If we have to accept that it was Casje who spoke to him, then Casje is right, because Jeus has already been taken to the cleaners, he does not have a cent left.

Crisje, the eleven guilders and sixty cents have gone!

But, they had a laugh.

First of all, they dragged him to the ‘Twee Wezen’, he wept and laughed there, but then they went somewhere else to experience some good honest fun together, and that costs money.

He paid his rounds from your own money.

And you know that he can have fun, Crisje.

Even here they had to laugh at him.

They saw the artist in him, because a farmer is not capable of behaving so crazily, this was pure art.

Yes, Crisje, they made such a night of it and nobody will be any the wiser for it, Jeus thinks, because it was he himself.

Then they went for a lovely sleep.

Well, Jeus, aren’t city people fun?

Are they not just good people?

They really got to you and your rounds mean nothing, all those people have already forgotten you.

And tomorrow?

Just wait, you will hear tomorrow.

Sleep well.

“Good morning, everyone.

Good heavens, Bernard, what a laugh we had last night, didn’t we?”

Bernard does not react.

They look each other in the eye and Jeus should already know.

What happened yesterday, ‘but what fun we had’, is a stabbing pain under your heart today, it is misery!

Jeus, do you not feel that about Bernard?

Did you think that you could act the prince here, act the baron?

You are now faced with: what will you do?

I thought that you were so sensitive?

Do you not understand that they are grumpy here because the money has gone?

Johan and Rie have spent their savings.

They think that they must be mad.

They have been given a beating; and Bernard thinks: good heavens, I now have to slave two weeks for that.

That will not happen again.

And you?

See for yourself, they are really dumbfounded.

They laughed above their station yesterday, Jeus.

So did you!

They are now doubled over with a heavy burden. What will you do?

“Did you not sleep well, Bernard?”

“What did you say?” ... Bernard asks sarcastically, but he hears what Jeus says and he answers:

“I slept very well.

But I have to slave.”

“And I will search for a boss, Bernard”

And Bernard utters, too harshly for his life and feelings:

“You had better do that!”

Oh, Bernard, is that not a bit harsh?

He asks:

“Are you mad, Bernard?”

No answer.

You see, Jeus, that is the way it is in the city.

A poor show.

You can now look for a boss quickly.

The laughing and happiness from yesterday belong to the past.

Come, we are leaving, Jeus, you only see long faces here, anyway.

Come on, hurry up, hurry now, Jeus.

We have to look for work.

Do you not hear me?

You have not earned the laughter yet, Jeus.

You should have watched your money.

You should have given Johan that bit of money, then you could have managed a week, but now that they have spent everything themselves, you are faced with this mess, it is a sad feeling, pure human emptiness, the wrong part of it is now sitting at the table here and wants to be rid of you.

Do you not feel their heaviness?

I really hope that this will be a lesson for you.

You have to think of everything in the city.

Jeus speaks up:

“But how stupid we were yesterday, Bernard.”

“Yes, we were stupid.

But a person is entitled to some fun as well, isn’t he?”

Do you mean that, Bernard?

This child of Crisje is tickling itself.

But it is the itching of a field slug, it is more than that, it is horrible!

Suddenly he is standing in the street.

Where to?

He does not know one street from the other; he is a stranger here.

But he must look for a boss.

Where do the bosses live here?

Yes, where do you go now, Jeus?

He finds himself in a city hell.

He is one of those millions of unfortunate people, one part of this mighty entirety, and he must try to find some happiness, also, the only path which will take him to a boss.

Now Jeus feels inside:

“To the left, Jeus?

No, about turn ...!

Down this street.

When you come to the end of this street, you will be facing a little square.

Just carry on, and then it is right again.

You also walk to the end of this street and then we will come to the main railway.

Not that one where you arrived by train, but another one.

Then you go straight on again, so past the railway, go right again and through a small tunnel.

Then you turn right again and now you will hear something, something, which you know, Jeus, it is the same screeching which came from your brush factory.

Come on now, you know exactly where you have to go.

I will follow you.”

Yes, Johan and Bernard could have helped him, but they have been beaten senseless.

They can no longer think.

