Panorama (13 page)

When everyone is in the fields from morning until night, Herma sends out lunch to them at midday, just simple things like coffee or soup, big slices of bread at least two or three centimeters thick, each a slice from the whole loaf and not just cut in half, some of them as big as a roof shingle or even longer. Herma also sends out a large canister of sour cream that grows even more sour in the canister, until it tastes really sour, while at other times she sends along a thick hunk of butter that has to be kept cool in the shade or in the creek, otherwise it will melt and look almost like flowing gold, while there’s also cheese, though not like that you get in the city but one that is very healthy and tastes strong, Herma making it herself. Then folks yank potatoes out of the earth, a large fire is lit, people quickly drag sticks from the woods, after which they shove the potatoes into the fire, then they stir
the coals with a stick, later rolling the potatoes out of the cinders, the potatoes black as coal and so hot that they burn your fingers when you touch them. Toni is the best at grabbing hold of them, for his hands are as dark as tanned leather, such that he can grab hold of anything and never get burned, after which everyone takes a knife and scrapes off the charcoal skin and sprinkles the potatoes with salt as they cool, though you have to eat them carefully, otherwise you’ll burn your tongue.

Now Josef is also a herder for Herr Neumann, who owns some pastureland, though most of the cattle graze in Purtscher’s fields on a side slope of the Haselberg. The cattle in the shed are tied up, and normally Poldi helps Josef release them, since he can’t do it alone, it going all right with the goats and with Cappi, but not as well with the other cows, the worst being Liesel, who is a restless animal who requires more patience. Josef holds a big stick that he made himself, though Otto’s is much nicer, even if it’s shorter and not as strong, Fritz being much more gifted at wood carving, for he can carve decorations and letters into the stick, such that it almost looks like something out of a picture from a book about Indians. Josef isn’t as good, having cut his finger once while he was carving in the open fields, the finger bleeding for so long that Josef had to wrap his handkerchief around it, while that night Herma made a proper bandage, carefully washing the finger at first and rubbing it with alcohol so that it wouldn’t get infected, though it burned like hell, Herma saying that was just what had to be, because there had once been a farm boy in Umlowitz who also cut himself, and no one did anything about the wound, such that the poor boy got a terrible illness called tetanus, and the next day he was dead, since there was nothing that could be done for him. And so Josef held his finger still, not wanting to get any tetanus, and two days later the finger was fine again and hadn’t gotten infected.

Whenever the cattle are brought into the yard they are happy, the animals know they are headed to pasture, where they love to eat fresh grass, only Schecki shying away from it, Arthur believing it’s because she’s somewhat old, which is why it might be best for her to be sold to the butcher Sekora next year. Herr Neumann says, however, that he can’t as yet bring himself to do so, for he likes Schecki, and she’s been a good cow, nor does it matter if Schecki has a bit of diarrhea, that will soon go away once she’s fed
right. Only Gabbi stands there dumb, because he’s a dumb calf who still doesn’t know that they are headed to pasture, though he follows Campi, who knows the way, while the journey home is more difficult, because he scares so easily and has trouble finding his way back to the yard. Once, just as Josef was still learning about how to herd cows, it happened that Gabbi was frightened by a horse wagon that was headed toward him, and so he suddenly ran off, Josef chasing after him, it doing no good as he screamed at the top of his lungs, “Gabbi! Gabbi! You stupid Gabbi! Gabbi, come here!” Gabbi was long gone, and so Josef got scared about how mad Herr Neumann and the others would be, and how much they would scold him if he returned without Gabbi, such an animal being worth the kind of money that Josef had no way of paying back, and so he returned breathless to the yard with his head hanging and his heart pounding, Poldi seeing him and laughing as she asked, “Josef, Josef, whatever is the matter? Where have you been? The cattle are already in the shed, but what have you done with Gabbi?” Then Josef couldn’t keep from sobbing, but Poldi only laughed again at the fact that Gabbi wasn’t there, saying, “Now come along! Let’s go looking for that Gabbi!” And so she headed out through the gate, Josef sadly walking behind her with his stick, the two of them moving along until they reached the sawmill, where someone had tied up Gabbi, he shaking his head as he saw the two of them coming along, as if to say, “That boy’s been running around like a fool! And here he is right back again! He needs to learn how to herd calves!” And yet Josef had never been so happy, for Gabbi was not lost after all, the good man at the sawmill having captured him and saved him, Josef having continually cheered, “Gabbi is back! Gabbi is back! Someone found him and saved him!” Then they were back, Poldi having led Gabbi, Josef saying that he’d give him a good beating if he weren’t just a stupid calf, which only made Poldi laugh again at how inept Josef is, for a real herder would never have let such a thing happen, but he would have learned from the start how to tend cattle so that they follow along and don’t run off. And so they were back in the yard with the runaway, Gabbi’s eyes full of fear as they led him to the stall, because he was so stupid. Nonetheless, everyone had learned how inept Josef was, and everyone had a good laugh at that, though they also said it wasn’t at Josef they were laughing but rather only the calf, because it was so stupid and had run away.

