- Harry's back as narrator (thank goodness! That magic book was a little too wise…) and remembers that a few weeks ago he had written a poem about the Steppenwolf. He finds it and reads it.
- It is a much nicer version of how cool and lonely and tortured the Steppenwolf is. So he's got two versions of himself: his own, in the poem, and the stranger's, in the book.
- He remembers that his life is pretty much ruined: he has lost his job, his wife, and all his pals. No wonder he's such a grouch! He goes off on an emo sobfest for a while, and then he notices that it's already daytime, and decides that's a perfect cue to go to bed.
- Harry wakes up at noon and remembers the time he tried to kill himself with painkillers. It didn't work, so he decided that next time he would use opium. He'd like to do it today, but actually he still has two years before his fiftieth birthday, his personal expiration date.
- He rereads the book about himself (and who can blame him?) several times, and thinks it's a pretty good book. However, what's really on his mind is that church wall with the "For madmen only!" sign.
- He decides he's mad enough, and goes looking for the man with the signboard.
- He can't find him or the door, and he starts thinking about who the important people in his life are. He thinks about Erica, his girlfriend, but they fight every time they see each other and he actually doesn't even know where she lives.
- He follows a passing funeral procession (like you do?) and ends up in the graveyard (like you do?) He is really judgy about the funeral service, thinking about how the people seem to be forcing themselves to be sad.
- Then, Harry notices the guy who gave him the book walking away. He catches up and, trying to be James-Bond smooth, asks him if there's a show tonight. The guy gets irritated and tells him to go to the Black Eagle if he wants a show. Harry suddenly isn't sure that he even had the right guy.
- Later on Harry runs into an old professor friend of his, and gets roped into a dinner at the guy's house. Even though he seemed excited about going, by the time he gets home he is in an awful mood and doesn't want to see his friend and his wife. He takes some pills and reads, then washes up for dinner.
- At his friend's house he notices an engraving of Goethe, and it really gets Harry's goat. He really thinks that it's a terrible representation of one of his heroes, and is mulling over just how mad it makes him when the professor's wife comes in.
- She sticks her foot in her mouth, asking about Harry's wife, and he tells her they're divorced. Finally his buddy comes in and starts complaining about some jerk he read about in the newspaper that doesn't believe that Germany is the most special place in the world. It turns out that Harry is that jerk (awkward!) but he doesn't say anything.
- The friend calls the guy in the paper a traitor, which sends Harry into a downward spiral of depression, but luckily dinner is on the table and they all go to sit down. Unfortunately, all of his best jokes fall flat, and it's a dud of a dinner. (He should have tried the one about the dog and the bar.)
- After dinner Harry just can't keep it in, and criticizes the picture of Goethe. This hurts the lady's feelings and she leaves; Harry's friend tells him that the picture is his wife's prized possession. Harry says he's sorry, explaining that he's insane, and mentions that he is the traitor his friend had been talking about earlier and that he's insulted. Then he leaves. What a night!
- Harry goes out wandering the streets. He goes into some bars, getting more and more afraid of going home because he knows that he will face death there.
- Finally he makes it to a place called "The Black Eagle" (sound familiar?) and sees a pretty girl. He sits down with her and they have a chat.
- Harry tells the girl that he can't go home, and that he'd like to stay with her.
- She's pretty nice, and decides they should drink wine. Then she goes into mother hen mode, making Harry eat a sandwich and drink.
- When she tries to make him dance, though, Harry fails her, because he doesn't know how.
- She reminds him of somebody from his childhood, but he isn't sure who.
- The girl is shocked that Harry knows so much about every subject but isn't able to dance, and gives him a hard time.
- He tells her his troubles, like the annoying picture of Goethe, and the girl tells him she understands him.
- She teases him for only talking about himself, and for not even asking her name. When he does ask, though, she refuses to tell him. Then she goes off to dance, and tells Harry to take a nap while he waits.
- While he sleeps, Harry dreams that he is waiting to speak to Goethe. There is also a scorpion climbing up his leg, which he shakes off.
- He worries that maybe he's at the wrong poet's place, and while he waits he wonders about the scorpion's identity.
- Finally he's called in to meet Goethe, who gives him a speech about how young people aren't appreciative enough.
- Harry explains to Goethe that the problem is that, even though Goethe knew all about hopelessness, he wrote all about its opposite, giving people hope. The nerve!
