THE BOX

AT 21 WEIMARERSTRASSE STANDS THE BOX, A LARGE TWO-STORY BUILDING that stretches from Rosenbühlstrasse to Pufendorfstrasse, the sides of the central building, as well as those of the outbuildings, lying on each of these two streets. The school is on Pufendorfstrasse, and on Rosenbühlstrasse there are two buildings where some of the professors and teachers live, as well as the inspectors and some of the support staff. In one of the buildings there’s also a walk-in clinic with a nurses’ station, this building being surrounded by gardens, some of them enclosed, though there are little doors along the length of The Box that allow you to enter the courtyard, otherwise you can exit directly into Rosenbühlstrasse, which is the only entrance from the street into the courtyard of The Box. To enter The Box itself, however, you must approach from Weimarerstrasse, where you ring the bell, after which Herr Lindenbaum, the castellan, looks out the window of the porter’s apartment, a buzzer sounds, you push open the front door, and amble through the front garden, which is tended but not used, a set of steps leading down the path to the gate, at which the heavy door opens and you go up a set of steps to the next level, to the right of which Herr Lindenbaum stands in his window and asks each visitor the purpose of his visit. Right at the end of the steps there’s a door through which you enter the vestibule. To the right is Herr Lindenbaum’s apartment, while farther on is a door on which is written OFFICE, after which the vestibule narrows to a hallway that is closed off at the other end by another door. Once you pass through this you reach a well-lit passageway, to the right and left of which are large panes of glass, while on the left is a glass door at the top of a set of stairs that lead into the courtyard, though if you go farther along the hallway you reach yet another door, behind which is the school. Here, to the left, is the door for the conference room, while the school has two sets of stairs, hallways running off each that lead to the classrooms, the lecture halls and labs for physics, chemistry, zoology, and botany, as well as drawing, and the large music room, where Herr Scheck leads singing classes from a grand piano set on a high podium, though the large assembly hall is the most beautiful room of all, its ample splendor opened up only for special occasions.

If you head back to the vestibule you’ll encounter a richly ornate stairway with a sumptuous metal railing, halfway up the steps there being a memorial tablet made of marble on which is engraved in gold all the names of the students who gave their lives for the sake of the fatherland in the world war, The Box remaining proud of them to this day. Just past the tablet, some steps lead to the apartment of Headmaster Schorfing, a lovely bearded old man who is the head of The Box, and who stands straight as an arrow and looks like an admiral. The pupils call him The Bull and all of them are afraid of him and bow to him deeply and sternly, for respect is important to The Bull, not only the pupils trembling before him but also all the subordinates in the school. He knows the names of each of the two hundred and fifty pupils, The Bull sees everything and hears everything, nothing remaining hidden from him. The Bull has an assistant who is referred to as the Director, whose name is Winkler, and whom no one is afraid of, he having little to say unless The Bull himself is out sick. Yet once you are no longer a pupil The Bull can be quite affable, his deep voice growling less and less, and the former pupils, especially, once they have set a number of years between themselves and The Box, act as if they are on the friendliest of terms with The Bull, which The Bull by then allows.

Below in the vestibule on the left side there is a door labeled VISITORS ROOM, which is an elegant salon, all the chairs sumptuously covered in scarlet plush, a cut-glass water pitcher standing on the table with some glasses, at which the fathers and mothers sit and listen to what The Bull has to say to them, themselves hardly daring to say a word in response, since they are all smaller than The Bull, and only appreciate what a blessing it is for their boys to be pupils here at The Box. The Bull speaks in measured tones and with condescending friendliness, the fathers and mothers hearing that only obedient boys can remain at The Box, as The Box is not a reform school, but rather is there to raise sound young men who will one day be grateful that they have enjoyed such an upbringing, which is why things here must be run with a firm and unflinching hand, for the youth must not be coddled just because the war was lost through cowardly betrayal. One has to rebuild, and that can be done only with valiant men. Then the pupil is called into the visitors room, The Bull and the parents looking at him gravely, the pupil indeed lowering his head the moment he sees The Bull standing there, as well as his parents, who sit and gaze at their son with both a strong and a pleading sense of despair. But the pupil has no idea what to say and has nothing to say, daring only to greet his parents, since everything is so serious, and only when The Bull says a firm goodbye with a stiff handshake, followed by the father bowing and the mother standing up, only when The Bull is finally gone does the ice begin to melt a little.

Just past the visitors room you reach another door that is sometimes closed, though if you go through it you end up in The Box itself, a long hallway stretching ahead, with a large window to the right that looks out onto the courtyard, while to the left are heavy wooden doors, each with a thick brown window installed in it with a pane that serves as a peephole through which one can look into the classroom if you have the key that opens this pane. At certain times these rooms are closed, each one labeled I through IX in Roman numerals, though Room V is always open, and usually you have to go through this room to get to the other rooms. Across from Room V is the main stairwell, which leads down to the courtyard and farther into the cellar, where the baths are located and the furnace room for the central heating, The Box being equipped with all the latest achievements of modern times, the coal bins also located below, as well as the pantry and other rooms unknown to the pupils. If you climb back up the stairs to the hallway you’ll find toilets to the left and right, as well as on the second and third floors in the same location, these specially installed for The Box, with urinals like any other, though the stalls with the toilet bowls are white wooden cages that boast an open set of peepholes for both eyes, so that no one can hide in the stalls. Near the end of the passage, across from Classroom IX, a side stairwell leads to the laundry room, where each week you bring your dirty linens and pick up clean ones, while upstairs is the music room, where pupils practice while learning to play the violin or the piano. Down below, next to this set of stairs, is a little room where the pupils who are not doing well in school spend time each evening in order to study with The Paster, which is what they call Herr Pastor, The Paster looking over their assignments during study hall between three and five o’clock each day, except on Saturdays, The Paster walking back and forth across the classroom in order to keep an eye on his cadets, though each pupil can ask The Paster for help, which he receives straight off.

At the end of the hall is a door that opens into the dining hall, which is very big, all of the two hundred and fifty pupils wolfing down the main meal here together, before which a loud bell sounds, electronic bells that ring at every occasion being everywhere in The Box, the pupils knowing already what each one means, since here they are so well trained that everything runs like clockwork. Before the meal they all gather in a long hallway, each pupil having his own place that is labeled with a number from 1 to 250, the same number appearing on his clothes and everything else, Josef’s number being 33. Then they all stand up, the lowest number near Classroom I and onward up to Classroom IX, the even numbers on the right and the uneven on the left, and once everything is in order the door to the dining hall is opened, at which the highest number enters, all of them taking a spot at the long tables on each side, a light-gray tablecloth spread out upon each table, and all the pupils having to remain standing until the hall is full, the door is closed, and a designated student from the highest class says the prayer:

Come, Lord Jesus, be our guest,

Let thy gifts to us be blessed.

Then the pupils shove back their chairs, causing a great scraping sound, as they all sit down, followed by the Sprites, which is what the servant girls at The Box are called who bring the grub, which is what the food is called, four pupils always forming a group around each bowl, the oldest of them designated as the commander of the bowl who orders the others around and takes the first helping for himself, the youngest taking the last, though all the portions are divided equally beforehand.

During the meal loud talking is forbidden, indeed anyone who jabbers away too loudly receives a smack on the head in order to get his attention, the pupils never allowed to be alone anywhere or at any time, even in the toilets, where one can see whatever they’re doing because of the peepholes, while in the dining hall there is always an inspector standing by. There are four inspectors, who are called Herr Inspector, one having recently died, the living ones being Schuster, who is the best and whose group Josef belongs to, followed by Bemmchen, the one who in fact is dead, and whose pupils have been divided among the remaining inspectors, followed by Faber and, last, Löschhorn, all of them older men, Faber the oldest, Löschhorn not so old, and Schuster in between the two. Two of them are always on duty, but since the death of Bemmchen there is often only one, though sometimes all of them show up together. There are supposed to be two in the dining hall, but now there is often only one, who walks between the tables in order to keep an eye on things, while at least for lunch some teachers sit at the end of the tables, eating the same grub as the pupils, though they get more, the Sprites bringing them their own bowls and utensils. Once the grub is finished, everyone has to stand up, the prayer of thanks is said, after which everyone leaves the hall again together, beginning with the lowest, followed by the higher numbers, though after the meal the pupils can scatter as they wish without having to march back down the hallway.

If you climb the main staircase to the second floor, you arrive in another hallway, but one that is shorter and ends abruptly to the right, while across from the stairs is a room called The Chapel, though there is no longer any chapel here, because it was dismantled after the war, not because of the revolution but because the space was needed, the stained-glass windows still reminding you that this once was a chapel, candles most often needed for light, as otherwise it is too dark. There are wash tables in The Chapel, just like those in the real laundry, that are made out of long iron frames on which rest black marble tops with holes that drain into washbasins made of tin, each basin resting under its number, and each pupil having a basin and his own spot. After washing, you turn over your basin and set it on the tin grate beneath the wash table, while during the washing up each morning the odd-numbered pupils come first, followed by the even-numbered ones. In the corners of the room are little chests that are full of drawers, though they cannot be taken out but only opened up with a key that the pupils have to keep on a key chain in order not to lose it, though indeed it is often lost or even stolen, and should one be found you have to give it to the inspector, who collects objects in a little glass box near the main staircase. The key is to keep your things locked up, each pupil’s drawer and cabinet having a lock that the key fits, but many other keys fit as well, which is a problem, for then things get stolen from the cabinets all the time, though if you lose your key you go to the office, where the secretary gives you a new one and writes it down on your account.

