Chapter 2 chapter 2

Adoration, is this a joke?Your house is located on West Street.Your sense of humor - if you have one - is like no other.No, your family's house is located on East Street.All the streets in this neighborhood look exactly the same.You can only eat one slice of bread and butter.We are laughing and contagious to each other.We are amazed whenever we try to make fun of you.When Senator Brunis asked all the students in our class about their future careers, you—who had already learned how to swim—answered: "I want to be a circus clown and amuse people." No one in Fang's classroom was laughing—I was taken aback because Mark's face was so serious when he bluntly said out loud that he wanted to be a clown in a circus or something, and I couldn't help but really I'm a little worried.If he ever managed to make people laugh, it might be through the public adoration of the Virgin Mary after the beast show and before the trapeze.However, it's also possible that the prayers on the wreck were meant to be true, or were you just having fun?

He lived on East Street, not West Street.This exclusive residence is located near, in the middle and opposite of many similar exclusive residences, the difference is only the house number, and occasionally you can see the curtains with different patterns and pleats. distinguish.In front of each flower bed stands wooden stakes with birdcages and glazed decorations, such as tree frogs, agaric mushrooms, and Confucianism.A ceramic tree frog squatted in front of Mark's house, and green ceramic tree frogs squatted in front of the next house and the next. In short, the house number of Mark's house is No. 24. If you come from Wolf Street, it is the fourth house on the left side of the road.East Street and West Street run parallel to each other, and their south entrance is connected to Bear Street, which runs parallel to Wolf Street.

If you walk south along West Street from the direction of Wolf Street, you can see the front and west of an onion-shaped clock tower① whose top has been oxidized over the red-tiled roof on the left. If you walk south along East Street from the direction of Wolf Street, you can see the front and east of the clock tower over the roof on the right.This Christian church stands on the south side of Bear Street, between East and West Streets.There are four large clocks under the top of the green onion-shaped tower, and they point to this area-from Max Halber Square to the Catholic Notre Dame Cathedral without a bell tower, from Magdeburg Avenue to Posado near Schermeer. Viktorsky Street - Telling the time so that Protestant and Catholic workers, clerks, salesgirls and schoolchildren can arrive on time at work and schools that do not follow religious observances.

①The onion-shaped bell tower is a popular architectural form in Germany after the Renaissance. The top of the tower is usually covered with a layer of copper plate, and the surface of the copper plate produces a layer of green oxide due to the sun and rain. What Mark saw from his room was the big clock on the east side of the clock tower.His room was an attic, with a gable sandwiched between two slightly upward-sloping walls, and the rain and hail fell almost on top of his half-parted hair.The house is filled with boyish favorites, from stuffed butterflies to postcards of characters, including popular actors, decorated fighter pilots and tank unit generals.

There are other things hanging here: an unframed oil print of the Sistine Madonna in the center with two rosy-cheeked cherubs below, the already mentioned Piłsudski medal; A pious and sacred amulet of Tochowa, a picture of the commander of the fleet of destroyers attacking Narvik. I noticed the stuffed snow owl right away when I first went back to his house.I live on West Street, not far from his home.It's not about me here, it's about Mark, or about Mark and me, and the focus should always be on Mark: he has a parted hair; he wears high-waisted shoes; He is drawn away from the eternal mouse, and hangs now this and that around his neck; he kneels before the altar of the Virgin; he is a diver with a fresh sunburn; A bit in front of us; he finally learned to swim; after graduation he wanted to be a clown in the circus and amuse people.

The feathers on the top of Xue Xiao's head are also separated from the middle to the two sides. Like Mark, it shows the look of a savior who has suffered a lot but is soft and strong, as if he is suffering from toothache.This snowy owl specimen was a relic left to him by his father. It was exquisitely crafted, only painted in a light color, and its claws were held on a birch branch. I deliberately ignored the stuffed snow owl, the offset painting of the Virgin, and the silver medal from Częstochowa, because for me, the center of the cabin was the gramophone that Mark struggled to pull up from the sunken ship .He didn't find a single record underwater, probably all dissolved in the water.The fairly modern sound box with its crank handle and stylus arm was found in the officers' mess, where he had been given a silver medal, among other things.The officers' mess was in the middle of the wreck, out of reach of us - including Horten Thorntuck.We can only sneak into the front cabin, and never dare to go through the dark partition, which even fish dare not rush into, and get into the engine room and the adjoining cabin to move around.

