THE WHITE RIBB0N
I don t know if the story I want to teII you is entireIy true
Some of it I onIy know hy hearsay
After so many years, a Iot of it is stiII ohscure,
and many questions remain unanswered
But I think I must teII of the strange events that occurred in our viIIage
They couId perhaps cIarify some things that happened in this country
It aII hegan, I think, with the Doctor s riding accident
After his dressage session on the Baron s estate,
he was headed home,
to see if any patients had arrived
Entering the garden,
his horse tripped on a wire strung hetween two trees
His daughter saw the accident from a window,
informed their neighhor,
who informed the estate s steward,
so that the agonizing Doctor
couId he transported to the district hospitaI over 30 kiIometers away
The neighhor, a singIe woman of around 40, was the viIIage midwife
Since the death of the Doctor s wife in chiIdhirth,
she had hecome invaIuahIe to him as housekeeper and receptionist
After tending to the Doctor s two chiIdren,
she went to the schooI to fetch her own son, KarI
-Have you see Anni? -You don t say heIIo
-HeIIo, Mrs. Wagner. Forgive him. -Hi, KIara.
We re so worried, that Martin forgets his manners.
That s aII right.
-How is the Doctor ? -Not very weII.
-Must he stay in the hospitaI? -I don t know .
-We II go see Anna, to heIp her out. -Good!
-You enjoyed the choir? -Yes.
Show how weII you sang.
Goodbye, teacher.
Last one is a rotten egg!
If I rememher correctIy,
it seemed odd to me that the kids around KIara,
instead of scattering after schooI to their homes,
headed together to the exit of the viIIage
I couId cut out some animaIs for you ,
Iike Iast week.
You d Iike that?
We can color them together.
0r cut them from the IoveIy colored paper?
The golden one that I got for Easter?
Come on ...
WeII, I II make us something to eat.
What if he never comes back?
What?
Come on !
Don t be siIIy!
It II pass, just Iike the fIu.
Remember Iast winter?
You were very sick, weren t you ?
And then...
Hi, Anni!
How are you ? Can we heIp you ?
How did the wire get there? Did the Doctor say?
He was in no mood to taIk. His colIarbone was sticking out of his neck.
I asked his daughter. She has no idea.
He rides through there daiIy.
-Did you Iook at the wire? -Sure.
It s thin, but strong.
AImost invisibIe.
Sorry, madam. You pIay too weII for me.
Don t apologize, concentrate. It II heIp us both.
You pIay too fast for me, ma am. I m not Frederick the Great.
How couId he have pIayed Schubert?
Let s do the variation again.
DarIing, if you Iike the music, sit beside me and turn the pages.
If you re bored, go to your room or stay out of my sight.
I get nervous when you saunter around.
What time is it? Where s the nanny?
With the twins, I presume.
-It s 8:40. -8:40?
Way past your bedtime!
Has he done his homework?
0f course, ma am.
You want to turn the pages for me or not ?
-Yes. -Then come here!
Let s go back to the theme.
Practice the variations, or it s no fun.
I II do my best, Baroness.
So from Bar 9.
PIease forgive us, Father.
Forgive us.
Tonight, no one here has eaten.
When night feII, and you hadn t returned,
your mother searched the viIIage in tears.
CouId we have enjoyed our meaI, fearing for you ?
Can we enjoy our meaI now ,
after hearing your Iying excuses?
I don t know what s worse, your absence or your coming back.
Tonight we II aII go to bed hungry.
You sureIy agree with me that I can t Ieave your offense unpunished
if we want to keep on Iiving in mutuaI respect.
So, tomorrow evening at this hour,
I II give each of you , in front of your sibIings,
1 0 strokes of the cane.
UntiI then, you may ponder over your offense.
Do you agree with me?
Yes, Father.
AII right then. Go to bed now , aII of you .
Don t touch me!
Your mother and I wiII sIeep poorIy.
I have to beat you , and the strokes wiII hurt us more than they hurt you .
Leave us aIone, and go to bed!
When you were IittIe,
your mother sometimes tied a ribbon in your hair or around your arm.
Its white color was to remind you of innocence and purity.
I thought you were now weII-mannered enough
to get by without such reminders.
I was wrong.
Tomorrow , once your punishment has purified you ,
your mother wiII retie a ribbon on you ,
and you II wear it untiI we can trust you again.
Where is the wire now ?
-Who removed it? -I don t know .
You weren t here?
-You were in town with your father? -No
-Then you were here. -I was at schooI.
When you Ieft, was the wire stiII here?
I didn t check.
-When did you get back? -At noon.
I make Iunch for the Doctor and the kids.
I ve heIped him since his wife died.
-Since when? -Since Rudolph s birth, five years ago
I m the midwife here. We work together.
-But you saw nothing? -No
-How Iong was the wire there? -I never saw it.
Nobody saw it before, or afterwards!
It wound itseIf around two trees, and vanished by itseIf!
Right?
-Mom ! -What is it?
Excuse me.
The day after the Doctor s accident hrought no soIution to the mystery
Then a second, far more tragic incident aImost made peopIe forget the previous one
The wife of a tenant farmer died in a work accident
The woman, who had an injured arm,
was dispensed hy the steward from harvesting chores,
and assigned to Iighter work in the sawmiII
Stay outside! I m not done.
You get out!
On the same day, I had a strange encounter
The weather was heautifuI and hot,
so I decided to improve my meager menu with some hrown trout,
which are pIentifuI in the river
The Baron aIIowed me to fish there
Martin!
Martin, be carefuI!
Are you insane?
You want to break your neck?
HeIIo, sir.
What s this? Have you gone mad?
You know how high that is?
Didn t you hear me shout to you ?
-Yes, I did. -WeII?
WeII?
You saw me and wanted to impress me?
-So why... -I gave God a chance to kiII me.
He didn t do it. So he s pIeased with me.
What are you saying?
He doesn t want me to die.
Who doesn t want you to die?
God .
Why wouId God want you to die?
Promise me you won t do it again!
Look at me!
Promise it!
You don t trust me, huh?
Yes, I do, sir.
AII right.
Go home. Tomorrow after your piano Iesson , I II taIk to your dad.
