H. Adler - Panorama

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.