Gilbert's Märchen

Chapter 18

Mortals are equal
Their mask differs.

Voltaire (1794-1778)

Despite my curiosity and eagerness to learn, I hated school with a passion. Learning was not the problem, on the contrary, I was a good student who excelled at everything language related. My behavior was fine as well. I never disturbed the lectures and never hurt anyone. You could say that I was just like everyone else, yet both teachers and classmates treated me differently, because they knew I used be homeless.

The children in my class ignored me. They pretended I wasn't there and some of them didn't even bother to learn my name. Other children were cruel to me. They called me names and made fun of anything they could think of. "Look at your hair! It must be hard to make it look rather normal after washing it in a slimy pond." A boy once said to me during break. Most of the times I ignored the bullying, but that didn't always work out. Sometimes I'd get so frustrated that I wanted to hit the bullies, but before my fist hit their face I told myself that hurting other people was wrong. I sighed and walked away. "Haha, how pathetic. You are so weak Gilbert! An empire like Prussia doesn't need pussies like you!" I walked to a bench and sat down there. "Just ignore them, Gilbert" I said to myself "You know that they are wrong."

I didn't like my teacher at all. He didn't abuse me like miss Maria did, but he treated me as if he thought that I knew less than others. Sometimes, when everyone was making their school assignments, he walked towards me and pointed at the assignment I was working on. "That one must be hard for you, here I will help you." "But sir, I get this!" "Don't overestimate yourself, Gilbert!" This happened almost every single day. I always allowed him to help me, but I always felt a feeling of embarrassment as soon as the teacher walked to me. One day, just before the Christmas break started, I had enough.

"Sir, would you please let me do this exercise without help?" I said slightly irritated. "But Gilbert, I think that..." "You think that I don't get it, don't you? Well, you are wrong, I can do this without help! Would you please go away?" The man looked at me with wide eyes. It was clear that my reaction surprised him. "I've never seen you like this, Gilbert! Why are acting like this?" I got angrier after every single word he said. My classmates were staring at me, but I was too angry to bother. I made my hand into a fist and hit the table. "Because I'm sick and tired of being treated like an idiot. I'm not dumb! I'm just like everyone else!" The teacher sighed "Go to the hallway immediately! Such manners are not tolerated here." I sighed and walked towards the hallway "Fine I didn't want to be here anyway."

At the end of the day I was still in the hallway. I looked out of the window and noticed that Bernhardt was talking to my teacher. "Oh no, will I get scolded at home as well?" A few minutes later Bernhardt came inside to pick me up. He gave me a nod and said goodbye to the teacher. "The teacher told me what happened today." He said as we were walking home. "I'm sorry Vater." I said embarrassed. Bernhardt patted my shoulder. "Don't worry Gilbert, it's okay. Do you know what I said to him?" I shook my head. "I told him that he should think about the lesson you tried to teach him. You did a great job!" I smiled at my adoptive father "Thank you Vati". "It's nothing!" Bernhardt said "By the way, are you still in the mood to learn French today." I laughed and nodded "Oui, J'aime Français" I said with my best accent. "C'est bon, because I planned a very special lesson today, it will be very fun." I looked at my father with wide surprised eyes "What's so special and fun about today's lesson?" Bernhardt winked at me "You'll see."

I soon noticed that we weren't going home, instead we walked towards the center of Potsdam. "There we are!" Bernhardt said after a five minute walk. We stopped in front of a round building with large windows. "La Lumière, the light. What kind of place is this?" Bernhardt smiled "It's a coffeehouse, I've met many friends here. People from all over Europe come here, so we always speak French to each other. Shall we enter?" I nodded nervously. "I wonder if my French is good enough to talk to them." I said to myself before I entered.