From the numbered drawer you take your toiletry box, which is also numbered, and go to your spot at the wash table and lay it down on the marble shelf that is above the marble countertop, each spot having its own faucet. You then take off you shirt and wash yourself just down to your belt, for you don’t take off your pants, but instead brush your teeth and wet your hair so that you comb your hair into a coif, which is what the barber calls it, almost everyone having a coif and proud of it. If you’re in the odd-numbered group you have to hurry, for soon the inspector whistles and calls out “Second group!” so that you have to finish fast. Otherwise the washroom is open only before the noon meal and the evening meal in order to wash your hands, though not everyone does that, and if it’s found out they get a smack on the head and have to head to the washroom. When the first group is busy washing up, the second group has to shine their shoes, which is why next to The Chapel there is a room especially for this, the pupils placing one foot at a time on a low bench, the tools for polishing also contained in a box similar to that for toiletries, though this one can’t be locked, since no one ever steals such things, each pupil having his designated spot in the shoeshine room as well. Once the first group is done washing up, they head off to shine their shoes, and it often happens that you get your hands dirty again with shoe polish, but by then there is no longer any more time to properly wash them, which is why you then quickly run into the toilet, where there are faucets attached to water lines. You can also get a drink of water there, otherwise water is available only in the dining hall in the evenings, the Sprites placing a bottle of water for each group on the table, though they place them along with the grub only for those eating, after which everything else must be set out.

Everything at The Box is handled very precisely, and that is done in order to get the pupils used to good breeding and order, there being many rules, and you have to obey all of them in order not to be scolded and get a smack on the head, which is also why the setup with the washing and the shoe shining was put in place. Because it can happen that during the day your shoes might need shining when the shoeshine room is closed, the little cabinets containing the polishing materials are located outside in the hall, though there are no comfortable benches on which to place your feet, and so you place your feet on the windowsill, where some also like to sit, though that is forbidden. If the washroom is open, then you can walk through it to the dressing room, which has an exit to the side stairwell, but for the most part you use this only on Saturday afternoons in order to get to the laundry. In the dressing room light-brown lockers stand in a row and are fastened to the floor and consist of two parts, their surface covered with holes like showerheads in order that good air circulation is maintained, they capable of being closed both above and below, the lower part wider and containing two compartments where the shoes are placed on top of the linens, while the top compartment is where you put your clothes on wooden hooks and those that need to be ironed on metal rods.

If on the second floor you head left to the end of the hallway, you come to a door that is open only during free periods and especially at night, this being the playroom, where there is a piano on which anyone can play, yet only the older pupils are allowed in, as they try to pick something out on the keys, mostly songs, usually popular ones, there always being a group of them standing around, singing the two most popular songs, the first beginning:

Come, let’s have a drink, my dear,

Before I whisper in your ear.

The other begins:

My son’s name is Forrest,

Since we met in a forest.

Others belt out patriotic songs, but that doesn’t happen so often, while to the melody of “Watch on the Rhine” some sing vulgar lyrics when there’s no grown-up around, which begin:

A fart blows out the oven door,

Mother thinks the coffee’s scorched.

There are also four billiard tables in the playroom, one for children, two others that are somewhat better, while one is the right size for grown-ups, only the oldest of the pupils allowed to play on it, there also being two other tables with special games, around which the youngest pupils gather, since they’re meant for children, and in addition there’s a row of different game tables that are square and have four chairs around them with hooped backs.

The playroom has another small door through which at night The Bull sometimes enters, since this door leads directly to his apartment, and whenever The Bull arrives most everyone is afraid, as whoever is sitting stands up and bows to The Bull, who only says “Evening” and gives a sign for them to continue playing. At the tables the pupils play chess and checkers and Nine Men’s Morris and a fun new game called Don’t Lose Your Temper, though cards are not allowed, except for children’s card games. The Bull looks on, the pupils having to pretend as if he weren’t even there, but naturally they are uneasy, many of them nervous and turning red in the face. The Bull likes to be affable when he’s in the playroom, and as he chats with the pupils some of them want to suck up to him as they talk and smile at him, and if they feel comfortable enough they ask him questions and pretend they really want to hear the answers, and as The Bull explains something to them he sits down at a table, a cluster of pupils gathering round him in order to listen to him like placid sheep, their mouths agape in their wonderment at everything he has to say. The Bull also knows who among the pupils are the best chess players, for the pupils have a chess club that is divided up like the classes, each with a master, as they play tournaments against one another, and so one knows exactly who is the best in The Box. The Bull asks who would like to play chess with him, but only the very best feel comfortable enough to do so, for they are proud when they can play a game or two with The Bull, one even having once beaten him. Years ago The Bull also played billiards with the pupils, but he no longer does so, for he has a heart condition, one of the pupils having heard from Inspector Schuster that The Bull is not at all healthy, which is why many worry about him, as it’s dangerous for him to yell loudly, though he still quietly bellows and gets red with anger. No one has a voice as powerful as The Bull’s, no inspector can yell as loud, only Faber coming close, Inspector Schuster also having told a pupil that The Bull would probably outlive them all, for he has a wife who works on him with magnetization, running her hands over his face when he has a spell with his heart, as he lies in bed and she says prayers until he recovers and is again healthy and can be seen throughout The Box.

If you take the main staircase to the third floor you’ll find the dormitory, which contains beds for all two hundred and fifty pupils, the toilets to the right and left, while the beds stand in long rows, all of them bolted together in pairs, a piece of black iron standing between so that none can move into the adjoining bed, though there is a bit of access between them, as holes are cut into the iron that create a pattern that reminds one of a four-leaf clover. And between each pair of iron double bedframes there is an open aisle with a stool at each end on which each evening the pupil lays his clothes and then takes his nightshirt out of the bed, his shoes placed on the shelf that is on each stool, where during the day he puts his house shoes, which is what slippers are called, though house shoes are worn only when you have to go to the toilet.

Eight-thirty is bedtime, a bell ringing just prior to it throughout The Box and the courtyard, at which everyone must head in, though in no particular order, many choosing to head to the toilets, though you hear “Hurry up!” because of the time, while near the main staircase, where you find the glass box with the lost-and-found items, stands The Bull, gazing on at the pupils, and it’s normal, not required, that everyone go up to The Bull and give him his hand, which leads to a lot of shuffling feet as heels are clicked together and bows are made, and The Bull says good night to the pupils. The Bull doesn’t like it if someone passes by without saying good night, but since there are so many pupils it doesn’t really matter if one ignores him, Josef going up to him only now and then, and not liking to at all. The inspectors are also often there, and you can say good night to them as well, but that matters a lot less, and so only a few pupils go over to them. Above in the dorm you’re supposed to go straight to bed, and there it’s the opposite of how it is in the classrooms, for here the lowest numbers are to the right, instead of to the left below, though the bed wetters are placed right next to the entrance, the night monitor waking them up on a regular basis so that they can head straight to the toilet, himself sitting there throughout the night, except for when he makes his rounds. But when waking the bed wetters doesn’t work then their beds are lifted up onto two stakes at the base, so that they lie there on an incline and are ridiculed by everyone, though doing this doesn’t work, either, after which they are left alone.

In the dorm you have to undress quickly, for the inspectors walk through the room and make sure that everyone is soon done. Two inspectors spend the night, but since there are only three sometimes only one stays the night. A platform made of wood has been set up to the left and the right for them, a carpet leading up to it like a pulpit, though the bed cannot be seen, since curtains surround the platform which the inspector can pull open when he wants to look out into the room, while from below all that can be seen is his head. After the lights are turned off it’s not really dark, for throughout the night lights are left on that give off a weak, strange light, which causes many new pupils to be afraid, for it’s green, Josef thinking that in such a color is where one finds water spirits and mermen, if indeed they are not just fables in themselves. Once the big light is turned off, the inspectors make one or two more rounds, then climb up onto their platform and turn on their night light, which shines softly through the curtain, the night attendant also making a couple of rounds before retiring. In the morning everyone is up at five-thirty, the bells ringing again and for a good while, so that everyone wakes up, anyone who is not out of bed immediately being helped out, it’s all done military style, though not quite, since all of that is forbidden following the war, although not entirely, in order that the young are not coddled too much. Only on Sunday is the wake-up call later, coming just past seven, though many are already awake, since they’re used to getting up early.

Whoever wants to get to the courtyard from The Box has to use the main staircase, because the side staircase is always closed, the courtyard a huge square full of dull yellow sandy gravel raked smooth every day, which is why there are no flowers or grass, but there are trees that stand in three rows with tall, doleful trunks, two of them located at right angles to the third on the courtyard side of the main building, benches running the length of them as in a park, though the fourth side has no trees at all. On that side is the gymnasium, which is closed during recess, as it is used only for instructional classes, and it is opened for special events, usually in fall, when on one Sunday a big festival is held. That’s when all the pupils and many of their parents gather there, for it provides a comfortable space for everyone to be in together as the former pupils are celebrated, Inspector Faber proudly leading them in and quickly installing them from the tallest to the shortest in a single row, at which the inspector orders them to be seated in order that others can see how splendid they look, and especially so that the current pupils can see how the older men look when they march in parade formation with the inspector at the front. The former pupils have already formed a society that almost everyone belongs to who is still alive, for there are many who died in the war, since The Box is indeed quite old, even though the building itself is not, it having been built just a few years before the war to serve as a modern and practical facility for The Box. Back then the entire Box was moved from the inner city to the outskirts, which in those days was a great advancement, though there are those who still recall the old Box, because they worked there, The Bull having been there by then, and supposedly he had a beard then as well, though each little hair was black.

Many members of the alumni society are today distinguished men of the world, some even older than The Bull, with wives and children and grandchildren of their own, some of their children also having become pupils at The Box, though it doesn’t happen very often. Josef would never send his child to The Box, yet some members of the alumni society think the education at The Box is excellent, but they don’t actually think much about it, even though across the yard in the school building there is a special boardroom for them, with high-backed leather chairs that surround a conference table with green felt, though rarely is a meeting ever held, or at least Josef has never heard of one. Many members fought in the war, and some pupils went directly from The Box to the front because they volunteered, although they did not have to, the oldest pupil usually no more than seventeen and the youngest just ten, while in the war many pupils and even more former pupils were wounded, some turned into cripples, while for those who died there is the memorial tablet made of marble.

