MOSELLE AND RHINE

Press, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22081, 1 May 1937, Page 17

MOSELLE AND RHINE

£ fc'UNKEPT DIARY taf §'■ . 22 ft * *' IBy J.H.E.S.] «« 1 TV nea :# *»■ |9L early' evening, back in 1- - W e had wandered to the * Kaway square which the 23 & fronts and were staring up sf &° rant curio f y ■' its / me ; «S li sculptures when we found 5)2- fL or he found us. A small * & spoke his soft, slurred '»' K German with a rush that ' * iTfirst too much for me; whose ft 8L ran to his lively brown % 9wd made them widen and ■** SrHe was 12 years old; he was vwHlf the most dramatic, kindling ■•(BLllers I have ever listened to. SrflEd « s first ' aboUt the Rathaus jJL' sacred and profane, and *H!ed better success—and closer we did not realise his H i ;K at - once. He showed us the * rjs gasse—where the Jews had ? iYbut there were none now. He <Hi-. us-an irresistible little i HLgt a great pace through the * K until he had us by the f Guns' lK' ea r the Hotel Reichshof, a * & basin spilling into a pool lt * ■fthe memorial of the hemzelSMcben and the busybody. The SHKißiinchen f the gnomes who f*Wat night on their stealthy good "'■mtVmnd the cobbler overUK, sleep in his struggle with Sfßatheap of shoes. They set to ■rJKned and shaped, waxed and bE and in the morning, all was ■Esi, ready for him.d'you see? wmtiita und fe . rtig - nich ' ? r N , ext the butcher was far bem Tmth the work that kept him 5S rwarthe gnomes crept in and. \M fcthft-wearv man slumbered. IIC ssed'his carcases, scalded and '■» Cartel -hung, so that when he ■Tip hdl was well—"Alles fix und ,?M llft'nich'?" again; for young TusiM »Ww the value of a ritual ■KH ase'" So, also, when the tailor •Sfc W : to ply his needle through the (m it the bearded, capped hemzelM inchen "trooped in as he nodded ■;m ind with their deft little hands /«5 6 light work of his hopeless Jl til of seam and ,left him the IS! hed heap-i"Alles fix und fertig, ,T' But now listen—"Aber hor i'm f ordered the historian, wag"ff r his head for joy in his tale. 44' « was a busybody, of a woman !■&' o knew, that the ' cobbler, the £# filer," the-'tailor, the carpenter Sf*. lid not have 1 * got through their r, wp: b'unaided, 1 and she made up her Ifil'! Id to -fiDd out who had helped ?$i m. So, having scattered dried ffit son the stairs, she hid herself at t| toight an& waited. Now you must !«§■ rer* spy upon the heinzel-mann-fki nor.tryto.trap them; and when Wi :peas'crackled under their feet. Ell i<!*e'cfaried , out with her lantern &W caught.' them, 1 they rushed mfcy taa,rage and never came back. wmls schgne Geschichte, nich'?"— S|Bi'tiiat(a4avely story? And there, jitßuiefop'of the stairs, you may see !Sjß.6iKy6bdy holding up her light jfljMfethfrJheinzel-mannchen huddled JBB&'ftot,-. in the. very instant of ifjftßSbefore.fiight. Beneath are the §f§KJwn& of their labour—cut in ■HMWPM with delicious liveliness ■B'lj^tfdur.'" S't'-'i' A^ c sends MMfeifollowed:' our guide to a tiwehjafd— I think, of St. Andreas I Hffft,' he -.showed us remains of ss: ;,Hojnatt Empire, which gave Vfft and inside he m Wdhto /the- tombs of Father «*• fran-one and Father Such--11l ther,; heroes of miraculous tales Jgg hack-to be told in a lowered i(&?'But.- reverence could not ejpMs'" eagerness. That had free the .nightmare, story sg£ the''old ghoul of Cologne. During ;s#' nediaeval- visitation of plague Sffc shag, on the prowl for plunder sjj: the corpse-filled catacombs! came Vp »' the body of a rich merchant's ;%, \As she rifled it; it stirred under Zt ' nands—alive. Feverishly she *>pp gged the unconscious woman to *li'' house and knocked, £;;-. icked-until he came to an upper Wfe ™ OW -."Here is your wife—alive!" ji.f «o, no!, My wife is dead!!'—"Yes, t&, T wife is alive, she is here!"—"lt $$ not be. My wife would speak. j|t 3f4oea;she not speak, if she is my M |M alive?'" Whereupon, with "SIS effort, 'she struggled in m spoke his name, m W*M& dead. And he, with tk &s*'<*■ a Voice from the tomb 0 fix 1 * screamed once and was *i<! IfcfVNe': merkwiirdige GeM Wfe nich',?". A remarkable story; m f.3«ft ; J.'tfiis astonishing little m KfWith regret; and it returns, m re^!ft^ w ,'' orm . because memory m K 5?s ,b Pth;,fail,to translate hi 3 m inflections, M slowirigs, BS e Sr:riiiS',elbquent eyes and 8« where they had p fen&aem.**/ M *t&W<*£&o& thing to lunch in H is even better to m ,f the Cathem fa js?l Po™. the electric tide m K'!^'W e and throws its darker m the dark night and the Si lecturing stars. You may sit m into two, W K econd . dealing from a third, li ©n e e P se that says "Time to 41 rSy*«*. past the senses that m ffi n aow ' inice to stay." And if §1 fef^-^y oll will not sit there I*l time, you will choke M Bfr¥, ana lis ten only to m ptvan^il the tables be s in to ffl traffic lessens through W ffJJ* The waiter does not W 's-lSnM?*^ ollß ' though you HE fc-teSL? 1 . tlus while at a gemisM mit kartoffel salat m ifef xperilnental . ver y. young m tmtT v '~ brisk on the ' tongue kM |£S . away.—This gemischte Eff ne ' confused feeding. P S'ff you a g feat Platter with Wfe ODkeri u or six sort s of sausage, 'OS &T on i m ' and cold vea l arft H'Mnv* tliere a gherkin. Those % *SSii? Unds . of .bier-wurst, m WSn r g re yish ones of lebem »o(S? red and white ■4'? are delicious. m : liatte«^ ee ' eater! " wh o will, and if; l «n on. salmon out of a tin. ' Sf' hftp ffUlstic Vicissitudes 'M ""le ao? o '^ B we had to see the NP *«* iced coffee again m feirT7 eckers . and buy a pair of W M was the Beckers who m Whth °fi- this third erran d, to fflfattveri +? " ohe strasse where, we WS^" ? c ß S ey ng an "English «u an the window. Theremm'toiX***, san dals they were p|p *ught undertake the business

