H. Adler - Panorama

Kreibidi the cat also sits next to the stove, lazy and fat and purring throughout the evening, while during the day she spends most of her time in the yard chasing the chickens and the pigeons, after which Kreibidi hides in the granary or in the hayloft, where there are lots of mice, though Arthur says she rarely catches a mouse, because she gets too much to eat already, but Poldi is very fond of Kreibidi and constantly gives her milk, Kreibidi becoming so used to it that she hardly even sniffs at the potato placed in front of her instead. Foxy is also around, though he is not a proper dog breed but rather a village mutt. Completely black, Foxy is always running around, but he’s not allowed in the store, and whenever someone catches him there he’s immediately chased off, for there’s nothing for a dog in the store, Leopold the one who usually has to send him packing, as he’s the one who is in the store the most, he opening the kitchen door and yelling at Foxy to get out, Leopold giving him a light kick as he goes through the door, not to hurt him but so that he knows that he shouldn’t be in the store. Then Leopold quickly closes the door, for otherwise Foxy would come straight back in, since Foxy is not that afraid of Leopold and is completely tame, sniffing anyone who comes along, his tail wagging, never barking or biting.

Foxy’s best friend is Otto, who often plays with him by the hour, the two of them rolling around the ground or on the sofa until Otto is completely filthy and someone has to give him a vigorous scrubbing. Foxy lets Otto do whatever he wants, even if he grabs him by the snout or lightly steps on his tail, only yelping when someone steps on his paw, after which Foxy needs to be petted and calmed down, everyone happy to do so, even Herr Neumann, despite having hardly enough time. Poldi gives Foxy his food, but in a different dish than Kreibidi, though neither pays attention to the other, nor does either take anything from the other’s dish, since each has plenty to eat already. Everyone tosses Foxy the tastiest bits, though Rudolf doesn’t, for he says that to overfeed a dog is the same as animal cruelty, and Foxy has too much to eat already, and if Rudolf had his own dog he’d make sure to properly train him so that he didn’t always run around and bark, as well as make sure that he was a proper dog rather than a street dog like Foxy. Rudolf, in fact, is right about Foxy being badly raised, for he’s only been given a name and taught to put out both paws when someone calls out, “Foxy, give us a paw! Foxy, give us the other paw!” Sometimes Foxy goes along with Josef out to the fields or into the meadow, sometimes running ahead, but only rarely, and even then he stays only a little while, instead running around for a while and he’s gone before you know it, though there’s no need to worry, for Foxy always finds his way home.

When there’s a lot to do, sometimes Praxel comes to help. She is the woman who lives in a shed down by the train station. Praxel is a terribly nice woman, sweet as they come, but she is afraid because she lives alone and has no one in the world, her husband having died long ago, as well as two children, both of whom died from scarlet fever in the same week, Praxel’s heart remaining empty ever since. She is poor and has only her little hut with a tiny yard and a patch of garden, as well as a goat that provides her with milk, and four chickens, these all the animals that she owns. But since Praxel is so afraid because she lives alone, it happened that one night around 10 P.M. there was a loud pounding at the door, such that everyone thought there was a fire in Umlowitz and that Arthur should come, since he is a member of the volunteer fire department, but there was no fire. Otto had already been put to bed, while Josef was reading an old book that Herma had lent him, which was called The Adventures of Draga Maschin , an exciting story of the Serbian queen, and Herr Neumann had just been reading the paper and smoking a pipe, while Rudolf was away, and Herma was writing a letter to Erwin, as well as a note to Josef’s parents to let them know how he was doing, since he didn’t want to write anything more than a brief hello. Meanwhile Fritz was also at home and sitting at the table with tubes of saccharin and a jar of confectioner’s sugar, as he continually emptied a tube of saccharin onto a piece of paper and then mixed in some confectioner’s sugar, after which he filled the tube again with the mixture, so that there was always some saccharin left over, which Fritz then set aside, the saccharin having come from over the border. Yet Poldi was also there, reading her Farmer’s Almanac on her stool, Arthur having lain down on the couch because he was tired, and only looking on at what the others were doing, the pounding on the door so loud that everyone rushed about, Arthur jumping to his feet, while the others stopped what they were doing and Poldi called out that she would go see what was the matter, and no sooner had she left than Fritz and Arthur followed, only to hear Praxel yelling that it was she, Praxel, and could they open the door quickly, at which Poldi turned the heavy key, which Josef was never able to turn in the lock, then threw back the bolt and opened the door.

Praxel then ran straight into the kitchen, her hair undone and herself pale as a ghost, her whole body trembling. She also wasn’t properly dressed and had on only a slip and a blouse that she always wore to bed, while because she hadn’t been able to untie her head scarf, she had run out with it in her hand. And now Praxel was standing there in the kitchen unable to say a word because she was so upset, everyone immediately asking her what had happened, all of them circling round her, Poldi and Herma helping her to pull herself together, making sure that Praxel took a chair and sat down. Then Praxel yelled out that there were robbers, though she couldn’t quite say it right, so that no one understood what kind of robbers she meant, or where, everyone asking at the same time as Arthur said that Praxel needed to calm down a bit, otherwise no one could understand what was going on. She replied by saying that she couldn’t calm down, because it was a disaster, and then that they were poor people who had nothing, and that it was a disgrace, for she was an old widow who had never harmed a hair on anyone’s head, and that everything had been taken from her, just as she was about to go to sleep and blow out the candle, that’s when she heard noises, though she had thought it was nothing, after which she blew out the candle and got into bed, but then she heard something again, her heart starting to pound, since after the war there were so many bad characters about, God forgive them, and then she heard a plate break, at which she gathered her courage and ran out of the room and into the kitchen. Soon as the robbers heard her they were gone out the window, though Praxel couldn’t run after them, they were young boys who were as quick as rabbits, carrying nothing on them but what they found in the dark, though she did start to run as fast she had ever run in her life, all the while calling out, “Robbers! Robbers!”

At this Praxel could say no more, for she was trembling so and couldn’t catch her breath, Herr Neumann asking if she wanted a schnapps, though Herma said that Praxel didn’t need any schnapps but rather strong coffee and something to eat, while Praxel herself said “coffee.” Poldi then went straight to the oven, the fire almost having died out, only a few hot coals remaining, though Poldi said that she would use some kindling to get the fire going again, and that what had happened to Praxel was outrageous, Poldi already having placed some kindling in the oven, a large fire soon following, at which she put on water for coffee. Praxel said that she would die of fright, though Herma reassured her that there was nothing to be afraid of here, since all the men were there, Arthur and Fritz, who could handle anyone, she just needed to calm down and not get herself so worked up, for she needed to think of her heart. Tonight it would be best if Praxel slept here on the sofa, and if she was still afraid tomorrow they would set up a bed for her in the room where Otto and Poldi sleep, since there is a free bed there, though Praxel kept on about what a burden she would be. If she had been younger the robbers wouldn’t have gotten away, she would have thrown a pot of hot water and her clogs at them, doing anything she could to chase off those bandits. But she hadn’t been able to do anything, and there was nothing to stop them from coming back, which meant that Praxel could never feel at ease in her little hut, and that she was only glad that she could now stay with Herr Neumann.