Date: Tue, 02 Dec 2003 00:07:00 +0000
From: Jo Vincent <joad130@hotmail.com>
Subject: Aladdin's Awakening: Part 76
Usual Disclaimer: If you are not of an age to read this because of the laws
of your country or district please desist. If you are a bigot or
prod-nosed fundamentalist of any persuasion find your monkey-spanking
literature elsewhere and keep your predilections and opinions to yourself.
Everyone else welcome and comments more than welcome.
This is a very long tale. It unfolds over a good number of years. What is
true, is true: what is not is otherwise.
ALADDIN'S AWAKENING
By
Joel
CHAPTER 45
(PART ONE)
How Life Changes! Part A
July 1947 - September 1947
[Note: As accents, grave, acute, circumflex, etc., are difficult to cope
with in ASCII and it's downloaded forms, they have been omitted, unless the
word-processing program takes over!]
What struck me immediately was how much Aunt Lilian resembled Ma. She
rushed up to me and, although much shorter than me, embraced me round the
shoulders with tears in her eyes as I bent towards her and held her to me.
She spoke in heavily accented English.
"Oh Jacques, at last!" she sobbed.
I held her tight with my free hand trying to hold myself steady and
not put too much weight on my leg. She relaxed and looked up at me with
such a smile.
"You are just like your father," she said, wiping her eyes as I let
her go.
She settled down. Johann, who was standing behind her was introduced.
He must have been about five feet ten inches, but we could have been
brothers as he was almost the mirror image of me. That is, mirror image
except in colouring. We both had blue eyes but my black hair was matched
by his corn gold short locks. He also had a fresh, healthy-looking
complexion with no crops of nasty spots! We shook hands solemnly and then
I introduced Tony. As Aunt Lilian had spoken in English I did that in
English, too. However, Tony wasn't to be beaten.
"Enchantez, madame," he said, as they shook hands and he bowed low. I
really thought he was going to kiss her hand.
He turned to Johann. "Bonjour, Johann mon ami," he said and smiled.
Johann responded with a delighted smile.
"Et tu, mon ami," said Johann with that delicious smile.
Well, well, perhaps he wasn't the solemn lad I had pictured in my mind
and which had been reinforced by my first perception of him. I only knew
that Switzerland was famous for inventing cuckoo clocks and had William
Tell as a national hero and that Calvin was a puritan of sorts. A latter
day puritan was before me. Johann had on a very beautifully tailored black
coat, buttoned high. He was wearing fine black cloth knee britches, black
socks and highly polished black shoes. The two English boys looked
positively scruffy against him. School blazers and trousers, school ties
and grey shirts and pairs of shoes that looked as if they could do with a
good clean. But, we had been travelling!
Not to worry! Aunt Lilian knew we must be hungry and we were bustled
off to a restaurant near the station where we had a thick soup, slices of
meat and vegetables which tasted gorgeous, plus cups of really strong
coffee. I, as usual, was famished and a hint of a smile played over
Johann's lips as he pushed the little basket holding the piece of bread
belonging to him towards me. I knew better than to refuse and vowed I
would repay him in some equally cousinly way. That smile was there as he
watched me demolish my heavily laden plate.
Over lunch Aunt Lilian reverted to French, speaking slowly and clearly
and Tony nodded as he understood her well. So far, Johann had only spoken
a few words but I asked him, in French, what was his school like? He cast
his eyes heavenwards and I had the distinct feeling that if Aunt Lilian
hadn't been there he would have said something like "Merde!". He just said
he was taking his baccalaureate a year early and would go on to University
to study Law like his father.
So, I had another clever cousin to go with Gareth and Rhys. I said my
cousin Rhys was at Cardiff University reading Law and that our cousin
Charles Bradley Hamilton in the States was also doing the same at Boston
University. This was one snippet of information I had gleaned from Uncle
Alfred's visit. Aunt Lilian asked about his twin spunky brother. (She
didn't say 'spunky' but my image of them..... well! I can't help it if my
imagination runs away with itself sometimes!). I said I thought he was
studying Economics as his father said he wanted to go into business
somewhere. Anyway it was time to make a move as we still had the journey
to Neuchatel.
We went back into the station and caught the train. I was entranced.
I had never seen such scenery. Ma had said the mountains were for looking
at, not climbing. The backdrop looked immense! All too soon we drew up at
the mainline station to be greeted by an older version of the young man in
the wedding photo, Uncle Johann. I was hugged again and we were soon
bundled into his car, an old large French Citroen. We drove out of the
town along the lake and then up a drive to a typical Swiss chalet. This
one was large and in its own grounds.
"This is your home, my boys, for the next two months," he announced in
impeccable English. I found out later he had spent a year at Oxford
University after being exiled to Strasbourg and before he married Aunt
Lilian.
Johann was deputed to see us to our rooms. He hefted my suitcase and
haversack and Tony and I followed him up the stairs. We finished up on the
fourth floor which Johann had more or less to himself. His bedroom, facing
towards the lake, was huge, much, much bigger than mine and there were two
large side rooms besides. Beds for us two had been laid out in one of
these but Johann took immediate charge. He took one look and switched to
English, which he spoke slowly and carefully, and asked if we would like to
have the beds put into his room. It couldn't be done until tomorrow,
but...? Of course we said 'Yes'. He said it would be arranged, 'demain',
'tomorrow'!
Tony and I were both worn out so after a light supper of soup and cold
meats we asked if we might be excused and go to bed. I slept like a log.
For once never a sexual thought entered my head!.
*
I was awakened by the beautiful smell of fresh coffee with a smiling
Johann handing me a cup. Tony snored on. We talked in a mixture of
English, French and German. He said his main language used at school was
French but he also knew the local Swiss dialect as well, as well as being
able to get by in German. I found out he'd been dressed in his school
uniform which he had on again this morning. The school was a private one,
very exclusive, very formal and very strict. I could see he was very
bright and I said he should come to England before he went to University as
he would be a year ahead. He grinned and said I should arrange it for him!
Tony soon surfaced from his slumbers as I waved a cup of excellent
coffee under his nostrils. I had got out of bed as I had got into it, in
the nude. I noticed Johann eyed me up and down as I took the cup from the
tray he was holding and bent down to entice Tony from the arms of Morpheus.
I think Johann's eyes opened wider as Tony sat up, then stood up, quite
unselfconsciously and stretched, bending back so his semi-erect partial
morning hardon was very prominent.
He sat back on the bed and his cock stiffened until it was in its
usual morning upright position. I suppose as the pair of us had seen each
other in all sorts of conditions and positions morning, noon and night he
never gave a thought to Johann being there. It was all done so naturally.
Nothing was said but all was noted, I could see, by the silent
witness.
As Tony came too, shaking his head, he smiled across at Johann and said
"Guten tag". I remembered having told him that to say to Hans. Johann
smiled and said, in English, "Good morning, Tony," and then giggled. Tony
stood up and said "Must have a pee!" and disappeared off to the bathroom.