No, pIease, don t teII him!
It s there.
CarefuI, it s aII rotten.
-Who sent her up here? -No idea.
We had to colIect Ioose ends. She feII through.
-You saw it? -Not reaIIy.
You know how it works.
The foremen assign weaker harvesters up here.
Who assigned her?
On my way home, after that strange encounter with Martin,
was when I first met Eva
-HeIIo -HeIIo
Excuse me!
Sorry for accosting you .
Aren t you the new nanny on the estate?
Why?
They say you re from TregIitz.
-Who says that? -The IocaIs.
So
Nothing...
I don t know ...
I m the schooIteacher here.
I just thought...
When I saw you , I thought...
I m the taiIor s son from Vasendorf.
-I know . -What?
The Baroness told me.
What?
That the teacher is from the viIIage next to mine.
I see, yes...
WeII... I thought...
Looks as if you re going there...
-Where? -Back home. To TregIitz.
Yes?
-Are you going there? -Yes, I am.
I thought, since you II go through our viIIage,
you couId say heIIo to my dad, and give him a fish?
-What? -He d Iove that.
EspeciaIIy over the weekend.
How ?
I don t know . UnfortunateIy, I have nothing to wrap it in.
Neither do I, unfortunateIy.
We couId tie them on with fishing Iine.
Just Iike that, on the bike?
That s not a very good idea.
Right, it was just an idea.
Yes.
Is it your bike?
No, the estate s.
Is this your first day off?
You must be gIad to go home.
I can imagine.
WeII, I ve stiII a Iong way to go
WeII, goodbye.
Goodbye.
If you see my father in Vasendorf,
say heIIo to him from me.
I don t know your father.
That s true.
It s my first time on a bike!
You re doing fine! But be carefuI!
The woman today, what was wrong with her?
Which woman?
I see. She was dead.
-What s that? -What?
Dead.
What s dead ?
Quite a question !
It s when one doesn t Iive anymore.
When one has stopped Iiving.
When does one stop Iiving?
When one is very old, or very iII.
And the woman?
She had an accident.
An accident ?
Yes. It s when you re badIy hurt.
Like Dad?
Yes, but much worse than that.
So bad, your body can t take it anymore.
And then you re dead?
Yes.
But most peopIe don t have an accident.
-So they re not dead. -No, they die much Iater.
When?
WeII, Iater, when they re reaIIy old.
Does everyone die?
Yes.
Everyone, reaIIy?
Yes, everyone has to die.
But not you , Anni?
Me, too . Everyone.
But not Dad?
Dad, too .
Me, too ?
You , too . But not for a very Iong time.
AII of us, onIy in a very Iong time.
0ne can t fight it? It has to happen?
Yes, but not for a Iong time.
And Mom ?
She didn t go on a trip?
Is she dead, too ?
Yes. She s dead, too .
But that was a Iong time ago
KIara!
Martin, you coming?
KarIi?
You can come in.
What is it?
-What do you think? -I don t know .
It s a boy .
What? Don t you want a brother?
Lucky your father didn t hear you .
I m sorry.
They knew it was dangerous for her.
What do you want? You want to sue the Baron ?
0r murder the steward?
Go cut off his head with your scythe!
Won t bring your mother back to Iife.
Father, you Ioved our mother.
Shut up!
After those two days in JuIy, Iife in the viIIage got hack to normaI
The daiIy harvesting chores exhausted everyone
Most of the kids pitched in to heIp their parents
I took up the steward s offer to he his secretary during the harvesting,
as I hoped it wouId enahIe me to see the young girI again
I couIdn t get her out of my mind after our meeting
But she rareIy came out of the manor house
The Doctor was stiII in the hospitaI
Anna and RudoIph, his two chiIdren, were cared for meanwhiIe hy the midwife
After the farmer s wife s funeraI, which the whoIe viIIage attended,
hoth accidents were forgotten untiI the end of the summer,
when the harvest feast reunited the whoIe viIIage,
first in a joyfuI mood,
then in horror and perpIexity
My thanks to aII of you . You have worked weII.
The heavens were kind and the barns are fuII.
So the beer can fIow , and you won t starve today!
Long Iive the Baron !
Long may he Iive!
Most honorabIe Baron and Baroness, dear merrymakers,
Iet us hear on this festive occasion PsaIm 1 45, Verse 1 5.
The eyes of aII wait upon thee,
and thou givest them their meat in due season .
In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost.
-Amen. -Amen.
Now enjoy your meaI.
Eat and drink to your fiII! You earned it!
You promised us a choraIe by your pupiIs.
Ask the Pastor , Baroness.
We re stiII practicing for the confirmation feast.
That s in spring! Now it s the faII.
0ur IittIe singers aren t aII very musicaI. Sorry!
WeII, you two mothers?
Not taking part in the festivities?
It s so nice here in the shade.
0ur son seems to be enjoying that!
Yes.
I can imagine. Who wouIdn t Iike it?
Georg!
What about you ?
Aren t you bored caring for another s chiIdren,
with aII the young Iads over there?
No, sir. I Iike being with the chiIdren.
How old are you anyway?
-Seventeen, sir. -Seventeen!
WouIdn t you rather hold a suitor than the Baroness s kids?
-Leave her aIone, Georg! -What did I do
Won t you get us something to eat, Emma?
If you II mind the chiIdren a moment, I II go
He was drunk, but they couIdn t stop him.
Leave Frieda aIone!
Shove it!
I m the rooster on the tower...
Someone cut off the Baron s cabbages.
What?
Someone cut off the Baron s cabbages!
-I never Iearned. -Neither did I.
You have to count out Ioud.
0ne, two, three.
Your pupiIs wiII Iaugh when they see us dancing, sir!
They d better not !
And stop being so formaI with me. Am I so old?
It s coming aIong!
WeII...
Don t Iook at your feet.
Quite a job , huh?
It s disgusting!
It was an old custom . Harvest s done, pay everyone.
If we don t get our due, your cabbage II be sIiced for you .
WeII, they sure sIurped down enough!
Come in.
What do you want?
A favor , Father.
Yes?
I found it. It s wounded.
-And? -May I keep it?
How wiII you go about that?
We II heaI it.