- Goethe really gets Harry's goat, telling him that if he only wants hopelessness he must really hate Mozart's The Magic Flute. Oh, burn. That is Harry's favorite.
- It turns out that Goethe, like Harry, was very frightened of death, and he tells Harry that in the end everybody has to quit playing and die. Then he tells Harry not to take dead people so seriously, and that they like joking.
- Harry remembers the scorpion, which he has decided is Molly, the subject of the poet Bürger's love poems, and asks Goethe if she's around.
- Goethe laughs and opens a box, and shows Harry a little miniature woman's leg inside the box. Harry is immediately in love with the leg and tries to grab it, but it moves and he realizes it might be the scorpion.
- Goethe teases Harry, holding the scorpion/leg up close to his face. He starts cracking up when Harry jumps and turns into a very, very old man.
- Finally Harry wakes up and forgets the dream. The girl is back, and asks him for some money.
- She tells him she has to leave for a date with a guy, and Harry is sad. She tells him that he should have invited her out if he wanted to go out with her, which is pretty logical, really.
- Harry finally takes a hint and invites the girl out for dinner on Tuesday.
- As they are leaving, the girl tells Harry that she understands him for getting mad at the Goethe picture; she gets mad about pictures of saints, too, because they don't look like how she imagines them.
- They say goodbye, but Harry decides to rent a room at the inn above the bar so he doesn't scandalize his landlady by coming in so late.
- He comes on in the next day and the landlady just laughs at him for his wild night. She gives him some tea and they chat. He tells her that all scientific discoveries are really nothing new; the ancients already knew all the tricks of finding facts and forces, but the modern scientists are finding new ways to tap into it, like with radios and other newfangled nonsense.
- Harry is pretty antsy about his date with the girl from the Black Eagle. Even though he's still scared of killing himself, she gives him some hope to hold onto.
- He brings her a couple of orchids, and she laughs at him for it. She asks him if he'll learn to dance and he says yes.
- Then he asks her her name. She tells him that he should guess. He realizes she looks like his friend Herman, from childhood, so he guesses Hermine. She nods. Kind of fishy to imagine that he could really guess her name, right? Harry asks her how she got herself to look like a boy and make him guess, and she tells him he did it himself.
- Hermine reminds Harry that he promised to obey her, and tells him that he is going to have to fall in love with her and also fulfill her last command. Ominous much?
- Harry can guess what it will be, and she finally tells him that he will fall in love with her and then he will kill her.
- Then they eat, like everything is normal. What an awesome first date?
- He tells her about the Steppenwolf book, and she's heard of it. She asks Harry if he's the Steppenwolf, and he says he is. Hermine thinks that it is silly to think of animals as uncivilized and humans as civilized, when really a lot of animals are pretty well-behaved.
- The next day the two lovebirds meet again and Hermine is happy to have found some more newspapers trashing Harry's name because he opposed the war.
- He is through with being annoyed by it.
- She makes him buy a record player and music so that she can teach him to dance in his room.
- They go home to practice, and Hermine checks out the picture of Erica, Harry's girlfriend. She tries to teach him the foxtrot and he is definitely not a natural. After some lessons though he gets better.
- Then Hermine ups the ante, and makes Harry dance in public with her. He is terrified, but gets it done. He also meets Hermine's friend, the saxophone player in the band, and our little Steppenwolf gets a case of jealousy. It doesn't help that the sax man is a great dancer.
- Hermine gets onto Harry for not asking anyone to dance, so he picks a really pretty girl and asks her. Luckily she knows how to lead, and they take a spin.
- Hermine is proud of her student and tells him that in three weeks they'll go to the Masked Ball to show off his skills.
- Pablo, the saxophonist, comes over to chat with Hermine, and Harry is pretty irritated by the guy. He thinks he's not very serious and is—horror of all horrors—into jazz.
- Later Pablo tells Hermine that he feels sorry for Harry because he doesn't know how to laugh.
- Now Harry gets to dance with Hermine, which he really digs. She thinks that they are kindred spirits, in fact children of the devil.
- She asks him how he liked Maria, the girl he danced with, and Hermine encourages him to get it on with Maria. He doesn't think he can hack it because he's an old man.
- For Hermine, though, since he's a baby at dancing, Harry is really just a child. She also reminds him to quit being such a snob about music, since it turns out he liked all the jazz and dance music.