①The bulkhead between cabins to prevent water leakage. Marc managed to bring up the phonograph after about a dozen dives before the end of his first summer vacation on the wreck.Like the fire extinguisher last time, this is also a German product.He moved the sound box meter by meter into the forward cabin, moved it to the hatch, hauled it up to the deck, and on the same cable that used to bring up the Minimax fire extinguisher, he hauled it out of the water and onto our bridge. above. In order to land the sound box, with its rusted handle, we had to build a raft out of some planks and stakes which had been washed ashore.Everyone took turns pulling the raft, but Mark didn't do it.

A week later, the repaired gramophone was in his room, the metal parts painted bronze, oiled inside and out, and the turntable covered with a new layer of felt.Mark was fully winding up in my face, spinning the dark green turntable with no record on.He crossed his arms on his chest, and beside him was the Snowy Owl standing on a birch branch.His mouse didn't move at all.With my back against the Sistine Madonna, I either stared at the idling carousel, or looked out of the attic window, across a red tiled roof, at the onion-shaped bell tower of the Christ Church and the large east side. bell.It wasn't until the big clock struck six that the phonograph from the minesweeper stopped humming monotonously.Marc wound up the sound box many times, and asked me to participate in his new ritual with undiminished interest: listening to the various and gradually changing sounds, and watching each solemn idling.At that time, Mark did not have a record.

There are many books on the bookshelves, and the long shelves are bent.He read many books, including religious books.There are several pots of cacti on the windowsill.In addition to models of the "Wolf" class torpedo boats and the "Cricket" communication ship, a glass must also be mentioned.It stood next to the washbasin on the chest of drawers, and the glass was always cloudy, with a layer of sugar deposited under it, about as thick as a thumb. It is said that this sugar water can stiffen Mark's naturally thinning hair that lies on the scalp.Every morning, Mark always carefully stirs the water in the glass to dissolve the sugar into a milky liquid without destroying the sediment from the previous day.Once, he asked me to try this liquid too.I use a comb to work the sugar water into my hair.After using this styling solution, my hair is really tamed and sleek, and it stays put through the night.My scalp itches and my hands are as sticky as Mark's from running through my hair.Perhaps, this is all my afterthoughts, but my hands are not sticky at all.

His mother and aunt lived downstairs, and only two of the three rooms were used.As long as he was at home, his mother and aunt were always quiet, even a little nervous.They were proud of Marc, because he was considered a good student, if not the top student in his class, as evidenced by his report card.He was a year older than us—a fact that could easily belittle his academic performance, since his mother and aunt had delayed entry to primary school for what they said was a sickly boy from childhood. He is not a person who wants to get ahead, does not study very hard, allows others to copy his homework, never makes small reports, does not show excessive ambition except in gymnastics class, and openly despises and interferes with senior students who often engage in kind of prank.Horten Sontucker once picked up a condom next to a bench in Steffens Park.He carried it into the classroom with a branch, then turned it over and put it on the handle of the classroom door.He wanted to play tricks on Councilor Trauiger, a myopic schoolteacher who should have retired long ago.Someone yelled in the corridor: "Here he is!" At this moment Mark got up from the stool, walked over without haste, and took the condom off the doorknob with a piece of paper wrapped in bread and butter. down.

