Bernard and Jeus now know that people promise you the world and do not mean a word of it, they insult you and threaten you under your very nose and later ask: did I say that?

Then you did not understand me.

It is all your own calculation, they suck your blood away, they kick you, if you approve of it at least, and cannot show what you want or they will destroy your character and personality.

They have a few days to talk with each other, to determine from what danger he has escaped.

It was dangerous there, it was horrific and Bernard knows: no girl for now.

He does not intend to be short-changed, he knows the city and is afraid of pretty faces.

Crisje does not need to worry, but she kneels in church every morning, goes to confession and communion for her boys in the city and gets on okay: Our Lord is watching!

‘What kind of mean people were they there, Bernard?’

Yes, Bernard can understand that, the city is more dangerous than the country, you know everyone there, those lives are open to you, you grew up with it, in the city everyone can hide, people wear masks.

In the city they would kill to achieve their goal and you cannot do that in the country.

Jeus says:

‘Just give me that carry-on from the country, Bernard.’

But Bernard says to him:

‘They can also cheat you, as long as you know.

They can also get on your nerves.

Did you never see that in our place?

How many men were not henpecked?

Don’t make me laugh.’

Bernard is right, of course, it is the same everywhere, but in the country you do not go through what you go through in the city. In the country you know people’s backgrounds, you know where they were born, they cannot pretend to be a baron there, or act the princess, you know that, they cannot cheat you with many things and matters, because that possibility does not exist.

They analyse the city for themselves, the pure psychology of the country is dissolved in this mud, Bernard feels and Jeus can now admit that he lived in it himself, he was right in it and saw it, but if you keep your eyes open, nothing can happen to you, all those empty souls fall into their own mud.

Don’t they, Bernard?

“Of course, and they do not realize that yet.”

“Yes, Bernard, but how stupid city people are anyway, aren’t they?”

Bernard turns round, he wants to look Jeus in the eye for this, what he has to say tickles his tongue; it is the creaking of the honest personality, which shies away from wretchedness.

“When I had been there for five minutes, you will certainly not believe that, will you, Jeus, but I already realized that.”

“What did you realize, Bernard?” ... Jeus wants to know.

“Well, I mean, that they cheat you here right under your nose.

And here everything is a matter of money.

They sell themselves here for money.

This is why there are also so many ... whores ... here ... as long as you know.

And I want nothing to do with that.”

Jeus thinks, but what a terrible word it is.

Whores ...?

What are whores?

He knows, of course, he was in the army for that reason; you heard and learnt all kinds of things.

Bernard continues to advise his brother.

“That’s what I am afraid of, Jeus, and we must watch out for it.

You are faced with a girl and you think in the city that she has just come from her mother, but a while later you can experience that she attracts a whole factory and they are the men of the city.

I am afraid of that.

My God, that is dangerous that is really dangerous, so to speak, and I do not want anything to do with it either.

If I marry, I want a good girl, otherwise I will remain a bachelor.”

Did you hear that, Crisje?

You would die laughing if you heard them talking like that.

But they have learned that you cannot jump in just like that here or you will be stuck with human misery for the rest of your life.

Your boys are sensible, Crisje, many children of the city can learn something from your boys.

It is going well like this ... there is no danger now, they are in awe of bad girls.

“You, Bernard” ... says Jeus ... “you can be pleased that you have learned a good trade.”

“Of course, what would have become of me otherwise?

My God, how wild I was, what a bad way I was in at that time.

Even when I think about it now, it still frightens me.

If I had not been run over by the tram, I would not have been a tailor now.”

“Yes, Bernard, how strange life is.

If only we knew all that beforehand.

I can still see you lying on that stretcher.

Good gracious, Bernard, I can never forget that, I saw inside your leg.

And that piece of leg, Bernard, under the table with a piece of your trousers, I can still weep about it.

My God, what a terrible time that was, Bernard.

And then father died.

Do you not talk to father anymore, Bernard?”

“No” ... Bernard answers ... “we got nothing else but mocking ghosts.

They later fooled us and that is why we stopped.”

“So was that father, Bernard?”

“Of course that was father.

But he has other things to do now.

And so do I.”

They think about it.

