Rigadoon by Louis-ferdinand & Manheim Celine Page A

pretty . . . except it looks like three-quarter mourning . . . and then a lot of cottages . . . all along the beach . . . baroque cottages . . . the "frivolous German" style . . . all colors . . . especially raspberry and pistachio . . . no bathers, closed shutters . . . fashionable resort, this Wamemünde . . . nothing doing right now! . . . we haven't spoken to a soul . . . nobody's come near us . . . guess they think our two soldiers are taking us somewhere . . . the season here is two weeks, the Baltic climate . . . ah, a little further on, where they've been loading fish, the Berlin train has been made up . . . let's go see! . . . two reserved compartments . . . for us, I guess . . . that'll do for the beach . . . we've seen it! . . . may as well sit down! us and the older soldier . . . take a load off our feet . . . the young one gets in next door . . . they haven't spoken to us very much . . . sitting there, we get a good view of what's going on, the other people getting in . . . ah, they're checking up! . . . at least ten uniformed cops . . . passing papers back and forth . . . stamping and restamping! asking questions . . . especially the Hungarian soldiers with the red caps . . . fine-tooth comb . . . not so easy getting to Denmark! . . . especially for us! with our guardian angels . . . I wonder what they are . . . S.A.? . . . S.S.? . . . I don't see any insignia . . . or stripes . . . I'll ask them later, right now let's admire the beach! . . . we won't have come for nothing . . . not a rough sea . . . flat gray . . . the sky, the little pebbles, the water . . . they meet in the distance, far away . . . in Zornhof it was the plain that seemed endless . . . so this freighter, the 149, is going out there beyond the sea and sky . . . we wouldn't mind trying it ourselves . . . I don't see anybody on the water, not a boat . . . maybe they only fish at certain hours . . . or at night . . . this beach used to be a garden spot, the snazziest in all northern Germany . . . you wouldn't think it . . . nothing gets gloomier than these so-called beach resorts . . . cottages, casino . . . when the telegrams start pouring in, the bad news and the lightning . . . so us there, looking at the sky and the seagulls, what are we hoping for? . . . gulls and more gulls, diving at the nets and baskets . . . lighting on the deck of the freighter . . . and screaming louder than ever! the whole beach full of them! . . . more and more! . . . we won't go! . . . we won't budge out of the compartment . . . I look at our two sentries . . . one of them must be about fifteen . . . the other's a good deal older . . . the older one gives an order . . . the young one jumps up! . . . he runs across the beach . . . to a shack in the port . . . we wait . . . he comes back with two messkits . . . and a bottle . . . he's made it quick . . . they're taking good care of us . . . piping hot! . . . two messkits full of fish with rice . . . and a quart of water . . . in the last three days . . . I know we're used to it, but all the same . . . if it hadn't been for Proseïdon, we wouldn't have had anything to eat at all . . . those messkits hit the spot . . . the young one asks us if it's good . . . "sure thing! ja! ja! danke! " . . . kind of a matelote . . . sautéed in butter! . . . luxury! . . . and out of the blue, just like that! ah, now we feel more like looking around . . . there's plenty to see . . . the freighter's pulling out . . . looks like . . . right, she is! . . . not blowing any whistles . . . the propellers beating . . . very slowly . . . we get a better view of the side . . . from gunwale to waterline . . . Denmark in enormous white letters . . . if they get torpedoed, they're asking for it . . . bon voyage! . . . I wave out the door . . . nobody waves back . . . nobody shows himself . . . orders, I suppose . . . and finally the 149 moves into the channel . . . oh, very slowly . . . the sea . . . out she goes . . . the water, flat and gray .