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Andrés Neuman; Translated from the Spanish by and Nick Caistor and Lorenza Garcia
He woke up late, his stomach empty. A warm sun was dancing over the table, flowing down the
chairs like syrup. Hans washed in the handbasin, opened his case, and dressed. Then he went
over to the small painting and confirmed that it was indeed a watercolour. The frame seemed to
him rather too ornate. When he took it down to examine it more closely, he discovered a tiny
mirror on the back. He hung it up again, this time with the mirror facing towards him. He filled
the basin with the water left in the jug, broke off a piece of soap, rummaged for his shaving
brush, his razor and his colognes. He whistled while he shaved, unaware of what it was he was
whistling.
On his way downstairs he ran into Herr Zeit, who was climbing the steps laboriously one by one.
He was carrying a small notebook, and asked Hans to pay for the night's lodging before
breakfast. It's a house rule, he said. Hans went back into his room and came out with the exact
sum, plus a one-groschen tip, which he gave to the innkeeper with a wry smile. Down on the
ground floor Hans had a look around. At the far end of the corridor he could see a large dining
room with a blazing hearth and a big cooking pot over the fire. Opposite it was a sofa, which, as
Hans quickly discovered, sank in the middle as soon as you sat on it. On the other side of the
corridor was a door, which he imagined must lead to the Zeits' apartment. Next to the door stood
a Christmas tree that was so exquisitely decorated he could scarcely believe either of them could
have been responsible for it. Out the back of the inn he discovered a courtyard with latrines and a
well. He made use of one of the latrines, and returned feeling much better. A raft of smells
caught his attention. He strode towards it and found Frau Zeit chopping chard in the kitchen.
Hams, strings of sausages and sides of bacon hung like silent sentinels. A pot was boiling on the
stove. Row upon row of frying pans, serving spoons, cauldrons and saucepans refracted the
morning in whorls of light. You're late, sit down, Frau Zeit ordered, without looking up from her
chopping. Hans did as he was told. We usually serve breakfast in the dining room, she went on,
but I can't leave the fire now, so you'd best have it in here. On the board were laid vegetables, a
basted joint of meat, the rippled skins of potatoes. A tap was dripping into a sink full of dirty
dishes. Underneath were piled baskets of firewood, coal and slack. Farther off, stacked among a
jumble of pitchers and jars were small sacks of beans, rice, flour, semolina. Frau Zeit dried her
hands on her apron. In one swift movement she sliced through a fresh loaf, and spread jam on it.
Placing a bowl in front of Hans, she filled it with ewe's milk, then poured coffee in until it
slopped over the sides. Will you be wanting eggs? she asked.
Recalling how desolate Wandernburg had seemed the night before, Hans was surprised at the
hustle and bustle in the streets when he went out after breakfast. Although all the activity seemed
somehow restrained, Hans had to accept the evidence that people did indeed live in the city. He
wandered aimlessly around. Occasionally, he thought he had lost his way in the narrow, steep
streets, at other times he realised he had walked in a circle. He discovered that the coachmen of
Wandernburg avoided slowing down so as not to pull on their horses' mouths, and only gave him
a few seconds to jump out of their way. As he walked, he noticed lace curtains being drawn
aside, then closing again. When Hans tried to smile courteously in the direction of some of these
windows, the shadows immediately withdrew. Snowflakes threatened to turn the air white, but
were quickly engulfed in mist. Even the pigeons fluttering above his head seemed to crane their
necks to look at him. Bewildered by the winding streets, his feet sore from the cobblestones,
Hans paused in the market square for a rest.
The market square was the place where all the streets of Wandernburg converged, the centre of
its map. At one end was the town hall, with its red-tiled roof and pointed turrets. At the opposite
end stood the Tower of the Wind. Seen from the pavement, its most prominent feature was the
square clock face sprinkling the time over the square below. Yet from the top of the tower, even
more impressive was the arrow on its weathervane, which quivered and groaned as it twisted this
way and that.
In addition to the stalls selling food, peasants came to the market square from the surrounding
region, their carts laden with produce. Others turned up hoping to be taken on as day labourers in
the fields. For some reason Hans could not understand, the traders peddled their wares almost in
whispers, and haggling was carried out in hushed tones. He bought some fruit at a stall. He
strolled on again, amusing himself by counting the number of lace curtains that twitched as he
went past. When he raised his eyes to look up at the Tower of the Wind, he realised he had
missed the afternoon coach. Resigning himself to the fact, he walked round in circles three or
four times more until he found himself back in Old Cauldron Street. Night had fallen like a
curtain.
Walking along the streets of Wandernburg after dark, passing mouldy arches and isolated street
lamps, Hans experienced the same sensations as when he had first arrived. He could see that the
city's inhabitants went home early, almost scuttling back to their houses for safety. Their place
was taken by cats and dogs, disporting themselves as they pleased, gnawing at any scraps of food
they could find in the streets. As he was entering the inn and reflecting that the Christmas wreath
had disappeared, Hans heard the cry of a nightwatchman. He was coming round the street corner,
wearing a hood, and carrying a long pole with a dim light on the tip:
Herr Zeit seemed surprised to see him, as if he had been expecting his guest to vanish into thin
air without warning. Everything in the inn was as quiet as before, although as he passed by the
kitchen Hans counted six dirty plates piled up next to the sink, from which he deduced there
were four other guests. His calculation turned out to be wrong, however, because as he headed
for the staircase a slender figure emerged from the door to the Zeits' apartment bearing a
Christmas tree and a box of candles. This is my daughter, Lisa, said Frau Zeit in a hurried
introduction as she scurried down the corridor. Still wedged between the counter and the wall,
Herr Zeit himself noted the ensuing silence and shouted: Lisa! Say hello to the gentleman! Lisa
smiled mischievously at Hans, calmly shrugged her shoulders and went back inside without
saying a word.
The Zeits had had seven children. Three were now married; two had died of the measles. Still
living with them were Lisa, the eldest, and Thomas, a boisterous child who wasted no time in
bursting into the dining room where Hans was eating dumplings with bread and butter. Who are
you? asked Thomas. I'm Hans, said Hans, to which Thomas replied: Then I don't know who you
are. With that he stole a dumpling, wheeled round, and disappeared down the corridor.
When he heard Hans's footsteps going upstairs, the innkeeper struggled to prise his belly free and
came to ask if he were planning to leave the next day. Hans had already decided he was, but Herr
Zeit's insistence made him feel as if he were being turned out, and so in order to contradict him
he said he did not know. The innkeeper seemed extraordinarily pleased at this reply, going so far
as to ask Hans whether he needed anything for his room. Hans said he did not, and thanked him.
When Herr Zeit still stood there, Hans added in a friendly tone that apart from the market square,
the streets of Wandernburg seemed to him rather dark, and he mentioned the gas lighting used in
Berlin or London. We don't need all that light here, declared Herr Zeit, hitching up his trousers,
we have good eyesight and regular habits. We go out by day and at night we sleep. We go to bed
early, and get up early. What do we want gas for?
Lying on his back in bed again, Hans yawned, tiredness mingling with bewilderment. He
promised himself: Tomorrow I'll gather my things and move on.
The night barked and meowed.
Atop the Tower of the Wind, piercing the mists, the weathervane seemed about to fly off its
hinges.