Chapter 4 choose

September 16, 1941. Berlin, Kurfürstendamm, 64. Major Schlink stood in front of the door, looking with interest at a palm-sized black and white square on the door. It was a doorbell in the shape of piano keys, which was very special.Funny, Schlink thought, how something as mundane as a doorbell could become such a creative work of art. A urchin-like smile appeared on the major's face, and he stretched out two fingers to play on the doorbell.After all, this is just a small idea. In the final analysis, it is still an ordinary doorbell with only the simplest seven keys on it.Although it is so simple, and the tone is not as precise as a piano, you can still vaguely hear a beautiful melody sounding in the room.

Less than half a minute after the bell rang, the door opened from the inside, and Professor Carl's pale face appeared at the door.He stared blankly at Major Schlink in black SS uniform, and the soldiers behind him. Although he had imagined this moment coming, it wasn't until the Gestapo rang the doorbell that Carl realized that one day, he actually hoped so much that his son Jess would never return to this home. "Major Schlink, you played "Debussy's Moonlight" very well just now, and you can also play this level on the doorbell." Carl hid his anxiety in the deepest part of his heart, and barely squeezed out a sound that counted. With a sincere smile on his face, he exclaimed, "It seems that you haven't neglected your practice all these years."

Major Schlink nodded slightly towards Carl: "Professor Carl, you said at that time that I was the best student in the whole class, and your praise always makes people full of confidence." "That's because, at that time, I didn't know that you would become an accomplice of the devil now." Carl thought fiercely in his heart, and looked out of the house. It was only in the evening, but there were no pedestrians on the usually busy street at this time. The entire neighborhood was a bit too silent, perhaps at this time, there are still countless Gestapo who are knocking on many doors.

Carl sighed, turned around and prepared to close the door and follow these people, but Major Schlink held out his hand to stop him: "Professor Carl, I just came to your place as a guest - don't you welcome your best students of the year?" Sitting on the chair behind the desk, Carl tried his best not to look at the phone on the desk, and the anxiety in his heart did not lessen, because he knew what Schlink was waiting for.Karl was very afraid of his son who had been missing for a few days, so he called back suddenly.If possible, he really wanted to write a few large characters on the gate and tell his son:

"Jess, take your friends and don't come back!" But now he can't do anything, he can only sit obediently behind the desk.A soldier holding a gun was standing straight half a meter away from him, staring at him expressionlessly. In the eyes of the soldier, he was not a famous composer, but a relative of a suspect. If he acted rashly, he would definitely Will shoot without hesitation. Looking back now, this nightmare actually started three years ago on Crystal Night, when a large number of Jews were deported, but Karl never thought that things would develop into such an unmanageable state.He recalled the determined look in his son's eyes when he left the house three days ago: "Dad, they're not just Jews. They're your students, my brothers!"

The brave son is Karl's pride, but before he left, he didn't tell Karl the specific action plan. "We will hide in a safe place, and we will escape from Berlin when the time is right!" Jess told his father.Karl understood that Jess did this to protect himself, and tried not to let this matter have anything to do with him. Don't come back!Carl closed his eyes, thinking silently. But soon, his sincere prayer was interrupted by Major Schlink. When he opened his eyes, Schlink was pulling out a thick sheet of music from the bookshelf: "Is this your new work?" "No, these are some small works that I wrote specially to make Jess interested in music when he was a child." Carl said here, thinking of the good time when little Jess sat in front of the piano with a sad face , asked his father if he could stop practicing, and when he went to play on the Avenue de France, Carl told him: "You haven't even learned the Avenue de France suite, don't you feel ashamed to play there?"

In this way, under Carl's impromptu composition, the naive little Jess gradually fell in love with the goddess of music from the bottom of his heart. It is a huge torture to think of such a warm thing at this time.But Schlink didn't know all of this. He flipped through the score with great interest, raised his head and said to Carl, "Professor Carl, can I borrow your piano?" Carl smiled wryly, pointed to the piano in the living room and said, "Please go ahead." Schlink shrugged his shoulders, sat down in front of the piano, and began to play the music.Maybe it was because the simple etudes on the score were really not difficult. After playing two pieces, the major stopped looking at the score and started to play the rather difficult Bach fugue.