It is worthwhile anyway, but you cannot live in the city with the dead, you have to take care of yourself.

Bernard keeps coming back to it, it was a great time.

“Yes”, he says, “they are powers which we people don’t know the slightest thing about.

But I know now, if I die I will remain alive.”

“Do you not have to go to church anymore, Bernard?”

“What did you say?

Do you still want me to go to church?

Did you think that I would let myself be cheated any longer?

That is all for money.

I know enough about it for myself, they will not see me in the church again, but mother must not know that, she would only worry.”

“So what were all the things that father said to you, Bernard?”

“All kinds of things, that there is no hell with fire and that you can live well there, even better than here, but you must not get up to any nonsense here, father said.”

A while later they are talking about girls.

Bernard says to him:

“Good heavens, Jeus, how that Elly got me.

But I felt like a king.”

“So did I, Bernard, but they cheated us.

We were left empty-handed.”

Jeus thinks to himself and makes comparisons, which brings him to the realization that he has crawled through the eye of a needle.

He was sitting there in paradise, they clearly held out an apple to him, but he did not bite.

Bernard hears him mumbling and prompts him to ask:

“What is that paradise and snakes business?”

“I was thinking about it, Bernard.

I was in paradise there.

They held out an apple to me and I did not bite it, did I?

That is something else, Bernard, Betsy was the snake, but how they can fool people.

What if that is all there is?”

“Would you have wanted a bite of that apple?”

“No, of course not, Bernard, but that is the snake of paradise anyway, isn’t it?

That is the danger, so to speak, Bernard, but people do not understand that.

And the church cheats people.

That is why I do not want anything to do with the church either.”

“Of course, but they are the rotten apples, the dangerous ones.”

Johan, who comes to have a look now and again, also readily admits that the snake from paradise lives in people; it is the people themselves.

He must admit, it is creeping and singing vermin and it kisses you.

It is ‘flattering’ as well, but that can cheat you.

Rie looks at the personalities from her own world.

How childlike they still are, they have just left their mother, they are unspoiled and their characters are pure.

And then it is time to leave.

Jeus is going to a real baron to look after the house for a while and afterwards he is leaving to go to Hendrik and little Gerrit.

It is a question here of taking in the mail, polishing the bell, dusting here and there inside, which makes him sick. No, he will never become a house servant, even if the man gave him a thousand guilders, not him, he wants to go into space.

He will go to the boys, yes, of course, all those rich people suck you empty; he does not believe anyone anymore.

They should know over there where he was.

Betsy lives just around the corner.

His new boss makes a point of telling him: “Jeus, I do not want to lose you, I will make something of your life, and you deserve it.

You are good to the children and you are honest. What will you do, Jeus?”

He will leave, sir, he does not trust rich people anymore, you are just cheated anyway.

No, that has been killed, sir, say it yourself, you do not make the same mistake twice, you would have to be mad.

After five weeks, he can leave.

Hendrik and Gerrit are well off, and he will be a bicycle repairer there, he must take the bicycles of the guests, the tea-shop looks good.

“Good day, Hendrik, good day, Gerrit, I am here now.”

“Good, Jeus.

I will take you to our boss”...

There is sir already.

“So, is this Jeus?

What strapping boys your mother produced.

I must say.”

The man looks Jeus in the eye and he knows.

Hendrik must tell him everything.

They will sleep upstairs in one little room. When the people come, he has to take the horses, look after the bikes and that money is for himself, with seven guilders a week extra, food and drink, what more do you want.

Hendrik is the chef and Gerrit is a house servant here.

And then he has to take care of the silver along with someone else.

‘Is that okay, Jeus?’

The boss can pronounce his name.

“Yes, sir, I will do my best.”

Hendrik says: “We have landed on our feet here, Jeus.”

“How did you actually get this job, Hendrik?”

“That’s a good one, my boss in Arnhem was leaving and he did not want to lose me.”

“But how did you get to Arnhem, Hendrik?”

“I replied to an advertisement and that is all.

Did you think that I wanted to shrivel up in that backwater of ours?

Teun and Miets will undoubtedly come too, you would shrivel up there.”

This is the way it is, Crisje, you see it yourself, and they are going to the city, into the world, one by one.

And now he can begin.