①A park located between the urban area of ​​Danzig and the suburban Langfurt district. No objection was raised.Once again he showed us what he can do.I can say now: he was not a man who wanted to get ahead, he was a mediocre student, he made people copy his homework, he had no ambitions except in gymnastics class, and he didn't take part in the usual mischief.So, he was another completely different Mark.He commanded admiration for his manner as well as his restraint. He was willing to go to the circus someday, maybe even perform on stage; he took off the sticky condom and practiced being a clown, much to the murmured approval.When he was doing giant slaloms on the horizontal bar and the silver statue of the Virgin twirled in the foul stench of the gym, he was almost a clown.Much of the public admiration for Marc, however, was centered on the wreck during the summer holidays, although it is almost impossible to imagine his obsessive dives as spectacular acrobatics.Whenever he climbed up the bridge trembling, bruised and purple, and held up the things he scooped up for us to see, we didn't even smile, at most we admired it half-truthfully. Sentence: "You're awesome boy! How I wish I had your energy Ejoachim, you're a mad dog. How did you get him down?" Applause makes him feel comfortable and can calm the beating of his Adam's apple; applauding embarrasses him and gives new impetus to the beating of his Adam's apple.He would most likely reject what would bring him new acclaim.He is by no means a cowhide king.You never said: "You learn to see." Or: "Someone will definitely follow my example in the future." Or: "None of you can dive four times in a row like I did the day before yesterday, from the middle of the wreck. Dive all the way to the kitchen and get a tin of food. It must be French, because it contains roasted frog legs, which taste a bit like veal. But you are so scared that you don't even want to taste it after I eat half a tin A little. I went on to get a second can, and found a can opener, but this one has gone bad: corned beef." ①The original text is in English. No, Mark never said anything like that.What he does is always unusual.For example, he got a lot of food cans from the galley of the sunken ship. Judging from the stamped labels, they were all British or French.He also found a barely working can opener underwater.He opened the can without saying a word before our eyes, and devoured what was said to be roasted frog legs.As he chewed and swallowed, his Adam's apple popped up and down—I forgot to mention that Marc was naturally gluttonous, but he was scrawny nonetheless.After eating half of it, he unhurriedly passed the can over for us to taste.We declined, because just looking at it made Winther climb onto an empty machine-gun carousel and retch for a while in the direction of the harbor entrance. After this ostentatious meal, Marc was of course applauded.He waved his hand disapprovingly, and then fed the remaining roasted frog legs and spoiled corned beef to the seagulls.Seagulls were already circling frantically around him while he ate.At last he played skittles with the two tin buckets, throwing them at the sea-gulls in the boat.He wiped the can opener with sand.For Marc, the only can opener is worth saving.Like the English screwdriver and various talismans, he had since hung the can opener around his neck on a string, if not always, at least when he was going to the Polish ship. Looking for cans in the minesweeper's galley—he's never had a bad stomach.He also carried it under his shirt to school, among other things, and even wore it to Matins at Notre Dame.When Mark knelt on the pew to receive communion, he always threw his head back, tongue sticking out, and Priest Gusevsky laid the wafer for him.At this time, the assistant of the mass standing next to the priest always peeps into the collar of his shirt: the can opener swings under your neck with the silver statue of the Madonna and the polished screwdriver.I have great admiration for you, even though you don't care about it.No, Mark is not a man who wants to get ahead. In the autumn of the year Mark learned to swim, he was expelled from the "Deutsche Boys" and transferred to the "Hitler Youth" because he repeatedly refused to join the Sunday morning duty, refused to lead his squad- He's the squad leader—going to the Jeshkenta Forest for the team day.But his move at least won warm praise from everyone in our class.Afterwards, as usual, he participated in our rallies calmly, almost awkwardly, and at the same time - only as an ordinary member of the "Hitler Youth" - he was not on duty on Sunday mornings.His absence was rarely noticed in this group of boys over fourteen, because the Hitler Youth was much looser than the Deutsches Boys, and it An organization of indiscriminate