These former pupils also come to the fall festival and gladly don the caps that are worn exclusively by the pupils of The Box, which are brown caps with black bills, the members of the alumni society often looking funny in these caps, for they no longer fit them, especially with their big stomachs and beards and bald heads, although the pupils are urged to lend the former pupils their caps, for they are as proud to wear them as little children. Years ago The Box was completely different from today, for now there are too many wimps, mainly because proper exercises were no longer allowed, whereas earlier everyone had his own proper uniform, but Inspector Faber says that later no one was allowed to wear military dress because of the unfair peace treaty that had been signed. The education back then was far better than it is today, it now being no better than a girls’ finishing school, where everyone is a wimp because marching exercises are no longer allowed, the inspector wanting to live only to see the day when everything is like it used to be under the emperor, because how it is now is a scandal, though no one can ever say that it’s a scandal, for the Communists will just lock you up, which is why he’d rather not say anything, but that’s what he thinks, a proper youth being someone who achieves a certain poise and keeps his teeth tightly clamped. Inspector Faber complains further about how sad it is that Inspector Bemmchen will never have the chance to see it happen, because he’s dead, for he had suffered the ignominy of it all like no other, which is why it pained him so, though Josef doesn’t understand it all, for he doesn’t know how Inspector Faber thinks it really ought to be.

For the fall festival Professor Worzfeld, who is called Ojt, prepares a gymnastic exhibition that doesn’t involve any competition but includes the high jump and the long jump, the shot put and the javelin, and much more, as well as team sports, especially soccer, which all the guests watch. They’re happy to see how hearty the youths are, and that they indeed aren’t wimps, even if they no longer do military exercises as Inspector Faber longs for. For the festival a large tent is put up in the courtyard, much as a circus does for its menagerie, and garden chairs are brought in so that all the guests can flee to it should there be rain, or a snack bar can be set up under it, the Sprites bringing from the kitchen large pitchers of herb tea like the kind that is sometimes served at dinner, and barley-malt coffee like the kind served for breakfast at The Box, the guests also having to drink such swill, which some also call donkey piss, without any milk, since not much of that is available. The barley coffee and other drinks are sold by women who are married to the alumni, while from baskets they sell the snacks, which include buns with margarine and liverwurst, though there is also cake that is not from The Box, tidbits also having been purchased from elsewhere, all of it on sale for exorbitant prices, but all of the guests are happy to pay since it’s all for The Box. In the tent there is also a raffle full of valuable items that the members of the alumni society have donated to The Box, each item carrying a number, and one can buy lots made of white paper strips that have been rolled onto a needle and look like little scrolls, which you unroll to see whether you have won anything. Most of the scrolls are blank, yet you can buy twenty scrolls or more and not win anything, but when there’s a red piece of paper with a number on it inside the scrolls, then you win a prize, which can be worth a lot or be a complete joke as well.

When there is nothing special going on at The Box, the courtyard is empty, except during recess, when it can be quite dusty if it hasn’t rained in a while, and when it gets quite bad the courtyard is watered with a long hose, which really helps in hot weather, for then it’s easier to breathe. For the most part the courtyard is empty, but there is a soccer field with two proper goals, though without nets, such that the ball always flies beyond the goal itself, breaking windowpanes for which the guilty pupil must pay, the pupils having to pay for everything they smash, or their parents do, for it’s written down and kept in the office where the bills are made out. During important matches, however, there are nets in the goals, but only then, and in the courtyard there is lots of room for other games to be played besides soccer, such as rounders and handball or any kind of ball game, and yes, even more soccer, while in the two little courtyards to the right and left of the main staircase there are two tennis courts, though only the older pupils are allowed to use them and must pay to do so, two other little courtyards containing wooden frames on which clothes are beaten, the pupils sometimes having to beat and brush the clothes, after which their work is inspected.

That’s the way things are at The Box, and though it is quite big, it’s not too big for two hundred and fifty pupils, but in fact a bit small, for there is no place that you can ever be alone, nor are you allowed to just wander anywhere in The Box, and even where you are allowed you can’t always get to, as everything is closed off in between. Since Josef is not happy at The Box, he can’t get used to being there, and he also knows that he never could. Meanwhile, when he goes to sleep and is lying in bed and can’t sleep he breaks down and sobs out of sadness. He no longer thinks that it is hard at The Box just at the beginning, when no one is happy, while later most of them grow to like The Box, such that toward the end they are sad to reach the highest class level and must leave The Box for good. Josef has often been told this, and he has tried to believe it, but now he knows for sure that it’s not true for him; he is only suffocating here, many pupils are brutes, and he doesn’t like what they say or even play at, nor does he know how to try to make things better, Inspector Schuster having already said to him a couple of times, “My boy, my boy, you have to pull yourself together in order to become a man! You need to play with the others and make friends!” The inspector means well, but his advice is useless, and Josef must only make sure that he doesn’t cry too loudly, so instead he weeps quietly now and then in the dorm, no one noticing, until at last he falls asleep.

Every pupil in The Box has a proctor, which is a pupil who has been at The Box for a minimum of one year and whose job is to help you know what to do and get used to things, but everything is so monotonous there’s no getting used to it, even if you do know how things are supposed to go, such as when to get up, and that you have to get dressed quickly, though you don’t need to make the bed, for that’s what the Sprites are for. You then rush into the washroom and hang your jacket on a hook, open your cabinet, take the box of toiletries, and run to a washing-up spot, as your neighbor wastefully splashes water about, the water ice-cold, such that in winter it even hurts your teeth. If you don’t bend your head down close enough to the washbasin, you are yelled at and your face is pushed into the water, the floor full of puddles as you grab the hand towel, because you have to dry off quickly, folding it over so that you can dry off your back, but since it’s so easy to bump your neighbor you hear again the cry “Hey, watch what you’re doing! Can’t you see that you’re hitting me?” And once again someone shoves you, and those who are not strong enough to defend themselves get a thrashing. That’s a main rule at The Box: you have to be strong so that you are able to thrash the others without being thrashed yourself, for that’s how you learn to be a real man who doesn’t let anything bad happen to him in life, since at The Box whoever is not a tough guy is a shit. The pupils use many such vulgar words, as they cuss a lot and are proud of how hardened they are, nor is there any protection available if someone hits too hard or is mean, except if you have an older brother or friend, and even then that doesn’t always help. The bigger kids look down on the younger ones and are proud that they are older, and they say a beating does no one any harm, because they were beaten as well, though few of them admit this and act as if they had never been small, for it’s a mortal sin to be a young boy.

After washing up and shining your shoes you rush off to the classrooms, which are arranged so that almost thirty pupils fit into each, everyone having his own desk with a chair, five desks always lined up next to one another that can be shoved out of the way if needed, the oldest pupils sitting by the window, the youngest getting the worst spots, even if their eyesight isn’t so good. If you have bad eyes you have to be very careful, for if you don’t watch out someone will rip your glasses off your nose and smash them on the ground in order to break them, or the attacker doesn’t wait for the full thrashing to begin but instead goes straight for the glasses, everything lost after that, as it is better perhaps always to have a spare pair of glasses, though actually any glasses are a handicap, and you are laughed at for having them. Meanwhile, when you get to the classroom each morning the desk stands open, the lid rising straight up, and inside are schoolbooks and notebooks, while in back of your seat, where the number is painted, there is actually a compartment that can be opened, in which books and games and whatever you want can be stored, be it care packages from home or other extra things to eat, such as the malted balls that are always sold by a wounded veteran at a table by the main staircase. And, because locking it with a standard-issue key does nothing to prevent things from being stolen, you can make arrangements to get a padlock, for which you have to pay, some even making use of a combination lock, which you have to know which way to turn in order to open.

Across from all the desks in the classroom stands another desk that belongs to a pupil from the highest class, and whenever no grown-up is present he can order the others in the room about, especially during study hall, though he never says anything to those in his own class, the pupils from the highest two classes acting like grown-ups, each wearing a tie, and it being an embarrassment should one not wear long pants. That’s why the younger ones also like to wear long pants, or if they are short they should be breeches, for they look somewhat grown up, while even the youngest also wear a tie. In each classroom there’s a saying on the wall that says something about a good education, and in Classroom I, where Josef sits, it says on the wall:

Hard work and diligence help form the wings

That will help you attain most anything

But in another room, painted on the wall is:

Ohn Fleiß kein Preiß^*

Once a classmate of Josef’s had written Preiß with a sharp “ß,” but when Professor Felger returned the notebook Preiß was crossed out in red, since it was wrong, because it should be spelled Preis, with a round “s.” The professor was very angry and said that one should also not spell the plural as Preiße, as in the local dialect that would be taken to mean a “Prussian,” for Preise was right, but then a student said that he saw it spelled with a sharp “ß” in study hall, where Preiß was written on the wall. Professor Felger, however, didn’t believe him, for that was totally wrong, at which others chimed in and said that it indeed was written on the wall, Professor Felger deeply surprised to hear this, as he said he still couldn’t believe it was true, for most of the students hadn’t written Preiß but, rather, Preis, the professor then asking the entire class who thought that it should be written as Preis and not Preiß. Most then answered that they believed it should be spelled the way it was in the spelling book, but still it was written with a sharp “ß” in the study hall, at which Professor Felger said he had to see for himself, though he couldn’t do so during class.