They could easily have looked in a newspaper, but Jeus ran away.

They do not have the feeling now to behave and think a bit decently.

But he is already running.

He does not know that he has now also been touched by a spatial rope.

Jeus is completely himself, but the working is present and that working is now also infallible.

Yes, Crisje, they have got each other back again!

Casje is already working; and your own great Tall One is following this process, of course, there is now also a lot for him to learn.

He wanders through the streets.

Goodness, there is the railway already.

A while later he hears the screeching and enters the factory.

“Do you need anybody, sir?”

“Yes, you can start tomorrow.”

“What do I have to do, sir?”

“Polish doors and cupboards.”

“Great, sir.

And how much can I earn?”

“Nine guilders.”

Jan Lemmekus, your prophet will become a door polisher.

Jeus will polish.

He will do exactly the same as you.

But this is certainly something very different to writing books.

He goes back to Bernard.

They must admit, it is quick.

But how did you get there?

Yes, that is quite something.

I do not know, he says.

He does not even know where it is anymore.

If he says where he has been, Johan feels that it is behind the railway.

You have those factories there.

But isn’t that something, Johan?

He has found work and does not even know where the factory is.

But it exists.

It is strange.

Bernard says:

“If you do that again, you will be out of the game.

You have to think in the city.”

He did think, Bernard.

Is that so strange?

And now something else.

Does Jeus have working clothes?

No, he does not have anything.

He cannot work in his one and only brown Sunday suit.

But Bernard already has another idea.

For the time being he can wear a suit which Bernard has to turn.

He has to start on it tomorrow or the day after and then there will be something else.

And this blue jacket will be fine, he sees.

It is a bit narrow, a bit tight, but that does not matter.

He leaves like that for his work, full of energy, aware of his will to work.

He radiates gratitude, because he has managed it so quickly, like this he appears amongst the men.

What is the matter?

Why are those men laughing?

They are all laughing.

They are laughing at him, and the laughter is free.

Does he not understand that?

No, he does not know why the men are laughing.

When he arrives upstairs at his little room and a boy of fifteen tells him what he has to do, that child also starts laughing.

There you have the gook!

Here is a brush and now just get tables, chairs, cupboards and bed boards, just make those things black and polish them so that they are shining like a new pin.

There is no more to it.

The work is very simple.

Why are those men laughing at him?

When he goes to the joiners, he is the laughing stock.

What do those people from The Hague want from his life?

Is that part of the city?

They continue to smirk and that makes him nervous.

Are these people crazy?

It is horrible.

Do those people have nothing else to do?

And when the fifteen year old boy asks him whether he is from a good background, or whether he has just come from an office, he begins to understand, but it does not get through to him completely.

Yes, you see, you look too well-dressed for a factory and this is why they are laughing here.

And, your trousers are too short, your low shoes look just like sticks of liquorice and this is why the men have to laugh.

And, you are wearing a collar.

Is that so strange?

You could go to a wedding like that.

Are the men not allowed to have a laugh?

He is already working, he does his best, and they can drop dead!

The day passes.

He can be satisfied.

Only the laughter really bothered him, beat him and kicked him as well, but they can forget it.

And then he is face to face with Bernard.

“What do you have to do there, Jeus?”

“I have to polish furniture, Bernard.

I am pleased that I got work so quickly.

But the only thing which hurt me was that the men were laughing at me, Bernard.”

“Why?”

“I think it was because of my suit, Bernard.”

“Just let them go to hell.

That is envy, as long as you know.”

The following day also passes.

The laughter has disappeared; he is working hard.

Bernard is also extremely busy.

The owner of the blue jacket has come to ask when he can get his suit back.

Bernard will start on it tomorrow.

Jeus will now just have to wear that green one.

This one suits him better.

He does not think about the laughter at the factory.

This is something completely different.

Jeus appears at the factory in a different suit.

Good heavens, Crisje, how all those men have to laugh now.

He behaves very sensibly.

He flings his collar into a corner, but they continue to laugh.

They are laughing in a different way today, Jeus feels.

This is really bothersome, but he is working hard.

Are city people always like that?

But life is different in the country.

No one laughs there if you are well-dressed.