Johann looked at me. I grinned at him. "New word?" He giggled again and
nodded. We heard the sound of water splashing from a most inconsiderate
Tony. Johann nodded and giggled again. I said he shouldn't say that if he
had to put his hand up in class.
Tony emerged from the bathroom and asked what were the orders for the
day. I had to translate that for Johann. He said if I could walk to the
town I could have coffee in a caf‚ while he showed Tony some of the sights.
Tony washed and dressed, he said we could both wear shirts and shorts.
Tony said people wouldn't notice the strapping round my knee as I had a
stick to lean on. Johann said he had to wear his school uniform in the
town as it was 'de rigueur' but if we went out of town he would be able to
wear shorts like us except he had none. I got off the bed and riffled
through my suitcase. For some reason I had put in the old corduroy pair
which no longer fitted me. I gave them to him and his eyes lit up.
I said he should see if they fitted him. We watched as off came his
jacket, then his shoes. His knee britches were undone below the knees and
then removed. His legs above his long black socks were pale but with a
dusting of glistening, golden hair. He put on the shorts and stood. White
shirt and brown shorts. They fitted perfectly. He was a proud lad - and
handsome, too!
He quickly changed back and watched as I sauntered off to the bathroom
to wash. I could hear him and Tony chatting as I washed myself. I came
out, still undressed, with Tony and Johann still deep in conversation.
Both were seated on Tony's bed with Tony waving his arms around as he
described our friends and happenings at school in a mixture of English and
better than schoolboy French. Johann was grinning, joining in with words
when Tony got stuck. He was going to be a good companion, I knew.
Both watched as I sat and put on pants, a pair of khaki shorts which
had belonged to Chris when he was a Scout and were still OK to wear. I
mean, not too tight, but I did rather fill out the front. There was one of
his khaki Scout shirts as well from which Ma had removed about a dozen
Scout badges.
"Will we be meeting any of your friends?" I asked.
Johann was silent for a moment. He looked a bit perplexed. He then
explained that he didn't have any really close friends. Arnold Bechtelman
was a friend who lived in the next village where his father was a doctor
and a Professor at the University but he had said he was going to stay in
Interlaken for the holiday with relatives. He had class-mates, boys who
went to the same school, but, they were just boys who went to the same
school. He said many were richer than his father and their fathers used
his father as their lawyer. I got the feeling that some of them looked
down on him. There seemed to be a very distinct social pecking order. I
thought they were missing out. He was too nice to ignore or to be looked
down on.
He explained that many of the boys lived some distance from the school
and travelled in each day by railway. A few were boarders and they were
especially snotty and cliquey. He said that he did have another quite good
friend other than Arnold and that was Pascal Seuss whose father owned a big
hotel in the town. Some of the boys were quite rude to Pascal and called
him 'Garcon' as they would a waiter. I nodded at Tony. Pascal would have
two more friends before we went home.
It was over breakfast I made the discovery that Aunt Lilian was a
medical doctor. She had got fed up being classified as 'hausfrau' and had
gone back to University and had qualified two years ago as a children's
specialist. I said I didn't think my mother knew that. She laughed and
said not many people did until she put her nameplate up on an office in the
town. She was very popular and was doing very well and was also doing some
research work with a man named Piaget at the University.
As Aunt Lilian didn't have to get to her doctor's office until nine
o'clock she said she would drive us into town. Uncle Johann had already
gone at seven to catch a train to meet a client somewhere. She left us
near the University and said she would meet us for lunch at Pascal's
father's hotel at twelve. I wasn't too bad at walking now. I just had to
take it easy with my left leg and I walked rather slower than normal. Not
that it mattered, there was plenty to look at and when we got to the Quai
du Port Johann said we would take a boat somewhere a couple of days to see
other places. I was left at a caf‚ on the Quai Osterwald with strict
injunctions not to wander and not to fall into the water, even if I said I
could swim. One-legged crabs were at a disadvantage, so Tony said. I said
as soon as I got hold of him he would see that a one-legged crab could
still nip. Johann stood and enjoyed the badinage and he and Tony strolled
off laughing and giggling together, both turning, at a signal from Tony,
and blowing kisses at me. The young puritan was having his strait-laces
unloosened a bit! So brown legs in shorts and pale legs encased in puritan
black marched off leaving me.
I had been left with a pile of Swiss francs and a couple of notes. I
had no real idea of exchange rates and how much things cost but a very
pleasant waiter came and I ordered 'une tasse de caf‚'. He smiled and
brought back a cup and a pot with separate milk and sugar. He explained in
careful English that I was one of the first English customers since the war
ended and I was welcome to have anything I wanted. He was very chatty and
I told him my story. He knew of both Uncle Johann and Aunt Lilian. He
said his father and his boss were clients of the law firm. He said he had
visited England and had been a waiter in Eastbourne for a summer in 1936
and had learned his English there. I said I came from further North than
that and he wanted to know what was London like now. All this chat was
between him serving other customers, who all greeted me most pleasantly,
and bringing me a refill pot and a delicious pastry.
Once he asked me what it had been like in England during the war. I
said our part of England hadn't been too badly affected but I had
experienced the doodle-bugs, the flying- bombs. He nodded and said he had
heard of them. He said he'd had to do his Swiss National Service and he
was still in the reserve.
I then remembered Ma had heard that one of her relatives had got to
Switzerland. He looked very solemn at this.
"We have many people who like the Germans," he said carefully. "Many
tried to get through but were sent back." He made a cutting movement
across his throat. "My friends helped many to come across. Perhaps your
relation was one."
I said I didn't know his name but that he came from Strasbourg. He
grimaced.
"The Germans told the French people it was a German town and they
should go." He shrugged his shoulders. "But where? Many tried to come
here. But!"
I said I would ask my aunt and he said he and his friends had gone
into the mountains to help people across the passes. It had been dangerous
and they had to be careful in case as even the police were not
'sympathique'. I thanked him for telling me. I said I had made friends
with two German prisoners of war and I thought there was something horrible
about war. He nodded his head.
"We have been lucky. But... if Hitler had won...." He shrugged his
shoulders again, "Who knows?"
He asked me what might be the name of my mother's relation and I said
'Fontane'. A little later I saw him in deep conversation with an elderly
man. When he brought me some more coffee he said he had spoken to his boss
and he would enquire. He said his boss had been in charge of those who
helped.
Time passed quickly and it didn't seem long before I heard Tony's
distinctive voice and Johann's accompanying giggle. They were immediately
served with their own cups and the waiter and Johann nodded at each other.
When the waiter went to the kitchen Johann explained that he was Pascal's
eldest brother, Nicholas, who worked at this caf‚ as his father was
thinking of buying it as the owner wanted to retire. He wasn't supposed to
know this but Pascal had told him and that was why I had been deposited at
a table here. What did I think?