In the next period, when the professor returned after the break, he had indeed looked at the saying on the wall and found that Preiß was written with a sharp “ß,” and said that he couldn’t believe it, that it was a mark against The Box, as there had earlier been other painters and varnishers who were still diligent and who were respectful of the mother tongue, but these days no one ever cared about spelling anything right, illiteracy being rampant and causing everything to go to pieces. His own son, who had suffered a hero’s death in the war, would, even as a young boy, have been able to tell the person painting the saying on the wall how to spell the word correctly, and even Professor Felger himself had known the correct spelling as a young abecedarian, and he said that he had spoken with The Bull and asked him why none of the inspectors had noticed that the children were learning bad German, the corruption of the language outrageous, though he would let the office know that the shoddy spelling would have to be corrected. Then Professor Felger explained what kind of silly results can happen if you don’t spell things correctly, it being ridiculous to write Rolladen, for that’s actually wrong and sounds like something you’d eat, though it has nothing to do with that, but instead the word is Rollladen, being a combination of rollen and Laden, since it’s a Laden, or “shutter,” that you roll, which is why it’s not right to leave off the third “l,” for the third “l” is needed, and it’s not true that it looks awful. Whoever is not pleased by it should only recall that one must never corrupt the mother tongue, for through such carelessness one ruins both style and so much more, Professor Felger soon providing more examples to prove his point. Thus one should write Dampschifffahrt always with three “f”s, even if you don’t put a hyphen between Dampschiff and Fahrt, for it’s easy to see once you hyphenate the word how silly it would be to use only two “f”s. If you simply want to corrupt the language, then you could just write Kaffeersatz instead of Kaffeeersatz with three “e”s, but then you might as well say that two “e”s is already too many, and then just write Kafersatz with only one “e.” But when the entire class laughed Professor Felger said that there was nothing funny about it, but rather sad, for he was afraid that someday no one would know the mother tongue, and that it would be worse than in the time of Frederick the Great, under whom at least many things were better than they are today, since back then there were noblemen who had their hearts in the right place, and who would hang their heads in shame if they were alive today. But back then the language was terrible, since everyone preferred to speak French, the king himself setting a terrible example, bringing that idiot Voltaire to Potsdam, though today there was no longer any reason to corrupt the language so, there no longer being any Frederick the Great, and French is never used, since no one now knew how to do anything except play soccer and drive a car.

Early in the morning the pupils briefly visit the classroom, though they’re not supposed to be there at all, for soon the call for inspection sounds, which is held in the courtyard in good weather, and in the hall outside the classrooms in winter, the pupils having to stand in rows divided by class in front of their inspectors, while those who actually belong to Bemmchen are divided among the three remaining inspectors. The inspection of the two highest classes doesn’t take long, the inspector looking the pupils over just for a brief while before he has them turn around, after which he usually dismisses them, though with the other classes it takes longer and longer for each one, since the inspection is very thorough and arduous. You have to hold out your hands in order to show if they’ve been washed well or not, whether the fingernails are clean and not too long, turning your head so that the inspector can look at your ears, checking behind each one as well, shoes having to be presented in order to check if they are spick and span, while you also have to lift each foot, for the heels and soles are also checked, followed by your clothing in order to see if there’s a spot anywhere, each row turning around and bending, as well as having to lift your jacket so that the inspector can see if a trouser button is missing. It all goes according to command, and there’s always something to be reprimanded for, since each inspector is tough, though no one cries or complains at inspection as much as Faber, who also hands out blows to the head with each reprimand. Some students are sent back upstairs by their inspector, and sometimes an older pupil accompanies them, since there may be shoes that need cleaning again, or your coif needs to be smoothed out, the throat or the ears washed again, the worst being when an older pupil takes on this job, since he can do what he wants with the younger one, and so he takes a hard brush and scrubs until everything is red and hurts, teeth brushing also sometimes needing to be repeated or something with the fingernails, or clothes needing to be changed. Such sinners must return to the inspector in order that he can see that everything has been put back in order.

After the inspection the bells sound again, everyone reports for breakfast, the line of pupils presses into the dining hall like a slow-moving cylinder, the Sprites already setting out the white enamel pitchers full of donkey piss, the pitchers themselves somewhat chipped and battered, the swill containing skim milk or powdered milk, which is what gives the barley-malt coffee its dirty gray color. Each group of students gets a pitcher and a saucer on which there are four minuscule lumps of sugar, each pupil getting two or three small biscuits with a thin layer of margarine spread on each, which tastes terrible, as if it were made of soap, the bread tasting like straw, all of it so dry that you have to wash each bite down with a swig of donkey piss. Yet these are hard times, it’s not even four years since the war, and one has to continually tighten one’s belt, as supposedly before the war there was more to eat at The Box, the biscuits covered back then with real butter. Breakfast lasts until seven o’clock, and at seven the bell rings again, at which all the pupils must be in the classroom for study hall, which lasts until eight, no one allowed to leave his place at his desk without permission, everyone needing to stay quiet, though whoever wants something must quietly go to the room commandant and whisper to him what he wants, which the commandant can allow or forbid, depending on how he feels, or you can go to the inspector who walks back and forth through the classroom, though no one is allowed to gab with his neighbor, because it’s a disturbance, while turning around on or scraping your chair is also forbidden. You simply take your school things out of the desk and pretend, without playing around or fooling around or giving any sign, though no homework is done, as that should all have been done the previous day, and you need instead to get ready for what’s on tap for today.

Josef is still tired early in the morning, and so are other pupils but you can’t loll around and lay your head on the desk, for you can’t be a sleepyhead at The Box, because then you won’t grow up to be a proper man. Indeed, one must be brave in order to soon overcome the war that has been lost so that everything can be well in the world once again. Up till now Josef has always believed that everything will turn out okay once you’ve grown up, but now he always hears how terrible the world really is, every country run by scoundrels, and in Germany there’s nothing but traitors in charge, nowhere being as well run as The Box, which takes only good children from good families, it being a school that prepares you for life if you stay here the whole six years, for there are no bad influences, and anyone who doesn’t obey must be taken away by his parents, who will have to figure out for themselves what to do with such a misbehaving son, although none of this explains why so often most of the older pupils are so mean and priggish. It’s these who please the educators, who say that they are on the right path, and that one should follow in their footsteps in order to become as sharp as they are. Is it a crime that one is still young and not so dashing? And why pick on the younger ones so and give them such a thrashing, rather than help them and show them how to do things better, to become truly dashing and upstanding? Yet Josef tells no one what he thinks, for they would only make fun of him, and everyone thinks that he’s a sniveler, Inspector Faber having even said that Josef is a spoiled mama’s boy who still needs the proper upbringing to become a man.

One time a pupil, who was only one class higher than Josef, called him a “Czech pig,” because he was from Bohemia. This made Josef so angry that he said to the rascal that he was a German pig, at which the other boy went to The Bull and The Bull became incredibly angry, more upset than Josef had ever seen him become. Just before the long break, The Bull called Josef in, the rascal also standing there when he arrived, a number of pupils standing around, as well as a couple of adults, as The Bull asked loudly whether it was true that Josef had called the other boy a “German pig,” to which Josef answered yes, it was true, but before that the rascal had called him a “Czech pig,” which was why Josef had said it back. At that The Bull looked like a cooked lobster and quite strongly asked whether he was a German, since in fact he spoke German and had no trouble doing so, but Josef was so upset and sullen and intimidated that he said nothing. He no longer knew what he should say, it was all the same to him what he was, and so he kept silent and just hung his head, though The Bull asked him even more emphatically the same thing again, and Josef continued to cower and to remain silent, as The Bull said again that Josef had to answer, at which he whispered in a monotone that hardly anyone could hear, “I don’t know.” Then The Bull laughed angrily and said, “That’s something when someone doesn’t know what he is and to whom he belongs! That’s the way it is with the Gypsies, who wander from place to place without a land of their own, surviving on whatever slips into their fingers!” Then The Bull wanted to know whether other foreigners could answer the same question, at which a young boy stood up who was from Haida in Bohemia, The Bull asking him, “Tell me again, what are you?” The young boy had proudly called out, “I am a German!” At this The Bull said nothing more, but instead thrashed Josef and ended up slapping him a couple of times, saying as he finished, “Just so that you know what you are! You got what you deserved!”

Josef couldn’t see or hear anything. The Bull had disappeared, the pupils let him go, and so he slowly crept off and felt ashamed down to his very bones, and more miserable than ever, and yet he didn’t understand really why he had been punished, or why the rascal who had started it all had not. The other could take pride in the fact that his attack had been allowed, whereas what Josef had said was not. Many days passed without Josef speaking to anyone, nor did anyone speak to him, which made him feel as if he didn’t have a single friend in The Box, nor did he want one, rather he wanted only to get away from here because he was so unhappy, even writing home to ask if someone could come visit, though he is told that he is being selfish, there is no way they can pay to make a special visit to him, for it costs a lot to go to The Box, and one must make sacrifices if he is to remain there. Then they told his father a bit about what he had said, yet they said nothing about what had been said to him first, although Josef did not want them to say what had really happened, for he began to feel guilty, since everyone was mad at him and believed that he alone had done something bad.

There was no way Josef could write about what had really happened, for he didn’t trust the mail since it was censored in order to make sure that the pupils didn’t spread lies or report anything that could do harm to The Box’s good name. In general, you’re allowed to write a letter home only once a week, but nevertheless, you must do so, which happens on Sunday, there being always something to tell your parents about, except for those who live nearby. The gathered letters then go to the head of the family, all the pupils being grouped into families, Josef a part of Ojt’s family, the head of the family having to read all the letters from his family in The Box, there being nothing more for him to worry about, since it’s not really a family at all, and in fact he lets the oldest pupil take care of the pocket money that he is supposed to disburse each Saturday, the money amounting to no more than is enough to buy three little clumps of malt, the administration reimbursing the heads of the family for it, since ultimately it is the parents who must pay. If you really want to write home, you go to the head of your family, and if he consents, then you can write an extra letter, which the head of the family reads through, and if he has no problem with it he seals the letter and makes a small mark on the back so that the front office knows that everything is okay, whereupon the letter is stamped and mailed.

Ojt would never allow Josef to write about the pig incident, the nicest of the heads would forbid that, and Josef wants to forget about it anyway. After a couple of weeks nothing more is said about anything that happens in The Box, since by then there’s always something new that’s happened, and you can’t keep up with every incident. Several times things have been stolen from Josef, yet the culprits remain unknown. Once his wallet disappeared from his jacket in the washroom, once his locker was broken into and a packet of food from home was taken, though when he reported it he was scolded, since he shouldn’t have had any food in there. Another time Josef lost his key, and when he left his desk open he told someone about it whom he trusted, but the other said it didn’t matter, to which Josef added that he kept his stash of emergency money there, which the other also said didn’t matter. But the next morning the packet with the money was gone, and Josef didn’t know who had snatched it, though the boy was shocked and said he was amazed how many thieves there were in The Box, and that something could just disappear overnight, after which Josef told Inspector Schuster about it all, but he only scolded Josef for having lost his key again, asking if Josef suspected anyone, to which Josef answered that he knew of no one, the packet never appearing again.

