"LET'S GO ON" "Out town was liberated on October 15, 1944." "This was an unforgettable day." "All the other days I hardly remember." "They've all blurred Into an endless day." "Childhood Is never Irrevocably past." "It keeps growing and bursting In on us." "Who was the first soldier to enter the town and hoist a flag on the City Hall?" "I think It was our teacher." "My third-grade classroom was In an Inn," ""The Golden Barrel';" "All the other buildings, Including the school, were taken over by the army." "We had to move to "The Barrel';" "The guns sing, more sweetly than birds." "From our bunkers, we see the green forest." "We are young partisans." "We fight for our people's freedom." "With a gun in our hand we walk through the forest." "The forest is our mother, the forest is our home." "Sit down." "Children, this is your new teacher." "This is the third grade." "They are rather spoiled." "The former teacher, a lady, was too indulgent." "You discipline them." "If necessary, the partisan way." "Don't be afraid, I wanted to pat you." "Sit down." "Children, my name is Milosh." "What is yours?" "Let's go on." "We cried." "So what?" "It's okay." "Even for soldiers." "Schopenhauer!" "At that time a whole German division was taken prisoner." "The teacher took a prisoner to serve us." "Come on, tell us." "What were you doing in our country?" "Explain it." "Who called you?" "Is anything here yours?" "Whoever has a father prisoner of war, stand up." "Those who have a relative killed by them, too." "Does a godfather count?" "What about an uncle?" "Yes." "What about you?" "My father was killed in a camp." "But I think he's still alive." "Out." "A break, children!" "Let's go out." "Enough!" "The break is over." "Everybody inside!" "Let's go on." "What can I say?" "Blame it on yourself." "The poor man!" " It's his own fault." "My Misha is a POW over there in his country." "He had to go, this one came by himself." "The poor man!" "Schopenhauer." "Let's go on." ""The guns sing more sweetly than birds... "" "More sweetly than birds?" "!" "Who taught you that?" "Someone who has never heard a gun." "Listen..." "More sweetly than birds?" "No." "Birds sing, guns kill." "Do you know a nicer song?" ""Two rainy nights in September"" ""and the sad memory"" ""of our past happiness"" ""and the love that you gave me. "" "Like the water after a flood, the war retreated back to Germany, from where It had come uninvited four years ago." "Our games were cut short and now we tried to resume them." "But the war had left ugly scars." "The people's tribunal was In session." "The sentences reflected its righteous wrath." ""To death" was the most frequent sentence." "To death!" "To death!" "To death!" "Teacher, have you ever killed a German?" "There's shooting in every war." "You shot him and you saw him fall down?" "Yes, I did." "Look at this." "What they did to me during a battle." "Look at this." "From a bullet..." "Why is he crying?" "His grandfather is on trial today." " Dragisha?" "To death!" "To death!" "To death!" "Go to hell." "All of you!" "To death!" "To death!" "To life!" "To death!" "To life!" "Why?" "He is my pupil's grandfather." " So what?" "My brother-in-law was on trial." "No favoritism." "I know." "But the child is crying." "He is a war millionaire." "I was one before the war, I'll be one after, too." "I'm used to being rich." " To death!" "To life!" "If you please." "Sit down." "I came to thank you, sir." "Eh, grandpa, grandpa, you're a big teaser." "Thanks a lot." "The piglet is for you." "Shopenhauer!" "Nice grandpas' piglet!" "Eat, Dragisha, eat." "We must find him a muzzle." "Muzzle?" "Why?" "Man has determined a pig's lot." "A sad lot." "To stuff himself and to fatten up." "The fool thinks man loves him." "He does, but roasted and cured." "In those times a pig was quite a fortune." "Get him!" "Get him!" "Those were hungry times." "Everything was In short supply, except hope." "There was plenty of It." "You'll live to eat out of a trough." "With a spoon on a short chain, so you don't lose even a drop of it." "Sometimes the whole town used to go out and line up for something." "Bravo!" "Very nice!" "Another one for the