On Bended Knees by Martin Goodman

Author:Martin Goodman [Goodman, Martin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Barbican Press
Published: 2022-01-31T17:00:00+00:00

Thirteen

Herr and Frau Poppel were seated on a sofa facing the door. Herr Poppel leaned forward when he heard me come in.

‘You are refreshed? You have changed your clothes? Give your dirty ones to Mara. She’ll wash them for you.’

‘I won’t iron them. That’s too much.’

‘Not now, Mara! Don’t speak of this now. It is too petty. Don’t bother me with it. Come in, Tomas. Sit down.’

He waved a hand to guide me to the seat opposite them. I walked in and settled down. He smiled then turned to his wife.

‘Where is Katharina? Is she outside?’

‘She’s in her room.’

‘Damn the girl. Is she sulking? Katharina!’

I jumped in my chair at the force of his shout. Katharina’s footsteps sounded on the stairs.

‘You may come in and meet your cousin now, Katharina. Curtsey to him.’

She stood in the middle of the room with her back to her parents, took hold of the hem of her dress, and bobbed up and down. As she went down her nose puckered and her tongue stuck out. Once she had risen again she smiled.

‘That’s my girl,’ Herr Poppel commended her. ‘You can be a lady when you choose. So tell me, Tomas. What are your first impressions of your young cousin?’

‘She seems very nice.’

Herr Poppel gusted with laughter, the air shooting out from his cheeks.

‘“Very nice,”’ he mimicked. ‘Very nice, very nice, very nice. It’s Sunday afternoon and we have an Englishman to tea. Now tell me again, Tomas. Try harder. What is your young cousin like? Describe her to me.’

‘She’s wearing a light blue dress with a matching headband, although her hair’s plaited. The hair’s very long, a shade lighter than black. It’s good that it is kept back from her face. It’s a pretty face, oval, and she’s got a little snub nose. She doesn’t need that much lipstick perhaps.’

‘Katharina! Have you put on lipstick?’

‘Yes, Papa.’

It was bright red and smeared in a broad ring round her mouth.

‘Where did you get it?’

‘Mama.’

‘Mara? You don’t use lipstick!’

‘1 saved it. From when I was young. Before we married. I lent it to Katharina to play with.’

‘The girl’s thirteen. She doesn’t need to play. Katharina, go and wipe it off. But first, tell me, did you do what I said? Did you pull a face and stick out your tongue?’

‘Yes.’

‘Did she, Tomas? Did she do that to you?’

‘Yes.’

‘“Very nice,”’ he mimicked again. ‘“She seems very nice.” I told you, Katharina. I told you what the English were like. I could weep for them. They have the richest language in the world but nobody left to speak it. They’re all too exhausted. Thank God Americans chose to speak English. They can strip it back and make it work again.

‘“Very nice”. Do you think Shakespeare ever said “very nice”? Do the English think it’s sweet to lie? Katharina, wipe your face clean and fetch me my puppet from downstairs. Mara, bring in the meal. I shall keep Tomas amused. Did you study Anglo-Saxon at school, Tomas? Now there was a real language.

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