The Journey: A Novel by H. G. Adler

Author:H. G. Adler [Adler, H. G.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Literary, Jewish
ISBN: 9781588368201
Google: g75rDj1RtQQC
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2011-05-04T05:59:52.675464+00:00

SCHWARZ, IDA—6/1/1882

That was all, and yet it made her cry. Caroline also wept. Everyone in the room wept. They are so sad in the middle of the night and cannot sleep, although nothing has happened. Just a piece of paper. Ida is exactly the same as everyone else in the room, one among twenty. What would happen if there were only nineteen? Could you hide out in the attic for three days? In the cellar? Sickness will certainly save you! For sick people the journey into the wild blue yonder is not healthy. Then the doctors show up, they look at the thermometer, look down the throat, they take the pulse, they do everything that doctors are supposed to do. Then they say: “Be patient! You will hear from us!” Ida should hide out among the dead. Being dead for three days is not too long. If you are not alive then you don’t have to leave. Then the journey is postponed and postponed once again. But Ida cannot die, because she is alive and there. She will have to take her own life, but that she does not want to do. And so she lives and will journey on, because the doctors have said that she can travel. Her life is not in danger; all she needs is some powder to take along the way, yes, the same powder that Dr. Lustig had ordered for her and which always helped. Certainly, as soon as she arrives she will have to be placed in a doctor’s care, though she will be looked after, for she can take a written referral with her so that one can be informed about the condition of her heart, excessive strain to be avoided at all costs, though they can do what they need to since there are good doctors everywhere who know their craft.

“It all depends on the choice of doctors, my dear sirs. Here I’m satisfied and am used to the ones I have.”

“That’s your mistake, dear Frau Schwarz. Whoever gets too used to things in these times must suffer.”

To wander is the miller’s joy.—That’s right, but a journey all the way to Jutland seems a bit much!—Who told you we’re headed to Jutland?—Supposedly Lippe-Detmold, a lovely town!—No, maybe Strassburg, by chance.… But that can’t be! Innsbruck, I must leave you! Ruhenthal, I must leave you! Oh world, I must leave you! Don’t leave anything! Take it all with you! You’ll need it. I must travel, I fear, and say good-bye to my true dear. Singing is not allowed because of cramped quarters. Will you, my dear boy, come with me? I’m not a boy, I’m Ida Schwarz, widow, sister of Caroline, Caroline Lustig. Will you, Ida Schwarz, come with me? I don’t want to go; the song is over. I might catch cold. Impossible, the journey happens in sealed cars. This prevents any drafts. You can sit such that your heart points in the direction of the journey. Otherwise one sees nothing at night.

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