Josef grows ever more lonely, sticking to a corner of the courtyard on his own, though when the weather is nice and almost everyone is outside, he holes up in the classroom, where he reads a lot and feels best of all, dreaming of what the world outside looks like, all of it open and beautiful and unattainable, as in a panorama that you see before your eyes, but which you can’t enter, though he wanted to enter and go even farther, leaving The Box behind, Josef no longer having to spend time in the dormitory or eat with the students, The Bull’s screams no longer audible, and no one calling him a pig. But Josef can leave The Box only during the vacation, or in special instances, when a visitor from afar asks for him at The Box through Herr Lindenbaum in the visitors room, and if The Bull grants permission for Josef to receive a pass. As soon as Josef gets such a pass for an afternoon’s leave, he runs to the inspector on duty, who gives him the key to the clothing room so that he can put on a good suit, as well as quickly wash his face and hands, Josef running to bring back the key, at which the inspector casts another glance at him to make sure all is in order, upon which he runs into the visitors room to the waiting guest and is freed from The Box for a number of hours, though this happens much too rarely.

Only the pupils from the city and the surrounding area have it better, since they can leave The Box every week, or almost every week, as long as there is nothing going on, only new students not being allowed to go home in the first weeks, nor are others encouraged to visit them, The Bull very clear about this, since it does nothing to help them adapt to the spirit of The Box. Whoever has good grades can leave after the two o’clock meal on Saturday in order to get themselves ready, after which they are inspected and then get their pass from the same inspector, while others leave later in the afternoon, some having a bath first, though those who have gotten into a bit of trouble have to wait until nine o’clock on Sunday morning to leave, or even until eleven, though anyone who has behaved really badly has to stay at The Box. Pupils from the two highest classes who don’t visit their parents can leave on Sunday after the two o’clock meal if they are in good standing, something that’s called a free pass, though they have to be back by six o’clock sharp. They head into the city, most of them together, going to the movies, walking around, sitting in the pastry shop and stuffing themselves, some even going for a beer or a liqueur, which is forbidden, yet no one asks them about it, while at The Box they brag about it, and no one tells on them, for you can’t squeal on the older ones, it being a sign of disloyalty to everyone. Whoever doesn’t respect this is swept into a corner or a closet without anyone seeing and promptly thrashed and beaten relentlessly, Josef knowing this to be the case and having seen it happen for himself, though he has never told on anyone, for he wouldn’t want a beating, it all frightens him so, and he wants to remain free. Josef has discovered a way to get on Herr Lindenbaum’s good side. Accidentally, he had heard that you only have to give Herr Lindenbaum a present and he’ll be very friendly, so Josef had brought him a piece of real butter, causing Lindenbaum to wonder to himself and ask if Josef was regretting something he had done, but he said he was just happy to give him the butter. Herr Lindenbaum then took it and thanked him and said that Josef was a good boy and should make sure to come to him if he needed anything. This pleased Josef, for he already knows that Herr Lindenbaum lets a few pupils whom he likes out of The Box for a couple of minutes in order to buy some crumb, cheese, and pound cake over at the bakery, these being two of the nicest minutes you can have, except that they go by too fast, Herr Lindenbaum saying that The Bull was willing to look the other way because the grub in The Box really wasn’t all that good.

Josef had also discovered that the lenses for his glasses were quite specialized, because after someone in The Box yanked them off his nose they broke, and the optician to whom you were allowed to go from The Box, if the inspector gave permission, said himself that he couldn’t get these lenses for at least fourteen days, though it was easier to get them in the center of the city. Josef informed the inspector of all this, and he agreed that Josef had to get there, and for that he got a pass. After that he sometimes secretly smashed his glasses into the ground in order to get out of The Box for a few hours, except that it was too expensive to do so very often, although it wasn’t too bad, but he didn’t want anyone to discover what he was doing and it didn’t help all that much anyway. Josef did it only when he could no longer stand to constantly look at the faces in The Box and the courtyard and the classroom, it being wonderful when Herr Lindenbaum presses the button and the door opens, and Josef slams it shut with a bang, the first free minutes consisting of incredible happiness. He runs as fast as he can and thinks about freedom only for a moment, but it’s over before he knows it, for Josef cannot go any farther, as he would be caught immediately, which would only mean more trouble hounding him, and so instead he tries to enjoy every second, looking at his pocket watch, which others in The Box call an ugly old onion, because it’s not made of silver. Josef sees how the second hand continually moves and, once it has made a complete circle, before another minute has passed he has to be back in The Box, where the bell will continue striking, there never being an end to it. Then Josef puts the watch back in his pocket and only wants to forget it, vowing to have a bit more fun while buying some sweets and snacks, as well as a little present for Herr Lindenbaum, before he finally arrives at the office of the optician, who already knows him and says, “So the glasses have broken in two again? My boy, my boy, Zeiß the lens maker of Jena couldn’t keep up.” Then the glasses are fitted out, and it’s already time to return to The Box, Josef feeling numb, his head heavy, his heart almost standing still. And then The Box is there again and looks as peaceful as other buildings, it being larger and carrying a gold inscription with the school’s full name, Professor Felger sometimes commenting, “The institution is golden on the outside and cruddy on the inside!” Josef guesses that he should already be back by now as he slowly lifts his hand toward the doorbell, but he waits a bit longer, pulls the watch out of his pocket, and sees that there actually are a couple of minutes to go, after which he feels that he’s magnetized, as The Bull is by his wife when he has heart problems, though Josef eventually must yield as he pushes the button, Herr Lindenbaum looking out as it rings, and Josef is once again stuck in The Box.

Once when the older boys were down below for their bath, Josef went into a classroom just to be alone for a while, only to discover the boy to whom he had said that he was worried that his packet of money could be stolen because his desk was open, then the next morning it was really gone. This time, however, he didn’t pay any attention to the boy and just wanted to read a book, but the boy said that it was time to take a bath, so why wasn’t Josef doing so, and that he was just about to go himself, in fact they could go together. Then Josef left and took his swim trunks, the hand towel, the soap, the nail brush, and the comb, rolling them all up together as everyone did at The Box, the boy coming along as well, when suddenly the latter said that he had to go back because he had forgotten something, and that Josef should go on ahead of him, the boy would soon follow. Josef didn’t think any more about it and was already in the bath, but when he returned from the bath to the classroom a classmate was upset that he had just received a packet of food that day and had eaten hardly anything from it, everything having been locked in the cabinet of his desk, and now it had all been stolen, only a couple of biscuits and some paper still left, while everything else was gone, even though he had asked his classmates if they knew anything about it, for everything had been there just an hour ago when he went to take a bath. No one in the classroom knew anything, everyone had left the little room, and after Josef listened for a while it finally dawned on him what had happened to his own packet of money, and so he went to the one who was so upset and said to him, “I need to talk to you, for I have a suspicion as to who it is.” Then he told him what he had observed on his way to the baths, that he couldn’t be absolutely certain, but that he believed that the boy must have taken it, and that he should inquire about him.

Then they went to the inspector on duty, who happened to be Löschhorn, after which they looked for the boy throughout the entire Box, until they finally found him and said he had to open his desk and cabinet, although he said that he had taken nothing, nor had he ever taken anything, though they said to him, “Then open up! If you haven’t taken anything there’s no problem, and you can just close them up again!” Then he had to open up, but he smirked through it all, for he was insulted that anyone would think he could have stolen anything, while once he had opened up everything it all looked as if there really was nothing inside that didn’t belong to him, though Inspector Löschhorn simply reached in and found everything from the package hidden behind other stuff, the middle schooler recognizing everything that belonged to him, the next development occurring when there appeared the name of a fine-goods store in Meerane, which was where the middle schooler was from, Inspector Löschhorn asking, “Now, my boy, where did you get these things?” But the young boy still kept saying that he had never stolen anything, he knew nothing about how those things got there, though the middle schooler said that all of it was from the package he’d gotten that day, the young boy continuing to maintain that he had stolen nothing until the middle schooler yelled, “I also have witnesses!” The inspector, however, said there was no need for witnesses, the middle schooler just needed to say if all of it was his, whether anything was missing, at which the latter looked carefully at everything and said, “It’s all here. There are only two apples missing, which were already gone.” To that Inspector Löschhorn replied that the middle schooler should take all of his things, and the young boy would soon see the consequences of what he’d done, as the inspector would speak to The Bull, for thieves weren’t allowed at The Box, the inspector saying that he would have to lock the boy in the little room where The Paster teaches his cadets, while the middle schooler should give Josef something as a reward, since he was the one who had uncovered the thief. The middle schooler did indeed give Josef something, and was genuinely friendly to him from then on, but no real friendship developed from it.

The boy who had stolen the things got a couple of slaps from The Bull, who then ordered even stronger measures, the kind that came at the end of a dressing-down from The Bull as he ordered a circle to be formed around the sinner in the middle, from which a couple of older pupils stepped forward to beat him for real. The one convicted is defenseless, even if he tries to hold his hands up to his face or pushes back with his elbows or kicks with his feet, for the others are much too strong, and the stronger boys like to hit with all their might until The Bull says that it’s enough. The Bull then leaves and everyone withdraws, and the guilty one is reduced to a lump covered in blue welts, but no one pays him any attention, since no one is allowed to do anything more to him. Yet as the stronger boy whisked the thief away from Josef’s classroom he no longer felt bad for him, for indeed he would not be allowed to remain at The Box, which is why a couple of days later he disappeared and went back to his parents who lived near Wurzen, since thieves were not tolerated at The Box.