And when it s heaIed?
Won t you be attached to it then?
WiII you Iet it fIy away?
Peepsie stiII Iives in a cage.
Yes, but it grew up in captivity.
This one is used to freedom .
WiII you set it free once it s heaIed?
-Have you asked Mother? -Yes.
What did she say?
That it was for you to decide, Father.
ReaIIy? That s what she said.
You II reaIIy take care of it?
Yes.
You reaIize that s a heavy responsibiIity?
You II be its father and mother.
We II have to find a cage for your patient.
Did you do it, or didn t you ?
-Seems somebody saw you . -So what?
They re Iucky they stiII have their heads!
I have to teII you , Father, I m proud of it!
Sit down!
What did you intend to do
TeII me.
Come on . TeII me.
You know why, Father.
Because of your mother?
You think they caused her death?
You think that? That I m not man enough to settIe it?
Know what your act may do for us aII?
If Frieda Ioses her job , which keeps us aIive for a whole year?
If we can t work there in the summer?
You want to marry and run the farm in two years?
You II feed everyone without the heIp of the estate?
How do you know they re responsibIe?
How do you know they re innocent?
I don t know .
But I aIso don t know the opposite.
What do you mean, not there ?
He s disappeared. I Iooked aII over.
He hasn t disappeared. When did you Iast see him?
-Around 2:00. -Around 2:00?
-You know what time it is? -I know , Baron .
What does my wife say?
She sent me to you . She s terrified.
I can imagine. You re an idiot , Huber.
Why do you think you re here?
To take care of one chiId! Is that so hard?
I m so sorry, Baron .
You can shove your excuses!
Where did you Iast see my son ?
Here. He Ieft to pIay with the other kids.
-Where? -He didn t say.
My wife noticed nothing either?
The cabbage heads affair upset her. She retired, indisposed.
Indisposed?
Yes, a terribIe migraine attack.
This is a madhouse!
-Have you seen my son ? -No
Ask your sons. Sigi has disappeared with some other kids.
-What does it mean? -That he s disappeared, damn it!
The steward s kids said they d onIy seen Sigi very hriefIy,
that he d gone off with other kids They didn t pay much attention to it
The search hegan shortIy after midnight
The searchers, tired, some stiII drunk, were divided into two groups
One searched aII the estate s huiIdings,
the other comhed the countryside
Around 2 30 a m , the siren sounded again, caIIing the men hack to the estate
Sigi had heen found
He was in the sawmiII, tied upside down
His trousers were puIIed down, his huttocks hIeeding from cane strokes
He was in a state of shock, unahIe to waIk
Lying on his heIIy, he was carried home on a makeshift stretcher
Next Sunday, after the service, the Baron asked the Rastor
to Iet him speak
City policemen questioned many of you this week.
To no avaiI.
First I thought my chiId was tortured
by those who cut off my cabbages.
To get even!
For what?
SupposedIy it was my fauIt their mother died in the sawmiII,
which is absurd.
At Ieast young FeIder told the police
that was his motive for his mowing prowess.
I ve aIways heIped the FeIder famiIy.
But peopIe aren t aIways gratefuI.
It takes character.
Don t run away, FeIder!
It s your honor I want to saIvage!
It turns out the vaIiant Max FeIder
boasted of his feat to his fiancee.
Then the coward hid among his famiIy,
so he didn t have time to torture my son .
As for his father,
he d bite off his tongue rather than cover for his wayward son .
I II remind you of a fact that most of you may have forgotten.
Two months ago, our doctor had a riding accident
and is stiII not back from the hospitaI.
This accident was caused by a wire strung in his garden,
with the expIicit intent of bringing him down.
There, too , nobody knows, saw or heard anything.
We aII know it. Those who injured my son , and the Doctor ,
are here among us, in this room.
I won t Iet such crimes go unpunished,
and hope nothing Iike that happens to any of your chiIdren.
That s why I caII upon you aII.
HeIp me find the cuIprit or the cuIprits!
If we faiI to find out the truth,
the peace of our community wiII be gone.
The Iandowner s speech frightened the IocaIs
The Baron wasn t popuIar,
hut as a powerfuI figure and empIoyer of haIf the viIIage,
he was respected
His statement on the community s peace was ominous
And the mysterious character of these criminaI deeds
awakened the age oId mistrust of the farmers
Come in!
Eva!
May I come in?
What a question ! 0f course, come in.
What s it about?
What s wrong?
They fired me.
What do you mean?
Nothing. They just fired me.
The tutor was aIso fired.
I don t know where to go
I m afraid on the road aIone.
Don t worry. CaIm down. Come, sit here.
CaIm down, teII me what happened.
WeII?
What happened?
The Baron s son isn t at aII weII.
His parents are desperate and angry.
Now they say the tutor and I are to bIame,
because we didn t pay enough attention to him.
But I m onIy there for the twins.
I ve aIways taken care of them very weII.
When you and I were dancing,
the Baroness had given me permission .
I haven t done anything wrong.
I know , come on . Stop crying.
Where can I go now ?
My famiIy needs my earnings.
You II find something eIse.
You know , the Baron is quick-tempered.
But his bark is worse than his bite.
No, it s aII over now , I know it.
The Baroness doesn t want to see anyone.
She wants to take the kids with her, to town,
or to her parents estate.
I II try to taIk to her.
We used to pIay piano together, four-handed.
But I wasn t very good.
Now she s got the tutor who studied the fIute in town.
He doesn t pIay that weII.
That s true.
Who does things Iike that?
What?
Beating a chiId Iike that.
I don t know .
Can I stay here tonight?
Don t send me away, sir, pIease.
How couId you think that?
I II just wait for daybreak, here in the cIassroom.
Then I II Ieave.
At home, they won t understand this.
They II think I did something wrong.
-Want me to come with you ? -What?
Tomorrow , after schooI?
I II find a carriage, I II be back by evening.
Why wouId you do that, sir?
Stop being so formaI.
Why wouId you do that?
Come here, I II pIay something for you , if you want.
Good morning, Father.
I m back again. They set me free.
I can see that. So what?
Can t you forgive me, Father?
Forgive you for what?
That the estate won t give me any work?
That Frieda was fired in disgrace?
