Panorama (29 page)

From now on proper food is cooked rather than just noodles, barley, or grits, for most cooks take pride in what they prepare, seeking the approval of others as they work their magic on soups, canned vegetables, flour or cornmeal dumplings, or potato dumplings or latkes. Only during bad weather do they make it easy on themselves, most of all with the evening meal, where they hand out chocolate bars when there are no berries. Sometimes Alfred denies someone his chocolate as punishment, but that rarely happens, usually a warning from him enough to make anyone want to be a good Wanderer. In the morning and the afternoon, each boy gets a big slice of bread with a pat of butter or marmalade, and each can have as much bread as he can eat, though it depends on what meal it is, for Fabi and his helpers hand out real bread only for the meals, whereas only dried bread is free, the rest being measured out precisely, though nobody goes hungry, all the meals are sumptuous, and hardly anything spoils, because nothing is left over, for there is always someone who will gladly devour what someone else cannot, Alfred not wanting anything to go to waste.

There is only one day on which the food is spoiled, and that is the day when the camp’s hierarchy is turned upside down, Alfred handing his whistle over to the youngest scout the night before, since for the next day he is head of camp in charge of everything and takes overall responsibility, Alfred even handing over the flag to Edgar, who as the youngest this year is named lord of the camp, he then naming all his head assistants and handing out the day’s assignments, only Hans remaining as the bookkeeper, since everyone urged him to do so. Alfred and Willi are made dishwashers, FHF and Josef
have to gather kindling, and so on, Edgar taking charge of the kitchen while Pony is put in charge of provisions. Problems arise first thing in the morning, for even though Willi has been up for a while and has bathed, no signal has been given for the others to wake up, Alfred and Hans also already up, and everyone wondering when the day will actually begin, until at last Pony wakes up and pokes Radau to make him tell Edgar to order the others to wake up. Edgar then finally blows his whistle and yells, “Wake up!,” but nobody pays attention, Willi eventually complaining that his bones hurt and he needs to sleep, at which Edgar says he can’t have any chocolate, while also lowering judgment on a number of others until finally, at around ten-thirty, the cocoa can be served, it being only a bit burned, Bambus saying, since it’s so late, “Edgar, why don’t you pay a bit more attention to cooking unless you want the whole troop to starve by lunchtime!”

Edgar protests strongly, but nonetheless thinks that it might be good advice, except that he has the unfortunate idea of making rice, for which he grates some chocolate, in order to make a chocolate rice pudding. Although mounds of kindling stand at the ready, the fire simply will not light, so Edgar orders Alfred to light the fire, but he says that he’s too young, he doesn’t know how to light a fire, and Edgar yells at him, “I’m the head of camp and you have to obey! No more idiotic jokes, Alfred!” So Alfred lights the fire, and as it crackles Edgar says to him, “You can now go play ball. I don’t need you anymore.” Alfred goes off to play ball, but soon the fire is smoking badly, the flames smoldering, everything in the kitchen swallowed up in acrid smoke, the rice boiling and boiling, though Edgar is firmly convinced that the rice is not done and ignores any recommendation that’s given him. By now everyone has deep doubts when Edgar finally decides that the food is ready, it being only an hour late and already two o’clock, as Edgar’s helpers carry two full pots of a grayish-brown stinking mass out to the serving area, Edgar wanting to be the one to serve it up, himself covered in sweat, for the ladle fails to scoop out any of it, since the whole thing can only be picked at, so he reaches for a large kitchen knife and with effort saws away clumps that he then dumps onto each plate, though as he finally finishes he sighs from exhaustion, the remainder left in the pot as a disgusting mess.

