Book Five

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

For the rest of the Autumn we lived in a little comfortable, wooden house up in the mountains. The wife of our landlord would make a fire in our room every morning and then bring in breakfast for us to eat in bed or at the table. Outside our window, we could see a lake down below at the foot of the mountain. And if we looked to the right, we could see the mountains of France.

We would take walks in the forest. We wore heavy shoes with nails on the bottom to keep us from falling on the icy road. Often, we read books and played card games to help pass the time. We lived up on the second floor, while our landlady, Mrs Guttingen, and her husband lived downstairs. They had a good-sized apartment and often we would hear friends come over to drink with them in the evenings. We always had a fire going in our fireplace. At night, we left the window open and slept comfortably under warm blankets. It did not seem like there was a war going on in the neighboring countries, however, the newspapers told us there was.

Montreux was at the bottom of the mountain. We would occasionally walk down through the vineyards to the town. We liked to walk through the narrow streets and look at what people were selling in their stores. On this occasion Catherine got her hair done at a beauty salon and I had a drink at a nearby pub and read a newspaper. What I read made me sad. Nothing seemed good anywhere in the world except here in Switzerland. When I finished my drink, I went back to the hair salon to see if Catherine was ready. She looked beautiful and she was very happy to see me.

"Can we get a beer somewhere," she said, "The baby likes beer, and the doctor said it would help to keep her from getting too big."

When we got to the beer hall, we sat down in a dark corner and ordered a couple of German beers.

"I guess that you and I should marry, now that we're having a child."

"Alright. Let's do it today," I answered.

"No. I don't want to get married with my stomach looking so big. It would embarrass me. Let's wait until after I have the child. Then people will admire how attractive we both are at our wedding."

"What did the doctor tell you the other day when you went to see him?" I asked.

"Not much. He just told me to drink a little beer occasionally, and he told me not to go skiing, unless I could guarantee that I would not fall down."

"Ha! What a joker!" I said laughing.

"You know, I can't wait to become an American. I'm so excited to go there with you. There are so many things I want to see!"

"Like what? The Grand Canyon?"

"Not that."

"The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco?"

"Yes! That's exactly it!"

"Fine. We'll move to San Francisco. That's a nice town."

"Agreed."

"Now, let's go back to our home."

We walked back to the electric train station and waited for the driver to board the front of the train. He came out of the nearby wine store and got into his seat.

"How do you feel, Catherine?" I asked.

"Wonderful. Really wonderful."

A few days before Christmas, a big snowstorm arrived. It was the first snow since we had arrived in November. Catherine and I stayed in bed and watched the trees get white outside our window.

"I wish that I could be more active!" Catherine said, "It's so boring having a child inside of you."

"We'll go out for a walk a little later. How's that?"

"Sounds good."

When we went out, the snow was blowing pretty hard and our feet sunk deep into the ground. It was quite a difficult journey to the train station. When we got there, we went into the bar area and had a couple of glasses of wine. Afterward, we went back out into the storm and found that our footprints were already covered by new snow.

Back at our home, the Guttingens had lunch ready for us. Mr Guttingen asked me if I could ski well. I told him that I had never tried. He said that his son would be coming to visit tomorrow and that he could teach me if I was interested.

Later on, while Catherine and I were relaxing near a wooden stove, she asked me if I was bored being with her all the time.

"Of course not! Are you bored with me?" I asked.

"No. It's just that I can't do much and if you're with me all the time, that means you can't do much, either."

"I don't mind it at all. I love you, and I love being with you."

"Have you ever thought about growing a beard?"

"No. Would you like me to?"

"Why not?"

"Fine. I'll start growing one today. That'll make our lives more interesting, won't it?"

"Do you think much about the war?"

"Not the war, really. I think more about the people I knew in the war."

"Which people?"

"You know. I think about my old roommate, Rinaldi, and that priest in the dining hall. Those guys. I worry whether Rinaldi has a sex disease or not. He thinks that he does."

"Does he?"

"I'm not sure."

"Have you ever had a sex disease?" she asked.

"Once. I suffered from gonorrhea."

"Did it hurt?"

"Of course!"

"I'm disappointed that I never had that. Then we could understand each other even more. I wish I had slept with all the girls you had back in Italy. Then we could joke about them together."

"That's a lovely thought," I said, thinking just the opposite.

"Just as lovely as you having gonorrhea."

"Let's change the subject."

"I want you and I to be the same person. I wish that I could somehow get inside of you and become one with you."

"Me too. Shall I still grow a beard? It will make us that much more different from one another."

"Yes. I want to see you with a beard."

"Alright. Let's play a game of cards or something."

"Sure."

Outside our window the snow continued to fall heavily.

(end of section)