All I could say was that I thought that both the coffee and the pastry
were excellent. Of course, Tony immediately wanted to know 'What pastry?'
and mewed and moaned until I ordered one each for them.. They said they
were hungry anyway as they had gone up steep streets to the Chateau and had
looked in the Collegiale church. Tony said it was well worth seeing and
when my poor, ancient old leg was a bit better they might find a
wheelbarrow and I could push him up the last hundred yards although there
were cobbles. I said he would be lucky to have two usable legs when I'd
had a go at them. Johann laughed and said Tony's knees were 'cobbly'. We
both laughed and said he meant 'knobbly'. He had heard the English phrase
'knobbly knees' somewhere and had half-remembered it. Tony playfully
swatted him and said he would have knobbles and bumps somewhere if he
wasn't careful.
In the end Johann looked at his watch and said we had better go to
look for his mother at the hotel for lunch as it was nearly twelve.
Nicholas came to the table and said something to Johann in their local
'Romandie' which was too rapid for me even to get an inkling. Johann
smiled and said that the owner had said 'l'addition' had been settled. I
said to say thank you and to ask him if his brother would like to come out
with us on Monday. I think Johann was a bit surprised but as he spoke so
Nicholas broke into a broad grin and nodded at me. I think that was
arranged.
We were waiting on the pavement as Aunt Lilian drove up. The lunch
was good, I was getting to enjoy Swiss food!
After lunch we went back to the chalet and Tony and Johann went up the
flights of stairs to the bedroom. I didn't venture as my leg was a bit
stiff. There was a small bathroom on the ground floor with a toilet so I
was OK. When they came down I saw that Johann had changed into his newly
acquired shorts. When his mother saw him she laughed and said he looked
quite English. He said if he was with us he wouldn't wear his school
uniform and his mother laughed again and said he would have to sit in the
sun a bit. Tony whispered to me that there were now three beds in a row in
the big bedroom. Ha ha, we would have to wait and see.
He and Tony went off exploring up behind the chalet during the
afternoon. Aunt Lilian and I sat in comfortable chairs on a stone-flagged
patio while she asked me all about Ma and Pa. She said she hadn't really
heard anything since 1939 and had been so worried. Uncle Johann had asked
for a message to be sent through the Swiss Embassy and I said we had
received it. I said about the other message - about the man who had got
into Switzerland - and that Pascal's brother had asked his boss. Aunt
Lilian nodded and said she wasn't sure who it was. They had distant
cousins in other parts of France as well. Then she said Monsieur Chaumont,
Nicholas's boss, was a good man. She had heard many stories of his clashes
with the police and the bureaucrats during the war. She also smiled when I
said we had invited Pascal Suess to join us on Monday.
"Johann is a quiet boy," she said, "He is a very good student. But he
is shy and some of the boys are very... aggressive. He would like to play
tennis but there are some of the boys who play all the time and others do
not get the chance."
I said I liked Johann very much. Aunt Lilian smiled and said she
thought I was so like my father. He was kind, thoughtful and made a great
impression. I laughed and said he must have done as he married her sister.
She laughed.
"My Johann is very precious to us. He needs good friends. I think
you and Tony will be. If you can help him and Pascal as well that would be
good."
Much later the pair came back giggling. I discovered after Aunt
Lilian went in to instruct the maid to bring out afternoon tea that they
had sunbathed. Johann whispered, "Il etait nu!" Trust Tony, flaunting his
eighteen-years-and-a-week-old cock, before my, I guessed, virginal young
cousin! "Et, tu?" I asked him. He shook his head.
Oh well, I wagered to myself he would be just like us within the next,
four, five, days?
At dinner that evening Uncle Johann wanted to know what we had done.
He laughed at his 'English son' who had told us not to change into trousers
for the evening meal. He said I was a bad influence on Johann just as my
father had been on him. I said he had taught my mother to whistle and
ladies in England didn't do that sort of thing. He laughed again and said
he would get Aunt Lilian to show how she had learned to yodel!
All this was going on while we were being served the most delicious
meal by the maid. I had never had escalope de veau before. Those thin
slices of delicately covered meat melted in the mouth and I could see Tony
savouring every mouthful as well. Aunt Lilian watched as we ate and as we
finished the main course said it had been something special as her cook
came from Austria originally.
My aunt and uncle were obviously well off. The big chalet. Two cars.
The private school for Johann. A cook, a maid, a handyman. All this must
have been costly. Then they were looking after Tony and me as well. I was
worried about the expense. I know the messages to home said not to worry
but I knew Ma had been a bit concerned. It wasn't we were poor at home. I
supposed Pa got a good salary as head of the laboratory and Ma worked there
as well. Mrs Peters had gossiped about Tony's dad being the richest man in
Kerslake. I had little knowledge of finance. I hadn't even had a
paper-round. I suppose I was cushioned. I had stayed at Ulvescott in a
large house. Uncle Dick in Cardiff had a big house, nowhere as big as
Ulvescott, though. Lady Bing's house was even bigger and none of them seem
to worry when hungry boys stayed with them. Ulvescott must have cost a lot
to maintain. I knew while we were out during the day ladies came in from
the village and did cleaning and washing and ironing to help Mrs Brown and
Dora. But, all this was in the background. Here was I, eighteen next
month and I didn't have a clue about money - I knew what I had in the
Savings Bank - but what was that against having to earn money. What about
my life at Cambridge? I knew I had a hundred pounds a year for the
Exhibition. That was a lot of money, but.....!
That evening after the meal I walked in the garden with Aunt Lilian.
I tried to ask her what we could do to repay her and Uncle Johann.
"You have repaid us enough so far. You have survived the war. I have
been so worried about my sister and her family. You will be a good friend
to Johann." She put a hand up and stroked my face. "If you were only half
the man your father is, I would love you like a son!"
A peculiar statement. I wondered what she meant. She went on to say
that Pa had made a great impression on the rather staid French family.
Uncle Alfred was already staying there but had been rather overwhelmed by
it but, with my father's youthful cheerfulness, even though he was well in
his twenties, everything seemed to come to life. When Uncle Johann
arrived, the black sheep of an ultra-strict Swiss family, things had really
come to life. I didn't enquire why Uncle Johann was considered to be
worthy of exile to France and all Aunt Lilian would say, with a twinkle in
her eye, it was to learn good manners. Aunt Lilian said her father, my
grandfather, had also been strict but had warmed to the three young men and
readily given his blessing to their marriages with his daughters. The rest
was history. Uncle Johann had settled down and completed his doctorate in
law and had moved here to Neuchatel rather than staying in Zurich where his
father had a factory although he kept an office there as well. She then
said the war had been dreadful for them, too. There were plenty of
restrictions, especially on the people who were known not to be friendly
towards the National Socialists. Uncle Johann, like many, had been able to
steer a middle path, otherwise things would have been really rough.
It was interesting. I think I learned more European history that
night and on subsequent talks with Aunt Lilian when Tony and Johann were
away on their own 'avventures' during the afternoons. I learned that Uncle
Johann had helped quite a few Jews in getting visas for Portugal, but Aunt
Lilian said they never knew what happened after that.