herself and not trouble me to invent roundabout German for straps, buckles, and soles, words never in my vocabulary. The shop-walker made no difficulty about bringing forward the English scholar of the establishment. She, a neat, smiling, dark one, made more in bringing forward her English. After "Good morning" and "Yes" and "I understand small English" it stuck. And so, after all, I trundled up my rusted artillery; and it went off, too.' When the dark one retired to wrap the sandals at a counter, there was great laughter there between her and a jolly senior. It seemed'best to >know the worst. "Another howler, Master! as Swinburne cried to Jowett over the -MS of the great man's Plato. . . BUt "She says," said the jolly senior, "that it is much easier to sell sandals to the lady in English when the. Herr knows - German so well." Very pretty, and well received; but perhaps she was graciously lying. The laughter had much the same hearty ring as the chambermaid's at the Schweitzerhof, when I enquired for a bathroom. I had noticed the alternative words, "Frei," "Besetzt," worked into view by the latch on certain doors. Useful words! "Frei" would have been more direct, but I groped for the other: "Haben Sie ein' Bad nicht besitzt?" I asked the chambermaid, as I padded along. Her. charming fair head went back and she laughed .till'she. nearly : cried ... It was three or four,hours before the mind heaved arid" I/,reialised I had said •fbesitzt" instead of' ."besetzt." I am not" sure :I know -,what "besitzt means;'but I'm,afraid I do. "■ ; .The-Beckers Again The. Beckers beamed up*on us. There ought to be some happy way of turning Milton's line to use: "Nods, and Beckers, and wreathed smiles" is the rough idea of it. Frau Becker, the old lady, the tranquil waitress, there they were, just the same; (What a relief it is—the unacknowledged fear banished—to return to the perfection one J has luckily discovered and find " no illusion!) Yet not just the. same; for we were old friends now, and confirmed in our fancy. Also, it was Monday morning,, not Sunday afternoon, and the habitues of Konditorei und Kaffee, B. Beckers, were at their little tables and their second breakfasts, turning over the files of the "Kolnischer Zeitung," greeting each other, answering Frau Beckers smiles. We were habitues, too .... Frau Becker whisked away as we were preparing to leave. Returning, she pressed into W.'s hands (it is the sanctified phrase for parting gifts, nich'?) a packet of sweets and a postcard photograph of the red plush and the shining metal and glass, the cash-register, the counter of cakes and what-nots, the tables and chairs —all of the interior of Konditorei und Kaffee, B. Beckers, except the best of it all, the trio of Beckers themselves. On the back was written: "Gute Reise u. Viel Vergntigen"—a good journey and much joy.. . We saw the Rhine flowing under, Hipdenburg and Holienzollern I again. We crossed and saw men in little boats dredge the river with wide,. flat • pole-nets, - and the silver fish leap from the mesh and glitter in the sun. We took, the train for Trier, r- ...... X To be continued.), .ij^.