Authors: H. G. Adler
Liebrecht said to Mother there was no way to show the ruffian how to write a poem, he had no respect for intellectual matters, but Mother was angered by Liebrecht’s freshness, saying good, if he was that ungrateful he could leave right now, and she wouldn’t have his poems printed, but then she also told him that she wanted to print the stuff, that she already had, and she wanted to support him and introduce him to influential people. To that the tutor said that it was obvious what kind of high culture prevailed in Herr Director’s house, to which Mother asked, “Anselm, what do you mean by that?” He then answered exactly as he had said and requested immediate release from his position. Mother had nothing against this, yet he had to wait until Father got home, to which Liebrecht said, good, he was going up to his room to pack his bags, whereupon Mother went to find Irwin and Lutz, explaining everything to them and then asking Irwin whether he wanted to indeed apologize, but Lutz immediately said that he had no problem with Anselm, he only didn’t want to learn about poetry from him, but Mother said it wasn’t about what Lutz wanted but rather Irwin, who explained that he had only spoken the truth to Anselm, and that she should get rid of him. When Father got home he went upstairs to Liebrecht and gave him a fair amount of money, because it had all happened so fast, though Liebrecht nonetheless asked if he could stay the night in his room, which Father agreed to, though the poet did not come down for the evening meal, Sophie bringing it up to him instead. Afterward Father had not said another word about it all, nor had Mother, the only thing said being that they would now have to find another tutor.
That, of course, is Josef, and he looks much more reasonable than the poet from Oberleutensdorf by Bruex, where the foxes say good night, which
is why the twerp had such beady little eyes, but Irwin can already see that Josef is ready to be good friends. Josef says he also hopes to be friends, but he asks Irwin not to be so hard on Herr Liebrecht, as it runs the risk of making Josef feel that he could also be judged just as quickly, and he would at least like to look at Liebrecht’s poems, and then see how he feels. Irwin thinks that if Josef reads the stupid stuff he will see what garbage it is, but Josef is in favor of suspending judgment, which prompts Irwin to ask whether perhaps Josef also writes poetry. No, but he likes good poems, Irwin countering that he finds them useless, unless they are funny like those of Wilhelm Busch, especially “Plisch und Plum,” though Josef has to agree that poetry is not natural, Father often having said that to Mother when she swooned over it, and he is certainly bright. Josef replies that one can be very bright yet have no sense for poetry. Irwin maintains that what one cannot understand is nonsense, to which Josef asks whether Irwin, for example, understands anything of medicine. No, but for that we have doctors. Josef means, however, whether Irwin himself understands anything about it. No, there’s no need to, but he could learn it if he wished. Then Josef asks whether you have to learn about anything before you understand it, to which Irwin has no answer.
For a moment it’s quiet, then there’s a knock at the door, Irwin calling out “Come in!” at which a man dressed in livery enters with a large tray, this being Anton. Josef stands up, introduces himself, and considers for a moment whether he should extend his hand to the servant, then quickly stretches it out, the surprised Anton grasping it and begging his pardon, he had brought only tea and didn’t know if perhaps Herr Doctor might want coffee. No, thank you, tea will be just fine, yet Lutz says, “Josef, you can order what you want. Here you can order anything!” Josef says thank you but everything is fine, as Anton sets everything on the table—tea, milk, lemon, sugar, a small basket with rolls and croissants, butter, marmalade, honey, a bowl with sweet cookies—and then Anton is off, Josef criticizing the boys for not having said thank you. Lutz explains that Anton is always there and is not used to being thanked all the time, though Josef hopes that in the future they will thank him, this seeming to disturb Irwin, for Anton should only worry about his job, which is what he’s paid to do, and he might start to think he was performing some courtesy when he brings tea or does
his work, whereas in school you don’t thank the teachers, they are paid money to teach, and no one expects that at the end of the period the class should stand and say thank you as one, especially if it seemed as if they were kissing up to some stupid teachers. Then Irwin comes back to the question of tea or coffee, saying that it was unforgivable that Anton had not come before the snack to ask what Josef wanted, but since Josef found none of this to be worthwhile talk Irwin wonders about such indifference, he would not want to let anyone think he was so inconsiderate.