Several mornings I was left at the caf‚ and Nicholas and I had many
talks while he waited for customers. He said he'd been scared a number of
times while in the mountains waiting for groups or even single people who
were being led over the passes.
He said the great danger came from those in the town sympathetic to the
Germans and the number of German spies who were around. His stories
reinforced the impressions I had got also from Aunt Lilian of a very tense,
very dangerous atmosphere of suspicion and hatred which it would take many
years to erase. With a smile he said I could pay my bill each time in
future and my friends had to help me as they always chose the most
expensive pastries!
All this was to happen in days to come. After that first major dinner
and my talk with Aunt Lilian it was time for bed. We had plans for the
weekend. A boat trip and quiet! But first a good night's sleep!
Johann was fiddling around putting things tidy as the handyman, or
whoever had moved the beds, had left whatever Johann had round his own bed
strewn over the beds. I noticed he had a pair of pyjamas which he put on
his pillow. Tony was already in the bathroom as I stripped off completely
and looked at the strapping around my knee. The strong elastic bandage
would need to be changed in the morning. Perhaps, as Aunt Lilian was a
doctor, she might help me redo it. I was quite adept at keeping it neat -
my SJAB training had impressed the nurses at the hospital when they had
taught me how to put the bandage on.
Johann asked if my leg hurt. I said only if I spent too much time
putting weight on it. It was getting better week by week but I had to be
careful not to trip or fall. Johann came and stood by me as I sat on the
edge of my bed and pulled the elastic a bit tighter. I saw he was gazing
at my cock as well.
Tony came out of the bathroom just wearing a towel round his waist and
sang out "Next!" Johann said I should be next as he still had to put some
things in the cupboard. I went into the bathroom and spotted, seeing the
reflection in a mirror, that he was eying me again. Tony and he were
getting on very well and I could hear them still chattering together.
Mainly laughing about Uncle Johann saying Aunt Lilian could yodel. Tony
said he would like to hear that. When I'd finished in the bathroom I came
out and got straight into bed, nude. Oh, that bed was so comfortable. I
had fallen in love with the duvet the first night. Bliss.
Johann disappeared off to wash, pee, etc., and Tony came over and sat
on my bed.
"I am enjoying myself," he said quite fervently, "Thank you for
inviting me." He grinned. "And that food! Oo La La!" He gurgled. "I'll
be fat as a pig if we have that every day."
"You'll wear all that off with Johann hoiking you up the mountains!"
He grinned again. "You're lucky," he said, "You've got some really
nice cousins. Johann's great! And, I think my French is improving I can
follow most of what's going on. Still can't think fast enough to make long
sentences but Johann helps. He's good. I like him!"
Johann still had his underpants on when he came out of the bathroom.
I had a good look at him as I had turned as best I could while talking to
Tony without putting too much weight on my knee. He was slightly sideways
on to me as he folded the shirt he had worn during the day and I could see
he was a very comely young lad. He had said when we going down to the caf‚
that the only sport he did was tennis and that not very often. He hadn't
said but Aunt Lilian had explained why he couldn't, or didn't play more.
But as I stared rather openly at him I could see he had those nicely
rounded buttocks that class-mates of mine also had who did a lot more
sports and games than he did. I wondered if his well-muscled thighs and
general tone were the result of the mountain walking which he had said he
liked to do a lot.
Tony stood up and went towards his bed and I saw Johann watch closely
as Tony removed the towel from his waist as he went round the foot of
Johann's bed to his own on the left hand side. I noticed Tony's cock was
slightly plump as he got into bed under his duvet, also quite in the buff.
Johann was not to be fazed. He stripped off his undies and, as he
stood up, I saw the whole of my tall, slim, sixteen-year-old cousin for the
first time. His chest and stomach were smooth and not very muscular but
there was no fat, puppy or otherwise, on his well- contoured torso. His
nipples were two pink circles with the tiniest hillocks in the middle of
each. His navel looked quite deep. Mine was, too and Tony had often said
I could always eat celery in bed as I had a good receptacle for the salt!
Johann had no hair trailing on his belly at all, just a curly patch of
darker hair than the gold on his head surmounting his cock. He had a
beautifully defined boyish cock, uncircumcised just like his watching
Kerslake cousin, and this hung centrally above two quite low-slung
damson-sized young bollocks. I noticed as he held his arm up to place his
pants on top of his shirt on the shelf above his bed there was a small tuft
of dark hair under his arm. I could see my cousin was all boy. He must
have been aware of my scrutiny as he turned and smiled at me and slid into
bed under his duvet, also bare. With a slight flourish the pyjamas on the
second pillow on his bed were pushed onto the floor.
It was still quite light in the room although the curtains had been
drawn almost across the big picture windows and everything was still for
several minutes. I wondered what I should do. I hadn't had a wank since
leaving home! Five days! I was rather desperate. It was a wonder I
hadn't had a wet dream the night before but I think I must have been much
too tired.
I was contemplating possibilities. One. Wait until I heard steady
breathing from two sleeping lads and toss off surreptitiously. Oh! What
to do with the results? I had tucked a handkerchief under the pillow but
that would be soaked. I giggled to myself thinking that tomorrow I would
probably be blowing my nose on dried cum and inhaling essence of Jacko!
Two. Another possibility was to wait again and then creep out to the
bathroom and have a wank sitting on the lav. I still had a bit of
difficulty standing on both legs putting my full weight on them. I
imagined all that spunk suddenly squirting out. I would have to make sure
I had my left hand cupped or hold plenty of bog paper to catch the flying
load. Oh, fuck! My shaft was getting hard just thinking. Three. Do
nothing and hope if I did have a wet dream the spunk would have dried by
the morning and the sheet wouldn't be too stained. But... Knowing the
amount I generally produced... Oh, dear! I was searching for possibility
four in the absolute silence of the room. I suppose five minutes had
passed since we'd go into our respective beds. Another five minutes passed
while I racked my poor brain trying to think what else I could do with the
monstrous hard-on, which Oh, shit! was now pressing against my bare belly.
I shifted slightly to get a bit more comfortable. I'd noticed both the
other duvets had shifted slightly in the time I had been thinking so they
must be settling down too. I was just clenching my teeth in frustration
when a sudden movement from Tony's bed caught my eye.
Oh God! Tony's duvet was thrust away from him and in the pale light
he began to wank himself, "se battre sa viande", ou, "se frappe l'eveque"
as my young Swiss cousin might say. I didn't know what young Swiss boys
said but there was Tony giving a signal for next oldest Jacko "aller au
galop de son asticot"! My nearly seven inch 'maggot' was soon exposed as
I, too, pushed away my duvet and a dual contest of beating, bashing or
galloping ensued. No contest really. Both of us had years now of joint
masturbatory activity and knew exactly the speed which both enjoyed. I'd
noted this with all the lads I'd wanked off with more than once. We all
fell into the same rhythm and speed as near as dammit. Here were we two
making sure that not another night was missed but even so it was something
to be savoured and not rushed over.
