Love Under the Axis . . .

Camp News, Volume 3, Issue 118, 17 April 1942, Page 5

Love Under the Axis . . .

When Franzl of Austria goes out wooing there are only two possibilities—he will either land his girl and get married in the local church or else he may land himself in the nearest ditch with a blue eye and maybe a broken rib. For this is what might happen to you when you go “fensterin” (windowflirting) with an Austrian maiden in the valleys of Styria or the mountains of the Tyrol. When dusk comes Franzl will borrow the longest ladder and noislessly climb up to his beloved’s window. If he is lucky he might steal a kiss Then we have our little trials, They cut us to the bone; A soldier’s posted A.W.L. — Then we find he’s sick at home. Still no one seems to care a hang Just how it all will end For if you make a small mistake You can always corrigend.

or two before an outraged competitor arrives with ladder number two trying to drag his rival from the lofty seat. There is a short struggle, after which ~ one of the 1 two competitors for the girl’s heart usually lands on the ground with a terrific crash. - On May 1 Franzl comes to his sweetheart’s without his ladder, but instead he carries a young apple tree hung with presents. This time • Marie does not appear. Instead she throws three burning matches out of the window to show that the gift has been accepted. But she does not take it in until dawn, so that poor Franzl has to stay there all night on a lonely watch for fear that some rival may spirit away his presents. When Marie makes up her mind at last, the “hochzeitslader” (guest inviter) goes from house to house to inform friends and relations. The evening before the wedding, however, is devoted to a noisy goodbye to the good old bachelor days, and at breakfast time Marie takes out her wedding dress and her bosom friend , breaks a small stick over her head.