Panorama (56 page)

Josef’s roommates have long since settled in, one of them named Kurt having benefited from being too weak for the work done under Sajdl. There Čiperný had observed how Kurt strained himself so and yet couldn’t do what was asked of him, and Sajdl called him over one day and had him come help in the supply shed, where boards, handles for shovels and picks, clamps, nails, oil, soft soap, and other items were issued, Kurt having it good there, though with a lot to do sometimes, especially when he has to help a strong civil servant saw some wood, whereby Kurt loses his breath, though luckily the sawing doesn’t last that long. Jindra works under Chudoba at the dumping site, there being a foreman there who reminds one of Sláma and who is called Kalda and is a cottager from Wirschenowitz who maintains that the railroad will never be finished, at least not as long as the Conqueror rules Bohemia. The engine pulls the freight cars up the hill as they hurry to dump their loads, but it’s not that easy, because the stuff in the cars often sticks, so they have to beat the sides with shovels, though that doesn’t always work, and then someone has to stand on the coupling between two cars and tirelessly shovel out the earth and scrape it so that the load sits loosely in the car again, especially if it’s full of stones, then everything rushes down the embankment with a great
whoosh
, Kalda wildly shouting, “Careful! The train will tip over as well!” That has actually never happened, but once it derailed, a freight car having rolled loose and clambered down the embankment almost all the way to the creek, Kalda at first having laughed, but then he became quite serious, Chudoba arriving in a state and yelling, “Sabotage! That was done on purpose!,” he wanting to arrest everyone working at the dump site, but Kalda calmed him down and said that these people did a good job, it just happened because this freight car is in such bad shape and many of the railcars are worn out. Then Čiperný showed up as well, he yelling even louder about why they weren’t more careful, the entire workday wasted, and
then Chudoba had to quiet Čiperný down. Kalda was ordered to go down the embankment with four men in order to drag the railcar back up, they having neither ropes nor chains, so that they had to get those first from the supply hut, but even then it didn’t work, for they needed another eight men, until finally the railcar was brought back up, on this day four fewer trains able to dump their loads, and Chudoba’s men ended up taking a rest. Otherwise it’s very quiet at the dumping site, “twenty” whispered when there is no train to unload, and only the rails needing to be extended when the dumping causes the embankment to extend farther, they needing to be always close to the edge, otherwise there’s no way to dump, though the rails also cannot be too close to the edge so that the subsurface is strong enough to hold the weight of the train and it doesn’t slide. In order to extend the tracks, a simple tool is used, namely the “dog,” which is a rod that holds the spike in place when you pry the spreading rails back together on top of the anchored ties, after which you need to place stones under the ties so that the tracks run evenly.

Five of Josef’s boys still work under Sajdl, and everything there goes according to plan. Sajdl gets after everyone as before, even doling out cuffs on the ears, though the roommates themselves have never been hit, but it’s a grind, it taking thirty minutes or more to fill a railcar, and if only one among the crew doesn’t pull his weight all the rest suffer, and because Sajdl never eases up on the daily quota they often have to work overtime. Simon finds it tolerable to work for Sajdl, and he no longer complains about what will happen to his hands because of this work. The communal group continues to fend for itself, Josef having to report at the gathering of group leaders just how they manage to do so, as Josef tells them about the shared funds, which are used to buy the groceries and the cooking utensils, and how it makes life easier, though you have to keep an eye on all your boys in order to make sure that no one takes advantage of the system for his own needs. Josef had to really get after Zdenko, who more than once had secretly taken some sugar, Josef explaining to him that such precious staples have to be shared equally, while bread is something each can have as much of as he wants, Josef offering potatoes as well. Lately communal arrangements have been springing up in a number of barracks, and sometimes they work out, other
times things go wrong, there being no communal spirit that comes together, and the effort has to be abandoned.

