Eight of Spades

… like a whirlwind from
foreign lands …

A lbert Klages lifted his glass to his lips and took a mouthful of wine.

When I looked at his old face, it was strange to imagine that this person was the neglected little boy who’d lost his mother on her sickbed. I tried to imagine the special friendship which had developed between him and Baker Hans.

I had been lonely and forlorn when I had come to Dorf, but the man who had taken me in had once been just as exhausted. Albert put his glass back down on the table and raked about in the fire with a poker before he continued.

‘Everyone in the village knew Baker Hans lived in a wooden cabin above Dorf. There were many rumours about what it was like there, but I don’t think anyone had been inside his place. So it wasn’t surprising that I had butterflies in my stomach as I walked between the high banks of snow up to Baker Hans’s that winter evening. I was the very first person to visit the mysterious baker …

‘A white full moon rose above the mountains in the east, and the first stars had already appeared in the night sky.

‘As I walked up the last little hill, I remembered what Baker Hans had said about me one day tasting a fizzy drink a thousand times better than the one I’d had after the big fight. Did this drink have anything to do with the big secret?

‘I soon spied the house up on the ridge, and as I’m sure you understand, Ludwig, that house was the very house we’re sitting in now.’

‘I nodded quickly, and the old baker continued: ‘I passed the water pump, hurried over the snow-covered courtyard, and knocked on the door. I heard Baker Hans call, “Come in, my son!”

‘Now, you have to remember I was only twelve years old at the time, and I still lived at home on the farm with my father. So it felt a bit strange to be addressed as another man’s son.

‘I stepped inside, and it was like slipping into another world. Baker Hans sat in a deep rocking chair, and all over the room there were glass bowls with goldfish inside. In every corner a little piece of rainbow danced.

‘But there were not only goldfish here. I stood for a long time staring at objects I had never seen before. It took many years before I could put into words what I saw there.

‘There were ships in bottles and conch shells, Buddha figures and precious stones, boomerangs and wooden dolls, old rapiers and swords, knives and pistols, Persian cushions and South American carpets made of llama wool. I particularly noticed a strange glass figure of an animal with a little pointed head and six legs. It was like a whirlwind from foreign lands. I might have heard of some of the things I saw, but this was long before I had seen a photograph.

‘The whole atmosphere in the little cabin was totally different from the way I had imagined it to be. It was as though I were no longer at Baker Hans’s; suddenly I was visiting an old seafarer. Oil lamps were lit around the room, and these were so different from the paraffin lamps I was used to seeing, they must have come from his life at sea.

‘The old man asked me to sit down in a chair beside the fire, and it was exactly the same chair you’re sitting in now, Ludwig. Do you understand?’

I nodded again.

‘Before I sat down, I walked around the cosy room looking at all the goldfish. Some of them were red, yellow, and orange; others were green, blue, and violet. I had seen a goldfish like these only once before. That had been on a little table in the back room of Baker Hans’s bakery. I had often stood staring at the tiny fish swimming back and forth inside the glass bowl while Baker Hans made dough.

“What a lot of goldfish you have,” I exclaimed as I walked across the room towards him. “Are you going to tell me where you caught them?”

‘He chuckled and said, “All in due course, my boy, all in due course. Tell me – would you like to be the baker in Dorf one day when I am gone?”

‘Although I was only a child, the idea had already occurred to me. I didn’t have anything in my life except Baker Hans and his bakery. Mother was dead, Father had stopped asking about my comings and goings, and all my brothers and sisters had moved away from Dorf.

“I’ve already decided to stay in the bakery trade,” I replied formally.

“I thought as much,” said the old man. “Hmm … You will have to look after my fish as well. And there’s even more. You’ll be the keeper of the secret of Rainbow Fizz.”

“Rainbow Fizz?”

“Yes, that and everything else, my boy.”

“Tell me about Rainbow Fizz,” I said.

‘He raised his white eyebrows and whispered, “It has to be tasted, my boy.”

“Can’t you tell me what it tastes like?”

‘He shook his old head in despair.

“A normal fizzy drink tastes of orange or pear or raspberry – and that’s that. That isn’t the case with Rainbow Fizz, Albert. You taste all those flavours at the same time with this drink, and you even taste fruits and berries you’ve never been near with your tongue.”

“Then it must be good,” I said.

“Hah! It’s more than just good. You can taste a normal fizzy drink only in your mouth … first on your tongue and the roof of your mouth, then a little bit down your throat. You can taste Rainbow Fizz in your nose and head, down through your legs, and out through your arms.”

“I think you’re pulling my leg,” I said.

“You think so?”

‘The old man looked almost dumbfounded, so I decided to ask something which was easier to answer.

“What colour is it?” I asked.

‘Baker Hans started to laugh. “You’re full of questions, aren’t you, boy. And that’s good, but it’s not always easy to answer. I have to show you the drink, you see.”