That your brothers and sisters have nothing to eat?
0r what?
The next day, after schooI, I went to the estate
to inquire ahout Sigi s heaIth
and to intercede for Eva s reinstatement
I was toId the Baroness had Ieft that morning with her chiIdren
ReIuctantIy, the steward Ient me a carriage to take Eva home
As we Ieft the viIIage, we crossed the Doctor
A few days after the Thanksgiving feast,
RudoIph, his four year oId son, had suddenIy disappeared
This upset everyone in view of the previous events
The hoy was finaIIy found on the main road, scantiIy dressed for a trip,
waIking eagerIy toward the town
When asked where he was going, he said he wanted to visit his father
He fought tooth and naiI against heing taken home
The Doctor was toId ahout this,
and, due to he reIeased soon anyway,
he decided to cut short his stay at the hospitaI
-Rudi? -He was in the Iiving room.
-What do I owe? -3.50 marks.
-Thanks. -Have a nice day.
Rudi, where are you ?
HeIIo, Rudi.
Won t you say heIIo to your father?
No
I heard you wanted to visit me at the hospitaI.
And now you Iock yourseIf in?
AII right.
Then I don t want to see you .
I m going away now .
Stay in the toiIet if you want.
Keep weII, Rudi.
Your office is ready. Mrs. Wagner did it aII.
-Why do you teII me that? -I don t know .
I thought you d Iike to know .
-She took good care of you ? -Yes.
How old are you now ?
Fourteen.
It s amazing, you Iook so Iike your mother.
...your mother and I are very worried about you .
Think carefuIIy. Do you sIeep badIy?
Are you overtired?
No
Do you have probIems at schooI I don t know ?
No, Father.
You don t understand why we worry.
I II expIain it to you .
As you know , I m aIso the pastor for Birkenbrunn.
0ne day, a mother came to see me because her son , about the same age as you ,
had the same symptoms you ve shown for some time.
The boy suddenIy seemed extremeIy weary.
His eyes were ringed, he was depressed and joyIess.
He avoided Iooking his parents in the eye,
and soon was aIso caught Iying.
This Iasted about haIf a year.
Then everything went very fast.
He Iost his appetite,
couIdn t sIeep anymore, his hands began to shake,
his memory started to faiI,
his face became covered with pustuIes, then his whole body.
FinaIIy, he died.
The body, which I had to bIess, Iooked Iike an old man s body.
Do you understand now why I m worried?
What do you think caused these changes
that Ied to that boy s miserabIe end?
I don t know .
I think you know very weII.
Won t you teII me?
No
Then I II give you the answer.
The boy had seen someone
who was harming the finest nerves of his body
in the area where God has erected sacred barriers.
The boy imitated this action .
He couIdn t stop doing it.
In the end he destroyed aII his nerves and died of it.
I just want to heIp you .
I Iove you with aII my heart.
Be sincere, Martin.
Why did you bIush Iistening to the story of the poor boy ?
BIush? I don t know . I feIt sorry for him.
Is that aII?
I think there s another reason .
It s written on your face.
Be sincere, Martin!
Why are you crying?
ShaII I spare you that confession ?
Have you been doing what that wretched boy did?
Yes.
My arm!
GIad that you re back. About time.
0ne can say that. Yes.
It was hard with the chiIdren, without you .
I know .
He doesn t Iike me.
-Who -Rudi.
He s at a difficuIt age.
ActuaIIy not .
They re aIways at a difficuIt age.
Yes.
You didn t miss me.
What does that mean?
Nothing. I said it because it s true.
Nothing Iike a nice dose of seIf-hate!
What?
Nothing. Forget it.
Winter came earIy that year
For Reformation Day, on the first Sunday of Novemher,
a hIanket of snow covered the viIIage
Quite unusuaIIy, the Baron, whose famiIy had not yet come hack,
didn t attend the service
The viIIagers took that as a sign of his anger
Indeed, no Ieads had heen found to a possihIe cuIprit,
aIthough the Baron s appeaI had Ied to a fIood of mutuaI suspicions,
even to some attempts at denunciation,
that had aII turned out to he untenahIe
WeII, it s not pneumonia.
But you must be carefuI.
If his temperature rises, caII me again.
Give him these drops every two hours
and hang wet sheets over the oven. That heIps breathing.
-Good night to you . -Goodbye, Doctor .
How Iong was the window open?
Hard to say. My wife nursed him around 1 :00 a.m.
She came back around 2:30 a.m. By then the room was icy cold.
And the baby didn t cry?
No The chiIdren heard nothing.
He s doing aII right. We have to wait.
But it Iooks fairIy good.
A drink to warm you up?
0r stay for supper.
No, thanks. I m overIoaded, I was away so Iong.
How s your arm doing?
It s aII right.
It II be fine in two or three weeks.
Thank you .
That must be terribIe, I imagine.
0ne must be heIpIess with onIy one arm.
WeII, good night, chiIdren.
-Good night, Doctor . -Good night, Doctor .
If your wife thinks the baby s fever has risen again,
Iet me know .
Good.
What do you mean, good ?
I mean, that s fine.
When did you go see Father?
Down in his office.
Why?
Just asking.
In mid Decemher, I finaIIy got a Ietter from Eva
Her father had found her a joh in town that she d start earIy in the new year
Since the night she came to sheIter in the schooI,
when, untiI dawn, we toId each other the story of our short Iives,
her paIe face and her shy hut frank personaIity
were constantIy on my mind
The schooI hoIidays Iasted untiI January 2nd,
hut aIready on the day after Christmas, in the coId hut sunny weather,
I headed for TregIitz to visit Eva and her parents
And Sigi?
I don t know . The Baroness isn t back yet.
And the Baron ?
We hardIy see him. He taIks to nobody.
I don t know . Some say they went to ItaIy.
To ItaIy?
The steward says they II tear down the sawmiII, because it s...
-Good morning. -Morning, young man.
PIease be seated. We re not very formaI here.
Scram!
-Care for a drink? -No, thanks. Very kind.
-ReaIIy? -No, thanks a Iot .
So you re a schooIteacher?
Can you afford to have a wife?
My father s a taiIor in Vasendorf. I ve Iearned the trade.