He is standing on a red-hot plate, so to speak.

They want to torture him here.

The men hit him right in his face.

And then suddenly the boss is standing right under his nose.

He breaks out in a sweat.

The boss also has to laugh to himself, and that is really bad.

Then he utters:

“Would you not rather look for work elsewhere?”

“What did you say, sir?

Am I not doing my best then?”

“It’s not that, but you do not belong here.”

“I do not belong here, did you say?”

“No, you do not belong in a factory.

Tell me, where do you actually come from and what did you do before?”

“I come from home, sir.

And I want to work hard.”

“But what do you hope to achieve here?”

“But I said, sir, I want to work.

And what I am wearing is poverty.”

“Exactly, that’s what it is!

You see, you are too well-dressed.

You are not suitable for a factory.”

“Oh, sir, just let me work.

I will do my best.”

“But you had better look for something else.”

The boss disappears.

The men laugh.

They almost suffocate.

Is this not a strange world?

Oh, Crisje, I have never had anything like it before.

I surely don’t have to leave?

Good heavens, what will I do, mother?

The people here are narrow-minded, mother, people here are pathetic.

What does that dirty scum want?

It is envy, of course.

You would laugh about it yourself, if it were not so sad.

Before the boss disappeared from his sight, he also got to hear:

“You look scandalous walking round here.”

I look scandalous walking round here, thunders through his head.

I want to work!

A while later someone else is standing before his nose.

The man places nine guilders on the table, laughs as well, and says:

“You have to look for something else, sir.”

My God, it groans inside his soul, what kind of creatures did You create, anyway.

Do these city people not understand any poverty?

Does he have to tell them that this suit does not even belong to him?

No, that is not possible.

Then he must just leave.

He is choked with misery.

He cannot call them names, because those people are not worth it.

A while later he is in the street.

He is holding nine guilders ... for which he would have had to work for a full week.

Now he gets all those days paid for nothing.

Are those people mad or I am mad?

Just get lost, if you do not want it any other way, the ‘droodles’!

Yes, Crisje, the first ‘droodles’ have been said in the city.

They can get lost and drop dead, but it is not his fault.

Now what, Jeus?

He wanders off, just like that, once again he does not know where he is going.

But can he go home like that?

No, what will he do?

What would you say to a newspaper, Jeus?

It is still early.

Now just get to know the city.

Have a special meat roll ...

You know, Rie, Johan, and Bernard like them so much and that is tasty.

You now have plenty of money.

What do you think?

He experiences this miracle in the Wagenstraat.

It is lovely.

Another one!

And now he has time to have a look around, to take in some of the city.

Honestly, Crisje, he cannot get enough of it, he feels like a prince in this.

It is a mad carry-on, he feels, he has to laugh about it himself now, but it is also pointless; you would never have anything like that in the country.

In the country people would say: that is his own business.

In the city people are so measly, they do not know.

Yes, he will now wait for the newspaper, but that will be a while yet.

He has understood what is important in the city.

Just look at those people running.

Are those people in their right mind?

With his hands in his pockets, he calmly has a look at everything; he can see an awful lot of things for Crisje.

Soon when he has enough money he will buy something for those at home.

And then it is time.

Jeus has his newspaper, but he has never seen a thing like that before.

Where can you find something, sir?

There, in the advertisement section.

Is that not something, Jeus?

Just look!

That is perhaps something for you and then you will learn a good trade.

It says:

‘A messenger boy is required; who is a good cyclist.

Internal!’

He can cycle.

Yes, that is something.

But what is internal?

He will learn that later.

Now he takes a tram.

He has gone; he is the first one there.

Here it is.

A long way away.

They say that he is almost in Scheveningen.

Line eight takes him right to the door of the villa.

He already reads:

Boarding house ... meals delivered.

“Good day, sir.

I have come to ask whether you need anyone.”

Jeus may come in.

That is already almost everything.

If you are inside, you will get that job, of course, or they would have closed the door in your face.

The gentleman gives him a good going-over and then he says:

“Where do you come from, young man?”

“I come from the country, sir.

I have only just come to the city.

I am willing to do everything for you, sir, everything!”

