Iron Gustav by Hans Fallada

Author:Hans Fallada
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780141968087
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2014-05-06T04:00:00+00:00

§ VII

So he went back into the house. But he wasn’t yet so dishonest as to persuade himself that he did so to bring his brother news of Sophie. No, he struggled with himself, resisted but in the end gave up.

When Erich smirkingly said to him, as he was showing off the splendour of his new clothes, ‘Well, Bubi, for the extreme idealist you are, you look damn materialistic!’ he would have liked to beat him up out of anger and humiliation.

However, man, the most adaptable creature on the planet, accomodates itself to everything, especially if no one notices anything special about his new appearance.

Heinz began to wear his splendid new clothes.

‘Well,’ said his mother, ‘Erich’s doing something for you at least even if he can’t find his way to us.’

And old Hackendahl exercised that grim new humour of his. ‘S’posing it gets awkward for you to see me in the street you don’t need ter look away or hide yerself. I won’t be recognizing you.’

No, none of them found anything special about it. Heinz’s reputation among his school classmates even rose considerably. It was rumoured – and no one knew who started it – that he had a rich girlfriend. And they were all so young that, despite emergencies and weapon collections, their young hearts got completely carried away with the idea of consorting with a beautiful and wealthy woman.

But naturally, it was inevitably and indeed enviously discovered that an inner voice remained in him which repeatedly reminded him that shame was shame … One thing was very soon made clear to Heinz, however – these new suits were not going to be used for walks. Once, and once only, did he and Tinette go out into the wintry Grunewald; and after five minutes she insisted on going back immediately. ‘Call this a wood? Brooms! Ugly bristly brooms stuck upside down in the ground, that’s what the trees are! Ground that immediately fills your shoes with sand and pine needles.’ And she enthused about some park or another to the west, with its soft, abundant foliage and yellow pebble pathways.

‘But it’s winter there now, too, Tinette!’

‘Winter? What are you talking about, Henri! It’s never really winter there – I mean among the people! You’re all winter people here, miserable, cold. But we’re always happy, always like spring.’

‘Always happy – that’s not possible, Tinette.’

‘Not possible – oh, you should see …’ She paused, then it burst out of her: ‘If the French hadn’t only got as far as the Rhine; if only they’d come as far as here! We would at least have had people whom we could laugh with. Here, you feel completely alone. I’ve never frozen so much in my whole life as during these last few months here.’

‘And Germany has to have the French, so that you can laugh with some lieutenant? Poor Germany!’

‘Why should I care? If I’d known who you really were, I would never have come here. But I came upon Erich – and thought you others would be a bit like he is.

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