His Evening [1]
Peter Bichsel [2]
He had high hopes at his funeral and always had wishes for the arrangement of the ceremony. “Just don’t make stories”, he explained, or he said to the woman: “Do you know that I hated carnations, that you have to know that, that could be important one day.”
He was glad that he had not died two or five or ten years ago, because two years ago they would have put carnations on his grave, five years ago he would have loved carnations and brass music, and ten years ago he would have been still a member of a party.
Earlier he read the obituary in the newspaper. “There are many simple and good people”, he had thought. Now he found obituaries all the same and was annoyed by the pictures which were published for that.
He said to his wife: “I hate carnations.” In evenings, when he came home from his work, he was tired and found the room overheated.
“You smoke too much”, said his wife. “You should take care of yourself”, she also said. He read the newspaper.
His wife was often startled, when he said something. He folded the newspaper suddenly, put it on the table and said: “I can still remember, how our railway was electrified, I was at the celebration, a council of minister [3] spoke.” In another different occasion he explained for the Marconi set [4] which his father had owned, with a headphone, one of the first in the area.
What did she want to say to that. If she said nothing, it annoyed him.
“I wanted you to keep the housekeeping book from now on”, he said.
The wife knew that he hated his superior Bühlmann. So he explained. It made her uncomfortable, if Bühlmann greeted friendly on the street. Bühlmann wore a hair felt hat with a green cord.
She also said: “You look tired today”, and if he did not answer, she said: “You should perhaps go to see doctor once.” Or she said: “What should I cook for you tomorrow”, or “When will you take your vacation?”
His wife had the right to go to cinema on Thursdays. She would have liked to take him with her once, to share her joy with him, as she said. She had also subscribed to the read circle and receive her book every month. If you had asked him about the books, he would have said, “Goethe [5] und so.”
“What could this Bühlmann probably have against him? Bühlmann was now first of all his superior.
Perhaps it was just the rimless glasses, that annoyed him about Bühlmann.
“This Bühlmann was also in the cinema”, the wife said as she came back from the cinema, and Bühlmann said in the next morning: “So, how had your spouse enjoyed yesterday’s movie, she must have really enjoyed it.”
Those were his evenings. He did not know, why the radio had to be very loud all evening. If noticed that, it bothered him. He turned it off. When it was not on, it bothered him. “It is hot”, he said. “I have said, it is hot”, he said, cried maybe. Then he looked her reproachfully, then he turned the radio.
Boring story.
‘Boring story’, he thought. ‘He is reading the newspaper’, she thought. “You must not let Bühlmann get you down”, she said.
“Bühlmann knows English.”
“I’m now going to bed”, he said several times, before going to bed.
[1]. p. 30. Sein Abend. Eigentlich möchte Frau Blum den Milchmann kennenlernen. Suhrkamp Verlag Frankfurt am Main, Walter-Verlag AG, Germany. 1996.
[2]. Peter Bichsel. 3/24/1935 - . Swiss writer and journalist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Bichsel
[3]. Bundesrat. Germany: upper house of the Germany parliament. Switzerland: council of minister. Peter Bichsel is a Swiss writer, so use the latter here.
From Collins German-English Dictionary Unbridged, 5th Edition, Colins, 2004:
[4]. Marconipult. Here, it probably meant the telegraph set with a headphone. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guglielmo_Marconi
[5]. Goethe. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Wolfgang_von_Goethe