This doesn’t happen to Josef again, for he makes sure that the calf follows behind him, and when he takes the cattle to the fields he always goes behind the farmyard and by the bay, where the chaff is cut across from the horse stable, the hayloft above both the bay and the stable, which is where Kreibidi the cat always has her kittens. Then Josef moves through the gate with the cattle, while across the way sits Herr Neumann’s barn, next to and behind the garden, inside of which there is a pool into which Herr Neumann’s geese waddle. Josef doesn’t like them, for he’s a little afraid of them when they hiss, though he’s never afraid as long as he has his stick, he waving it at them if they come too near, and indeed they turn cowardly and run off as soon as they see the stick, beating their wings back and forth and looking silly. Right and left of the road are barns, haystacks, and gardens, all of them looking just like Herr Neumann’s, after which there is Herr Schwinghammer’s farmyard, which is an inn, followed by a crossroads, the road to the left leading to the main square of Umlowitz, while to the right is the highway to Zartlesdorf, which Josef turns into with the cattle. Then there are a couple of houses as the road slowly begins to climb, and then on the right is the power station that some would like to convert to a grange once the new power station that runs on water is completed, at least according to Herma, which would mean the local amateur theater troupe could move into it and have its own stage, though until then the troupe will continue to perform in the large hall at Herr Schwinghammer’s inn.

Then the road climbs farther up the mountain, soon reaching the heights of Haselberg, its peak sitting off to the left, a short while after which a cart path forks off to the left, which in some places is cut deep into the clay, so that it looks like a ravine. Something similar also can be seen onstage when
William Tell
is performed, a classic work by Schiller that the local theater does, it pleasing Josef very much, though most folks in Umlowitz didn’t like it, saying that it involved too much talk and too little action, the play also damned hard to understand, such that nearly everyone had better things to say about
The Country Girl
or
The Rape of the Sabine Women
when they were put on. But Principal Bolek had insisted that a play by the prince of poets should be done in Umlowitz, in order to raise the standard of taste in Umlowitz, the principal saying that
William Tell
was just the ticket, for it is easy to understand, and because it’s not too sad, and because it is a celebration
of freedom, which is the highest good of all. Some members of the local troupe were inspired by his suggestion, especially Frau Bilina, the wife of the dentist, who said that she’d once seen
William Tell
in a large theater in Linz many years ago, and it had moved her deeply, after which everyone agreed that it had to be put on. The principal had also promised to help them study the play in order to properly learn the verse and not declaim it in dialect, since it really is a classic work that simply won’t stand for any dialect. So they studied a good while and staged the play, but it pleased only a few, though the principal made sure that the entire sixth grade attended, the poor children having been granted free tickets, most of them not liking it at all, for they said it was much too long and hardly anybody sang in it, and there really ought to be singing when you go to the theater. From the Neumann family Herma went and took Josef along with her, but Rudolf said he wasn’t going to go, for he didn’t want to spoil all that good taste, while Arthur wasn’t in Umlowitz at all, and Herr Neumann never went to the theater anyway, saying that it just wasn’t for him, it being enough that he paid for his subscription, so that nothing else could be expected of him, though Fritz said he would go along, but when Herma called out that it was already late, Fritz, we have to go, he replied that he had thought about it and he wanted to stay home after all. Herma didn’t think that was at all right, but she was pleased by the play, because it is so interesting and inspired once you genuinely understand it.

