THIS BOOK CONTAINS THE RECORDS left us by a man
whom , according to the expression he often used
himself , we called the Steppenwolf . Whether this
manuscript needs any introductory remarks may be
open to question . I , however , feel the need of adding a few
pages to those of the Steppenwolf in which I try to record
my recollections of him . What I know of him is little enough .
Indeed , of his past life and origins I know nothing at all . Yet
the impression left by his personality has remained , in spite of
all , a deep and sympathetic one ..
Some years ago the Steppenwolf , who was then approaching
fifty , called on my aunt to inquire for a furnished room .
He took the attic room on the top floor and the bedroom
next it , returned a day or two later with two trunks and a big
case of books and stayed nine or ten months with us . He lived
by himself very quietly , and but for the fact that our bedrooms
were next to each other -- which occasioned a good
many chance encounters . . .