“That looks good.

Do you know the way here?”

“But I can learn that, can’t I, sir?

I am pretty quick.

I will certainly learn the way quickly.

I will do everything for you, sir.”

The man has to have a think.

And then Jeus hears:

“Yes, you see, you can get on here.

You can learn something from me.

I can make you into a chef.”

“Please, sir.

Great, sir!

I am willing to do everything, sir.”

“Just wait.”

He waits.

Will I get that job?

It smells nice here, Crisje.

He can already smell delicious soup.

It is unbelievable.

Pray, Crisje.

He must have his job.

And he is at home as well, Crisje.

He now suddenly has no more worries; there is now nothing, which can hurt him.

Are you praying, Crisje?

A lady comes to see him.

The woman, he sees, has a thing like that hanging on her chest, which the ladies from Montferland wore.

He knows that.

But he looks the lady straight in the eye.

He does something, of which he knows the power.

He wants her to think well of him.

She will accept him!

She must absorb him.

Then she says:

“Are you not too old to be a messenger boy?”

“Me too old for a messenger boy, madam?

I am really not too old, madam.

I will be only pleased to do it.

Oh, madam, I will do everything.

You will be really pleased with me.

I swear to you, madam.

I will lie at your feet, madam.

I will do everything, madam.”

The lady laughs to herself and leaves.

Jeus sees that there are also girls here.

The boss faces him again and thinks.

The man has a long serious look.

He sees that the boss is wearing a white cap, a nice apron and everything is immaculate here, Crisje.

Just take me, sir.

Come on, do it, sir!

I will do everything, he sends to that life.

The lady comes back again.

Another lady also comes to have a look.

He is standing there and has to approve of being stared at from inside and outside.

Then he gets to hear from the gentleman:

“Well, young man, we will agree that you will hear from me.

First your address.”

Jeus disappears.

He sees and feels that the girls are following him.

But he knows for certain that he will get this new job.

He will get it; he will definitely get it.

What he felt infallibly went to the human personality, to the soul and spirit; the question: give me the job!

Now for a quick look around the area.

For a few hours he runs through the streets like a mad dog, absorbs a few things, so that he at least knows this strange place a little.

And then he goes home.

Good, they can now tell him more.

“Where have you been so late?” Bernard wants to know.

Yes, what can he say?

“Is there anything the matter?” Johan also asks.

“Good grief, good gracious, I have already lost my boss.”

“What did you say?”

“Yes, Bernard, I had to leave.”

“Why?”

“Because of my suit, Bernard.”

Do you believe that?

Rie does not believe it.

Johan shrugs his shoulders.

He can pull the other one.

They do not believe him.

His own family does not believe him.

That is scandalous and it is a blow to his life.

What did you say?

Bernard cannot understand it.

He has to know everything, but it is strange!

Rie does not want anything to do with it.

It is obvious that she is thinking of the money.

And that is also a dirty blow to him.

Good heavens, Crisje, isn’t that something?

Have they forgotten here what we did?

Did this woman not get everything from Crisje and the boys for her marriage to Johan?

Now she is afraid that she will not get any money, Crisje.

It hits him.

His soul is weeping.

They do not believe him.

This is bad!

It has given him a fright.

He does not want any food and he disappears upstairs, but it is Bernard who forces him to eat.

“Have you gone completely mad?

I am here as well, as long as you know.

Come on, eat.”

This disbelief hit him inside.

He knows what it is about and that is very bad.

But they do not know that he got his money.

He is crying from the blow.

“Good gracious, Bernard, is that a human being?

Johan has no say.

She should have tried that with me.

But, Bernard, I was paid my money.”

Bernard does an about-turn and asks, touched:

“What did you say?

They paid you then?”

“Of course, Bernard.

I did my work well, after all.”

Yes, now something has changed.

But what was Bernard thinking about?

“Did you think, Bernard, that I had thrown in the towel there?”

“So it was about your suit?

They thought that you came from an office?”

“Yes, Bernard, they thought that.

They thought there that I had rich parents.

They thought that I was pulling their leg.

They thought ... Bernard, but you can understand that, can’t you?

I was too well-dressed for there.”

