A Time to Love and a Time to Die Page #7

They're alive! My parents are alive!

...who caused...

This was sent the day they were being

evacuated! They don't know where to.

(Sobs)

They'll let me know their address

as soon as they have one.

She says my mother

and father are dead. Is that true?

She tells me not to worry!

She doesn't know, Ernst.

She thinks...

I'm very glad for you.

...that everyone who isn't here

must be dead.

I'll take your notice down. There are

so many others and so little space.

Because our children are.

She says things.

We've been reported because of it.

Have you seen my parents at all?

Yes, two or three weeks ago

on the street. Not since then.

How did they look, were they well?

Herr Gr?ber?

They were alive, Ernst.

Yes?

I've something for your wife.

It came after she left for work.

I'm sorry, Herr Langer.

I promised I'd see that she get it.

I'm sorry about your...

I'll tell her. I know

she'll be deeply touched.

A summons from the Gestapo.

She's to report tomorrow at 4 o'clock.

(Drone of aircraft climaxes

and begins to fade)

They are flying past.

Did those people know anything

about your parents?

No.

Thank God they didn't attack.

They are going somewhere else.

-Oh, Arnold?

-Yes?

-Did you turn off the gas?

-I don't know.

Ah, that means you didn't.

Dinner will be burnt to a crisp.

Life goes on again!

(Laughs)

When the all-clear sounds, if we're near

the door, we can get out sooner.

Frau Lieser isn't home yet.

How can you tell?

If she were home,

we'd be hearing her radio by now.

The home front relay a broadcast.

She turns it on full to blast it

into the ears of all the neighbours.

-Professor Pohlmann.

-What is it?

I don't know how you stand living

with her. You ought to move.

-I'm Ernst Gr?ber, a former pupil.

-Gr?ber...!

I can't. As long as I'm here I can hope

that my father will come back.

If I went away it would be like giving up.

What do you want?

Can I see you for a few moments,

Professor?

I need your advice.

I no longer have the right

to receive students.

I must talk to you, Professor.

Thank you.

There's no one else I can go to.

Please let me come in.

Say, would you like to go somewhere?

For a cup of tea or something?

Anyone see you come back here?

You're just home on furlough, I'm sure

you want other company than mine.

No.

Only the workmen out front.

Workmen?

Good night.

They may be workmen

but one may not be.

Good night.

I'm being watched, Gr?ber.

Elisabeth!

Come back another time,

but make sure no one is around.

Knock twice slowly,

then twice more quickly.

Here's something for you.

Oh?

Gr?ber?

-It's food. And I thought...

-Yes. I know those packages.

Yes.

If the workmen ask you anything,

tell them I wouldn't talk to you.

But...I'd like you to have it.

Or even open the door.

I've nobody else to give it to.

(Air raid sirens sound)

And that's the only reason

you're giving it to me?

You, soldier. The shelter's a block over.

Come with us. Hurry!

What's the matter with you?

It's always food packages, cigarettes

and French perfume.

In broad daylight?

You soldiers expect every woman to...

They're going to make sure they get

the factories this time.

How do you know what I expect?

I wanted to give you this

because I thought you'd like it.

Not because I have to buy

my way around.

(Aircraft engines)

I'm sorry, but fighting

is not my idea of fun.

Not even with you. Goodnight.

(Gasps)

Good evening, soldier.

Why don't you tell me all about it?

Here, you take it.

(Bells chime)

And you never saw such legs!

Long, beautiful and slim!

And such eyes! And such teeth!

Like a white gardenia flower.

So, I opened the bottle of brandy.

50-year-old Napoleon,

expensive, but this was worth it.

It took only two glasses.

Ah, that Napoleon!

So? Well, and then?

Well that's as far as a cavalier can tell

a story and still be in good taste.

It's an obscenity, Reuter.

Betraying your wife...

Oh, idiot!

How can a man betray his wife when

he doesn't even know if she's alive?

If she were here, I wouldn't betray her.

I am simply the victim of army life.

I'm a martyr.

Oh, gentlemen, we haven't welcomed

Gr?ber here to our club.

-Schilling, the bottle.

-Here, here.

This is home made potato schnapps,

it's an insult to the stomach

but it's all that's available.

Give me that! You know the doctor

told you to lay off this stuff.

Everybody always wants

to take care of me.

You crazy fool! Clear out!

All my life, caviar and champagne -

now, in the Army, I get the gout.

Which in turn saves my life.

Is that the uniform factory?

It was. What are you doing

on the streets?

It's better to be sick here

than healthy at the front.

My wife works there. Was there time

for everyone to get to the shelters?

Give me that...

You keep quiet!

I drink this to save my life.

There was a power breakdown.

Just before the alert.

Come on. We've got more important

things to do than waste time on him.

Most of the workers were sent home.

The overcoat section too?

Give me a hand.

How should I know?

Now I can check all the villages. They're

crowded with people from the town.

Don't they keep a record

of where people were sent?

Records may be

good enough for you, but not for me.

Why don't you go home

and find out?

When you know your parents

are safe somewhere, you can relax.

But you can't relax just knowing

your wife is alive.

She's got to be with you.

Especially when

she weighs 200 pounds.

(Panicked shouts)

It's simple for you. You grab the first girl

that comes along and everything is fine.

But with me, where do I find a woman

like my Alma?

At the restaurant, down the street.

The waitress.

And she weighs over 200 pounds.

Oh, fat. Tired, flabby, fat.

It's frightening.

-Frau Lieser, have you seen my wife?

-I don't know.

Did she get home? Is she in the shelter?

What shelter? We were flooded out,

can't you see?

But my Alma... You could break a finger

trying to pinch her.

And now somebody else

is breaking his finger, huh?

-You don't know my Alma.

-Oh, I know, I know.

She's waiting some place only for you.

Like Nasick's wife, huh?

Hey, Nasick, tell them.

Tell them how the whole Fire Department

was helping you wife wait for you.

(Laughter)

Reuter, one of these days,

as a special favour to Nasick,

I'm going to cripple your other leg too.

Gr?ber. Take my advice,

don't be a fool

and waste your whole furlough

like B?ttcher.

Enjoy your life while you can.

Have you any idea how long your life is?

These days, who does?

Three weeks. As long as your furlough,

three weeks of life.

Then, death holds the trumps.

Why, you've been home three days

already. That's three out of twenty one.

Why that's as much as ten years

of normal life.

Ten years of waste.

Come on, let's get out of here.

(Grunts)

Records? Ha!

We can't even get them buried.

If the air raids continue

I don't know what we will do.

There is no space.

Did you try the other cem...

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