‘Baker Hans got up and walked over to a door which led into a little bedroom. Inside, there was a glass bowl with a goldfish in it. The old man pulled out a ladder from underneath the bed and leaned it up against the wall. I noticed a little trapdoor in the ceiling which was locked with a heavy padlock.

‘The baker climbed the ladder and opened the trapdoor to the attic with a key which he fished out of his shirt pocket.

“Come here, my boy,” he said. “No one but me has been here for more than fifty years.”

‘I followed him up into the attic.

‘Moonlight streamed in through a little window in the roof. It fell upon old chests and ships’ bells lying under a cover of dust and spider’s webs. But it wasn’t only the moon illuminating the dark attic. The moonlight was blue, but there was also a bright shimmer, in all the colours of the rainbow.

‘Baker Hans made his way across the attic floor. He stopped at the far end and pointed towards a corner. An old bottle was standing on the floor under the slanting roof. A light shone from the bottle which was so dazzlingly beautiful that at first I had to cover my eyes. It was a clear glass bottle, but the contents were red, yellow, green, and violet – or all these colours at once.

‘Baker Hans picked up the bottle, and the contents glittered like liquid diamonds.

“What is it?” I whispered timidly.

“The old baker’s face was serious. “This, my boy, is Rainbow Fizz. These are the last drops to be found in the whole world.”

“And what’s that?” I asked, pointing down at a small wooden box containing a pile of dusty old playing cards. They had almost disintegrated. The eight of spades lay on the top of the heap. I could only just make out a number eight in the left-hand corner of the card.

‘Baker Hans put his finger to his lips and whispered, “They’re Frode’s playing cards, Albert.”

“Frode?”

“Yes, Frode. But we’ll hear that story another evening. Now you and I are going to take this bottle down to the living room.”

‘With the bottle in his hand, the old man started to walk across the floor. He looked like a pixie with a lantern; the only difference was that this lantern didn’t know whether it wanted to shine red, green, yellow, or blue. Small specks of colour splashed across the room – like the light from a hundred tiny dancing lanterns.

‘When we were back downstairs in the living room, he put the bottle on the table in front of the fireplace. The exotic objects in the room were coloured by the contents of the bottle. The Buddha figure became green, an old revolver became blue, and a boomerang became red like blood.

“ Is that Rainbow Fizz?” I asked again.

“Yes, the last drops. And it’s just as well, Albert, because this is a drink which is so terribly good, I wouldn’t like to say what might happen if it were sold over the counter.”

‘He got up and fetched a little glass; then he poured a couple of drops into it. They lay on the bottom of the glass and glittered like snow crystals.

“That’s enough,” he said.

“Don’t I get any more?” I asked, surprised.

‘The old man shook his head. “A little taste is more than enough. The taste of just one drop of Rainbow Fizz will last for many hours.”

“So maybe I can drink a drop now, and another drop early tomorrow morning,” I suggested.

‘Baker Hans shook his head in despair. “No, no. One drop now – and no more drops ever again. You will find this drop so good you will want to steal the rest. That’s why I have to lock it up in the attic again as soon as you leave. When I’ve told you about Frode’s playing cards, you’ll think yourself lucky I didn’t give you the whole bottle.”

“Have you tasted it yourself?”

“Yes, once. But that was more than fifty years ago.”

‘Baker Hans got up from his chair by the fire, took the bottle with the liquid diamonds, and put it in the little bedroom.

‘When he returned, he placed one hand on my shoulder and said, “Drink now. This is the greatest moment of your life, my boy. You will always remember it, but this moment will never ever return.”

‘I raised the little glass to my mouth and drank the glittering drops that lay in the bottom. As soon as the first drop tickled the tip of my tongue, a wave of desire washed through my body. At first I tasted all the best flavours I had tasted previously in my young life; then a thousand other flavours surged through my body.

‘Baker Hans had been right about the taste starting from the tip of my tongue. But I could also taste strawberry, raspberry, apple, and banana in my arms and my legs. In the tip of my little finger I could taste honey, in one of my toes I tasted preserved pears, and in the small of my back confectioner’s custard. I could smell the scent of my mother all over my body. It was a smell I had forgotten, though I had missed it ever since she’d died.

‘When the first storm of flavour eased, it was as though the whole world was in my body; yes, as if I was the whole world. I suddenly felt that all the woods and lakes, mountains and fields were part of my body. Although my mother was dead, it was as though she were out there somewhere …

‘When I looked at the green Buddha figure, it seemed to laugh. I glanced at the two swords hanging crossed on the wall, and now they appeared to fence. The ship in the bottle which I had spotted as soon as I had entered Hans’s cabin was on top of a large cupboard. I now felt as though I were standing on board the old sailing ship, rushing towards a lush island in the distance.

“Was it good?” I heard a voice say. It was Baker Hans. He leaned over and ruffled my hair.

“Mmm …” was all I could reply. I didn’t know what to say.

‘And so it is today. I can’t say what Rainbow Fizz tasted like; it tasted like everything. I just know I still get tears in my eyes when I think of how good it was.’

Дата добавления: 2015-10-28