"Ah Monsieur Bernhardt!" A young blonde man was looking at me. "I see that you brought someone with you." Bernhardt nodded "Yes, this is my son. He's still young, but already very clever. I think he will like it here." I walked towards the man and gave him a handshake. "Bonjour je suis Gilbert." I said stuttering. The blonde man smiled "Je suis Francis. So you speak French!" "Un petit peu." I replied. Francis winked at me "But you already speak it very well. Why don't we talk a little bit? Do you want some coffee?" I hesitated for a while "I have never tasted it, but I want to try it." Francis nodded and made me some coffee. As soon as it was ready I took a sip from it. The beverage tasted bitter, yet very good.

It didn't take long before I got to know Francis. He was only four years older than me, which surprised me because he looked like he was much older. Francis was a talker. He talked a lot and very fast, especially in French. Luckily he was a good listener as well. He listened carefully to what I had to say and repeated things if I couldn't follow the conversations. We talked about things like knowledge, learning, wisdom, topics I would never discuss with someone my age. It didn't take long before I felt comfortable around Francis and all the other people at La Lumiere. I felt at home in the small, yet cozy coffeehouse.

"Say Francis." I asked after a while "Nowadays everyone in my school wants to join the army, because Prussia started a war with the Habsburg Empire. Do you want that too?" Francis shook his head "Non, and you." I sighed "It's the last thing I want! I hate war!" I thought about Roderich and how he treated me so well after he found me at the concert hall. "Are you okay?" Francis asked. I shook my head "My classmates think I'm worthless because I dislike war." Francis patted my back "How ignorant! You should ignore them, they are not worth it. Did you tell your teacher?" "He also thinks I'm worth less than the others." Francis looked shocked. "Do you think I'm worth less than other people?" My friend told me to look him in the eyes. "Mon ami, no-one in this world is worth more or less than the others." "Then why are some people rich while others are poor?" Francis sighed. "It's because the authorities are unfair. They think they're worth more than others because of their money, and so-called royal blood. That's nonsense. It might sound strange, but everyone is different, yet we are created equal. That's why I think everyone should have the same rights!" I nodded and told Francis that I agreed with him. Francis winked at me "You are very smart mon ami. Don't listen to those ignorant people! Show them how clever you are." I gave Francis a confident nod "Sounds good!"

From that day on, I visited La Lumière every single day. I enjoyed the cozy atmosphere and the conversations I had with Francis. We discussed everything with each other. From simple everyday things, to deep and complicated problems that occurred in our life. It didn't take long before the two of us became close friends. Sometimes Francis would give me some French books I could read at home. In the beginning the books were easy, but soon he would give me thick books with complicated vocabulary. "You've already finished that book?" Francis asked one day after I told him about one of his books. I nodded "It's summer, I have a lot of spare time now." My friend smiled at me "I see. You are going to the Gymnasium* after the summer, right?" I nodded "They teach French there. I look forward to it!" Francis patted my back. "You'll be the best of the class, mon ami! You sure have a talent for foreign languages." I gave my friend an awkward smile "You think so?" Francis nodded "Oui, your French is so good! As if you've been speaking French for years. You should do something with that talent!" I took a sip of my coffee "That's a great idea!"

After a few hours I headed home. Francis forgot the book he wanted to give me, which I found unfortunate. I wanted to have something to read so I browsed through Bernhardt's library. "Let's see if I can read this!" I grabbed a thick book from the bookcase and read the first page. A woman was describing something called viol. Her description made me think viol was something like a vulgar and horrible attack. "Viol? What could it mean?" I grabbed a dictionary and looked up the translation. "le viol-Rape" "If that sweet little maid of yours wasn't raped back then." The words Miss Maria said about Heide echoed in my mind. "I still don't know what rape means." I thought "It must be a bad thing. But I think I have to know what happened to Heide." I grabbed the German dictionary from the shelf. I hesitated for a while, but in the end I decided to look up the word.As I found the word I read its description out loud. "Rape: unlawful sexual intercourse or any other sexual penetration of the....No! Please don't let this be true!"

To be continued

Note: Gymnasium=The highest level of high school in Germany. Students who graduate from Gymnasium can go to university