35. Lunatic Delusions
Among Blucher’s more lunatic delusions, which came and went over the years, was his belief that a Frenchman had impregnated him. As a result, for some time, Blucher went about convinced that he was about to give birth to a baby elephant at any moment.
Another lunatic conviction was Blucher’s paranoia that his servants, bribed by France, had heated the floor of his room to lava levels, in order to scorch his feet. So when seated in a chair, Blucher would keep his feet raised from the floor. If he had to get up, he would skip around swiftly, hopping gingerly on tiptoe.