Looking at the young SS officer who was devoting himself to music, Karl was a little dazed—until now he still couldn't understand why such a person with outstanding musical talent and elegant manners would also become a fanatic of racial elements. When the piano sound finally stopped, Carl said in a deep voice, "Schlink, I have always been patriotic. I really don't know the whereabouts of those Jews." Schlink stood up, shook his hand, and interrupted Carl: "Professor, my boys and I are sitting in this room as guests, not just out of respect for the teacher. According to our investigation , you really have nothing to do with the whereabouts of the Jews. But..."

Schlink stared at Karl sharply: "Your son, Jess, and your seven Jewish students are hiding in a corner of Berlin at the moment. According to your neighbors, when they left, there was no I didn’t take too much luggage. Seven Jewish students needed a lot of food to feed them. When your son left, he didn’t take much cash with him. We imposed martial law on all the shops in this area. I believe they have been troubled by the food problem for several days, and the only way your son can think of now is to ask his father for help." Karl was silent again. Emotional pleadings were useless to the Gestapo. These fanatics were as cold as machines when they carried out their orders.On the level of rationality, Karl was also unable to provide strong evidence to excuse Jess. Jess has always been a staunch opponent of anti-Semitic laws.In fact, it was precisely because Jess sensed the danger sensitively that he was able to take those few Jewish friends into hiding before the search came.It's a pity that in this matter, hiding is not enough. This country has gone crazy.

"Will he be executed?" Carl said, lighting his pipe, "if Jace is caught." After Schlink put the thick sheet of music into the bookcase, he didn't turn around when he answered: "It's not up to us to decide, it depends on his own attitude. It has nothing to do with you. You are our national treasure artist. And Jess is just your adopted son." The euphemistic but cold answer made Karl sneer in his heart. He still had a glimmer of hope. Before the Gestapo had caught Jess, his son could hide well with his friends and find a chance to escape from Berlin, Germany, and Germany. This nightmare city.

However, when he saw the strength of the search, such an opportunity had disappeared. "Major, how long are you and your people going to stay here?" Carl asked, he had to try his best to get some useful information from the conversation, although he still didn't know how to pass this information to the son. "I sincerely hope that you will be able to see off our uninvited guests tonight, Professor Carl." Schlink replied politely, "if we catch your son, or those Jewish guys he is protecting." The major thought for a while, and added: "Someone saw Mr. Ling in the nearby neighborhood yesterday. I don't think they can last much longer." After hearing these words, Carl's heart sank deeply.Oh, Jess, he knows his son, he is a young man who is calmer than the Gestapo, only he sees that this country is going to evil in advance, only he has done so many things in advance and protected so many people Man, his son, would never do anything unrestrained—now that you appear on the block, is there really nothing you can do? The night gradually deepened.Several people in the living room did not change their postures. Karl was still sitting behind the table, and the soldiers beside him seemed tireless, still watching his every move closely.Major Schlink looked quite relaxed, sitting on the sofa humming a tune softly. There was a rush of footsteps coming from far and near outside, especially in this late-night neighborhood. Although the windows in the house were covered with thick curtains, Carl could imagine that if Jess really ventured back, as long as he was fifty meters away from here, he would be spotted by the hidden sentries outside. Unwilling to face the moment, Carl stood up, walked into the kitchen, and poured himself a glass of rum. Then the doorbell rang, and a simple melody sounded in the silent room. Carl could recognize that it was Jace.Because only he will press the tunes written for him in childhood every time he knocks on the door. Waltz on Taunqinen Avenue, measure 73. Carl looked quietly at the picture of his wife in the kitchen, the newly adopted Jess snuggled up next to his wife, still so small.Carl seemed to return to that moment. "We raised a good son, Catherine." Carl murmured, "I'm proud of him." After ten seconds, the bell that had rang several times stopped. Karl could clearly hear the fighting at the door, but he still didn't move, like a statue that lost its soul. Two days later, Tauernchenstrasse, 73, Berlin. Waltz on Tauernchenstrasse Berlin, bar 73, the melody of the doorbell two days ago. After making sure everything was safe, Carl opened the door and went in. It was a small piano shop. Sure enough, Jess could only find this kind of place to hide. Karl put down the package full of food and water, sat down in front of a piano, and began to play the Waltz of Tauernchenen Street in Berlin. The seventy-third bar, the melody passed through the floor and slowly entered the underground secret room.Soon, the wooden floor under a piano was turned up.Several heads popped out. "Jess, are you back?" Someone asked. Carl continued playing, and silent tears soon flowed down his cheeks.