Gypsy boy." "You nasty German!" "Look ahead!" "Straight ahead!" "Let me try it." "Here I go, kids." "Look at me!" "Take it easy!" "Not to the left!" "Watch the pig!" "Serves me right for lending a state bicycle." "What is it?" " Let me see." "What?" " Blood." " Blood?" " Blood!" "A bicycle was quite a rarity." "Many a dream was about owning and riding one." "In the whole town there were no more than 7 or 8" "In working order." "There were two at the post office." "The priest had one, too." "And Dragisha, of course, until it was confiscated." "The clinic had one." "And the midwife, who had to be fast." "Look here, look here!" "I've been wounded here and here." "You've been wounded in your head." "And here." "In my heart." "I'm in love." "I love you." "I love you." "Let's go on." "Schnap's?" "Fine." "Let's go on." "Next." "The more you mix it, the bigger it gets." "Until the yolk gets white." "Come on, mix it!" "Faster!" "Children, today is my birthday." "I wanted to buy you some candy but a yolk is more nourishing, healthier." "Cheers!" "Happy birthday!" "Thank you." "Hello." " Good morning." "Sit down." "Want me to mix on for you, too?" "I decided to treat the gang for my birthday." "And myself, too." "Happy birthday." " Thank you." "I'm sorry I didn't buy you anything." "I just came to wish you a happy birthday." "Goodbye." "Wish me once more." "Okay." "Happy birthday." " Thank you." "Let's go on." "Once more." "I have to run, Milosh, see you later." " When?" "Next year, for your birthday." "This is not a movie." "Draw something, write." "A yolk..." "When I returned to Serbia as a sergeant major," "I went home, but there was no home left." "It was burnt down and demolished." "I was told only Grandma had survived." "She wandered off, probably looking for me." "I looked for her through the papers, over the radio." "In vain." "She didn't know how to read and she certainly didn't have a radio." "I started wandering around the house, looking for some keepsake." "What did I find?" "Only this." "We used to have a garden border around the house." "All had burnt down, except a pair of steel scissors." "The looters didn't see them under the shrubbery." "Grandma had probably left them there." "Grandma loved to practice sorcery." "When I got a new coat, for example, she used to put in my pocket a clove of garlic to keep the evil spirits away." "Through the sleeve she used to push steel scissors." ""May you be stronger than steel. "" "Oh, Grandma, Grandma..." "What happened, children?" "What's up?" "You, tell me what happened." "The teacher was telling us how... how he lost his parents." "And how, and how... how his grandma got lost." "Sit down." "OK, let's go on." "As a fellow human being" "I understand you very well." "But as a pedagogue and as an educator, you must keep a stiff upper lip." "You just mustn't make the children sad." "Especially not today." "Swallow your tears, sing." "Please, children, be always cheerful and laugh." "Lenin said:" "Study, study and always study." "I tell you:" "Laugh, laugh and always laugh." "Now I'm going to tell you a joke." "Once there were on a plane an Englishman, a Bulgarian, a Frenchman and a Serbian." "I forgot how the story goes but at the end the Serbian was the smartest and outwitted them all." "You see?" "Of course, only an experienced teacher can make them laugh." "We have a nice surprise for you, too." "This Red Cross telegram here says your grandma is coming." "Tomorrow, by train." "Children, Grandma's been found." "She's coming, children!" "Grandma's been found!" "LONG LIVE GRANDMA" "WELCOME, GRANDMA" "Hello, Grandma." " So, you're the one?" "You've grown into quite a donkey." "Come on, Nanny, here we are." "Where are we going?" "To the school, I guess." "Long live Grandma!" "There's been a mix-up." "This is not my grandma." "Let's go on." " This is not your grandson?" " No." "Not at all." "My Krca was taller, more handsome." "But the goat is yours?" " Yes." "Then come with us." "At that time many families were broken up, many a grandma separated from her grandchildren." "People used to answer all ads." "Just In case." "Maybe the one who's looking Is the one we're