I was watching Tony's right hand across the hump in Johann's bed and
matching my stroke with his. I was also aware that Johann's head was
swivelling watching Tony, then me, then Tony again. Johann's duvet went
flying and there was my young Swiss cousin doing what the 99 percent of
lads who are not liars do as often as possible. He was exercising his
'fleche', his 'fut', his 'queue', as he told us those names later. In
sequence, three boys squirted their pent-up load, Tony, me, then young
Johann. I heard him give that sort of delighted gasp I'd experienced
myself and heard Tom, Lachs, Flea, even Tony, give at that sublime moment.
As he lay staring upwards, his hand still encircling his rampant 'chibre'
Tony nodded his head towards him. I nodded and two boys vacated their own
beds and joined the other lad in his wider bed, one each on either side of
him. Arms automatically went round his shoulders and a kiss each was
deposited on his slightly sweaty forehead. The cum deposited on our own
chests and stomachs was collected and mixed with his own warm, quite
copious, deposit. He was still silent as Tony and I touched each set of
lips with a drop of our mixed seed. This was obviously a new experience
for him and he, at first, tentatively touched his lips with his tongue.
Then he murmured 'Encore' and this time he sucked the gobbet I scooped up
and licked his lips fully. Both Tony and I exchanged second drops as well.
Nothing more was said. Tony retrieved Johann's pyjama jacket and
wiped the three of us. Johann giggled, then reached down and pulled up the
duvet. We covered ourselves, snuggled down against each other and fell
fast asleep.
I should report that the two side beds were not slept in for the whole
two months after that. No reasons were given. Each day the beds were all
remade. I noted clean sheets going on the other two beds every three days
or so. It must have been obvious no one was sleeping in them. But, I
suppose the routine of a carefully managed Swiss household did not allow
for any variations in habit!
*
The next day was Saturday and Uncle Johann and Aunt Lilian took us for
a boat trip on the lake. At two landing stages we got off and did a
wander. The two boys went off while I walked much more slowly with my Aunt
and Uncle. Uncle Johann wanted to know about my father and whether he had
given up playing Rugby. I said he had, but I had been in the school First
XV and, even though I hadn't played in the Spring Term this year, anyway,
because of the weather there were no matches and I'd been in hospital, I
had been awarded Full Colours which was quite an honour. Uncle Johann said
my father and Uncle Edward had taken him to the Oxford and Cambridge match
while he was at Oxford and he wondered how lads managed to play such a
rough game. He said he had played some football as a boy, soccer, but he
wasn't really a sportsman.
We sat and had morning coffee at one caf‚ and then at another stop we
had what Uncle Johann called a light lunch. I grinned at Tony as we tucked
into a Swiss mountain of rosti potato and some kind of meat. He and Johann
disappeared off for over an hour during the afternoon and came back
giggling and grinning. It was when we got home Tony explained Johann had
told him he possessed 'une bonne queue'. I said he should watch it as
'queue' was feminine and after he'd digested that and realised it, I said
it was rather strange for the French to have that gender for a boy's best
friend!
That night explorations began. Without anything being said I washed
first and got into Johann's bed. Tony was next, then Johann was placed
between us. No questions, nothing. As Tony nibbled at his left ear I
licked under his chin. Wow, the same effect as on me. He almost cooed
with delight and even more so as I moved down to feather his right nipple
with my tongue and Tony found that sensitive spot on his neck just where
the collar- bone joins the breastbone. Johann was getting more and more
worked up and beating a veritable tattoo on our backs with his hands,
tapping and grasping and almost snorting at the same time. I moved further
down, pushing the duvet away as I descended to the prize. His prick was
six full inches at least of steel rod wrapped in a velvet skin. He gasped
as I took the first inch or so into my mouth and pressed his loose foreskin
away to reveal his sculptured end. I bobbed up and down and sucked. I
held his balls in their sac and rolled them gently in my fingers. His
balls rose and, as his thighs jerked, his sweet young boyjuice squirted
into my mouth. I sucked every drop from him, trying to keep as much in my
mouth as possible without swallowing it. I slid up the bed against his
slightly still jerking body and saw his eyes were staring straight out with
his mouth partially open. I fixed my lips over his and tongued some of his
boycream into his mouth. He sucked eagerly until Tony tapped me on the
arm. "Me, please". I moved across Johann to his lips and we tongue-fucked
for a minute or so until his tongue was sticky with Johann's sperm. I
could feel Johann's hot breath on my shoulder and his arm reached round me
and gripped me tight.
"Bitte, s'il vous plait, please......" He was lost in his store of
languages. "Sehr gut, so good," he mumbled.
Tony and I then laid either side of him and hugged him, our own
massively hard erections pressed into his thighs.
"Me," Johann said at last when he had calmed down somewhat. A
quandary. 'Me' wanted to satisfy the two boys who had pleasured him so
deliciously. But, which one should 'me' cope with first. I was his
choice. Tony aided him in his enterprise. I was already worked up to just
below boiling point. Tony's licks under my chin and the renewed gasp from
Johann when he realised just what a mouthful my cock would be was when I
knew I wouldn't last much longer. I helped Johann by ringing my prick and
withdrawing my foreskin as he took the first two vital inches in. He was
good. No teeth. A tongue touched under my ridge and my dick pulsed, my
spunk machine switched into high gear and I nearly drowned the poor lad in
the amount I shot into his mouth. Too much for him, spunk dripped from his
lips and chin as I drew him up me and Tony and I cleaned his face and
shared my spunk with him.
Tony was also too far gone to bear the touch of lips around his ridge.
As Johann lay between us Tony placed Johann's left hand round his shaft.
Johann was well aware of what was needed and well-practised, perhaps, in
his solitary hours even with his non-preferred hand, and immediately
started to gently pull up and down. Tony was also on a hair-trigger. A
single grunt, a shove against Johann which transmitted to me through his
rigid body, and I received the full brunt amidships as Tony shot a colossal
load straight across Johann. After Tony's climax had subsided a bit three
lads giggled and hugged each other and shared drops of Tony's warm spunk.
The unworn pyjama jacket came in handy again that night as it did on
countless nights after.
*
Sunday morning came. Johann had a smile on his face. Truly the cat
who had not only lost his cream but had experienced the full force of his
English cousin's outflow and witnessed the power of his English friend's
ejaculatory apparatus! Before he got out of bed he hugged both of us. He
quickly donned the wank-stained pyjamas and disappeared off appearing five
minutes later laden with a tray with a big pot of coffee, cups, and three
large pains au chocolate. He shed his pyjamas and climbed in between us.
In the meantime while he was out of the room, two lads needing a good piss
had relieved themselves and got back into bed and sat, silent, grinning at
each other. As well as a couple of wank stains on the sheets there were
several flaky crumbs as well when we finished having sat side by side, cold
plates gingerly balanced on flaccid genitalia to start with, arms round the
lad in the middle.