Although everyone has gathered around out of curiosity, Edgar whistles
and calls out, “Time to eat!,” confidently adding, “Boys, it’s a little burned. But that doesn’t matter. I hope it tastes good. Enjoy!” Next to Edgar stands a tub of butter, grated chocolate, and sugar, but in his excitement he forgets to serve it, while Hans is merciless and calls out, “Edgar you forgot the chocolate! I can’t eat rice pudding without chocolate!” Edgar wants to make up for his oversight, but Bambus yells, “You’re crazy, Hans, you’re wasting the only thing that’s edible!” Edgar is deeply hurt and just wants to sprinkle chocolate on as quickly as he can, but luckily someone prevents him and recommends that he first taste the dish, though Edgar says in a quiet voice that he doesn’t know if the rice pudding has turned out well, maybe someone else should try it first, to which Alfred replies, “That’s right, no cook should be made fun of before his food has been tasted.” Bravely, he cuts off a piece from the lump with a spoon and puts it in his mouth, and although Fabi warns him not to break a tooth, Alfred announces, “Mmm, good!” The rest, however, quickly say that it’s inedible, Edgar ordering that bread with sausage should be handed out and two ribs of chocolate afterward, which he thinks is reasonable, and so it occurs.

During the meal Edgar comes to Alfred and says that he would like to have a little word with him, to which Alfred agrees, yet it’s not until the end of the meal, when he’s full, that he is ready. Edgar is also quite hungry, but he’s done with his meal much earlier than Alfred, who chews his food with the patience of a saint and says to Willi, “I think we have plenty enough to do for today. Hopefully we’ll be able to finish washing the pots by the time we go to bed. Before that we need to fortify ourselves as best we can.” After the meal Alfred gets up slowly and tells Willi that they need to start the washing up, but then Edgar yells, “I’m ordering you to speak with me in private!” Alfred does just that as he recalls Edgar’s request from earlier and walks off with him, while after they return Alfred says, “I’m here to inform you that I am once more head of camp. The reversed order is now over. As part of his abdication Edgar has only requested that Willi and I finish washing up the pots. I have said I will only support this difficult promotion if Willi is willing to go along with it.” Indeed, Willi declares with a grin that he’s ready to, after which the kitchen fire is stoked in order to boil some water so that they can loosen the remains left in the pots, though even with baking soda and wire brushes it takes another hour to do the job.

The opening celebration is the first real party in camp, and therefore the first campfire, which also makes everyone happy. After the evening meal, large amounts of brushwood are gathered, some of the older boys getting everything ready, stacking up the brushwood in the way they know works best, then each puts on his smock and they all sit in a circle and are quiet, as Alfred steps up and lights the fire, others later taking over the job of tending it, the order of shifts having been arranged already, as Alfred says, “I hereby open the Landstein Castle Camp and welcome its first members.” After that it’s again quiet, then Alfred begins to sing a song, everyone singing along, after which he makes a speech that doesn’t last long, for the Wanderers are never allowed to make long speeches, as Alfred wants everyone to be able to express himself quickly and clearly. Alfred explains what it means to be in camp, mostly for the new members, then he speaks about the purpose of the Wanderers, what he expects from each, how to find direction in one’s life, whereby one can distinguish himself from other people, Alfred saying it all simply and directly so that everyone can understand. After him others are allowed to contribute, though no one has to ask permission, but simply begins to talk, as they let some time go by after anyone speaks.

Willi, Hans, and FHF always speak at such moments, as sometimes do others. Willi likes to talk about the difference between the Wanderers and other people, comparing the two and saying what the pack still needs to do in order to become real Wanderers who live up to their goals. Hans, meanwhile, easily gets sentimental and talks about a number of symbols, such as what the flag means and the fire, that they all need to work together, help one another, and remain friends forever. FHF explores central directions of history and the actions of important men down through the years, seeing connections to the ideals that belong to the Wanderers, everyone needing to envision how humanity can work steadfastly toward the highest goals, which alter only in their outer manifestation, but never change in spirit, those being expressed today most likely soon becoming outdated, our children coming up with something completely different from wandering, which is why we have to remain young in spirit, in order not to stand in the way of those who come after us, but instead support them in the ways that we wish others supported us, the most important thing for ourselves being to remember how easy it can be to fail, since for all we know when they were
young, many of our parents and teachers held such ideals, which they later betrayed and finally forgot, but if we don’t forget and don’t betray ourselves we will be a generation that won’t stand in the way, and then—and only then—will we be able to say that as Wanderers we did not fail our calling but instead have fulfilled it. Meanwhile, when Fabi speaks he always likes to follow FHF, though what he says never sounds that clever, because he tries to disagree with what FHF has said, because Fabi believes that wandering will exist forever, and that we only need to make sure our children become Wanderers and, no matter what we end up doing, there will always be the Wanderers, and if one day all there was in the world were Wanderers, then peace and unity would exist among all people, yet in our times and earlier not much progress has been made toward this, the Middle Ages in fact being a disgrace, the Thirty Years War terrible, and, of course, the World War a calamity, one able to see all of this just by looking at the world around us, the great works of the past having disappeared without renown, though what the Wanderers will accomplish will not and should not be destroyed.