and undisciplined people.Generally speaking, he is not the kind of person who is out of society, and besides Sundays, he also often participates in evening activities and studies③.As long as the tinkling of empty cans did not interfere with his Sunday morning prayers, he was happy to take part in those special operations that were often organized in those days, such as collecting junk and collecting goods for the "Winter Relief Society". In the National Youth Organization⑥ Mark, a member of the Youth League, was always unknown and without any characteristics, because the transfer from the Youth League to the Youth League was not a special case.By the time that first summer on the wreck was over, however, he had acquired a special, neither good nor bad, legendary reputation in our school. ①The Nazi Party established its youth organization in 1926: the "German Youth League" composed of boys aged ten to fourteen, the "German Girls League" composed of girls aged ten to fourteen, and the "German Girls League" composed of girls aged fourteen to eighteen. The "Hitler Youth League" composed of young men, and the "German Women's Youth League" composed of young women aged 14 to 18, later collectively referred to as the "Hitler Youth League", were declared a national youth organization in 1936.Since 1939, every school-age teenager is obliged to join the corresponding organization. ②Located in the suburbs of Danzig. ③ Refers to the political study that every member of the Hitler Youth League must participate in. ④During World War II, the Nazi authorities called on youth organizations to often go door-to-door to collect scrap copper and iron for reuse. ⑤ A German charity organization controlled by the Nazi Party from 1933 to 1945. ⑥ refers to the "Hitler Youth League". Obviously, for you, the above-mentioned youth organization is not comparable to our high school; in the long run, it is not just an ordinary complete high school, although it has lovely Some rigid school ethos, some colorful school caps, and some so-called school spirits that awaken hopes—your actions must have fueled those hopes. ①At that time, every complete middle school had its own school cap.The hats are of different colors to distinguish schools; the hats are decorated with ribbons of various colors to distinguish grades and classes. "What the hell is going on with him?" "I think he's a bit eccentric." "It may have something to do with his father's death." "Look at those things around his neck." "He's always going to morning prayers." "But I said, he doesn't believe in anything." "He's a very practical guy." "How should I understand that thing? And it has recently added tricks." "Go and ask him, you were the one who took the cat to him" We thought about it and couldn't understand what you were doing.Before you learned how to swim, you were not worth mentioning at all, except that you were occasionally called up to answer questions—and your answers were mostly correct, and your name was Joachim Mark.I remember, in first grade, maybe later, we sat on the same bench for a while anyway, before you learned how to swim.Maybe you're behind me, maybe you're in the same row as me, you're in the middle row, and I'm in the row by the window, next to Schilling.It is said that you had to wear glasses after you entered the second grade of middle school, but it didn't attract my attention at all.Also, I didn't realize you were wearing high-waisted lace-ups until you were able to swim freely and started wearing a length of lace around your neck.At that time, a series of major events shook the world.Mark's chronological standard is: before swimming and after swimming.He who could neither swim nor Middle school students who ride don't feel anything special.The Gull-class minesweeper, which later gave him his debut, played its military role, albeit only for a few weeks, in the Puziger Bay, in the Danzig Bay, and in the fishing port of Hera. ③. ①It is located near the mouth of the Vistula River into the Baltic Sea. After the German army invaded Poland, the Polish army once carried out tenacious resistance here. ② Puziger Bay, located in the north of Dan Jersey, between the Hera Peninsula and the west coast of Prussia. ③ After the outbreak of World War II, most of the Polish Navy's ships were sunk or captured by the German Navy and Air Force. The Polish navy is not strong, but it is very ambitious.We are so familiar with these modern ships, most likely launched in England or France, that we can even report their armament, deadweight and speed without error, just as we can report all the Italian corvettes, old Brazilian ironclads and The name of the shallow water heavy artillery ship is the same. Later, Mark was also far ahead in this knowledge①, and he could fluently report the names of many Japanese