The season is approaching, they are outside in the fresh air, alive and kicking, with no worries, they cannot get over their happiness.

He gets on well with Hendrik; they understand each other.

Little Gerrit has become a strange figure, you cannot fathom him out.

Gerrit’s character is strange; he likes nice things and chases girls, for Hendrik, he is now called ‘Nice Juul’.

You should see little Gerrit with his patent leather shoes, his bowler hat and walking stick, you would die laughing, he looks so funny, he gets to hear from Hendrik, and this is the way it is!

And the Tall One was right, Crisje, Gerrit is and will remain a strange one, he is a strange character; today you have him and tomorrow you don’t.

However, they have followed one another, met in the city and now they will work together.

Hendrik remarks to him:

“I do not understand what he wants, Jeus.

He does nothing else but chase girls.

If he sees a girl, he is completely crazy.

But he was already just as mad about girls as a child, wasn’t he?”

Jeus has already sussed it out, Hendrik can make it or break it here, depending on what he wants, they like him, the chef is mad about Hendrik and the boss not any less so.

He introduces him to someone else, and he now has to work together with him, the man comes from the East.

Koos is really a stable hand and takes care of the horses, they must share, but soon there will be plenty of work.

That is also okay.

Is there anything else?

No, just go ahead and keep the garden clean.

Crisje gets great letters from the boys.

But how is it possible that her boys are in one place, with such good people, Crisje has also received a letter from their boss.

The man is a good Catholic and that is lucky, Crisje knows all about it. He will take care of the boys, Crisje does not need to be afraid of anything.

Everything is fine; it couldn’t be better.

You live here amongst nightingales; the birds waken you in the morning.

It is a paradise again, Crisje, he also lives now – the boys – amongst the girls, there are at least twenty altogether, because the city people come here for a rest, want to enjoy the nature here, but they live in this day and night.

Isn’t that something?

You hear French, German and English here, Crisje. The boys can give themselves completely here, they could not have got anything better. However, Jeus is still not learning a trade, because anyone could do this.

But he thinks: in the meantime I will get something better. He feels, Crisje, it is like he is on holiday here, with food and drink and a bed for free, what he has to do for it is nothing, a boy of twelve could do that as well.

You can think here, Crisje, he is living in the most beautiful spot, thousands of people come to this spot and this paradise belongs to your boys, it is unbelievable, but they have received it from Our Lord.

On Sundays it is thronging with people here, Crisje, the people from The Hague then race to the country and many people do that by bike. Jeus looks after the bicycles, they give him some money for this and that money is now for him and that Koos.

If there is anything to be repaired, he can charge more.

Do you understand, Crisje, that he will be well off?

Hendrik is learning a good trade, and Jeus also wants to learn a trade, he understands very well that he is now just unskilled. However, that will come later, Crisje, he is certainly not that stupid and still young enough to make something of his life.

Little Gerrit will undoubtedly remain a house servant, he does not have so much inspiration in him, they will never get to see it either.

Gerrit hangs about, he follows his own path, Crisje, nothing can be changed about it and ‘that is Gerrit’s business’, Hendrik and Jeus say; however, they understand each other!

This is almost everything which you have to know, so have complete faith that your children are on the right path, and you have already heard that from their boss and master.

But Jeus is a bit afraid of the daughter of seventeen.

Hendrikje is nice-looking and that girl is already looking at the boys.

Jeus saw it, and has to talk to Hendrik.

“Is that not dangerous, Hendrik, that fooling about with that girl?”

“Dangerous, you ask, Jeus?

What is dangerous about it?

Nothing is dangerous, I know what I am doing.

Should I say nothing at all to her then?”

He is still acting the part of father over Hendrik.

It’s quite something, just imagine if the boss sees it.

Hendrik continues:

“May I not talk to our Miets then, Jeus?”

“You will not do it anymore, will you?”

“Of course not, Jeus, do not worry about me.

But we do have to watch out for Gerrit.

He is dangerous here.

I feel that he looks at the girls too much and he cannot be trusted, Jeus.

And that snotty-nosed brat from the kitchen, yes, that one with snot, her nose runs all day, stands about chatting to little Gerrit too much, and I will keep an eye on that.