I earn money on the side.
Taking over his business wouId ve been smarter.
And why are you so focused on Eva?
She s stiII a chiId. You couId be her father.
I m 31 .
WeII, you re not far off.
Father!
Have you asked her if she s interested?
She s a chiId, knows nothing about Iife.
Speak up. Do you want him?
Come on . Say something.
He came aII this way in the cold.
Leave her aIone. 0f course she wants him. Can t you teII?
How can I if she cIams up?
Sit down again.
Women!
Don t take them too seriousIy.
Listen, I m not a big taIker.
0n one hand, it suits me if she Ieaves the house.
Lots of mouths to feed, as you can see.
0n the other hand,
it s moving too fast for me.
I don t know you .
I don t disIike you , but I need to know more about you .
The town hairdresser has agreed to take her on as an apprentice.
She II get to meet peopIe
and she can decide if she reaIIy wants this.
If in a year she s stiII in favor of it, we II taIk about it again.
You can make up your mind, too .
AII right?
-I actuaIIy thought I... -Yes, I know .
But it s either that or nothing.
-If you insist... -Yes, I do
DeIighted.
So, my work s waiting.
Even on holidays.
Don t get up.
I II send the kid back in.
So you can say goodbye.
A year goes by fast. The worId won t colIapse.
You can come and visit her.
Did your father teII you ...
Is that aII right with you ?
And is it with you , sir?
Don t caII me sir.
Adi! Are you awake?
Adi!
-What is it? -Look!
What s happening?
Look! Go see what s happening!
My God , what do you want?
0ver there! Look out the window !
Something s burning! 0n the estate!
Untie me!
Come on , untie me!
-I don t know if... -Untie me, I said!
What is it? Be quiet!
GustI, come and untie me!
What s going on ?
Untie me, damn it! There s a fire!
What fire?
-A fire! -Yes, a fire! Now untie me, damn it!
Father won t aIIow it.
It s an emergency! Somebody must warn them!
-Father! -Stop shouting! I II do it!
ShaII I caII Mom ?
-What is it? -A fire!
I know . Your father aIready went.
What are you doing here?
Go to bed now ! It s nothing.
There s a fire on the estate. Don t be afraid.
Go to bed and sIeep.
Go on ! You II catch a cold.
Why aII the noise? You woke them aII up!
I thought it was dangerous.
I had to untie him.
Now everything s fine again.
Tomorrow , Father wiII teII you about the fire.
You aII go back to bed.
I II wait tiII you re in bed.
It s cold here.
Good night, then.
SIeep tight.
-Night, Mom . -Night, Mom .
Why don t you stop doing that?
Why aII the effort?
Don t Iook so dumbfounded.
You don t Iack taIent. I just can t do it with you anymore.
To be truthfuI, you disgust me.
Can t you finish your work? I don t want to spend the night here.
What did I do to you ?
My God , you ve done nothing to me!
You re ugIy, messy, fIabby and have bad breath. WiII that do
The cover has to be steriIized.
Don t sit there Iooking Iike death warmed over.
The worId won t colIapse. Not on you , or on me.
I can t go on with this, that s aII.
I ve reaIIy tried
to think of another woman whiIe making Iove to you .
0ne who smeIIs good,
who s young, Iess decrepit than you ,
but my imagination can t manage it.
In the end, it s you again, and then I feeI Iike puking,
and am embarrassed at myseIf.
So what s the point?
Are you through?
I have been for ages.
You must be very unhappy to be so mean.
PIease, not that routine!
I know I m not much to Iook at.
My bad breath comes from my uIcer, you know that.
It didn t bother you in the past.
I had it when your wife was aIive.
Spare me these sordid detaiIs.
Let me reassure you , it aIways disgusted me.
After JuIie s death, I wanted to ease my pain with anyone.
I couId have screwed a cow !
Whores are too far from here,
and once every two months isn t enough for me,
even though I m getting on .
So skip acting Iike a martyr, and scram.
Why are you onIy noticing this now ?
When shouId I have noticed it?
At the hospitaI, I forgot how tiresome you are.
0ne grows sentimentaI when in pain.
Get out! Don t you have any pride?
There s no room for any with you .
That s true.
What if I do something siIIy?
Go ahead. It d surprise me.
But be carefuI, it may be painfuI.
I know I m ridicuIous.
-You wouIdn t care anyway. -WeII...
Why do you despise me?
For heIping to raise the boy ?
For watching you finger your daughter and saying nothing?
For heIping you to deceive yourseIf?
For Iistening to you cIaim how you Ioved JuIie,
when everyone knew you treated her as badIy as me?
For Ioving you , when I know you can t stand being Ioved?
That s it. Now get up. I have work to do
You can t afford to get rid of me.
Who II do the dirty work for you ,
who II heIp you with the kids, and your practice?
You don t mean what you re saying.
You want to see how far you can go
WiII she take it? Can I drag her even Iower?
I m tired, too .
I ve got two retarded kids: KarIi and you .
You re the most troubIesome one.
My God , why don t you just die?
The year ended with fine weather
The snowy Iandscape sparkIed so hrightIy that it hurt the eyes
None of us suspected it d he our Iast new year in an era of peace,
and that this year wouId hring a radicaI change
of a magnitude we couIdn t foresee
Despite the strange events that had unsettIed the viIIage,
we thought of ourseIves as united in the heIief
that Iife in our community was God s wiII, and worth Iiving
...Christ s body as bread and as wine.
May the period of preparation for your confirmation
be one of happiness and enrichment.
You , Martin,
wiII now be free not onIy of that ribbon ,
but of those nightIy ties
that kept you from yieIding to the temptations of your young body.
I trust you , my beIoved chiIdren,
and wish you a profitabIe and happy new year.
ShortIy after Easter, in the Iast week of ApriI,
the Baroness came hack with the chiIdren
She was accompanied hy a new nanny
My secret hope that Eva couId come hack here was definiteIy dashed
The new nanny was an ItaIian woman
who came from the area on the Mediterranean coast
where the Baroness had spent the winter
Sigi!
Hi, Ferdinand!
Wait! I II come down!
Stay here, Sigi! You can see him Iater.
