Читать книгу The Women of Janowka - Helmut Exner - Страница 10

– Chapter 3 –

“You’re so pensive today, Friedrich. Didn’t you enjoy the perogies?” asked Karl, the father of the family, after the mother and both girls had already left the supper table.

“I’ve been thinking about what Salomon told me today.”

“Good heavens! That Salomon... he’s just like his old man. Is the world coming to an end once again? Or has lightning struck his loo?”

“There’s always a grain of truth in what Salomon tells,” interjected the mother from the other end of the kitchen.

“He said the Schindels have also sold their property and will emigrate to Canada,” said Friedrich.

“What?” shot out of Karl’s and Christine’s mouth simultaneously.

“Well, life hasn’t been easy recently, but as far as I can remember it’s always been like that,” said Karl with a mixture of excitement, defiance and grief.

During the last few years, many German, but also Polish and Ukrainian farmers from the region, had sold their land and belongings. Several Germans had moved to East Prussia, many others, however, had gone overseas. Over the last few years, there had been a lot of talk about Canada. In Kostopol and Tuczyn there were posters in different languages calling for people to emigrate to Canada.

“Nevertheless, one can’t just abandon everything that’s been built with great difficulty and sacrifice,” said Karl. “We’ve just moved up here a couple of years ago from Kopan, because there’s more and better land here for us. In a few years you can be your own master, and Gottlieb too. What do you reckon life was like where your mother’s father came from? He was living in Poznan, laboriously building a life for himself and his family, as his father and his grandfather had done before him. Because the Germans had not taken part in the Polish national uprising, it became more and more difficult. They simply didn’t want to have Germans there anymore, especially no Protestants. Over and over again, there had been use of force. One day, my father-in-law, like many others, packed up the wagons and came here to Volhynia with the entire family. Of course, it hasn’t been easy here either. You know the land we used to have in the Kopan area wasn’t properly nourishing our growing family. Therefore, we have come to this place. Well, my boy, thing’s aren’t too bad here, are they? Moreover, your Uncle Robert has turned your grandfather’s small weaving mill into a respected cloth factory.”

“Of course, this is wonderful,” replied Friedrich who felt himself being taken seriously when his father talked to him like that. “I’m just telling you what Salomon told me. But, somehow, I have a feeling he’s right, after all. And the Schindels were right, too, with their decision to go to Canada. Recently, more and more Germans have been put into the Tsar’s army for four or five years military service. Many can’t get a loan from the bank anymore to buy land, and leases aren’t extended. Sometimes I have the impression they want to drive us out of the country.”

“Rubbish!” roared Karl. “Volhynia, the whole of Ukraine, even the entire tsardom has been dependent on us. Catherine the Great was only too pleased to get Germans into the Russian Empire. Even us, although we’ve arrived much later, have done good work and have received many privileges in return. So, why should things change? Everything will remain the same. Believe me! We have our German churches and schools. This is the only place in this huge empire where everybody can read and write. There are Germans in the Russian administration, there are German officers in the Russian army. We’re the ones who make sure there’s no famine – what reason should the Tsar have to drive us out of here?”

The longer he talked the more furious Karl became, while Christine sat down again at the table trying to appease.

“Fair enough, Karl, but please be a little more quiet.”

Karl was a grumpy man – at times – always expressing his views loudly and backing up his arguments with abrupt gestures. Sometimes he would pound the table with his fist causing the plates to jump. Those who didn’t know him would no doubt get scared. As far as his family and the neighbours were concerned, however, this kind of behaviour was absolutely normal. It was just Karl as they knew him. When he would get angry with his sons because they were fooling around, he’d loudly announce what was in store for them, as soon as he’d get a hold of them. Sometimes he yelled a warning to rub some bacon rind onto their bottoms while he cut off a rod from the hazelnut shrub and threateningly waved it around. If, after some time, they dared go near him again, his anger would have fizzled out, and nothing would happen. At the most, he would take them by the ears and say: “If you do this again, then may the Almighty help you!” No doubt Karl himself once had a head full of silly ideas, so it would seem unnatural to him if his sons had been different. It would only get dangerous when he became quiet. But that rarely happened.

Karl had a distinctive sense of humour – the more crudely explicit the better. He wasn’t afraid of making a respectable person, like the local teacher, the butt of a joke. Once, when the pastor had visited a town meeting, he had given high praise to the teacher for doing a good job, and his breast was swelling with pride. Karl’s loud comment was: “Well, Richard, all you need is a plume of feathers up your arse now, and you’d pass for a peacock.” Christine wanted to sink into the ground, while the entire community snorted with laughter. The pastor said in his loud voice: “This is Karl as we know him. Without his comments we would be poorer.” Indeed, nobody ever held that against him, as everybody knew that Karl was a good-hearted soul. Whenever someone needed help, he was there, giving a helping hand without asking questions. Like the rest of the family he wasn’t very tall, but he became broader over the years. He could still carry a beam alone, which his sons could only manage together.

Christine was the exact opposite of her husband, a rational person. What she said was well thought-out and carried a lot of weight. The children did what she asked. Karl believed that his wife had been blessed with extraordinary intelligence. When she asked him to do this or that, he sometimes replied: “Yes, Sir!” And if one of their friends made an ironical remark saying Christine seemed to have everything under control, he said in response: “I am the man in the house. What my wife says will be done.” At least someone in the family must be sensible, thought Christine. If her husband wasn’t able to completely get rid of his childish nature, it was her job then to maintain some order in their everyday routine. Still, she loved him for who he was. For nothing in the world would she want to have a grouch or a tyrant in the house. One always knew where one stood with Karl. He always freely said what he was thinking.

Today, however, Karl had become a little pensive pondering over what his son Friedrich had said. The day’s work had been done, and he was sitting in the garden behind the house. Damn and blast – he thought, everybody can’t just take off. This has been going on for years now. Come what may – I’ll stay where I am. A man my age can’t just give everything up and start over, whether in Germany or in Canada or elsewhere. With nothing.

After a while, Christine came over from the house, giving her husband a pat on the shoulder, saying: “Don’t you worry too much. There’s always a way. It’d be best if we go in now and you have a good night’s sleep. Tomorrow morning everything will look completely different, I’m sure. We have to get up very early.”

“As every day,” answered Karl.