Once you are through the clay path, the view opens, after which the path forks twice more, once to the right, then again to the left, Josef having hardly ever gone this far, coming out in a cornfield that belongs to Herr Neumann, the upper half of the field a part of Purtscher’s fields, while below thorns and scrub brush grow, as well as wild roses and hazelnut bushes, blackthorns and bushes whose name Josef doesn’t know, and between the bushes large stones. Josef gathers some of them when he makes a fire, as well as small stones that he stuffs into his pocket, for he needs stones when the goats stray too far and run across the field or into the bushes, forcing him to shoo the goats, though they are only small stones and therefore no cruelty to animals is involved, it doesn’t harm the goats, and there’s no other way of handling them.

In the upper reaches of the field the forest already begins and rises up
even higher, but in the pasture Josef is often alone the entire day, except when it begins to rain, though he had already learned a bit about observing the weather, and if the clouds were threatening he drew the herd together. Otherwise he remained up there and headed home only at the sound of the church bell, which told him it was six o’clock, the time when the cows needed to be led home, it going much faster than it did when taking them out to pasture. The first time Josef went to the pasture he herded the livestock along too quickly, for though it didn’t bother the goats it was not good for the cows, they becoming restless and therefore not digesting well. As Arthur happened to observe this from afar, he came over to Josef and said that he shouldn’t be doing that, as it was bad for the cattle to run so much, for the animals are too heavy and sluggish, and you had to be careful in order that the cows give good milk and don’t get sick. Which is why Josef now moves along slowly, though heading home still takes a lot less time than going out to pasture.

Out in the fields Josef has little to do, for it’s easy to keep an eye on the animals, and all he has to do is glance over at them from time to time, the cattle hardly stirring because they are so content, everything fine with the goats as well. Normally Josef looks for a spot way up the hillside almost to the edge of the forest, where he can easily see the animals and has a wonderful view. Just below him are the fields and farther off in the valley lies Umlowitz, looking like a picture-postcard of itself with a stamp in the corner and the words “Panorama of Umlowitz” printed at the bottom, though from above it looks much more glorious than on the colored postcard, everything is alive and so marvelous in the sunlight, the parish church and its tower in the middle, as well as the high roof of the church. From there you can figure out where Herr Neumann’s house is, for it’s directly across from the church, a little left of the tower, while beyond that it’s hard to make out the other houses, though the power station can clearly be seen in the foreground and to the right, where the highway to Meinetschlag runs, while at the very edge of town are three villas, one belonging to the dental technician Bilina, who serves the farmers from the area, the neighboring villas belonging to Fräulein Leirer, one of which she rents to people from the city in summer. But not many people come here for the summer to relax and replenish themselves, since Umlowitz is so far off the beaten track that hardly
anyone knows of it, the rail lines far enough away that no one can easily reach Umlowitz without a barouche like Herr Neumann’s, since only once a morning does the mail wagon go to the train station, which is nearly fifteen kilometers away, it taking three hours to get there by foot, the dusty road easily giving rise to blisters, especially when it’s hot, while the mail wagon doesn’t return until the afternoon, itself just an open wagon, the back of which is full of mailbags and packages, there being enough room for only two people up front by the driver, though they can’t be too fat, for only one person the size of Herr Neumann would find room to fit.

There is always a lot of fuss when the mail wagon gets ready to head off, for then the postmistress, Fräulein Schunko, has so much to do that no one is allowed to talk to her, nor will she sell anyone so much as a stamp, not to mention send a telegram, while it’s even worse in the afternoon when the mail wagon returns, especially when there are a lot of packages, for everything has to quickly be sorted, the two mailmen whose routes are in Umlowitz and some carriers who serve the surrounding countryside helping the postmistress, the front desk clerk not helping with the letters but worrying about the packages instead, thus causing him to break out into a heavy sweat. At such a time there is no hope of getting any service at the post office, and anyone who needs something must be patient in order not to disturb the postmistress or make her nervous until she is finally finished and has a cup of coffee, after which she tells the people waiting that she’s at their service once more. The mail is then carried off to be delivered, though the mailmen serving the rural routes do not go to their villages until the next morning, their routes often quite difficult to traverse, as they battle rain and snow in order to get the mail to isolated farms and hunting lodges wherever they happen to be.