2 Crack Shot

Outside the castle, the grim ritual enacted yet again. A solitary man strolled across the field, his ragged clothing indicating his peasant status. The king appeared in the window, raised his rifle to his shoulder, and took careful aim; at the crack of gunfire, the solitary figure crumpled noiselessly to the dirt of the courtyard. A short while later, the body would be carried off. The king turned away from the window, strangely satisfied that he could rest in peace another day.

Otto of Bavaria had succeeded to the throne in 1886, but he never actually ruled his kingdom. For most of his life he was confined to his room, where he held conversations with the ghosts that lived in his dresser drawer. His family kept him from the exercise of his kingly powers, but the voices he heard in his room urged him to commit awful deeds. Each day, to ensure his well being and his peace of mind, one peasant had to die at his hands. So every day outside his bedroom window the gruesome scene was repeated.

Each day the guards carefully loaded the king’s gun with blanks, and each day a soldier dressed in rags would walk outside the castle and fall when the king fired his gun. In this way, the king’s family humored his illness; the mad king went to his grave convinced that he had killed hundreds of innocent people.

2 神枪手

城堡外，可怕的仪式再次上演。一个孤独的男人漫步穿过田野，破烂的衣服表明他是农民身份。国王出现在窗口，把步枪举到肩上，仔细瞄准；枪声一响，那个孤独的身影悄无声息地倒在庭院的泥土里。过了一小会儿，尸体就会被抬走。国王转身离开窗口，莫名地感到满足，因为他又能安稳地休息一天了。

巴伐利亚的奥托在1886年继承了王位，但他从未真正统治过自己的王国。他一生的大部分时间都被关在房间里，和梳妆台抽屉里的鬼魂交谈。他的家人不让他行使王权，但他在房间里听到的声音怂恿他做出可怕的事。为了确保他的健康和安心，每天都要有一个农民死在他手里。所以每天在他卧室窗外，那可怕的场景都会重演。

每天卫兵都会仔细地给国王的枪装上空弹，每天都会有一个穿着破烂衣服的士兵走到城堡外，等国王开枪时就倒下。通过这种方式，国王的家人迁就着他的病情；这位疯国王到死都坚信自己杀了数百名无辜的人。