As it was awkward to drink and eat by those on the outskirts, Johann
said we should hold our cups and he would feed us. The toad deliberately
shifted the plates each time he picked up our pastry so, by the time we had
licked our chops clean of fragments of chocolate and swigged down the last
of the coffee, the lads on the outskirts had raging hardons. He took the
plates and handed them to me to place on the small night stand by the bed.
It took a moment for me to do this but by the time I turned back he had
turned to Tony and, sliding down the bed a bit, engulfed a good four inches
of his thick cock into his mouth. If he wasn't practised at this before he
was a quick learner. He ringed Tony's cock with the fingers of one hand
and drew back his foreskin as his head went up and down and his cheeks were
drawn in as he sucked. Tony's face was a picture. His eyes were screwed
up tightly shut and his mouth was open wide almost in a grimace. His chest
was heaving as he let out little guttural grunts. His hips jerked about a
dozen times then rose as he filled Johann's waiting mouth. He put his
hands down and drew Johann's head away from his pulsating prick. It was
still jerking and dripping the last remnants of his eruption as they
tongued and shared Tony's seed. Johann turned and leaned over me with his
sticky, whitened tongue stuck out.
I sucked it into my mouth and savoured Tony's taste once more.
"Et tu?" asked Johann as we parted.
I said in my most careful French, without the appropriate verb and
noun, that I wanted to look straight into his eyes as he.... Here I made
the appropriate movements with an open fist. He grinned. "Fait'une
branlette," he said.
He ringed my cock and very slowly and deliberately he drew his English
cousin to those wonderful heights, higher than any Swiss mountain. My
Matterhorn was scaled as I gazed deeply into those beautiful blue eyes of
his and he stared back into mine. We hardly blinked and I kept eye contact
even when I gasped as I felt the subterranean earthquake begin and my
seething hot magma surged up to explode like a volcano all over me and my
cousin's chest and neck.. He gasped too, but continued his stare until I
broke the spell and moved my head to his and whispered, "Thank you" and
kissed him full on his open red lips.
Tony meanwhile had reached round Johann and was gently running two
fingers up and down his hard rod. As Johann and I kissed his mouth opened
wide and a spray of warm boycum landed on me. I was the recipient of two
lots of warm and wet cream that morning!
Well, we had to get up. Johann explained that the family always went
to church. It was expected. In fact, he had to go otherwise there would
be problems at school next semester. Semester. I liked that word. It
sounded more important than term. We each had a bath. We all smelt pretty
rancid but were three clean cherubim when finished. Johann took a while to
get the meaning as I said cherubs always were naked in pictures. He
laughed and said all the pictures he'd seen they had.... Here, he put a
finger and thumb about an inch apart, wrinkled his nose and pointed
downwards at Tony who was standing naked, combing his hair, with four
inches drooping down, and then shook his head!
At least both Tony and I had clean white shirts to wear with our
school blazers and trousers. Johann looked even smarter in his best
puritanical school outfit.
We had more coffee and another pastry downstairs and were ready for the
ten o'clock service.
I must say it wasn't too bad. The hymns and chants were a bit
dirge-like but Tony enjoyed himself. I knew he was a star tenor now in his
local church choir and, I must say, he had a powerful and good voice. One
hymn, when the organist started playing the introduction, caused him to
smile. He whispered "Ein' Feste Burg" and launched into the French version
in the hymn book very lustily. He did cause a few heads to turn because he
sang so well. I was even more amused when we came to the words 'En vain sa
fureur veut ebranler nos coeurs'. What had Johann said earlier. 'Une
branlette'! I knew 'branler' meant to shake. Here was another verb. I
must look it up.
At the end of the service we had to be introduced to numerous people.
There were many of Johann's school-mates present but I noticed that a few
just ignored him. Two were especially large and spotty-faced. They kept
giving Tony and me surreptitious glances but didn't come over to us. We
met Pascal Suess who was there with his father, mother and younger brother.
He was a couple of inches shorter than Johann. He shook hands very
formally with us and bowed his head. Then he said he would be very pleased
to come with us the next day. The two large lads looked even more askance
when they saw us talking to him. His brother, Walter, was about twelve and
was a smaller version of him. He was very shy and wouldn't try any
English. I said to him, in French, that perhaps one day he might join us
as well. He smiled shyly and nodded his head.
As we walked to the car I asked Johann who the two large boys were.
They looked about the same age as me. Johann grimaced and said quietly he
would tell me later.
After lunch we boys changed into shorts and shirts and while the other
two strolled off up the mountain path I settled down in the garden with the
first of the Simenon books I read, in French, that holiday. Uncle Johann
said he had read some of Ma's first book - I had brought that and a copy of
the second one which had come out 'to capture the Summer market' - and he
liked Inspector Buck. I said I thought Ma had modelled him on our
neighbour, Inspector, now Superintendent, Buchanan. He laughed and said he
would be as famous as Sherlock Holmes one day! I said the publisher was
ready to print the third one ready for Christmas. He nodded sagely and
said Lilian's sister had always been clever.
That evening I showed them all the family tree and asked Aunt Lilian
about her father's family. Uncle Johann laughed and said he probably knew
more than she did as he'd talked a lot with my grandfather. I found out
that the original Jacques Fontane had been sent by his father to Paris to
study as a doctor. The family did not originally come from Strasbourg but
from Clermont Ferrand down in the Auvergne. Uncle Johann got a map of
France and showed us. He said that after he qualified Jacques had gone
back to his home town with his English wife and practised as a doctor
there. Uncle Johann said he thought the family were concerned about the
English wife, especially as she was a Protestant but from the family
stories she was well-liked and made a great impression. Aunt Lilian went
out and brought back a large photo album. She opened it to a page near the
beginning where there was a double portrait of a man and a lady. They both
looked rather stern and wore very formal clothes. He had on a high-necked
tailcoat and she a very full black dress.
"That is Jacques Fontane and his wife, Charlotte," she said, "I think
you would say in English they are your great-great-grandparents. That
photo was taken in 1880 it says on the back."
I gazed at the picture. Charlotte had been born in 1822. She was
fifty-eight in the photo. She looked quite old.
I said she was a Crossley and that Tony's great-aunt was Mrs Crossley
but she was a Crossley by marriage. Johann looked puzzled at this and his
father explained it to him.
"So, you are almost cousins," he said in precise English, "And mine,
too!".
Tony and I grinned and nodded.
Aunt Lilian turned the pages and I saw more of the family. That first
Jacques' eldest son was also Jacques.. He was a juge d'instruction, a type
of lawyer. He and his wife were in several photos from the 1890's onwards.
There was one of him with three young girls taken in about 1910. They were
his grand-daughters, Ma, Aunt Lilian and Aunt Annette. I knew Ma hadn't
got any of these photos and Uncle Johann said he would get copies made.
Lastly there were photos of my grandfather. A big man, in his clerical
clothes in one photo, in an academic procession in another and several with
his daughters and my grandmother. She smiled in every photo and looked so
much like Ma I gasped as the page was turned.