AII right, go But don t be too Iong.
Marie-Louise?
Where are you ?
Watch out, he s coming!
Be quiet!
For God s sake! Be quiet!
Quiet!
What s going on here? Why are you stiII here?
There s a divinity cIass now !
Get going!
How about a goodbye?
-Goodbye, sir. -Goodbye, sir.
I m sorry, Pastor . It won t happen again.
Goodbye, Pastor .
Goodbye.
Let us pray.
0ur Father which art in heaven,
HaIIowed be thy name.
Thy kingdom come, Thy wiII be done
in earth, as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daiIy bread.
And forgive us our debts,
as we forgive our debtors.
And Iead us not into temptation ,
but deIiver us from eviI,
for thine is the kingdom , and the power and the gIory,
for ever. Amen.
Sit down.
This is a very sad day for me.
In a few weeks, we aII want to ceIebrate your confirmation .
For months I ve tried to bring God s word cIoser to you ,
and make responsibIe human beings out of you .
Who do I face today?
YeIIing monkeys,
undiscipIined, as chiIdish as your seven-year-old cIassmates!
But to me, what is even sadder
is that my own daughter pIays the Ieading role in this pitifuI dispIay.
Last year I tied a white ribbon in her hair.
White, as you aII know , is the color of innocence.
The ribbon was meant to heIp KIara to avoid sin,
seIfishness, envy,
indecency, Iies and sIoth.
At the start of the year,
I naiveIy beIieved that she was now mature enough
not to need that ribbon anymore.
That she d become responsibIe enough,
as the daughter of the spirituaI Ieader of ...
Anni?
Anni? Where are you ?
Rudi? What are you doing here?
Why aren t you in bed?
I can t get to sIeep.
Is that why you re wandering around?
I woke up and you weren t there.
Dad has pierced my earIobes.
Does it hurt?
-Yes, a bit. -Is that why you re crying?
I m not crying anymore.
Beauty has to suffer.
That s what they say.
Go back to bed. Anni s coming.
I haven t worn earrings in ages, so the holes cIosed up.
For Whitsun, I m getting Mom s.
The pretty ones, you know ?
A few days after KIara s fainting fit,
which frightened us aII and Ieft her feverish and weakened,
I went to see the steward, on the eve of Whitsun,
to horrow the carriage again
Since my marriage proposaI, Eva wrote me once a week
I feIt she was aIone and Iost in the city,
and was hinting for me to come see her as soon as I couId
I wanted to spend Saturday with her
and he hack on Sunday
to prepare the confirmation ceremony with the Rastor
The steward had gone to the sawmiII,
hut was due hack any minute
-Good morning, sir. -HeIIo, Erna.
He s cute.
-Do you Iike him? -Yes. Very much.
He was quite sick Iast winter, I was told.
Yes. Very sick.
But the Doctor cured him, thank God .
Maybe I II come back this evening.
I m sure Father wiII come for coffee at 4:00.
Then I II sit down again.
Can I get you something? A coffee?
It must be ready.
No, thanks. I II just sit down and wait.
Sir!
Can dreams come true?
-That depends. -0n what?
0n what does it depend?
If you dream of being first in your cIass, and study hard,
your dream may come true.
-I didn t mean that. -Then what?
I mean, if you dream of something,
reaIIy dream it in your sIeep,
can it come true?
Why, what did you dream?
TeII me. You have something on your mind.
So teII me.
I dreamt that KarIi...
-The odd IittIe boy of the... -I know .
Something terribIe wiII happen to him.
Something terribIe?
Like what?
I don t know .
Like what happened to Sigi.
But even worse.
But he s so sweet. He harms no one.
Come on ...
It was onIy a dream. Don t take it so seriousIy.
Dreams don t come true. Let aIone that kind.
But sometimes my dreams do come true.
What do you mean?
Last winter, before GustI got sick,
I dreamt my brother opened his window so he d die.
And his window was opened, he caught a chiII, aImost died.
What are you saying?
That s nonsense!
We arranged to meet at the raiIway station,
as Eva wanted to avoid heing seen with me
She was Iiving with distant cousins,
who gave her parents reguIar reports on her hehavior
She had hecome thinner, which made her even prettier
I was ravished again hy her mixture of shyness
and aImost chiIdIike outspokenness
So it s not reaIIy so awfuI?
No But sweeping up hair aII day...
The twins were more fun.
But it s aII right. I can t reaIIy compIain.
-No -No ReaIIy.
Aside from the twins, you miss nothing?
Come on , you !
How is the nanny? She onIy speaks ItaIian?
-That s what the steward says. -I see.
Where are you going?
There s a nice IittIe pond in the wood.
We can picnic there. I brought some food.
-I d rather not . -Why?
What is it?
Nothing.
PIease.
I had no improper intentions.
I just wanted you to enjoy the picnic.
PIease.
How couId I disgrace my future wife?
AII right then. I II turn around.
Thanks.
Accept and drink!
This is the bIood of the New Testament,
shed for you to forgive your sins.
Here! He s here!
0ut of the way!
For I the Lord your God am a jeaIous God ,
visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the chiIdren
unto the third and fourth generation .
After the atrocities committed on the retarded hoy,
the Baron was finaIIy convinced it was smarter
to enIist the heIp of the county s poIice force
So a few days Iater two pIaincIothes poIicemen arrived,
who, after visiting severaI of the crime scenes,
inquired if anyone had noticed anything suspicious
When I Iearned of KarIi s torture,
I didn t think of what Erna had toId me
When I rememhered, I hesitated to teII the authorities
Such an ahsurd coincidence might jeopardize
the reputation and inner peace of the steward s famiIy
But when I heard that KarIi might Iose his eyesight,
I made Erna come to the schooI and teII the poIicemen ahout her dream
...we re not as stupid as you think.
But I reaIIy dreamt it!
Watch out!
I II give you one Iast chance.
TeII us who told you of a pIan to torture the boy ,
and we won t repeat it to anyone. AII right?
She s aIready had dreams that came true.
Is that so About what, may I ask?
It was a famiIy matter.
I see! A famiIy matter.
You checked if it was true?
No
WeII, it may be true.
Maybe she s an authentic cIairvoyant, and we re Iuckier than we think.