Josef asks if Irwin is always considerate, but he replies that if he were a servant he would certainly practice consideration to one’s master, yet in general people aren’t as considerate as Josef seems to think, even at school the teachers and the students aren’t considerate of one another, and that’s the way it is everywhere. Lutz believes, however, that it would be nice to be a bit more considerate now and then, Mother also wanting others to be nice to her when she has a headache or her stupid neuralgia, while Mother herself is considerate when Lutz and Irwin are sick, she does anything she can for them. Irwin finds it bothersome that Mother is always there when you’re sick, waking you up and asking you how you feel, why you ate so little, whether you want some soda, lemonade, or raspberry juice, Irwin sometimes getting mad and not answering, but pretending to be asleep until Mother is gone, though she’s back again five minutes later, looking through the cracked open door to ask in a half whisper, are you asleep? Lutz meanwhile doesn’t think it’s very nice of Irwin to talk about their mother like a fool when she does so much to take care of them, but Irwin responds angrily that he doesn’t think anyone is a fool, he just wants his peace and quiet, because when Father is sick Mother is not allowed in, for he locks himself in and will not stand for messing with his pillows or taking his temperature, there being no need for Mother to make a scene, all he wants is two aspirin and no doctor, Lutz adding, “You see, Josef, that’s why I don’t want to be a doctor. You can’t help the sick. If it has to do with nerves, then most medicines don’t work. And when it’s something else …”—“Quiet!” yells Irwin, it’s not at all considerate to interrupt your brother, and Josef can see for himself that Lutz is talking like that only because he doesn’t want to be a doctor. Lutz is romantic, but that can change, for when he was fourteen Irwin hadn’t yet thought of being a lawyer, but rather only about soccer,
which he played a lot of back then, though he gave it up because it’s more interesting to watch, and in order to make a living at it you’d have to play on a championship team, and that’s possible only if you’re incredibly good, there also always being a great risk in sports of your getting hurt, be it a stupid pulled tendon or whatever, and suddenly your whole career is over, after which you can become a beggar or a trainer or a gym teacher, but none of that interests Irwin, he wants to get rich fast in order to be independent, sport being something to watch and talk about, it’s all fantastic, especially the league championships, which are really exciting, he going to matches often on Sundays, though Lutz doesn’t want to, he is a limp noodle always bent over his books and his butterfly collections, or who wants to be going on outings, indeed, the nature buff wanting to be in nature.
Then Lutz asks whether Josef might want to come along on an outing with him, for Lutz isn’t allowed to go alone, though he wanted to join the scouts, who often go hiking and have a lily as their insignia, but Mother wouldn’t allow it, for among the scouts there could be disreputable people, but because Lutz was so deeply disappointed Mother promised him a microscope as compensation, though he had not yet received it, because Father had said that Lutz could strain his eyes in using it, and the eyes are irreplaceable and cannot be bought with money, Lutz still hopeful that this year he’ll get a microscope for his birthday, it being wonderful when you can look at cells, one next to another, Lutz having already observed algae in his natural-history lab and cut microscopic samples with a scalpel that satisfied Papa Wutzl. Lutz talks passionately about the microscope, as it is much more beautiful than the theater and movies, only a telescope is as beautiful, the macrocosm and the microcosm, these the most wonderful things to study, though Lutz wants to devote himself to the microcosm, there are great mysteries there, and it’s marvelous what you can see through a pair of polished lenses, even a strong magnifying glass is terrific, though it’s nothing compared with a microscope, the difference much greater than between opera glasses and a telescope, which Lutz saw at the planetarium, everything magnified so that you see how different it is and what it’s really like. In fact, it’s hard to know what’s more real, what you see with your own two eyes or in the microscope, but the microscope is more mysterious, the image round and more clear or less clear when you turn the knob, while you can
also shove the object around, which is like going on a hiking trip. Lutz asks Josef to say something to his parents so that he will get a microscope for his birthday, and Josef promises that he’ll speak with Frau Director.