Uncle Johann went on to say that Charlotte's Protestant background had
stayed in the family, but when my grandfather wanted to study theology he
had to go to Germany, to Berlin, to get his degrees. So in 1884 he had
gone there and learned the language and ended up with two prizes for his
doctoral thesis eight years later. He had stayed in Germany as an
assistant pastor for a few years and then had met my grandmother on a visit
to Strasbourg. Strasbourg was then a German town but he settled there,
married grandma, was a full-time pastor there and then was appointed to the
University after the First World War when the town became French again.
So my family tree was getting complete. I thanked Uncle Johann and
asked him if he could write it all down. He said he would because it was
important. He said he knew his father's family right back to 1500 from the
church records in the village where his family had lived for over four
hundred years. He said we would have to meet his father. I saw Johann's
face at that moment. He didn't look pleased.
I then told them about Piers Crossley and the very strange experiences
I'd had at Ulvescott. I didn't go into detail about some of the happenings
but I said I was so like him. I had said this mostly in French and Tony
had been able to follow. When I finished he tapped me on the arm.
"You haven't said you and he have birthmarks in exactly the same
place."
I stood up and drew up the leg of my shorts. My dark strawberry mark
was clearly visible even with my tan.
"His mother told me," I said.
Bed that night was a variation on the night before. This time I told
Johann that when I was with my new cousins we did it all together. He was
puzzled at first but once we had arranged ourselves on the floor with
pillows we were well away sucking each other. Johann was soon bobbing and
sucking on Tony's meaty pole while I had Pascal's full six and a bit inches
well into my mouth. Tony, with his accustomed expertise got me going by
finding that knot of skin just under the back of my ridge. We were soon
huffing and puffing as three loads of boyspunk flooded three hungry mouths.
Hungry for the taste of our companion's young seed and hungry to give more
and more pleasure to each other. We lay huddled together just feeling each
others bodies. Johann kept feeling my biceps on my right arm. He
whispered "Tu as le bras fort". I explained I lifted weights "les poids".
He nodded. "Poids et halteres". I smiled as I think he meant
weight-lifting - the real McCoy.
I explained that these were small weights. Tony was following all this
and suddenly chuckled. "Non, non," he said, "poids, non!" and then made
wanking movements. He poked my biceps.
"Onze, douze fois tous les jours. Pour quatre ans, eh? Big muscles!"
I said he was lucky his dick didn't wear out or fall off the amount of
time it was handled. Johann's glances switched from one to the other
during this altercation. "'Is dick fall off? Veut dit?" We all giggled as
I explained what I had said. "My dick, OK," said Johann in English, "Two
times each day - I get good muscle, no?"
We then discussed our respective habits. Johann said he usually did
it twice a day. I said I was a two or three times a day lad and Tony said
the same. We found that he and Pascal had done it together twice. Pascal
was two months older than Johann and this had happened on a trek they had
done into the mountains with a school party when they were fourteen. They
had shared blankets on a hard floor of an old barn and Johann shyly said
they turned towards each other and their hands brushed against each other's
hard pricks poking out of their pyjamas. It was a matter of moments before
two boys had caressed and felt the newly grown lengths. Both boys had shot
quick loads against the blanket covering them. Johann said he didn't
realise until then what a mess two boys could make and they were scared
their schoolmates might notice the stains in the morning. He said that
Pascal had explained everything to him as his big brother Nicholas had told
him all about boys growing up. Johann had read about it in one of his
mother's medical books which he said he suspected she had left out
purposely for him to read. He said the next night they had laughed
together when they felt for each other immediately and found "deux petits
souris" peeping out of the fronts of their pyjamas. They also heard other
boys as well. He and Pascal had done it together the next time on Pascal's
fifteenth birthday when Johann had visited him in the flat the family had
at the top of the hotel. They hadn't done anything else but he had heard
two of the older boys when he was a bit younger accusing one of their
fellow pupils of wanting to suck their 'pipes'.
He then said the two were those boys I'd asked him about that morning.
Neither was liked at school as they were bullies. One was Hubert
Sussmayer, whose father worked in the Police Department and the other was
Heinrich Fugelman, whose father was a minor judge and both men were
suspected of being over-friendly with the Germans during the war. Johann
said the boys didn't like him because his father was known to be an honest
lawyer and had made a bit of a name for himself by presenting the case for
someone who was accused on some false charge and also because he was over a
year younger than them but was in the same class. They didn't like Pascal
for that same reason and also as his father had a hotel and they were the
ones who called him 'Garcon'. I said from what I had seen no one couldn't
like Pascal. Johann smiled and said he liked him very much. I guess you
were always good friends with the boy with whom you shared your first
experiences together!
All this time we were still lying on the floor on the thick rug
stroking each other's backs and sides, tracing the contours of our bodies
and feeling our developing adolescent physiques and build. Both Tony and I
were now, I would think, fully grown. I weighed about twelve stone, which
was good for my height, and little of that was fat. I gripped Tony's meaty
buttock and compared it with the equally firm but classically rounded shape
of my cousin's smaller, more compact rump. Tony had a nice body and was
justly proud of that six and a half inches of prime English beef between
his legs.
I was fully recovered now after that deliriously sweet first
encounter.
I felt a very determined hand grip my fully erect cock.. I gasped as
Johann pulled back sharply and my foreskin was abruptly drawn down. He
whispered "Mon cousin, c'est pour tu!" and quickly we trio of rampant
hedonists were being sucked or sucking our new partners. Tony's cock was
like him, firm, chunky with a good head on it! I laved and sucked on him
while young Johann so lovingly and carefully did the same to me. I heard
Tony gurgle as Johann came first. On that last upward climb of tension and
then release he had renewed his movements on my prick and was sucking so,
so hard I wondered if I could maintain such a vacuum on Tony. I tried and
almost simultaneously our pricks jerked and pulsed as our second come of
that night erupted into waiting mouths. Well, Tony! You and I must take
some beating when it comes- ha ha - to amount. Both Johann and I had
plenty in our mouths and extra sprayed over our cheeks. I even felt drops
of Tony's warm juice on my ear. The three of us collapsed together and
hugged and mewed in each other's ears, the other two licking eagerly at my
cheeks and ear while I lapped up my own thick cream from around Johann's
mouth.
Johann's poor pyjamas came in useful again to wipe any residue left.
Tony said he could do with a constant companion in bed who would Hoover up
his nightly effusions in such an efficient way as me and Johann. I had to
hush him when we got back into bed and he had said this as I showed Johann
how ticklish he was and if I hadn't clamped my mouth over his he would have
started to yodel!