looking for." "Is this a cafe?" " No, it's a school." "Well, it is a cafe." "Then give me some coffee." "Take a sip of brandy." "Let's go on." "You're not my grandma, but you are a grandmother." "Until you find your grandson," "I'll be your grandson, you'll be my grandma." "OK, OK." "Good morning, Grandma." " Good morning, Grandma." "How did you sleep, Grandma?" "Grandma, why do you have such big ears?" "Today we'll write in Latin letters." "Lucky me!" "I have someone to write a letter for me." "Tonight I dreamt of Andja Jagosheva." "I hope nothing happened to her." "Probably not, since I dreamt of her." "I have to write to her." "But I don't know how." "Where to, Grandma?" " To Orasi." "Children, write." "Grandma, dictate." "Oh, dear Andja Jagosheva, how are you?" "This letter won't find you healthy and cheerful, that much I know." " Period." "Not so fast, Grandma." "For three and a half years I've been following my soldiers." "One of them was my grandson Krcun Ristov." "I left Montenegro and I'll tell you my misfortunes..." "We wrote for two days, five hours a day." "We certainly learned to write then." "This letter made it plain how much Grandma loved her grandson Krcun." "Grandma, a letter." "Who from?" "Krcun?" "Read it to me." "It says here your grandson Captain Krcun fell in battle." "He is buried in..." " Enough." "Oh, wretched me, my Nanny, my only friend." "Oh, wretched me!" "Prepare to fire!" "Children, let's go on." "No tears." "Chin up and swallow your tears." "On a plane were a Frenchman, an American, a Bulgarian and a Serbian..." "I know, son." " And the Serbian outwitted them all." "Dragisha!" "Look at him!" "Come on, children, back to school!" "What do you say?" "He isn't bad, eh?" "Whose is he?" "This Dragisha of yours." "Is he listed anywhere?" "In the school inventory?" "In other documents?" "Very complicated." "Dragisha belongs to us." "To the children." "It's okay for a while to say he serves as a teaching aid." "However, one day..." "I mean, in another moment..." "Whose is the fat?" "The meat, the cracklings?" "The liverwurst?" "We have to specify it." "Very complicated." "Gypsy!" "Gypsy!" "Gypsy!" "The sad day has come when we have to say good-bye to Dragisha." "We have to do it." "We've been postponing it from one week to another." "No more postponing." "We're all sorry." "But the administration has decided:" "No more postponing." "We'll do it." "Today." "Schopenhauer!" "Children, today we'll be studying wild animals." "What wild animals have you heard of?" "A lion." " A tiger." " A giraffe." "A rhinoceros." " A hippopotamus." "He lives in the Nile." "And bears." "I saw one." "He's that tall." "The elephant is the biggest." "Then there are camels." "But they have humps." "May he rest in peace!" " May he rest in peace!" "No!" "Nichts!" "No and no!" "Why, don't you like it?" " I do, very much." "My refusal is a matter of principle." "Come on, don't be foolish." "Children, have some." "I said to myself:" "You won't touch the meat." "On principle." "That's me." "Deliver it." "To whom?" " What do you mean?" "To the neighbors, of course." "To the left neighbor, the carpenter Andra, some cracklings, some lard, two sausages." "How shall I put this in writing?" "Like this:" "To Cana - the same things plus the liver." "Take it to her." "Let's go on." "Thank you." "Wow, that's a lot!" "I won't take a single crackling, on principle, while this Cana gets the liver and sausages!" "No, on principle." "Danke." "What is a principle?" " I'll explain it." "Schopenhauer, cut them." "A principle is a conviction you won't do something." "No matter what, you won't do it." "Take this to Grandpa, who gave us Dragisha." "Say thanks to him." " I can't." "Grandpa is in jail again." " Again?" "He insulted the people's government." "An enemy of the people can't get these ears." "No way." "Comrade Bozur, will you have a glass of wine." "Wine?" "Sure." "I refused the meat, but wine..." "I wouldn't want to offend you." "Waiter!" "In those days, just as in fairy-tales, at someone's doorstep, out of a cradle or a laundry basket, a baby used to cry." "A letter was added." "Kind-hearted people, take care of the baby." "May