Usually Alfred speaks once more in closing, but just briefly, saying that we should certainly be pleased that we have the chance to be Wanderers, but we must be careful in the face of others, for when they foster other views and ideals it’s important to respond with simple human decency and not with big words, but rather actions, and we should allow each his own views and actions but meanwhile observe whether these are genuine and honorable. If we see them as deceitful we should avoid them, as well as speak up without fear and worry when we are asked to keep still. After this last speech, the Wanderers sing and sometimes tell stories or read out loud, especially if someone has something special he wishes to share with the entire pack, while toward the end the fire is allowed to burn lower, many of them staring at the barely flickering flames, as Alfred closes the evening with a few words and best wishes to all, then the flag is lowered, the last coals doused with water that stands at the ready nearby. This time the campfire comes to a surprising end, for suddenly there is the sound of a trumpet, as Alfred half jokingly says, “Sounds like the fire station in Sichelbach.” In fact, it really is the fire station in Sichelbach, for there they observed the glow of the fire and believed that a forest fire needed to be put out. Alfred stands up immediately and takes Bambus with him in order to rush to meet the firemen,
who are already heading toward them, the latter soon relieved to see the Wanderers, no one in Sichelbach understanding what was going on because they had forgotten about the Wanderers, the people up in arms, but then happy that nothing was burning, Alfred reassuring them that the Wanderers had never caused a forest fire, as he handed out cigarettes to all the firemen and they headed off satisfied, though one could hear their little trumpets still blowing for a while.

One day pleasantly follows another, there being always plenty of diversions, games organized down in the meadow, even competitions, the surrounding area explored, FHF above all on top of things, taking over evening patrols as well with Alfred’s permission, though only four boys are allowed to take part. There they listen to the lightly rustling sound of the trees and try to distinguish which are in a minor key and which a major, younger boys sometimes taken along in order to get them used to the lonely feel of the night, this being a night that they spend on their own at a spot in the woods when they are allowed to do what they want, though they have to remain quiet, they can make a small fire, and they can sleep, or they can look for one of the masters who led them to this spot as part of their test and will pick them up the next morning, they needing to dress warmly and bring along a blanket, a large slice of bread having been given them as provisions. Whoever passes this test is then considered a full-fledged Wanderer and not a novice, anyone being allowed to take the test, while anyone who is fourteen or older doesn’t have to do it. There are in fact no other tests, nor are there titles, the distinction of being named a master in itself nothing but a joke.

Alfred knows all of the gamekeepers and forest workers, and so he knows that tomorrow is Frau Brosch’s birthday, for which he quickly calls a meeting of the camp, at which it’s decided that in the evening when it’s dark they will hike to the ranger’s house and serenade her and her husband under torchlight. They quickly get the torches ready and practice a couple of songs, then all of them except the camp guards head off to the ranger’s house, where no one has any idea that they’re coming, such that everyone is hugely surprised and even more overjoyed, the sight of the scouts truly wonderful as they all light their torches and gather in the ranger’s yard, the couple coming out to say thank you and to praise them. The next night Herr and Frau Brosch pay a return visit to the camp in order to invite them
all the following Saturday evening for a piece of cake, Alfred thanking them deeply and explaining that unfortunately the Wanderers won’t be able to come, for the Wanderers have a custom whereby they participate in all celebrations together, but all of them won’t be able to, since they have to leave two Wanderers behind as camp guards. Then the ranger says that he’d already thought of that, and they have to accept the invitation anyway, for he had arranged for two gamekeepers to serve as guards for that evening, and they were happy to do it, this leaving nothing for Alfred to do but thank him on behalf of the pack and accept.