Csardas by Pearson Diane

Author:Pearson, Diane [Pearson, Diane]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781781857502
Publisher: Head of Zeus

In July Papa and the boys came up. Papa was taking a month’s vacation from the bank, and the boys had finished at school. Jozsef was preparing for his last year before going to Berlin University. He was seventeen, tall, and rather like Papa to look at, although he was softer and less energetic than Papa. He was supposed to be working for his Abiturium but had not received a very good report, and Papa was a little cross, believing that his elder son would have done better if only he had tried. There had been some considerable discussion about the choice of university. It was thought that the numerus clausus which restricted the number of Jewish students entering Hungarian universities would not apply to Jozsef (he was, after all, only Jewish in origin and not registered as a Jew), but nonetheless it was decided not to risk the possibility of refusal. Anti-Semitic organizations abounded, and one was never sure when they might decide to “make a case” of some obscure Jewish question. Jozsef should go to study economics in Berlin, where the numerus clausus did not apply.

Jozsef behaved reasonably well when Papa was about. Papa had made it quite plain that he disapproved of Jozsef’s idleness in the matter of examinations. There were a great many avowals that he was going to do better this last year before going to university and, when Papa was around, Jozsef was often to be seen sitting on the veranda frowning over a book. He was hoping for a generous allowance once he got to Berlin. When Papa was not around Jozsef spent a lot of time lying underneath David Klein’s car peering up, or standing over the engine peering down.

Leo, at fifteen, had become incredibly tall and incredibly thin. The chubby little boy of infancy had entirely vanished into a willowy and rather frail-looking youth. He had shown an aptitude for languages but had missed his winter term at school and now was worried about catching up. Just after Christmas he had been ill: a cough, a temperature, pains in his chest. He had recovered but was left with the cough and a feeling of constant lassitude, and finally the doctor had recommended that he go into the mountains or the country for a couple of months.

He had been dispatched immediately to Eva and Adam and had spent the rest of the winter staying at their farm. A tutor in French and English had been employed to spend time conversing with him, but when he went back to school he was three months behind with his work. Now he lay awake at night worrying about his studies. He spent the daytime alternately dreaming and studying, and as the days grew hotter and the air balmier, he dreamed more and studied less and then spent the night worrying again. He had decided that he was a failure, both mentally and physically. His body couldn’t stand a normal bout of influenza, and his brain was unable to come to a decision about work and then persevere with it.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.