Bernard’s fatal foot infection

Bernard’s fatal foot infection turns a small flaw in a new boot into a rapidly worsening illness that ends his return voyage and his life. The episode follows the injury from its discovery in a boot maker’s shop through the failure of care aboard ship, as Nicolaus tries to help his brother with few effective resources at hand.

Injury and Initial Treatment

Bernard puts on his new boots at the boot maker’s shop, eager to wear them, and walks back to old Piet Roos’s house. A sharp object in one boot soon causes pain, so he returns to the shop, favoring the injured foot. The boot maker finds a mis-set nail, removes it, and checks the boot before Bernard puts it on again. The repair appears to resolve the immediate problem, but the nail has already cut his foot.

At the house, Bernard joins a gathering in the library before his departure. Nicolaus notices that he is limping and moving more slowly than usual. Bernard explains that the nail cut him and that the place it pierced is very sore. When Nicolaus asks to see the injury, Bernard removes his stocking and shows him a swollen foot. Nicolaus arranges for hot water and ointment aboard ship, treating the wound as a problem that might still be managed during the passage.

Deterioration at Sea

The ship’s surgeon provides tepid water and a thick substance ordinarily used on ropes to prevent chafing. Bernard feels better for a time, but by the next morning he cannot walk; his foot and lower leg have become badly swollen. The surgeon advises keeping the leg elevated, soaking it in hot water, and drinking rum. These measures do not stop the infection’s progress.

As the voyage continues, the leg swells further, and sores and ulcers spread from the foot toward the groin. Bernard becomes confined to his bunk and lies in a severely weakened, partly unconscious state. The ship’s medical care is inadequate: when the surgeon declares that the leg needs amputation and sends Nicolaus to find his saw, Nicolaus discovers that the medical chest has been left open and its contents are in disarray. The saw is on the cabin floor, but the surgeon has become insensible with drink and does not return to treat Bernard.

Nicolaus and Bernard’s Final Days

Nicolaus remains at Bernard’s side as his condition worsens. He props up a painting of a woodland hunt that Bernard had brought from Cornelia’s house, placing it near the bunk. The image gives the confined cabin a connection to a scene beyond the ship, but it cannot relieve the illness. As Bernard lies unresponsive, Nicolaus understands that his brother will not make it home.

The outcome is confirmed three weeks out from Amsterdam, where Bernard is buried at sea. In Boston, Nicolaus finds a ship about to sail for Amsterdam and sends word to Jan, Piet, and George Pickering Duke of Bernard’s death, demanding their immediate return. The infection thus ends Bernard’s planned passage and draws the others back into the consequences of his death.

Narrative Significance

The episode hinges on a material failure that first seems minor: a nail is removed from Bernard’s boot, and the boot maker apologizes for the mistake. The repair does not undo the cut, and the injury becomes fatal during a voyage in which medical help proves unreliable. The contrast between the careful attention to the boots’ appearance and the inability to provide effective care for Bernard sharpens the reversal from preparation for travel to helpless confinement.

The account also presents Bernard’s decline through the limits of those around him. Nicolaus notices the change, seeks treatment, and stays beside his brother, but the available remedies fail and the surgeon cannot carry out the proposed amputation. Bernard’s burial at sea makes the voyage itself the setting of his death and prevents the homecoming he had been preparing for.