Stop crying!
Your deceitfuI whining won t work with me.
I ve got other ways to make you taIk.
I don t beIieve in witches and sorcerers,
even Iess in the haIIucinations of a brat Iike you .
So make up your mind to teII me the truth,
because I won t Iet go tiII you come cIean. Got that?
Now Iet s go see what your parents think of your version of the story.
-Can you come with us? -0f course.
HeIIo, there!
Who do we have here?
Good afternoon. Good afternoon, sir.
Why do you eavesdrop ?
We saw the teacher had visitors. We didn t want to intrude.
We were waiting to taIk to him.
What do you want?
To ask you about KarIi.
Like what?
We heard he isn t weII.
We wondered if we couId heIp.
You II be aII right.
I know , it hurts.
Be patient.
Everything wiII be fine again.
It II be fine.
I have to go now , KarIi.
Don t worry,
I II be back tomorrow .
You II be aII right. Don t be afraid.
The Doctor wiII be back.
Come in.
Yes?
What is it?
To repIace Peepsie.
Because you re so sad.
Thank you .
You re weIcome, Father.
-Give me the whistIe! -Sorry?
The whistIe!
What whistIe?
-Give it to me! -What whistIe?
Give it or I II kiII you .
I have no whistIe.
Bastard!
Wretch!
For God s sake, what s got into you ?
What has he done?
For the Iast time, give it to me!
Give you what, Father?
What is it? What are you taIking about?
You know what I mean!
But if he says so! What s going on ?
PIease wait!
What did the boy do CaIm down.
Stay out of it! I have to go back to the Baron .
Georg! PIease, don t!
You II kiII him!
...with the birch trees in Retenow , it II be 6,000 cubic meters.
It II take them around three weeks.
And now we have 80 extra Poles.
They ve been put up in the annex.
We re aII out of bedding.
It takes time.
There are Iots of kids with them.
-In spite of it... -I won t stay here.
What?
I won t stay here.
What does that mean?
That I m Ieaving with the chiIdren.
What do you mean?
PIease, Armin, that s not so hard to understand.
How do you pIan to do aII this?
I don t know yet.
But in any case, we re Ieaving this pIace.
We ?
Yes.
-That II be aII, thank you . -Good night, Baroness and Baron .
IonIy came back out of fairness to you .
To give us a chance.
You gave me a chance?
WonderfuI! And I missed my chance?
WiII that heIp us to solve the probIem?
-What? -Your sarcasm.
What is the probIem we have to solve?
You stay here!
You II onIy Ieave when I say so
Fine.
I was hoping to spare you this.
At UncIe Edoardo s I feII in Iove with a man.
He s from Lombardy,
and is a banker who advised UncIe Edoardo financiaIIy.
He courted me assiduousIy
and was very fond of the chiIdren.
It was thanks to him that Sigi has bIossomed.
Despite this, we came back.
Because I feIt committed to you .
But I can t stand this pIace any Ionger.
Not so much personaIIy,
though Iife with you isn t thriIIing for a woman of my age.
I m Ieaving so the chiIdren don t grow up in surroundings
that are dominated by maIice, envy,
apathy and brutaIity.
Sigi s whistIe was the Iast straw.
I m sick and tired of persecutions, threats and perverse acts of revenge.
Did you sIeep with him?
You don t understand anything.
Did you sIeep with him?
No I didn t sIeep with him.
You re Iying, right?
Come in!
Good evening.
Good evening, Baroness.
-Can I taIk to you ? -Can t it wait?
No, or I wouIdn t have disturbed you so Iate.
What is it?
They ve assassinated Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo
The news spread around the viIIage Iike wiIdfire
What wouId the consequences he?
The first who said war was severeIy contradicted
But once the word had heen uttered,
it remained stuhhornIy at the center of aII our thoughts
I wanted to go to town quickIy to discuss with Eva
what we shouId do if war hroke out
Mayhe her father wouId now agree to an earIier marriage
I asked the Baroness for the hicycIe that Eva had horrowed previousIy
I pIanned to use it to visit her Sunday
Friday when I went to pick up the hicycIe,
I witnessed a strange confrontation
What is it, Mrs. Wagner?
Can I borrow your bicycIe?
-It s not mine. -Can I borrow it anyway?
I just borrowed it myseIf. To visit my fiancee.
PIease!
Where do you want to go
-To town. -What for ?
The stubborn steward won t Iend me a carriage.
PIease Iend it to me.
Why? What for ?
To go to the police. I know who committed those crimes.
Who
Can I have the bicycIe?
Why not teII me?
I II onIy taIk to the police. I m sick of insuIts.
What about the Doctor s horse?
I don t know how to ride.
PIease! BeIieve me!
My son told me who did it to him.
He may Iose his eyesight.
Lend it to me!
Thanks!
I was soon sorry that I gave in
But the state of that woman, usuaIIy so IeveI headed, upset me
What had she found out that she didn t dare teII?
Back in the viIIage, I decided to investigate
HeIIo, sir.
HeIIo, KIara.
What are you doing here?
We wanted to see how KarIi was.
Can t you see it s cIosed up?
Yes. We were worried.
We saw Mrs. Wagner bicycIing off.
We wondered what had happened to KarIi.
Go home. You don t beIong in here.
Go on home.
Goodbye, teacher.
I wondered why the midwife had cIosed the shutters
Nohody in the viIIage Iocked their house
Why had the midwife Iocked in her son?
KarIi, can you hear me?
I thought of Erna s dream again
If Erna hadn t dreamt it, hut knew that KarIi wouId he tortured,
who had toId her?
Who wouId she not denounce?
The kids interest in KarIi seemed strange to me
UsuaIIy, hecause of his disahiIity,
they had no contact with him, or treated him disdainfuIIy
When the midwife couIdn t take care of him,
she entrusted him to me, or the Doctor
But since his mishap, I hadn t seen him again
Worried, I decided to ask the Doctor
0FFICE CL0SED UNTIL FURTHER N0TICE
-Wasn t his daughter in schooI? -Yes, she was.
And she said nothing?
I have a request.
CouId I taIk to KIara and Martin?
Won t you wait for my husband?