God bless you." "The poor mother." "The kind-hearted people thought that somebody else would be even more kind-hearted." "So the basket was carried from door to door until It got to our school." "Not like that." "The legs should be free." " How?" "First, you make a triangle." " How?" " Like this." "Then around the whole body." "Like this." "And then?" "How come you know this?" " I have a baby sister." "Like this?" " Yes." "Leave it to me." "Look how diapers are changed." "Might come in handy one day." "Do you know anything about babies?" "During the war we learned all sorts of thing, but not what really matters." "Children, look." "Pedja is teaching the most important lesson." "Look here." "That's it." "Let's go on." "Little, little baby..." "Little comrade Baby." "Little baby..." "What's so funny?" "I've been everywhere." "Nobody wants her." "Let her stay with us for a few days, okay?" "Don't cry, don't, don't..." "He's nice." "He's German, but a good German." "Give her to me, she may be hungry." "Come on, drink, little baby..." "Come on, drink." "That's a girl." "Children, today we're going to talk about the old Slavs who once used to live in faraway forests, near big rivers, where it was very cold." "When the great migration began, they left, too." "They kept going and going, to find the most beautiful country on earth." "And they got here where we are now." "They took one glance and said:" "This is the most beautiful land on earth." "This is going to be our land." "Nobody is ever going to drive us away from here." "Sit down." "Why should I hush?" "Take it easy." "The baby's sleeping." "What baby?" "A baby?" "Where from?" "Go out and cough." "I've had enough trouble putting her to sleep." "He's a school inspector." "He came to see how the school works." "And how much the pupils know." "Isn't she sweet?" "What a job to change and feed her!" "Rock her a bit." "I'm all stiff from rocking." "Me rock her?" "How dare you?" "He's an inspector, the district vice-president, a prominent partisan." "So what?" "Let me take over." "Whose is this baby?" "Yours?" "Ours." "What are you doing?" "You should have a real rattle." "Leave her alone." "You just made her cry." "I told you:" "You should have a real rattle." "I couldn't make it earlier." "How is she?" "The mother?" " Hello." "The midwife." "A bike doesn't belong in a classroom." "They'd steal it if I left it outside." "This is still a school." " A school?" "Circumstances, circumstances..." "The mother?" "The nurse." "This is shocking." " What?" "She's full of milk." "I asked her to nurse her." "Don't look." "Look the other way." "Close your eyes." "You too." "Look the other way." "Hey, man, there's a baby here." "Get out and cough." "Mr. Vice-President, circumstances..." "OK, children..." "Let's go on." "He led us on to things usual and unusual," "In a word, to life as it is." "From uncle Bozur to the little girl." "For your dowry when you grow up, baby." "Circumstances, circumstances..." "This is women's work." "Leave it to me." "My home is nice and warm." "One soul more or less..." "Come to my home." "Let's go on." "Can you ride a bike?" "You want to try?" " There's no need to." "For a midwife it's a must, for a principal it's not." "Let them learn now." "It's harder later on." "I almost broke my head." "I demand you teach them the multiplication table." "They know nothing." "Come on, you..." "How much is 9 x 8?" " 72." "What about 63: 7?" " 9." "That's pure luck." "Luck?" "Go ahead, ask them." "Children!" "Come on." "7 x 8?" " 56." "7?" " 6." "Right." "You, tell me how much is 12 x 8?" "That's over 100." " Wrong. 