When the study hall early in the morning is over, the bell rings again, and the pupils pack their schoolbags, running across the courtyard into the school in good weather, otherwise the doors are opened and you can walk across without even a coat. School lasts until twelve, sometimes until one, a short pause occurring after each period, the one at ten lasting a bit longer, during which two half slices of bread stuck together with margarine and beetroot marmalade are distributed as a second breakfast from large baskets, the pupils lining up on the first floor in order to get a single serving each. During the longer break you can also go to Marta, the head nurse in the infirmary, if you feel you have something wrong with you, but on the other hand you shouldn’t just go anytime you feel like it, for Head Nurse Marta gets very cross if you show up needlessly, it being only reasonable to go if you’re bleeding or feel really sick. The head nurse believes in toughing it out, instead of going to her for any old scratch, for you can put up with a little headache or tummyache, the head nurse having little time to do anything if all two hundred and fifty pupils came to see her every day. If you show up, the head nurse asks what’s the matter, and then dispenses some kind of powder or a spoon of medicine, or sprays something in your eyes, washes out any small wound, smears on a salve, puts on a Band-Aid, or unrolls a bandage, everything taken care of in a jiffy. Josef can’t stand her, nor can many of the others, she being helped by two regular nurses as well as two dispensers, since more and more pupils end up having to stay in the infirmary. When Head Nurse Marta thinks that something is really wrong with a pupil, she orders him to go to the doctor, who then performs a thorough examination, though now there is a new doctor whom the head nurse doesn’t like, because he believes that one should be quite sympathetic when it comes to illness, and is against the use of powders and much more in favor of using wet wraps that slowly bring a fever down, this causing the illness to last longer, resulting in much more work for the nurses, which angers Head Nurse Marta more than anything else.

If a pupil says that he is sick, the head nurse sits him down in a chair, dips a thermometer in alcohol, and sticks it under his arm, and if it’s higher than 100 she says, “You have to stay in the infirmary.” If you have only a small fever you can get the things you need in the infirmary from The Box, but if it’s higher than 102 you have to stay and have someone get what you need, be it a nightshirt, slippers, toiletries, or whatever else you want, though not all that much is allowed. When the head nurse thinks it’s infectious, she has isolation rooms where you are completely alone, Josef having always wanted to get such a room, while others are afraid of them, saying that’s where you go when you have scarlet fever or diphtheria, though if you are sick with these you don’t stay in the infirmary but instead an ambulance comes and takes you away. If the isolation rooms are empty, then sometimes Head Nurse Marta can stick someone in one of them as punishment for causing too much trouble or mischief elsewhere, though again what a pleasure Josef feels it would be to be punished so, if only the head nurse weren’t so nasty. Sometimes she also suspects that someone has intentionally made himself sick in order to get out of The Box for a while, yet she says she is proud to keep the pupils healthy, and that her sickroom is not overfull, except when there’s a rash of flu or a stomach virus, which can never be completely prevented, but that’s when the head nurse is in a bad mood and is always very upset that the new doctor is so against the use of powders. Josef wonders why so many pupils say how nice it is to be sick now and then, claiming that you can at least get some extra rest and don’t have to get up so early, many going back again and again, for he doesn’t find the grub up above any better, since it’s almost exactly the same as what’s served in The Box, except with much more broth, and herb tea rather than barley coffee, though it’s true that the doctor is very nice, always making a couple of jokes during his examination.

Whoever among the pupils wants to be sick simply has to eat some soap, for it causes a fever, but the head nurse knows this and simply takes away all your soap if she suspects someone in the infirmary is doing this, making sure that you have some only when it comes time to wash up. Some hide a second bar of soap and chew away on it when the head nurse is not looking. Once Josef also wanted to get sick in order to escape the torments of The Box, slicing off a piece of his soap that evening and swallowing it, so that the next morning he felt terrible and feverish, then on an empty stomach he swallowed another piece of soap, after which he didn’t want any breakfast. After study hall he was so miserable that he could hardly stand it, at which Inspector Schuster came up to him and asked, “Are you feeling sick?” Josef answered, “Yes, I think I’m really sick!” The inspector replied, “Go straight to Head Nurse Marta! It also looks to me that you’re not well. You’re as pale as milk!” Yet because Josef could hardly walk the inspector sent along an older pupil, who had to almost carry him up the two sets of stairs to the infirmary, but, sick as he was, the head nurse was angry at being disturbed that early, though as soon as she looked at Josef she said right away that it looked to be the flu, and as she took his temperature it climbed above 104, so she kept him there, while the older pupil had to take Josef’s key and go back downstairs to get his things. Josef felt so miserable that he never wanted to eat soap again, and when the doctor arrived he explained that it looked like a bad stomach flu. It took ten days for Josef to feel better, although he no longer wanted to be sick at all, for he was indeed very sick, dreaming the first night that he needed to march in the courtyard, but there the courtyard was endless, going on and on, The Bull then showing up and asking loudly whether Josef knew who he was, at which he yelled so loudly in his sleep that even Head Nurse Marta was kind to him and sat up with him for a while. He got better after that, but the fever lasted an entire week, Herr Lindenbaum having twice sent him up a piece of cake that had been baked by Frau Lindenbaum rather than coming from the bakery, Inspector Schuster also sending along a couple of apples with the hope that he would soon feel better. Then Josef was once again healthy, and he felt a bit chagrined for having deceived others, for the flu had certainly been caused by the soap, even if the head nurse and the doctor had not figured that out.

When school gets out at midday, you have to return to The Box, and Josef doesn’t know if it’s better to be in The Box or at school, but he likes Dr. Wagenseil’s natural-history class, for he’s an actual scientist, and he writes down good marks in his notebook if you raise your hand and say something worthwhile, and that counts toward the final grade. He had also once shown how cocoa, cocoa butter, and sugar could be combined to make chocolate, after which he asked the class if they wanted praline or bar chocolate, everyone shouting “Praline!,” and so he formed clumps that were meant to be praline, each student getting a piece, though Josef was a little disappointed, for it was actually only chocolate that wasn’t filled with anything. Nonetheless, Dr. Wagenseil’s class is often wonderful. Sometimes you get to look into the microscope when he demonstrates how quickly pollen from the stamen grows in a sugar solution, or he shows them infusorian and other tiny creatures or algae. Sometimes he turns the lights off and projects films onto a screen, once even showing them live water fleas, such that you could see their hearts beating, as he explained that his dissertation had been on the auditory canal of the water flea, for he had been the first to discover it.

Josef does well in Dr. Wagenseil’s class, and he is also one of the best students in his entire class, even though he is not that good at math, Scheck the head teacher having assured him that he would never be a success, though Scheck is not even a mathematician but teaches chorus for the most part, being short and fat and very strict, for he carries a stick that he smacks people with, yet he’s not all that bad, Josef even enjoying chorus with him, for he’s good at chorales and canons, and can play the piano surprisingly well. Toward the end of the school year Scheck always assigns a song that begins with the words “Now for the last time,” it being a crucial piece that every class except the highest practices, since it is sung to those students as goodbye, which is why it must be sung especially well, no one allowed to sing along who doesn’t have a good voice or whose voice has recently broken. Scheck practices it for weeks during class and even more during extra hours on the days when those in the highest class are taking their final exams. Whoever wants to sing comes to the chorus room and is put into one of several groups labeled sopranos, altos, tenors, and bass, though hardly any of the students can sing bass and even fewer can sing tenor, as Scheck beats time with the stick, gesticulating so wildly and criticizing and praising, working on it until it is finally perfect. Finally the graduation ceremony is there, everything in The Box astir, everyone donning his best suit, the pupils leaving The Box wearing dark-blue suits, happy that they will soon be allowed to smoke, since that is strictly forbidden in The Box and actually rarely occurs. Now the graduates are quite nervous and run around the entire Box, all the rooms open all the way up to the dormitory, since the graduates need to pack their bags before ten in the morning, when all the adults and all the pupils enter the assembly hall, strangers also attending, be it relatives of the graduates or members of the society of alumni, who immediately begin appealing to the new graduates to join by having them fill out applications. Soon everyone sits in the assembly hall, the graduates in the first three rows, the faculty on the platform at a long table, the inspectors there as well, The Bull sitting in the middle, while behind them stand the pupils who sing “Now for the Last Time.”

Then The Bull gives a long speech, which is touching but also stern, as he tells the graduates that they must make The Box proud and not forget it, that they should be grateful because so many had worked so hard to give them a good education in order to turn them into brave men who will serve the fatherland whenever it calls upon them, at which everyone pulls out his handkerchief, for on this occasion no one is a wimp if he cries, the wildest ones often being the most moved and blubbering uncontrollably as a result. When The Bull is done, the president of the class begins to deliver a speech from memory, saying how wonderful The Box is, that no one will forget it, and how thankful they all are to everyone for having given them so much, which is why the graduates honor them by carrying the banner for The Box onward in their lives, and that it will be an honor to do so, the class president then thanking The Bull for working so assiduously on behalf of the pupils, and if now and then they had disappointed him it was only because they were young, though they still knew his inexhaustible goodness, the class president then thanking all the teachers and calling out their names, as well as the names of the inspectors and everyone else who had contributed their time and effort in making The Box such a wonderful place. After this talk the graduates move to the platform, and the speaker extends his hand to The Bull and loudly clicks his heels, then he goes to one teacher after another, to the inspectors and especially all those who have squeezed onto the platform, and clicks his heels to each of them, all of the graduates now on the platform, each of them clicking his heels in turn, after which they return to their seats. Then everyone sits, only Head Teacher Scheck doesn’t sit, but instead goes to the back and blows the proper tone on a little pipe, followed by a sign that tells the pupils to begin singing “Now for the Last Time.” Then everyone begins blubbering, even those who didn’t howl earlier, some on the platform blubbering as well, only The Bull not crying, today looking doubly dignified, providing a powerful sight, as if sitting on a throne and looking like a rear admiral, holding up his massive head with its white hair like a candle as the song comes to an end. Then everything is finally over, everyone leaves the assembly hall, the graduates stop sobbing, most of them staying for the midday meal, gazing at everything in The Box as if they had never really appreciated it before, then one by one the group of students begins to dwindle, their empty desks standing open, everything else open and empty as well, the entire Box looking strange.