Lutz replies, “How happy that will make me, Josef! It’s a substitute for not being able to explore the world like the scouts do. But I also want to do real hiking. Josef, couldn’t you come with me sometime? Maybe on Sunday?” Josef explains that he will be coming to the house only on weekdays, not on Sundays, though he’d still like to go on a hike sometime soon. Lutz is happy to hear this, saying that’s great, you’ll need to plead with Mother, and ask Father and especially Madame, for if you speak with her first she often asks Mother on Lutz’s behalf and has sometimes had good results. Lutz then asks if Josef really knows about hiking, for he had once asked Anselm, who then went along with him, though all they did was take a train ride rather than go by car, and once they got off they had walked only about a half hour from the station before Anselm said that nearby was a lovely country inn where they could rest, for he couldn’t go any farther, his feet couldn’t stand it, and when Lutz complained that it wasn’t a real outing at all the poet had answered that Lutz was ungrateful, here there was fresh air and it was lovely, there also being refreshments, he could even order an ice cream, though if he wanted to see more it would be better to go by car. So they sat for a couple of hours in the garden of the stupid inn, someone playing a gramophone now and then, Anselm saying that this place was good at inspiring a poetic mood, it having a view where nothing much happened, just a bit of forest, but nothing really special, a glance back at the railroad tracks providing a view of a little town with a church tower and a couple of factory chimneys, smoke rising from them, though Anselm said it was a beautiful panorama, the kind of thing he needed when he wanted to write poetry, and that Lutz should be quiet so that he could write down something about the lovely contrast between the town and the countryside, which he would then work into a poem later on at home, there not being enough quiet here to allow him to forge his craft. Anselm had promised to title the poem “An Outing with a Student,” and would read it to Lutz and dedicate it to his mother, which would please everyone, but then Lutz left the poet alone and slipped off, for he saw some beetles, so-called longhorn beetles, which are rust brown and have long feelers, while at the end of the
garden he came upon an ant trail, which he followed right up to the anthill, the little critters scrabbling about hastily on their six flexible legs, Lutz having placed a small impediment in the way of one and watching how it got around it. But then Anselm was there again and said they had to leave since it was time to catch the train, which meant they needed to head straight off, though Lutz wanted to show him what the ants were carrying, they having just begun to drag a pupa along with them. This didn’t matter at all to the poet, he saying that the ants didn’t matter, and they had to go in order to comfortably get to the train on time. And so the trip was over, Anselm telling Mother at home how exciting it had all been, and that he’d had some lovely inspirations, enough at least for a poem, maybe even two or three, at which Mother asked Lutz if he had had fun, and he answering, “Not at all!” Mother then asked him why and scolded him for being an ungrateful child, but Lutz still said to her that he didn’t need to go on any trips like that again.
Josef asks Lutz whether he went on any other outings, but he complained that he wasn’t allowed to at school, except once as a child in a steamer to Königsaal and straight back, otherwise only in the car, and then which everything you want to see just flies by, since Father always wants the chauffeur to drive fast, which is fun, though Lutz likes to make frequent stops, Father saying that one can do the same at home by just sitting in the garden, while once they reach their destination Father gets impatient and gives the order to head back, since the chauffeur also needs time off. At best Lutz can only gather a few flowers and catch a butterfly before it’s all over with and they head home. Irwin laughs, for he is not interested in such car trips and usually doesn’t go along, at which Josef asks whether Irwin would like to join them for a hike, and he says why not, as long as they do something sensible, like hold some kind of fantastic race, or a steeplechase, since he always wanted to sit on a horse, and you can win a lot by betting on horses, and did Josef know anything about them? No, he knew nothing about them, though he very much likes to watch the races. Lutz says in agitation that he doesn’t want to do that, it’s bad for the horses, animal cruelty, he having read about bullfights in Spain, about cockfighting in Portugal, also about greyhounds in England, all of it involving cruelty to animals, nor are the animals that are taunted and killed able to say what has happened, it being no way to love animals, they should be observed in the freedom of
their own habitat. This irks Irwin, who says, look, Lutz is just a complete romantic, talking about the freedom of animals, and then he goes and gawks at them in the zoo, all of it romantic nonsense, Mother also excited by the dreck served up to children, be it to Robert or to women who are always romantic, though Irwin would never marry a romantic woman, for he wants something completely different. Josef wants to know what Irwin means by “romantic,” and he explains, “Anything that’s not real, thus loony or impractical. No real man is romantic.” At this there is a knock at the door and Sophie steps in to say that the Frau Director is in the salon and is asking, if the Herr Doctor has time, would he try to stop in to see her. Josef asks her to convey that he will be right there and then asks the boys what they are planning to do next. Irwin still doesn’t know, maybe go to the movies, while Lutz wants to read. Josef asks about their homework, which the boys promise to do first before they do anything else, then Josef heads to the salon.