96." "What about 32 x 22?" " 704." "Is it?" " Check it." "How much?" " 704." "Can you ride?" " The teacher said:" "Not before I learn the multiplication table." "Excellent." "That's the proper way." "I mean, stimulating." "It's unusual, but right." "Good." "How much is 18 x 17?" "I haven't the faintest idea." "Think a little..." " No use." "Come on, 17 x 18?" " 22." "You're kidding." " 22." "But you can ride a bike?" " Yes." "4 x 8?" " 22." "22?" "!" "Think a little, you dummy!" "What do you mean 22?" "3 x 7?" " 22." "21, you dummy!" "22, 22, it's never 22!" "What about him?" "Come on, another lap." "He can ride, but he cannot multiply." "The story went then, and and It may even go today, since nice stories tend to survive everything, that In spring, In Mlle's garden, three nights In a row, right after midnight, an accordion was heard." "Mlle's accordion." "We'll hear any minute now." "Mlle was a prisoner of war." "In Germany." "I can heart it..." " What?" "Can you hear it too?" " "Blue Flowers. "" "Me too." " Me too." " Me too." "Quiet!" "I want to hear it, too." "Good Heavens!" "Is that possible?" "This is Mile's accordion." "That's its sound." "I know its register and its soul." "Mile's golden fingers." " My brother..." "Citizens, I mean comrades, brake it up!" "Nothing can be heard." "Science says so." "Here is comrade Bozur, a learned man." "He'll explain it to you." "On a scientific basis." "Well, this is..." "pure idealism." "And utterly unscientific." "Superstition is opium for the people." "But people must be sober and enlightened." "Look at these poor women." "Their husbands have been away for almost 4 years." "No wonder they hear all sorts of things." "What about you, children?" "Shame on you!" "What century do we live in?" "Tell your parents nothing can be heard." "But it can be heard." "A waltz." "Do you hear it?" "Do you?" "Well, something..." "Well, this is it." "Shall we dance?" "I can't." "I can't." " A waltz." "English." "May I have this dance?" "Some things actually exist, others don't." "The real and the unreal." "They can't be easily separated." "They make one:" "Reality and dreams." "I have trouble falling asleep." "And when I do, I pee in my pants." "The counselor is mad at me." "He thinks I do it on purpose." "I wash my sheets every day." "I think it's not fair some call me..." "Piss." "What shall we do, children?" "We won't call him Piss any more." "You can go on calling me Sloba the Beautiful." "As far as I know, we call him Snotty." "Take me, for example, when I was a partisan." "We dreamt, a lot there, but we didn't talk about it:" "Soldiers are somewhat shy." "Right in the begining when I..." "Sit down, relax." "What was I saying?" "Once, when I was already grown-up, a partisan, I peed in my pants." "No kidding." "I went to the railroad station, I got there, and suddenly, I had to draw out my pistol." "I draw it out, like this." "It was my first shot." "I aim, like this." "I look down." "It was wet." "Ouch, I peed in my pants!" "Stop it!" "Stop it!" "Children, this isn't true." "It isn't true." "The teacher is kidding." "That's indecent." "Do you understand?" "You do it at home if you like, but not here." "You're a teacher and a partisan." "I did pee, no kidding." "Everything was wet:" "My pants, my shoes." " Quiet!" "Probably from fear." "It never happened to you?" "Not even when you were small?" " How dare you?" "I am speechless." "Speechless." "I am speechless!" "Sit down!" "I dreamt something too." " Me too." " Me too." "OK, Ok." "Let's go on." "One by one." "Nikola, you start." "I dreamt I was riding a big horse and it threw me to the ground." "Everybody told their dreams." "The teacher didn't hide his either." "He didn't skip the midwife." "She often appeared In his dreams." "On her bike..." "The accordion didn't play no more In Mlle's garden." "And then, at last, the day came when the fathers got back home." "The sons and daughters they had left as toddlers were now almost grown-up youths." "Long live freedom!" "Long live my son!" "Long live my son!" "Daddy, I'm your daughter." "I'm your Milica." "Milica?" "My sunshine!" "Milica darling!" "My crutch." " You don't need it." "Lean on me." "When war damages are calculated will It be taken Into account that some children were fatherless for 4 years?" "What about those who had lost theirs forever?" "Attention!" "Eyes right!" "At ease!" "Everything under control." "Take over command." "Nikola Big Nose." "Milosh Big Nose." " Pera Big Nose." "And you?" "Daddy, Zorica, that's me." "She was born when they took you to Germany." "I know, I know." "Where's your nose?" "I'm still small." "It'll grow." "Big Noses, attention!" "Right!" "Goose step, forward, march!" "Left, right!" "Children, nobody