Joseph Roth - Perlefter - The Story of A Bourgeois

The Kofritz family lived in a suburb where no dust could penetrate, in a district from which germs were banished. In front of the house was a small ornamental garden and in the back a large orchard in which the birds from the whole neighbourhood gathered to twitter. The terrace looked out over this great green garden, and Perlefter was invited one afternoon to take tea there. He complained of a headache. He could not tolerate the twittering of the birds. He praised his own house because it didn’t have a terrace and asked, half indignantly and half sympathetically, ‘What did Kofritz build a terrace for?’

There were a few little things that Herr Perlefter didn’t like. I think, if I may say so, that he sought to retaliate for having to endure singing the praises of Herr Kofritz for several hours a day in front of strangers and acquaintances. Therefore, Alexander Perlefter looked for flaws; the larger the better. That Kofritz spent so much money annoyed him. He criticized the fact that Fredy had to ride instead of ‘looking after business’. But no one except his poor wife now cared for his advice and his foul moods. He stayed ever longer in the club where he was appreciated because of his new family ties. He allowed himself to celebrate, and yet I believe that it brought him no joy when one appeared to celebrate him while actually celebrating Kofritz.

Tante Kempen came to get her commission.

‘This marriage was truly made in Heaven!’ said Perlefter and cast a glance at the ceiling.

Frau Perlefter cried, for she could not tolerate any quarrels, and she hurried to give Frau Kempen some costly pineapples. Tante Kempen ate pineapples as if this magnificent fruit was an ordinary apple. She was indignant. She even said, ‘This marriage is far from complete. It is first an engagement!’

At this point Perlefter grabbed his chequebook and paid Frau Kempen her commission. In exchange she had to forgo pineapples, and instead she got cherries, which at that time were just beginning to ripen.

Frau Kempen placed little value on pineapples. She was not offended; she wanted only to garner for herself an invitation from Kofritz, and she succeeded. Herr Kofritz had a poor niece who lived with him whom he wanted to marry off, and he could use Frau Kempen’s services.

Frau Kempen even knew an appropriate man, a young journalist who worked for a large publishing house and who was waiting for the death of the local editor to be able to get married. By luck the young man, named Hirsch, got himself into the film section of the newspaper and received a salary increase.

I met the young man at Perlefter’s. Herr Hirsch had a substantial physiognomy and, despite his youth, little hair. Frau Perlefter made the apt but somewhat general observation that the young man looked ‘like an actor’. He had short legs and a long thick torso. His rigid nose sprang out with imperious confidence.

This young man was considered by the family to be a ‘gifted writer’. He sometimes brought free tickets. Herr Perlefter thought highly of him, although he still earned little. Unfortunately, Julie Perlefter was once again bedridden. Even before she had a chance to recover her health the young Herr Hirsch had decided upon the Kofritz niece. It seemed to me that later, after Julie had recovered, Herr Hirsch was sorry that he had been so impatient. He had chosen for life and could not alter his decision.

He soon married and became head of the film section. Had he taken Perlefter’s daughter he would certainly have moved into the commercial section, to the columns in which the important writers develop an interest in the stock market.

Fräulein Julie was now expected to be healthy for a half a year, and Frau Kempen made use of this time. She knew a dentist without a practice who had a great desire to establish himself.

He was a handsome young man with girlish pink cheeks and bright-blue eyes and a short moustache. He liked to tell ‘jokes for gentlemen’ and amused Herr Perlefter away in a corner.

Enquiries were made into his past life, and it was learned that he had a mistress.

Herr Perlefter had nothing against a mistress, whom one could easily discard. Furthermore, he was sympathetic to the idea of a dentist in the family. How often did one or another family member have a toothache? The dentistry bills always accumulated at the end of the year.

In general Herr Perlefter was in favour of a practical son-in-law, as I have mentioned once before. Everything that was a danger, a pain or an evil should be immediately averted. He longed for a solicitor for his youngest daughter. By surrounding himself and his family with a protective force of experts he believed that he could not only protect his family but also save money.

Unfortunately, Julie’s health did not hold up as had been predicted six months earlier. She had an abscess, a hateful and downright proletarian illness and, moreover, on a place on her body about which one could not speak easily, a location one could divine based on the silence it inspired.

Consequently, Julie could not lie on her back, and thus the bed no longer gave her any comfort. She was operated upon twice. The family doctor came twice a day, and the surgeon came three times a week. When her bandages were removed Julie was emaciated, and as it was not yet summertime it was decided to seek a health resort for her.

Herr Perlefter, whose digestion was not very good, would enter a spa for stomach ailments. He had to drink water and exercise. In contrast, his wife needed complete tranquillity, for she was nervous.

Karoline and her chemist sought a serene place, such a location in which one could experience the most idyllic existence. Fredy was to go with the Kofritz family on a little trip through Europe and then stay in Switzerland where there were mountains for tourists and valleys for automobile tours.

The youngest daughter, Margarete, was to accompany her mother, although it would be very boring. Frau Perlefter could not travel alone. She knew nothing of the outside world. She did not understand train schedules, she was shy and even fearful, and it was impossible for her to sleep alone in a hotel room.

Thus remained Julie, who did not want to go with her mother since Margarete would be there. The abscess had interrupted the handsome dentist’s courtship, and he had to be given the opportunity to continue in a summer resort. That could spell trouble for Margarete, since she was more beautiful and healthier. It was predicted that even in a health resort Julie would seek a bed. In that case, the invited dentist would accompany Margarete, and one knew that the walk around the health resort was lonely and in the evenings so poorly lit that she might be seduced into imprudent activities.

There were therefore many difficult problems to resolve within the Perlefter household, and they even asked my advice, although I was a novice in such matters. None the less I suggested that the dentist only be invited when Julie had fully recovered her health. He was invited for a week, and in the meantime Margarete was sent to be with her father at the spa.

In mid-July the Perlefter family was scattered in various recreation spots, and I often went to visit them by train, bearing bunches of flowers.

I was asked to take a peek at the Perlefter house from time to time. I promised I would do so. I was told that the silver utensils were stored in the wood-burning stove in the salon.

The alpaca cups stood in the linen closet. On the floor lay the rug, rolled up. The lamps were covered with large white sacks. The windows were bare as in sick rooms; the curtains lay in the laundry room. It smelled of camphor to combat moths, and every evening the cook played the gramophone.

That summer I went to live with Henriette in the village, and I was pleased to see how capable she was. Her husband feared her. She slapped the servants, and she boxed the maids. All was tidy on this farm. The watchdog loved Henriette and stayed at her feet. Sometimes she slaughtered the chickens herself — with a sharp knife she struck a confident blow — and then I got a good soup. She didn’t let me get up before eight in the morning, and after sundown she told me that the farmer had at most a year to live.