You as well, Jeus, he must not get up to any nonsense here.

But you do not need to worry about me.”

They keep an eye on little Gerrit.

Jeus knows he does not need to be worried about Hendrik.

And as far as he himself is concerned, he has just proved that. However, he is also faced with a Betsy here again, the third one already that he has met in his life.

This one does the washing-up, stands in the kitchen and wanders about a bit, is already glancing.

Has he not yet proved then, Our Lord, that he does not want any snake love?

Why are you dangling an apple like that in front of him again?

Look at that girl watching, just see, it is enough to drive you mad.

Look at that Swiss girl, that German girl, that French girl ... It is a real paradise here, but extremely dangerous, much worse even than there, he determines for himself, and that is the truth!

They have never been so well off before.

They are whispering upstairs.

They are sleeping here amongst angels.

The rest leave in the evening. The house angels sleep here in the attic, but the boss sleeps not even four metres away, and he trusts the boys in everything!

You may trust people who have a faith and Crisje has written to him that her boys are good, they have a faith, and if only the boss will make sure, they go to church.

And that happens, as well, on Sundays they go to the first mass, but that is their own business, they do not always have time, the work here demands everything.

The boys run back and forth for the boss, Crisje, but next door, it is just a paper partition, which has closed off the angel room, children of Our Lord dream.

Little Gerrit is already thinking about how he can crawl through it, but he does not manage.

He tries to do that by drilling holes, but Hendrik realized that.

Yes, the things little Gerrit thinks of, Crisje.

When the light is out, little Gerrit wants to look through the holes.

He sees the paradise of Our Lord, but gave himself away and Hendrik had caught him.

Little Gerrit was standing on top of a chair and pricked holes in the stiff wallpaper.

Now that has been prevented, Crisje, but he keeps thinking of something else, he wants to see the angels, and that is the dangerous thing.

Jeus is raking the garden; the boss sees it and has a chat.

“Are you okay, Jeus?”

“Yes, sir, I am fine.”

“Are you satisfied?”

“Yes, sir, of course, and I will do my best.”

“And are the earnings okay, Jeus?”

“Yes, sir, I have no complaints.”

“But are you saving anything, Jeus?”

“I am saving as well, sir.

And I am also taking care of Crisje.”

“That is nice, Jeus.

You must not forget your mother.

You have a good mother.”

“We know that, sir.

Crisje is an angel.”

“As long as you make sure that you save something for the future.

It is not so busy here in the winter time.”

“I will make sure of that, sir.”

Yes, it is going well, it couldn’t be better.

Hendrik is a good cook and has already learned a lot.

He also knows that you see people of different ranks here.

His rank is like nothing on earth, even if he earns his money.

Bernard can now make him three nice suits, but he will remain nothing.

The waitresses give themselves airs and graces; they are higher again than the servant girls are, and in this way a person can climb higher and higher.

When he has the time to talk to Hendrik in the kitchen, it becomes clear to him that Hendrik is a great cook.

The chef would not miss him for the world.

Little Gerrit would have liked to wear Hendrik’s hat, also the well-known tie, and Hendrik has what he would so much have liked to have.

He understands it, he should have done it differently.

Hendrik started immediately as a trainee chef; Gerrit missed the boat.

Just taste Hendrik’s soup.

What is this soup called?

Louis-Dalé, in Dutch that is Louitje van Dalen.

A Deut Messing style soup and invented by Hendrik himself, Deutmésámá, that is French. He makes what he thinks of it, Jeus feels, and the strangest thing is that the chef says that they are inventions; Hendrik is a born genius in the kitchen.

Hendrik lets him taste his pudding; it is fantastic.

This one is called Poopela, from the name Gerrit Poop from their own neighbourhood, but people keep on ordering his Poopela pudding, own trademark from our neighbourhood.

Hendrik works with his own creations.

But he brews everything with old claret and brandy, also something different, and people only taste the flavour, the actual soup is not important.

“Would you like to taste my soup, Jeus?”

“Yes, please, Hendrik, have you got nice soup today?”

Hendrik lets him taste his soup.

A moment later, now that he has fiddled about with it, Jeus tastes it again.

“Good heavens, Hendrik, how tasty it is, and what is this soup called?”