is closer to me than you." "I have no one to talk to, to ask for advice, to make happy." "I'd like to get married." "You agree?" "Go ahead, Teacher." "We don't mind." "Everybody wants to be happy." "Let's go on." "I love the midwife." "She's beautiful, smart, good..." "And quite a bike-rider." "I think I couldn't live without her." "Well, if she loves you..." "Did you ask her?" " I don't dare." "We talk about everything, but when it comes to that, I sort of freeze." "I get confused." "From where do I start?" "I wouldn't beat about the bush." "Comrade midwife, this is how things stand." "Take it or leave it." "Don't be afraid, ask her." "She loves you." " You think so?" "She fell head over heels in love with you." "Look!" "A rainbow!" "Despite our political differences we're real close." "My grandson, your pupil is your witness." "Look at her!" "Isn't she beautiful!" "A real princess!" "Beautiful!" "Will the first witness sign the register?" "Will the second witness step forward?" "That's us." " You?" "Well, us." " Which one?" "The hole class." " Then go right ahead." "Jump over." "That's the Morava River." "Me again?" "I am the youngest here?" "Children, you've learned a lot from your teacher." "But I know something, too." "This apple is like a wheel on a water mill." "And these coins like its paddles." "The more money we collect, the better will the mill work for our newlyweds." "Thank you." "Here you are." "Let's go on." "Dear witnesses, dear best man and dear guests." "I raise my glass to the health of the newlyweds." "May God give them a long and happy life, and two daughters and three sons." "The school used to be here, right?" "The school is right here." "The school?" " Yes." "The pupils are here." "So is the principal, Bozur Popovic." "The teacher is getting married." "He's over there, dancing." "I'm so lonely." "I'm all alone, comrade midwife." "She was... she was such a great woman." "Forgive my tears." "I cry for joy and sadness." "Forgive me, circumstances..." "OK, but nothing political." "When they let me out of jail a few days ago" "I promised my grandson I'd cut the crap." "Quiet!" "He'd like to speak." "What did he say?" "He said war stinks." "What did he say?" "That the Germans have messed it up real good." "What did he say?" "He says he's kind of embarrassed." "Everybody, let's go on." "This year we'll go on like this." "Next year, according to regulations." "A real school, not "The Barrel", real pupils and a real teacher." "Let's hope the war will end at last." "The Japanese are hanging on..." "Haven't you heard?" "The Americans dropped an awful bomb on Japan." "Truman's order." "This bomb is called the atomic bomb." " You don't say!" "The atomic bomb." "It's made up of atoms." "Those are small particles." "Like midgets, only smaller." "I used to sell them before the war:" "Buckshots." "This is an awful bomb." "It razes and burns everything." "From here to that hill." "Even further." "It's deadly." " Then the Japanese are finished." "This is the strongest thing on earth." "It will bring peace and happiness." "No bomb has ever brought happiness." "This one will." " Do you know why?" "Teacher!" "Where are you going?" "Schopenhauer!" "That summer we saw our teacher for the last time." "A great book, a hell of a book." "I'll read something to you, children." "My witnesses." "And then Aliosha said:" "Gentlmen, we will soon part." "I will leave the city, maybe for a long time." "My pigeons." "Let me call you that:" "You're so much like those beautiful grey birds, as I look at your good sweet faces," "my sweet children." "Maybe you won't understand my words:" "I often talk unintelligibly." "But still, remember them and one day you will agree with me." "There's nothing higher and stronger and healthier for your future than a nice memory, especially from your childhood." "You'll hear a lot about your education." "A beautiful, cherished childhood memory may be the best education." "If someone has many such memories in his life, then he is saved," "for his whole life." "Who wrote this book?" "A certain F.M. Dostoevski." "Take it, I've read it." "That's the end." "Let's go on."