destroyers in one breath, from the improved and slower "Asagao" class in 1923 to the The modern "Xia" class just launched in 1938, such as "Formitaji", "Sataji", "Yongtaji", "Defeng", "Tanfeng" , "Chasing hands" and so on. ①On the eve of the Second World War, it was very fashionable among German boys to memorize the weapons and equipment of the armies of various countries. The author jokingly called this trend "knowledge".The ship names and data mentioned below are in line with the actual situation. He can report the data of the Polish navy ships at random: the destroyers "Lightning" and "Thunder", with a load of 2,000 tons and a speed of 39 knots①, sailed to the British port two days before the outbreak of the war, and were later assigned to the of the British Navy. The "Lightning" is still well preserved, moored in the port of Gdynia, and serves as a floating naval museum for students to visit. ① In nautical terms, one knot is equivalent to one nautical mile per hour. The destroyer Tempest, with a load of 1,500 tons and a speed of 33 knots, fled to England along the same route. Of the five Polish submarines, the "Wolf" and the eleven-hundred-ton "Eagle" - after an adventurous voyage without charts and commanders - successfully sailed into English ports," The Lynx, the Wildcat, and the Condor were detained in Sweden. ①According to the provisions of international law, if the ships of belligerent countries invade neutral countries, they will be detained.Sweden remained neutral throughout World War II. When the war broke out, the following ships were moored in the ports of Göttingen, Puzig, Heistnest, Hera, etc.: the old French-built cruiser "Baltic", which at that time became a training ship and a living ship;" the Condor, a well-armed minelayer of 2,200 tons, built by the Normand shipyard in Le Havre, and usually able to carry three hundred mines on board; the destroyer Tornado; several ex-German The torpedo boats left by the Royal Navy; six "Gull" class minesweepers with a speed of 18 knots, all of which are equipped with a bow gun with a diameter of 75 mm and four rotating machine guns. Carry twenty mines, which can be used for laying or clearing mines. ①The second largest port in France, located at the mouth of the Seine in the northwest. Among these 185-ton minesweepers, one was specially built for Mark. The naval battle in Danzig Bay lasted from September 1 to October 2. After the surrender of the Hera Peninsula, purely on the surface, the record at that time was as follows: the Polish minelayer "Condor", the destroyer "Whirlwind" and The cruiser "Baltic" and three "Gull" class minesweepers - "Seagull", "Swallow" and "Egret" were sunk in the harbor; the German destroyer "Leberecht Maas" Damaged by shore artillery, the minesweeper "M-85" was hit by a torpedo fired by a Polish submarine off the northeast coast of Heistnest and sank to the bottom of the sea, killing one-third of the crew on board. The remaining three Polish minesweepers "Gull" suffered minor damage and were captured by the Germans. The "Crane" and "Gull" were soon renamed "Oxtreft" and "Westplatte" and continued to serve.The third minesweeper, the "Skylark", ran aground and sank while being towed from Hera into the Danzig new channel, where it was waiting for the arrival of Joachim Mark, because it was he who was in the second year. Xia Tian touched a small copper plate with the words "Skylark" engraved on it.It was later reported that a Polish naval officer and a naval sergeant were forced to pilot the minesweeper under German surveillance, and they flooded the ship with sea water in accordance with the well-known "Scapa Flow pattern." ①Scapa Flow is an important base of the British Navy. From the end of 1918 to the beginning of 1919, the German ocean-going fleet was detained in Scapa Flow. In order to prevent the German warships from being incorporated into the British Navy, the German sailors scuttled all the warships, which was called the "Scapa Flow Mode". Due to various reasons, it sank on the outside of the main channel and the new channel navigation buoy, just on a sandbar that is conducive to salvage, but it has not been salvaged.In the ensuing war-torn years, the upper part of the bridge, part of the railing, the curved ventilation ducts, and the brackets of the dismantled cannon remained standing on the sea.People feel strange at first, and gradually get used to it.It provides you, Joachim Mark, with a target, just as the battleship Gneisenau, which was bombed and sunk at the entrance to the port of Gdynia in February 1945, became same goals as Polish students.But it will never be known whether among the Polish boys who dived and gutted the Gneisenau there were others who shared Mark's obsession with diving. ① "Gneisenau", a German battleship of 26,000 tons.