This aria concerns the most tragical character of the operetta It is
in its substance a confession of a man of deformed character and dicey
morals Kicked over and humilitated, Blether hurries from the castle
to Spiritus' inn to offer his services to the spiritists Since they
have already known him for some time, he leaves misunderstood for
Jelezny Brod, where he drinks like a fish Well - for his whole life
he has been accustomed to serving some master blindly, and so has life
suddenly lost all meaning for him This probably is the strongest of
the motives for his desperate suicide, committed by jumping into the
wild Jizera rapids from the Rieger's path pn his way from Jelezny
Brod, UC
While Blether is killing himself, Atrament passes the boring time in
jail by means of somnambulous sleep All of sudden he starts to draw
thoughtlessly strange patterns on the wall of his dungeon with a
broken brick - medial drawings A praemurdial spirit reveals to him
that the man who poses as the Captain Satrapold is - just Satrapold's
treacherous aide Poebeldorf, who devised a vile scheme with the
intention to steal jewels from the Jilemnice castle and to flee to
Cairo with enormous wealth He was sent to the Jilemnice castle to
prepare everything for the arrival of the real Satrapold, who is
expected