She helped him to get comfortable and stretch out his legs. ‘And your hat — didn’t you have a hat?’

‘What, my hat?’ He opened his mouth for the first time. ‘Never mind … there’s no need for a hat … it’s so hot. Something to drink! Has the whole town run out of water? Nobody gives you a drop to drink …’

He spoke in a whisper, as if to himself. Franzi Mitteldorfer stood and looked at him compassionately; she even had tears in her eyes.

‘Please calm yourself. I’ll bring you water right away.’

She left the room and returned immediately with a glass of water, which Gurdweill emptied in a gulp.

‘And now lie down and keep quiet,’ she said, as if she were coaxing a child, and wiped the perspiration from his brow with a clean white handkerchief. ‘My mother’s taken the child out. As soon as she comes back I’ll take you home.’

Gurdweill lay on his back and looked out of the window opposite him, which appeared to have been set into the wall at an angle. This seemed to him very absurd. He tried to move his head, which felt as if it now weighed about one hundred pounds, but the window remained lopsided. ‘It must be a modern style of building,’ he said to himself, ‘but I prefer the old one. The old style looks better …’

‘Look here,’ he said aloud, ‘if I built myself a house I would never allow them to put the windows in crooked. In my opinion it’s ugly and tasteless. And it’s not functional either. You try to lean on the sill and you slide down to the corner! It’s a joke! And the chimney of the house across the street is lopsided too … Our generation prefers the crooked — a symptom of decadence …’

And for some reason, he chuckled to himself.

‘Listen,’ he said suddenly, ‘I have to go home now. The baby will wake up and begin to cry!’

He tried to get up, but he didn’t have the strength and fell back again.

The young woman sprang forward. ‘Please lie down and rest! You’ll go home soon!’

‘Yes, that’s right. I must rest first. I’ve been walking for a long time and I’m tired.’ He smiled guiltily. ‘I’ll just rest for a minute and then I’ll be able to go. But bring me a little water, please. I’m thirsty.’

‘I’ll go and make some tea. Tea quenches the thirst better than water.’