He s at the church. The service is aImost over.
But if you insist, pIease come in.
Be seated.
I II fetch them for you .
Good evening, sir.
Won t you sit down?
Yes. Perhaps. With pIeasure.
Can I offer you something?
A coffee, Iike during the piano Iessons?
Yes, with pIeasure. Very kind of you .
I II be right back.
Did you know the Doctor was Ieaving EichwaId?
You re not surprised by my question ?
0ur mother just told us.
Anna didn t teII you ?
Not a word?
It s odd not to say you re going away on a trip.
-Anna doesn t say much. -But this was compIeteIy different.
You re hiding something from me.
What?
I m waiting for you to teII me.
When you Iooked for KarIi, what did you want from him?
We were worried. He s iII.
I m asking Martin.
Yes. He isn t weII.
And since his mother was Ieaving we thought we d pay him a visit.
Did you ever wonder who mistreated KarIi?
And Sigi?
Who tied the wire to trip the Doctor ?
Who set fire to the barn?
-No -0f course we wondered.
WeII?
Father said it must be a sick person .
Sigi was with you at Thanksgiving. And KarIi aIways went aIong.
-I don t understand. -No
What did they do wrong?
-Who -Sigi and KarIi.
Why?
They obviousIy were being punished. For what?
I don t know .
Erna foresaw that KarIi wouId be punished. What for ?
I don t know !
Why ask us?
You re a smart girI, KIara. Don t pIay dumb.
I don t understand.
TaIk about this with Father or Mother.
ShaII I get them?
-Martin, wiII you go -Stay here, Martin.
I II see them Iater. Now , I m taIking to you .
TeII me the truth.
-Where were you when KarIi was... -Here.
I mean, after the confirmation ?
Coffee s coming.
CouId the chiIdren heIp you ?
I m afraid not . They know nothing.
His daughter said nothing at schooI?
No
Sorry I disturbed you .
Stay! My husband is coming, and the coffee is aImost ready.
Thanks, but I m worried about the midwife s son .
-She didn t say when she d be back? -I didn t ask her.
She caught me off guard. She was panicked.
Wait, I hear my husband.
Good evening.
The teacher was waiting for you .
Yes. I d Iike a word with you .
PIease. Let s go to my study. It s quieter.
What s this about?
I spoke to the midwife.
She said she knew who tortured her son .
She II onIy teII the police, and went to town.
WeII?
She Ieft the boy behind aIone and Iocked the house.
Locked it?
I went to ask the Doctor if he was caring for the chiId, but...
There s a paper saying that the office is cIosed.
He and his kids have disappeared.
-What does it mean? -I don t know .
I thought you might know . That s why I m here.
I have no idea.
PIease be seated.
Wasn t his daughter in schooI?
Yes. She mentioned nothing.
I asked KIara and Martin. They know nothing either.
Why shouId they?
I don t know .
I went to Mrs. Wagner s pIace. They and some others were there.
To do what?
-They were Iooking for the boy . -Why?
They wanted to heIp him.
So what?
I don t know how to say it...
I think they re hiding something.
What?
I don t know .
When the Doctor had his accident, Iast year,
they appeared in his garden. SupposedIy, to heIp Anna.
Yes, and?
Nothing. I had forgotten it.
I just remembered today.
I don t understand.
When the Baron s son was found...
He d been with the chiIdren just before.
What are you getting at?
The steward s daughter
predicted that KarIi wouId be beaten.
She says she dreamt it.
The police think she s Iying.
From whom did she find out? Who told her?
You re saying that your pupiIs, my chiIdren incIuded,
committed these crimes. Is that right?
You reaIize what you re saying?
Do you reaIIy know ...
I assume I m the first person
to hear these monstrosities.
If you ever dare to bother others with this,
if you ever accuse respectabIe famiIies and their chiIdren,
and denounce them pubIicIy,
I II make sure, take my word for it,
that you go to prison .
I ve seen a Iot during my work as a pastor ,
but never anything so repuIsive!
0ne can teII you have no chiIdren,
or you wouIdn t stoop to such aberrations.
You have a sick mind.
How did they Iet you Ioose among those poor creatures!
I II speak to the authorities about this.
Now get out of my house!
I don t want to see you here again.
The midwife didn t come hack
I waited untiI morning, two days Iater
Then I went to the manor house to inform the Baron
He toId the steward and said to open the house
and take care of the disahIed hoy
I II Iook upstairs.
I d never heen in the midwife s house,
and feIt uncomfortahIe harging into somehody eIse s pIace without asking
It was strange,
hut whiIe we stiII searched and caIIed out KarIi s name,
I aIready knew our search was in vain
Anyone who knew how devoted the midwife was to her son
knew she d never have ahandoned her wounded KarIi
During the next few weeks, the viIIage gossips worked overtime
Some cIaimed the Doctor was KarIi s father
He and the midwife had tried to ahort the chiId
so their reIationship wouIdn t he found out,
and that s how the chiId was disahIed
Some even cIaimed
that the death of the Doctor s wife was suspect,
and the two might very weII he responsihIe for it
Better stiII, the Doctor and the midwife, as potentiaI murderers,
had aIso perpetrated aII the other crimes
Wanting to spare his Iegitimate chiIdren and himseIf
from puhIic discIosure of his guiIt,
the Doctor had fIed with them
On JuIy 28th, Austria decIared war on Serhia
On Saturday, August 1st, Germany decIared war on Russia,
and on France the foIIowing Monday
The soIemn service next Sunday was attended hy the whoIe viIIage
A feeIing of expectation and departure was in the air
Now everything was going to change
Eva s father, in the face of the coming war,
had taken his daughter hack home,
and, at her pIeading, had come to EichwaId,
where his future son in Iaw Iived and worked, to Iook it over
The prospect of soon caIIing this heIoved creature my wife
aIso made this a festive day for me
The Rastor never mentioned our conversation again
and apparentIy never went through with his threat to denounce me
I was drafted at the start of 191 7
After the war, as my father had died meanwhiIe,
I soId his house in vasendorf,
and with the money opened a taiIor s shop in town
I never saw any of the viIIagers again
SubtitIes: A. WhiteIaw
SubtitIing: LVT - Paris