terribly sad. He and Werther had become quite good friends. And, of course, Werther had always been good to his children. Each of the boys took turns kissing his face and hugging him, crying uncontrollably the whole time. The oldest boy did not leave him until he finally died at around twelve o'clock. Because Werther had planned everything so well, he was quickly buried that evening in the exact location he had wished to be placed.

The only people present at his funeral were the judge and his boys, and the two workers who placed his box in the ground. Neither Albert nor Charlotte could attend. Charlotte's sadness was too great. He was buried without a priest's blessing.

(end of section)