In the school not all teachers enjoy as much respect as Head Teacher Scheck or Dr. Wagenseil, who is the student adviser. There is also Professor Gelbke, who often cannot seem to prevent chaos from breaking out in his class, the pupils competing in odd races in which they use the benches that are not attached to the floor, each row scraping forward more and more, the first row reaching the podium the one that wins, at which Professor Gelbke notices for the first time, though he still doesn’t understand what has just happened. Once they locked Professor Wolkraut out of his room by placing a bench against the door, so that he could barely open the door and couldn’t move a step farther because he couldn’t shove the bench away, he cursing and hissing as always, and then he ran off to get Director Winkler, who was standing in for The Bull, who was ill, but as soon as Winkler arrived with the sick Bull there was nothing blocking the door, Winkler puzzled as he threw a questioning look toward Wolkraut, who could do nothing but look dumbfounded. Meanwhile Lampe taught French, there always being lots of noise in his class, everyone saying whatever he wanted to, but even though he didn’t get much respect he wasn’t afraid to smack a few heads, for whoever didn’t speak French got his ear pinched by Lampe, which could certainly hurt, even though he was quite old. Lampe complains that hardly anyone has a good French accent, he having explained a thousand times the difference between saying ils ont and ils sont, though it always gets mixed up nonetheless, even when he stamps his foot and says, “The ‘s’ in ils ont is like that in ‘soap,’ and in ils sont it’s like that in ‘zephyr.’ ” Nonetheless it’s said wrong again, and Lampe takes his grade book and slaps everyone on the ear who doesn’t get it right.

The most remarkable of all is Professor Felger, the old man who teaches German and botany. He has beautiful white hair and yellow hornrimmed glasses, which he constantly takes off and puts on again, often looking stern and yet sympathetic as he gazes out over them. In his class it’s quiet as a mouse, no one daring to make a peep, nor had he ever had to give anyone a crack on the head, as during the period he hardly ever gets up from his seat, his skin white and delicate and full of wrinkles, his hands bony. Josef had been in his German class, where he talked about poems and demonstrated how they should be said in order to recognize their meter, Felger saying them slowly and clearly, drawing out each stressed syllable to its fullest, saying whoever rides through night and wind, his head nodding to the beat and beating time on his desk with a pencil, after which he lifts his head and looks out at the class. Professor Felger is not happy with the state of things these days, especially at The Box, he often saying that everything today is rotten, the old ways are gone, and thus the war had been lost, though he still remembers how it was in 1870, when there was unity under Bismarck, but now all governments are a mess, no one can just go about his business, for the neighboring countries never will allow it, and the miserable German language is full of nonsense, everyone having spoken flawlessly when Goethe and Schiller were around, as well as having made sure to protect the language from corruption, while whoever cannot speak or write the language correctly has allowed his soul to be corrupted.

When Professor Felger was young, about as old as those in Josef’s class, Uhland died, he having, after Goethe and Schiller, composed the best German ballads, though now there are no longer any good poets who have the power to write a good ballad, perhaps the last being Baron von Strachwitz, who wrote “A Savage Song,” though it’s not really a ballad but rather a pronouncement on our times:

Come, O roar of battle, screaming thunder,

Wounds gaping amid death,

The people’s anger, the people’s murder,

Our dawn will come still yet!

Such verse can no longer be written today, for the language has been corrupted, it being good enough only for bad novels that one shouldn’t read, since their style is ruinous, and no new book ever touches the heart. Professor Felger loves to talk about his villa outside the city, there he tolerates no new-fangled contraptions and no silly luxuries, instead wanting nothing but simple nourishment, for elderberry soup was healthy, while Uhland had written such a lovely poem about how the poet had stopped for a bite at a wonderful inn, that being The Apple Tree, the best inn of all, nothing tastes better than a fresh apple, from which you can press apple cider, no need for any nasty-smelling beer. In fact, when his mother wanted to buy something special for the children there had been pineapple or numerous sweets, which only rotted your teeth, but the mother had roasted apples that came sizzling out of the oven, after which she read fairy tales aloud, which Ludwig Richter had illustrated so beautifully, it being the kind of simple life that everyone needed to return to. Professor Felger hopes that it’s not already too late, though he knows he’s an old man, which is why he changes nothing in his house or garden, where there is also a pump that has long been out of service, it having a tin roof over it, under which singing birds build their nests. Yet the pump is falling apart, its brittle handiwork having collapsed during a late-winter storm, though Professor Felger couldn’t bring himself to clear it all away and throw it out, the rest of the pump still standing there today, reminding him of the birds that had raised their broods there. What has happened to the pump is the same as what happens to people, they are brought down by a storm, which is why it’s good for children to revere their parents and be grateful to them, after which Professor Felger says something about his fallen son, though not much, the students laughing after the class is over, since they didn’t dare do so during it, for if one so much as cracks the slightest smile at the corner of his mouth the professor looks at him so earnestly over his glasses that all laughter disappears.

Professor Felger also talks about the blossoming of cars and soccer, as they were blossoms that really grew on their own. Cars have blossomed most of all, creating dust and an awful lot of noise that rattles the window-panes, it also being a blossom that stinks and is nurtured with gasoline instead of water, its flower not the rose but a blaring horn that scares both people and animals and causes them to run, especially the poor dogs and geese and chickens, which don’t notice the cars blossoming everywhere that run over them, as well as swallowing up children at play, though people love the blossoming cars, because they speed along, such that no one has to remain stuck on a farm or in a pasture, while whoosh! whoosh! everything races by, no one thinking about the sanctity of nature. The blossoming of soccer, however, is even worse, for it infects children as well and holds them in thrall, twenty-two men running after the soccer blossom in order to try to press it into the goal, but it is the people who press against one another and become brutal, because soccer is not an innocent game that encourages good manners or simply passes the time, instead it represents at its core the ruin of Germany, and in addition one has to inflate the soccer blossom just like the egos of those that run after it, though there is nothing worse than the countless idiots who show up to watch twenty-two clowns scramble around the soccer patch. Having finished, Profesor Felger looks earnestly at the class, for he knows that the pupils have their own soccer patch growing in the courtyard of The Box, though he doesn’t say another word about it.

Those who finish school at twelve, that being the younger pupils for the most part, run across to The Box and for an hour can do what they want, followed by the washing of hands and the midday meal, after which they gather in front of Classroom V, where an inspector hands out the mail and reads from a card who has received a package, which you can then pick up in the front office from the bookkeeper, which he then must record. If no one answers right away to his name being called, the inspector calls it out again, but when a pupil at last answers the inspector yells “Sleepyhead!,” followed by everyone yelling “Sleepyhead!,” after which they get a smack or a shove, but when someone doesn’t show up for mail call, he then receives his mail during study hall, though he has to wait until afterward to read it. After the mail is handed out nothing happens until three, and if it’s not raining it’s fun to run out to the courtyard, where you romp about and chase after the soccer ball, which most like to do, it being lucky for Professor Felger that, except for teaching, he never spends time at The Box, abstaining even from attending the fall festival, and so he doesn’t see what couldn’t help but sadden him even more, namely how no one cares what he preaches to the students, no one takes his teaching seriously, for no one wants to be a wimp who still pees in his pants. Inspector Faber has never joined in on the soccer, he says, because he is already too old, but he does like it, because he says it keeps the body limber, and sometimes he helps with inflating the soccer ball, for especially when one is busted he knows how to fix it, knowing how to use glue to patch a ball and working hard at it, as he says that when one can’t do proper exercises soccer is a good substitute. Indeed, soccer is a war game, you have to overcome your opponent and beat him, though you also have to remain sportsmanlike and nobly extend your hand in conciliation, because the inspector also serves as the referee. If a shot is fired that’s especially strong, it’s called a bomb, and Inspector Faber loves to see such bombs fly halfway across the yard, the other inspectors also liking to watch for a while, The Bull rarely showing up in the courtyard, but when he does he also has a look at the soccer game, though most often he watches from a window in his apartment while smoking a cigar, taking in nothing much of what’s happening below.

Recently the dead inspector has finally been replaced by someone new who has to be told by the three older ones how to do the job, himself watching how everything goes as he follows like a dog at the heels of the other inspectors, though he likes best to shadow Faber, since no one is as strapping as he is, for Kunze, who is the new inspector, is a former officer who is tall and thin, such that he looks straight as a ruler, and no doubt he will make for a good inspector, since Josef heard Inspector Faber tell Inspector Löschhorn that one can rely on Kunze, and that he will work out fine. Soon it gets around The Box that Kunze is a straight-as-an-arrow nationalist who has real marrow in his bones and a genuine sense of duty, the others soon turning over to Kunze the pupils who used to belong to Bemmchen, Kunze quick to take charge and handle things even better than Faber. A number of pupils like Kunze because he likes sports and enjoys soccer, even wanting to play along with the pupils, at which they discovered that perhaps Inspector Faber had not told the truth when he said why he couldn’t play, for when The Bull happened to see the new inspector kicking the ball he called Kunze over and told him that as a grown-up he had to maintain his distance from the pupils. Yet no one had any problem if you independently went to Kunze and asked to do some gymnastics and exercises, there being no requirement that one does, for it’s all voluntary, but many pupils appreciate the chance to do so, it not being a daily requirement or anything military, as some say it is, but rather something that has more to do with physical development, which now Kunze often leads in the courtyard.