One morning one of the new arrivals disappeared and didn’t come back again. Otto was deeply worried whether the escape would lead to things going badly for the rest. People conjectured that the escapee must have stolen a good bit of money from his comrades, though no one knew just when he escaped, for the boy had been there in the evening, his roommates even confirming that he had gotten undressed to go to bed, though in the morning there was not a trace of him to be found. Otto couldn’t keep the escape secret from the head engineer, who immediately wanted to inform the police in Sobolec, but with a good deal of begging the group leader was able to convince him that it would serve as a sign of the poor work ethic of his comrades, who in fact worked as well as they did because of the freedom and mobility granted them, all of which would disappear in a single stroke, it not being fair to let a hundred and sixty men pay the price for one boy’s thoughtless, stupid action. Čiperný said that he was sorry, but it was his responsibility, and if it was discovered he would be arrested and punished, so he had to report it, if only to protect himself. With some effort Otto tried to convince him to simply report it to the employment office, since the escapee was clearly mentally ill and the comrades had noted from the very first day his strange ways. Luckily, Chudoba showed up in the midst of the altercation and explained that the escapee was a screwy bird, he having showed up to work in a huntsman’s cap and leather gloves, looking around him as only a crazy person does. At this Otto could convincingly suggest that the escapee really was an idiot, and the question of whether Čiperný was going to endanger the entire group of forced laborers by reporting the incident to the employment office became moot, though he did wish to advise that the next time someone left the immediate surroundings of the barracks outside of work time, he would hold the group leader accountable for every escaped laborer. Then Otto said that he couldn’t simply lock up his people like jailbirds, they had to go into the village in order to buy bread and other things. After a long exchange, Čiperný and Otto agreed that each evening at eight o’clock the presence of all laborers would be accounted for and the group leader would have to send the written roll to the head engineer in his apartment,
the same form due each morning to Herr Podlaha. At this Otto appealed to the conscience of each room leader and the cooperation of all his comrades, each room leader having to send a written list to Otto accounting for all his colleagues each evening before eight o’clock, while in the morning he would personally visit each room in order to confirm the full presence of all the inhabitants himself.

Long awaited is the first free afternoon on Sunday, the boys in Josef’s room sleeping like logs, though he himself is already up and feeling good, at which he decides to head into the village to see what he can find at Kopřiva’s. The store is half empty, Kopřiva in a good mood as he tells Josef that this morning there was good news on the radio, namely that America will soon declare war against Germany, though Josef is not quite sure where Kopřiva stands on all this, which is why it’s smarter to say nothing, ask nothing, and never once show any interest. Kopřiva is not satisfied with this and wants to know from Josef what he thinks of the war and the entire situation, and how he thinks it will all go. Josef replies that he hopes that the right side wins. Kopřiva says that the right side is like the truth, which always wins out, as Master Jan Hus teaches us, but who knows what the right side is. Josef agrees straight off that this is always hard to tell. At this the shopkeeper doesn’t try to probe Josef’s views any further, but then the door of the taproom opens and a drunken man stumbles into the shop, pointing with an outstretched arm at Josef and asking, “Hey, Jaroslav, who’s that, who’s that man there?” The shopkeeper declares that it’s clear that he’s one of those who are working on the railroad. “I say no one should be building any railroad here! That’ll make our taxes go up, and we’ll have to pay for it all! Jaroslav, no one should be building any railroad, that’s no good, no, none at all!” Kopřiva replies that he doesn’t know what’s good or bad about such a railroad, for those in charge know, but Kopřiva knows that šumpetr should keep his mouth shut, for he can clearly see that here there is someone who is building something, and that’s indeed good, because it’s good when these people get money that they can then spend in Wirschenowitz, which is good for everyone. “Jaroslav, you talk a load of crap! The tax office has done me in already, so I say no one should be building any railroad! And you from the railroad, what do you have to say about it all? Do you like working there?” Josef replies that he’s quite pleased with it all, for the work
is not that bad, though šumpetr is not satisfied, everything these days having gone to hell, you can’t so much as slaughter a pig when you want to, everything has to be delivered, and soon there won’t be anything more you can do, and who’s going to do anything about it, šumpetr will hang himself if it comes to that, which is why Jaroslav should pour him another schnapps, but a proper Sliwowitz, not this damned woman’s water that smells of perfumed sugar, and the man there from the railroad, he should also pour him a Sliwowitz, for today šumpetr has money, he’ll pay for it all, even Jaroslav should have a drink, and the man from the railroad should come along into the taproom. Jews, however, are barred from entering all inns, this being enforced with laborers all the more acutely, so Josef declines, but he doesn’t use too many words to do so, but just says, “I’m not allowed to.”—“What’s that? Well, to hell with that, you’re not allowed. You’re allowed if I say you’re allowed! Jaroslav, did you hear that, he’s not allowed? Why isn’t he allowed? Come here, Mr. Railroad Man, I want to have a drink with you!” The drunken man puts his arm around Josef and tries to drag him off to the taproom, but the proprietor says that šumpetr shouldn’t do anything stupid, Kopřiva could lose his license, they can toss anyone working on that railroad into jail, and šumpetr could be thrown out of the bar and locked up for drinking with a laborer, though šumpetr won’t have any of it, saying, “No one is ever hauled off in Wirschenowitz, so I’m still in the bar! If I say something is all right, then it is! And I say we’re all brothers! And whoever doesn’t believe that I’ll crack his skull!” Josef doesn’t let himself be dragged into the taproom, but he does have to clink glasses with šumpetr and drink a Sliwowitz, followed by a second one right away, but then Josef thanks him and says he has to go, for he still has other errands in the village, at which Kopřiva pushes šumpetr on uncertain legs back toward the taproom, the latter yelling to Josef, “I’m going to drink to your railroad in the hope that it is never finished! They’re robbing us all, I say!” Josef then disappears as Jaroslav Kopřiva pulls an unhappy face.