“Labooha de Bary”, he hears.

“Is that French, Hendrik?

Where did you learn everything so quickly?”

“Here in the kitchen, Jeus, you can learn all kinds of things”, he says and that is true, Jeus, the chef teaches him the art of culinary.

Here is another dish.

This is a Vildelakva, as Hendrik calls it, a sort of pudding with a straw, damn tasty, but in Dutch it is called ‘do an about face pudding’. But people do not do that, they really like his Vildelakva.

And in this way Hendrik has invented numerous dishes, and the chef wants him to write down the recipes, but Hendrik ignores this, because in five minutes he has forgotten them himself.

But this boy of Crisje has the feeling of making something nice and good, he will make it in life, Crisje does not need to worry about him.

“How does my soup taste, Jeus?

How does my pudding taste?

You wouldn’t have thought that, would you?

But I am like father was, I can think, and you can as well, but our Gerrit is not a bit like that.”

Hendrik, Jeus feels, mixes his soups and compared to Hendrik, his last boss was just a dope.

Really, Crisje, you must see and experience that.

It is going really well here.

The months fly past, they earn good money, and Jeus has bought himself some fine clothes. Bernard has come to have a look, and, on a day off, Crisje, he and Bernard took off their jackets, they made the most of it, which a hard working person deserves.

And why should he save everything?

He will have some left, Crisje, but he doesn’t really think about the future either.

In spite of that, life goes on, the summer passes and the paradise darkens here, there is all kind of talk, they get to hear the strangest things.

It is Hendrik who speaks up.

“There is something the matter, Jeus.

The boss is worried.

Sister said that our happiness here could come to an end.”

“But that isn’t true, is it, Hendrik?”

“Yes, they have got the boss.

They have cheated him out of thousands.

And that is bad, our good boss will be destroyed as a result of it.”

Seven lovely months passed.

And then the blow came, troubles for the boss and for all of them, the business is closed down.

However, the boss does not want to lose them, the boys will go with him until he has a new company.

All those people will be fired, your boys, Crisje, will go along to Rotterdam and that means something, after all.

Through this the boys have shown that they are loved, that they did their work well, because the rest of them have been fired.

Does Casje know what is going to happen?

Jeus has not spared a single thought for his Casje, as long as he has been away from home, he does not exist for him, nor for his sleep, for nothing.

And Casje has to accept that!

We know that the youth in him must die. But, now what?

In Rotterdam, they eat salad with lobster, they may wait for the next thing, the following scene. ‘But that costs money, that will take too long, Bernard.

I want to do something.

If I stay here any longer, I will lose my last cents and then what, Bernard?’

They weigh up the pros and cons.

Hendrik has to do his national service, and Gerrit will look for something else, because the boss will not get another business. Crisje’s boys are bored to death and boredom is not good for the soul, or for the spirit and personality.

If the boss cannot act, then they will do it themselves.

Jeus already knows, he will leave, he will go back to Bernard.

He wants to do something else in The Hague, but what?

Is Casje still following this life?

What do the Heavens wish to achieve with this child, in God’s name, just tell me?

Jeus is almost twenty-two.

He can do nothing, but he thinks, day and night, continually, and he does not know!

What he does know is that he will go to Bernard, something must happen there.

Once more, he feels it inside; just go, go to Johan and Bernard, Jeus!

That is all.

Crisje, there is no more to it.

He must leave there or he will not have a single cent left.

They are already broke, nearly everything has gone, it is now a question of watching out, each meal costs money.

Now the suffering overcomes him, he looks up to Bernard and Johan.

They are making a living, he isn’t!

Goodbye, Rotterdam!

Thank you for everything!

“Good day, Bernard.”

“What’s the matter?”

“I couldn’t wait there any longer.

The boss has not got anything else.

Can I stay here in the meantime?”

“Now what, Jeus?”

“I don’t know yet, Bernard, but that will come.”

There is silence in the little room upstairs.

Bernard is sleeping; Jeus is thinking.

In his sleep he receives visions, he experiences these things consciously, tomorrow morning he will know; not everything, but the first step has now entered his consciousness.

Nothing else is necessary, that is all, Jeus!

And that has happened now!

Now carry on!