At three the bell sounds for study hall, which lasts until five. It’s the same as that which occurs in the morning, except now is when you do your written homework, everything needing to remain quiet as one of the teachers, who is the head of the family for a number of pupils, walks back and forth among the nine classrooms, along with an inspector and The Paster, checking whether everyone is really working, though no one sloughs off or secretly does something else. But Josef knows how easily you can be distracted if you have something in your desk that is not allowed. Josef loves to make little drawings that are imaginary maps of realms that don’t exist, beginning with the borders, after which he fills in squares, circles, and points for the cities, all of it outlined with ink, then with a pencil he draws lines for the railroads that run between the cities. Very slowly he does it all, it taking almost a week to complete such a map, himself enjoying how the web of railroads grows ever more thick, no one discovering Josef’s little hobby, for he has good ears and his seat is in a good location such that no one can sneak up on him from behind, which the monitors so like to do, suddenly popping up behind one’s desk without notice in order to see what the pupils are really up to. Josef doesn’t mind study hall, for no one bothers him there, he’s never bored, and he likes the quiet, as he enjoys a good number of his studies, though nonetheless he makes only a show of studying by staring into an open book as he dreams of what’s going on in the world outside The Box. At four o’clock there’s a break when everyone runs out of the classroom and storms the toilets, the afternoon snack handed out in the hall outside, all of it proceeding exactly as it does during the second breakfast.

Then at the sound of the bell the second study hall begins, which is just like the first, after which the bell rings once more, everyone free and sending up a great noise, each wanting to go out and play, soccer starting up again, everyone doing something, some yelling, and so on until seven, when it’s time to wash your hands for dinner, after which you head off to eat, shoving your way into the dining hall, sitting down with your school group, the meal soon over, and off you go again, the evening study hall run on a volunteer basis from seven-thirty until eight-thirty, complete quiet also having to be maintained during it, though there is not the same strenuous oversight as in the regular study hall. Whoever doesn’t want to visit can do what he pleases, be it walk along the halls or stand around, or even head to the game room or go out into the courtyard lit up by the sharp cold light of streetlights one usually sees. There has to be good light everywhere in The Box, in order that the pupils don’t get into trouble anywhere, and the evenings go by so fast that before long everyone is tired, the bell sounding for bedtime as everyone climbs the stairs to the dormitory, another day done, just like every other weekday at The Box, Saturday and Sunday providing the only diversion available.

On Saturday there is no regular study hall after breakfast, since many are not present because of having received a weekend pass, the main activity on Saturday being the bath, which is horrible. You go downstairs to the cellar, which is incredibly packed, because the baths are much too small, there being some tubs that usually are not used by the pupils if they have not been assigned extra tubs, and so all bathing takes place in the showers. Inspector Löschorn once said that the baths were the only thing terrible at The Box, since there were so few showers, two pupils always having to share each one, the bigger one bathing first, followed by the smaller one. Then there’s a wild press as one shoves the other in, it getting louder as they do, some lashing out and hitting others and pushing, as well as defending themselves, though the weak suffer and are helpless. There is also an inspector below, but always just one, who does his duty and turns the handle for the shower, since there’s not much else he can do, while out in the front room where the pupils undress everything goes to hell as they put down their things, though it’s best not to bring along anything valuable, no watch and no money, it being better to lock all of that up in your desk beforehand so that it doesn’t get stolen down below. When during undressing or dressing the others find something funny about someone because there’s something odd, such as silly underpants or something else, then everyone laughs or makes fun, and because Josef has the kind of underwear that buttons, some continually razz him, since no one else in The Box wears such a thing, it being for a baby or someone who shits his pants, nothing that a boy would wear, and so Josef had to ask that he be sent different underwear. Everyone has to undress in such a way that no one sees anything, for in The Box that always causes immediate shame, as someone immediately points a finger at your forbidden parts and says something awful if you are inadvertently naked for a moment or show too much, which is why each boy has bathing trunks that he pulls on before he takes off his shirt, while when getting dressed he does the same thing, taking first the fresh shirt and then dropping the bathing trunks and drying off underneath, after which he finishes dressing, though he has to wash and wring out the bathing trunks, so that they don’t drip all over his locker. When you want to take a shower, there have to be sixteen pupils in order to save water, the inspector turning it on, though he purposely makes it too hot or too cold, only Inspector Schuster taking some measure of care, the water turned off after two minutes, during which time you soap yourself and then go back under the shower in order to rinse off, and then bathing is over, for there’s a shortage of coal, which is why the swimming pool in the baths is most often empty, now and then it being opened up for a little while, the cool water only ankle deep.

After bathing there’s nothing else special on Saturday, except that the school groups are not maintained that evening or on Sunday, each pupil sitting down to eat wherever he wishes, ad hoc groups forming, though otherwise Sunday is the worst day in The Box, especially when there’s a hike. This is required of all healthy pupils and lasts four hours, when the weather allows. On Sunday there is no schedule to keep, since there is no school, and so from breakfast until the midday meal there is nothing at all, only a couple of pious pupils attending Protestant and Catholic services with their parents, which during the war had been held in the chapel, though those who do go to church say that it’s no big deal. Inside The Box the hours barely creep by, as you write your weekly letter home, or at best read a book. But how can Josef settle in to read if he’s constantly wondering if the weather is bad enough to prevent a hike from taking place? Most of the pupils don’t like the hike, though at lunch it’s always said that there will be a hike, although if one cannot be entirely sure what the weather will be like at two o’clock, then most likely there will be a hike, and if the sun shines most are sad that the hike is on for sure.

Five minutes before two the bell rings, “Let’s hike!” is yelled throughout The Box, everyone heads out to the courtyard, where you form two lines, though you can decide whom you want to have as a partner on the hike, but before you head off you have to quickly get your school cap from the clothes room if you don’t have it in your desk, and if it’s not warm enough or it’s raining you also have to take your coat, for no one should catch cold. There are always a couple of pupils who have a reason not to go on the hike, be it the sniffles or some kind of leg wound, though the inspector decides if it’s a good enough reason to miss the hike, he telling most that it will do them no harm to go along for the hike, and that it’s best to be off. Then the only hope is that at the last moment the weather will turn bad, everyone looking up at the sky to see if it will finally rain, the inspectors also looking up and saying that these are only passing clouds that won’t amount to anything, the hike can proceed, though a couple of pupils call out that they have felt a couple of drops, it being better not to go for a hike. Then the two inspectors confer with each other and finally decide whether or not the hike will happen, it being a rare good bit of luck if the hike is canceled at the last minute, after which everyone can head back into The Box and do what he likes, be it play in the yard or in the hallways, in the classrooms or in the game room, while it can also occur that around two-thirty someone yells that the hike is back on, that they need to leave quickly in order to have enough time for a hike. The upper classes form the head of the line, the lower ones following, and at the end the inspector places a couple of older boys, who make sure that no one stays behind, the two inspectors seeing to it that everyone has a partner in order that the spirit of The Box is honored as they leave it, after which they hand out the afternoon snack wrapped in paper.

Then the pupils finally march off, not through the vestibule exit but directly from the courtyard into Rosenbühlstrasse, after which they hike through the streets, it being deadly boring, standing still not allowed unless it’s at a crosswalk, where one has to wait, “Stay in line” often heard so that no space opens up in the lines, most often their path taking them over the bridge known as the Blue Wonder, and then up the mountain through the settled suburbs where Professor Felger lives, though they don’t pass his villa. Farther on they head into the forest, which is quite desolate, even when the forest is beautiful, for you have to keep pressing on and cannot stray from the path, it only being rarely allowed for the two rows to stop to rest, but only for a little while before they are formed again. During the hike Josef feels more unsure of himself than he does at The Box, for during a hike there’s nothing to do but hike, until finally you reach the destination that the inspectors say is their goal, it always being a coffeehouse, where one can rest and sit in the garden along with a couple of day-trippers who gawk at the pupils in their brown caps, some of them even knowing that they are from The Box, as the inspectors go to the innkeeper and order coffee for everyone that is nearly as bad as that served in The Box, the pupils opening up their snacks, making sure to throw the paper in the waste can, the snack over before you know it. Then someone again yells “Line up!,” the hike is about to move on, though at least it’s now headed back to The Box and goes along a different route, since it’s better to hike two different paths, but it doesn’t really matter what path you hike on, since it’s all so miserable. Then finally you cross the Blue Wonder once again and head back into the city, Rosenbühlstrasse soon approaching and The Box, the gate to the yard standing open, then once more closed, the inspectors satisfied since they enjoyed the hike, yet only they enjoyed it, the pupils running from the yard as fast as possible.

Many are tired from the hike, Josef as well, and sit down wherever they can, the evening meal soon following, after which all the pupils who had a pass return, as the evening passes quickly by, the bell rings, eight-thirty already, time for bed, as they head upstairs to the dormitory to lay their clothes on a stool, the pupils pulling the blankets over them, the big light turned off, the green light appearing once again. Now Josef feels alone, though it’s not so bad, as he thinks about everything that goes on in The Box, and why it is the way it is. He sees The Bull as he stands below, next to the main staircase, people clicking their heels to him, followed by Inspector Faber, who always wants to parade, Josef seeing everything that goes on in The Box, his feet somewhat sore from the hike. Josef knows only that he wants to leave The Box, for he’d rather not grow up to be the kind of proper man who, above all, will do honor to The Box, nor does he want to join the society of alumni, for as soon as he can get away from The Box he never wants to see it again, he never wants to pass by the castellan Herr Lindenbaum again, even if he has never done anything to him, since he’s not a bad man. Even if Josef should one day see this city again, he’ll never visit anyone in The Box, nor does he ever want to set foot in Weimarerstrasse again, Professor Felger being the only one he’d like to see, if he is still alive, so that he can show him the garden with the destroyed pump, under whose roof songbirds had nested until the brittle pump fell apart and became just a memory. From far off Josef can hear the song “Now for the Last Time” in his ears, though already he has forgotten almost everything, he knowing nothing more of The Box and thinking no more about how much he has been yelled at here, his eyes closing instead so that he no longer sees the green light, or hears the night attendant who sits up on his chair in front of the toilet in the foyer, everything going out inside Josef, because it’s quiet, as he falls into a dreamless sleep.

*This phrase translates to our contemporary phrase “no pain, no gain.” However, as the passage that follows is about how it is misspelled in German, I have chosen not to translate it in order to allow the difference between the sharp “s” or “ß” of the spelling on the wall to play out against the round “s” that Professor Felger says it should be. It should also be noted that Ohn is a very old-fashioned way of spelling Ohne, or “without,” in German.