Since arriving in Wirschenowitz Josef has not had a shave, and since there is time he goes to the barber, who is a real character, and who also starts right in talking about the railroad. It’s fine with him that they want to build it here, for it’s good for him, namely because all the laborers do him the honor of bringing their business to him, and so they should always
build, for then the area does better, and if they put in a main line here, then large factories will follow, and one day when there is peace, but not the Conqueror, then he will have left something useful behind, for that’s the way things go, the thugs establish order, then they are done in, the poor people suffering a bit as a result, though they also learn something and get back on their feet again. Josef suggests that the people might also wish for something a bit better than that and not just to remain poor. But the barber thinks the people never learn any better, they always have to be pushed around somewhat, they need that, and thus the Conqueror is a pike in the fishpond which the slower fish let swim around and snap at them so that they work harder, then someone fishes out the pike with a hook and lays him out on dry land so that he dies, he having fulfilled his purpose. Josef cautiously disagrees with this, since he’s not certain whom the barber is friends with, though it doesn’t seem to be dangerous, for next the barber says that he wishes the Devil would haul off the pike, no one would despair at that, since he’s so wild, though people shouldn’t complain so much but instead train him like a beast in a circus in order that he does something worthwhile before the Americans arrive to fish him out. Such talk makes Josef uncomfortable, but he smiles and says it’s certainly not that easy to train a pike, because when you let a beast free you never know what can happen. But the barber replies that the people go about it all wrong, for the fish don’t complain about the pike because he is better than them, instead they complain because he can bite and keeps them on the move, all of them afraid of him and having to ward him off, but to get him to do what his prey wants him to do they who must flee should all treat him as their redeemer, though the barber admits that the Conqueror would have to no longer be a pike in a pond but rather a washtub, and best of all would be to see him cooked in a pan and served up with a little dill sauce.

Josef is happy when he finishes with the barber and heads back to camp, where Simon tells him what a wonderful man he met, a Dr. Siegler from the barracks straight across, and since he told him about Josef they should both go over and meet the doctor. Simon is so excited that he asks if they can’t go straightaway, there being at least an hour before they have to think about dinner, and so Josef agrees. Dr. Siegler is friendly, and is one of the oldest men in the camp, certainly over forty-five, and a doctor who had a good
practice in Saaz, though the events of 1938 forced him from the home where his father and grandfather had been doctors, he having lost both his house and his practice, his possessions seized, while for some months he has worked here in Wirschenowitz, which he’s happy about, as he had no idea how he was going to be able to take care of his sick wife. In Dr. Siegler’s eyes the world is going to pieces, such that the only thing that can be sensibly described is what we each experience alone, all people today becoming more and more enslaved because there is nothing to prevent it from happening. Josef wants to know what could prevent it, and Siegler says it’s the strength of the unmediated life, which is a strength that develops within, much as ancient mystics taught, but this strength can unfold only when technological capability is not turned into an instrument of power by the politicians, which indeed is the case today, technology seeing to it that the life force is reduced and eventually annihilated, as it drains away life, replacing it and transforming it into a mechanical process, in the course of which humanity is subjected to slavery. Siegler doesn’t believe this process can be stopped, not even through revolution, only a complete cataclysm could do so, though that would also mean the destruction of all achievements of culture and civilization, and should this fate come to pass all that a human being is currently capable of is to produce the courage and tragic desire for his own demise, in order that at least a heroic end is achieved. This also means that whoever pursues truth will at least be gratified when he sees with open eyes where he stands and that he is falling into an abyss that he can no longer avoid, but this plunge at least grants him at the very last moment of time the sense of something eternal.