the trees. He pushes Windisch’s old bicycle.
The car’s silver badge jingles in the night watchman’s jacket pocket. The milkmaid walks barefoot in the grass beside the bicycle. Her blue headscarf is a patch of water. Leaves are floating in it.
The prayer leader walks slowly through the church doorcarrying a thick hymn book. It’s St. Anthony’s book.
The church bell strikes. Windisch’s wife is standing at the church door. The organ hums through Windisch’s hair in the dark air. Windisch walks down the bare passageway between the benches with his wife. Their heels click on the stone. Windisch’s hands are clasped. Windisch is hanging from his wife’s golden cross. A tear of glass hangs on his cheek.
Skinny Wilma’s eyes follow Windisch. Skinny Wilma lowers her head. “He got that suit from the army,” she says to the tailor. “They’re taking communion and haven’t confessed.
GLOSSARY
Banat: Former Hungarian province under the Habsburg monarchy. After the First World War it was divided between Romania and Yugoslavia.
Swabians: The German-speaking minority in the Banat (as distinct from the ’Saxons,’ the German-speaking minority of Transylvania, also in Romania).
Wallachian: A term of abuse for Romanians used by German and Magyar speakers in Romania. From the Romanian province of Wallachia.
The car’s silver badge jingles in the night watchman’s jacket pocket. The milkmaid walks barefoot in the grass beside the bicycle. Her blue headscarf is a patch of water. Leaves are floating in it.
The prayer leader walks slowly through the church doorcarrying a thick hymn book. It’s St. Anthony’s book.
The church bell strikes. Windisch’s wife is standing at the church door. The organ hums through Windisch’s hair in the dark air. Windisch walks down the bare passageway between the benches with his wife. Their heels click on the stone. Windisch’s hands are clasped. Windisch is hanging from his wife’s golden cross. A tear of glass hangs on his cheek.
Skinny Wilma’s eyes follow Windisch. Skinny Wilma lowers her head. “He got that suit from the army,” she says to the tailor. “They’re taking communion and haven’t confessed.
GLOSSARY
Banat: Former Hungarian province under the Habsburg monarchy. After the First World War it was divided between Romania and Yugoslavia.
Swabians: The German-speaking minority in the Banat (as distinct from the ’Saxons,’ the German-speaking minority of Transylvania, also in Romania).
Wallachian: A term of abuse for Romanians used by German and Magyar speakers in Romania. From the Romanian province of Wallachia.
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