Now that he lays his money on the table, everything is suddenly different.

But, just wait ...

I probably have a job again as well.

If I have another job again tomorrow, then what?

He will only tell them later.

He will also keep his money in his pocket.

He will talk to Bernard first.

“I already have something else, Bernard.”

“That is not possible.”

“But it is true, Bernard.

Just look, here it is.”

Bernard reads the advertisement.

“But they need boys for that.

You surely don’t want to play the part of messenger boy, do you?”

“I will become a chef there, Bernard.

And internal ... that is sleeping there as well, I think.”

If that is the case, Bernard says to him, he will suddenly have a roof over his head.

But then there isn’t a problem.

What do they want here then?

Now that Bernard knows that he has received money, he understands everything.

Just wait, that is the best thing.

He must save his money.

Bernard knows, there is brotherly love, but if your brother has no say anymore, everything becomes human again, but it is sorrowful and pathetic.

They have never seen that in the country, never known that.

“And do you think that you will get a job there, Jeus?”

“Yes, Bernard, I will get a job there, you will see.”

They talk for a long time about it, then finally go to sleep.

They are waiting downstairs for the money.

Did he act properly?

People would rather have money than pure love; he knows that now.

Money is everything, Crisje.

You cannot achieve anything in the city with love.

At least, not here.

Somewhere else love means something again, and is everything to a person.

Jeus thinks seriously about this incident.

It is bad, if you have nothing more to say as a husband.

Johan is plain good.

But what did father and mother always say?

It is worthwhile finding that out for yourself.

You can learn from it.

If you follow everything properly and if you understand it.

When he knows that he will get a job there, he will beat her, beat her life with money.

Poverty?

Does human laughter mean anything?

No!

If they throw their arms around your neck, first ask yourself whether it is not a question of money, he has now learned.

Are you taken care of and kissed because of your money?

Yes, Jeus, the city gives you everything, also offers you everything for your money!

You will also get to know that.

It is rotten!

He cannot sleep because of it.

It is so terrible!

He thinks about the incident.

He wants to get out of it what he can.

He will learn from it.

How is it possible, mother?

Johan has no say!

It is not Johan’s fault, but he is no longer a man.

How much did he not get from me?

Everything!

Does Rie not know that?

Did she not get everything from us?

This soul, Crisje, has no love.

Love is something great, if you feel it and understand love.

My God, what a good time we had at home, mother.

How great our life together was!

This is nothing.

But I will not come home.

I will carry on.

I will become a chef, mother.

I will not write about this to you, anyway, it would only hurt you, like it hurt me.

And that must not happen, dear Crisje.

One o’clock, two o’clock, he cannot get to sleep because of it.

But he has to, because tomorrow he will start something new.

He will become a chef.

It smelled nice there.

Tartlets with brown sugar.

Of course, they are there as well, and it is something different to that dirty gunge.

That cupboard nonsense can now drop dead!

He is laughing now!

Jeus is not asleep yet, but the silence is approaching.

He draws up the balance.

The first days in the city gave him some joy, then misery and trouble.

And there is also happiness behind all of that.

You will see, mother. I will get that job.

I will become a chef!

At home, in Crisje’s house, there is someone else who wants to become a chef.

Hendrik also replied to an advertisement and will soon leave for Arnhem; he is going to a large hotel, where he will be a trainee chef.

Crisje now knows that they will leave one after the other.

Jeus has encouraged Hendrik, and Crisje actually thinks it is great.

The boys have willpower; here they would die and shrivel up.

Then they will just have to go into the world.

He and Bernard will soon hear.

Gerhard is already thinking about the city, but he does not have the Tall One’s feelings, and little Hendrik has all of them.

And then the daily consciousness has gone to sleep for Jeus.

He now dreams about tasty food and drink, sees himself racing through Scheveningen, because he will go there, he already lives there now.

In a rich neighbourhood, amongst rich people, exactly what he loves within himself, which belongs to his world.

That is a nice piece of work, Casje.

You knew it.

The first part looks good.

There is now peace for the moment, or do you see something else for his life?

We will find out tomorrow.

Thank you, also on behalf of Crisje.