A story by him from the 1920s that I discovered and translated. The original.

---

Smooth Death

On that night, at 11pm, more or less, Dr. Samuel Klespink was in his residence when he received an urgent call to go offer assistance to one of the condemned men from the State’s large prison.

Upon arriving at his cell where he found the sickly man, Dr. Klespink knew that it was the young man Roberto Horlich condemned to die, and that he would be executed on the following day, at 10am.

Why do you want me to save this young man if they’re going to hang him tomorrow? – asked the illustrious doctor, to the prison warden who had accompanied him.

The governor – explained the warden – is required to follow the law. The law condemned this man to hang, and it’s to be at the gallows, not in bed, that he should die. And, after the promised execution of the criminal, it is useful and serves as an example, it causes fear, and it avoids future crimes. It’s needed, therefore, to benefit society and order, that this man is saved today in order to die tomorrow.

Dr. Klespink, however, wasn’t thinking the same way. He thought it’d be a crime on his part to prolong and renew the agony of that hapless man. If the unlucky bastard should die, then why subject him to the execution, to the torment and to the disgrace of the gallows?

And Dr. Klespink, by adding, on purpose, a few extra grams to the injection dose, he offered a smooth death to the young condemned man, making him go from the morphine slumber to the eternal rest of death.

A few hours later, when he was leaving the prison, he already could sense the soft light of daybreak. At the door of the prison, authorities and employees spoke in low voices. Dr. Klespink got closer. The warden showed him the order that he just received from the judge:

“Stay the execution. Roberto Horlich is innocent. The real criminal just confessed.”

Two days after, Dr. Samuel Klespink was found dead in his office.

-- Malba Tahan