*
Monday morning we just smiled at each other, got up, all pricks erect,
peed, washed and attired ourselves in shorts and shirts to have breakfast
downstairs and wait for Pascal. First though I went with Aunt Lilian to
her study - accompanied by the boys - where she replaced the strapping
round my knee. They wanted to see the scar which by now was completely
healed. I let them gently touch my kneecap and they could feel the steel
pin Mr Foljambe had inserted. Aunt Lilian said she would get Professor
Bechtelman to X-ray the knee in a fortnight's time and if he thought all
was well I could leave the bandage off. She thought I could do a short
walk each day but watch my step, no wrenching or sudden movements. I was
able to flex my muscles more now without them pulling too much and I could
bend my knee much more easily. What I was nervous of was putting my full
weight on my leg, just in case. Aunt Lilian said I should practise doing
that a few times every hour and she would also take me on Wednesday to the
clinic where I could have some massage.
Pascal turned up exactly on nine o'clock. I asked him why wasn't
Walter with him? He said his brother was very shy especially about meeting
'the big English boys'. Of course, he was dressed in his puritanical
school outfit. Then Johann and he giggled together as he certainly wasn't
going to spend the day with us dressed like that. Tony had the answer. He
had a spare pair of Scout shorts. A second pale-legged young Swiss was
soon ready and, accompanied by my hefty walking stick, we set off up the
path behind the chalet. Johann and Tony were soon yards ahead. Pascal
walked slowly with me. We didn't speak, I think he was happy to just be
accepted.
I think we must have walked about a mile. The scenery was beautiful,
big expanses of grass with trees dotted here and there and downwards we
could see the lake stretching out away from us. At last we came across a
water-trough. "Pour les vaches," explained Pascal. There was a stone seat
nearby and we sat side by side and just looked. After some time he turned
slightly and smiled shyly. "Johann is a good boy," he said carefully in
English, "He is my friend". I said, also in English, that I thought my
cousin was a good boy and I hoped, Pascal looked puzzled at that word, I
quickly said "J'aime a croire que tu aussi.." would be my friend and Tony's
friend. He said that his brother Nicholas had liked me and had encouraged
him to come today. I thought, that was what big brothers were for.
The other two came back soon after with Tony singing something and
Johann looking puzzled. "Zat Tony....." I thought I would have to work on
his TH's ".....he keeps laughing and singing."
"And what does he sing?" I asked.
Johann shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "I do not know, vot
is it, Tony? He zinks it is so funny."
Tony got the two boys to stand together then began to sing in his very
melodious voice, "Pale legs I love, beside the Shalimar..."
I grinned. It was true. Against us two rather tanned English boys
two pairs of sturdy Swiss legs looked decidedly lacking in colour. "He is
taking the mickey," I said.
"Vot is zis mickey?" asked an even more puzzled Johann.
"Oh," I said, "He's only pulling your legs..." Tony and I collapsed
in giggles seeing the stupidness of the English idioms.
Johann and Pascal were looking at each other and mouthing "Pulling our
legs".
I then explained it was English humour. We were tanned, they were
white-legged. There was a song - I had heard Mrs Marcham sing it several
times - about 'Pale hands I love'.
Tony had to butt in and sing the whole first verse, correctly, which
sounded pretty good, finishing up by announcing it was one of four Indian
Love Lyrics by Amy something or other and his mother was always singing it.
The fool then went down on his knees in front of the boys and clutched them
around their lower legs while looking up at them and bursting into song
again, "Pale legs I love....".
They loved it. English humour. Legs pulled, metaphorically and
literally. Taking the mickey. Droll, friendly humour. Jokes! "Why did
the chicken cross the road?", "Why did the rabbit cross the road?"
"Because it was the chicken's day off!", "Knock, knock!" "Who's there?"
"Cows" "Cows who?" "No, cows moo!", "What did the zookeeper call his pet
zebra? "Spot", "Would you hit a woman with a child?" "No, I'd hit her
with a stick!", "What has four legs and flies? "A horse on a hot day!"
"What has two legs and flies? A pair of trousers!", and so on, and so on.
We were like two Junior School kids. They must have thought the English
were quite mad! The staid, upright, stiff upper lip Englishman in the
European mind was knocked for six that day. Knocked for six? We said we
would tell them about cricket. A side was in until it was out. When it
was out the other side was in.... When the bowler bowled six balls it was
an over, and then it was an over again.... If no runs then it was a maiden
over.... And so on. But that laughter was the key to the development of
good friendships.
That first day set the scene for all the days the four of us were
together. Generally we split into pairs. We made it a rule that the Swiss
boys should speak as much as possible in English and Tony and I in French.
We insisted we wanted proper French and if they had any schoolboy
rudenesses they had to tell us when they used them. We said the same about
English and my first hour with Johann was spent repeating phrases such as
"thirty thousand feathers on a thrush's throat" and "what a waste, which
watch Walter wants" to get him to say his TH's and W's correctly. We
laughed and giggled and he tried hard to get me to do a proper guttural R.
Aunt Lilian and, especially, Uncle Johann, spoke to me in German. All
my long conversations with Aunt Lilian were in that language. She wanted
to know everything about her sister and her dear husband. She asked me
about the war and I told her about my experiences at Pin Mill House with
the boys when the doodle-bugs came. She hadn't been to England but said as
soon as possible she would come. Uncle Johann always talked about the time
he spent at Oxford and being shown the sights of London by my father and
Uncle Edward and he always talked about English beer. She said she missed
seeing her other sister but wondered if she might one day get to America.
She laughed when I talked about Uncle Alfred. She said he had been one of
her father's cleverest students and had been amazed at how my father
managed to transform the rather stuffy American to the laughing, jolly man
she knew so well in the end.
*
On the Wednesday Aunt Lilian took Tony and me into Neuchatel and I was
deposited at the clinic where a very efficient lady massaged and
manipulated my leg. She strapped it up a slightly different way which felt
very comfortable and said I should come back after I had the X-ray so she
could check on my progress.
*
After church the next Sunday I saw Aunt Lilian in deep conversation
with a tall, thin man and the pair of them kept looking over at us. It
turned out he was the organist and had been told by members of the
congregation about Tony's singing. "Would he sing a solo?" Tony was a bit
flustered and it was arranged we would meet at the church on Tuesday
evening at six o'clock. Tony was asked what he would like to sing. He said
he'd sung a piece from the St Matthew Passion at Easter in church at home.
Perhaps that might do. He had sung it in English but he knew that it
really should be in German. The organist went back into the church and
came back with a vocal score. Tony skimmed through the pages and pointed.
The organist raised his eyebrows. "Mein Jesus schweigt zu falschen
Lugen stille." He looked quizzically at Tony. In a soft voice Tony sang
"To witness false my Saviour answers not". The organist smiled. He said
something rapidly to Aunt Lilian.
"Could you learn to sing that in German?" she asked.
Tony looked at me and handed me the score. I noted 'Rezitativ: Aria'.
I scanned the words "Um uns damit zu zeigen dass sein Erbarmens voller
Wille". I thought as long as he knows the pronunciation he'd be OK. "I'll
help him," I said. "I can play this on the piano."
Up until then I hadn't been near the upright piano in the drawing-room
of the chalet. I hadn't brought any music with me and I didn't see any
around in the room. I actually really wanted to play.
Open mouths all round. At least from Johann and Aunt Lilian, Uncle
Johann was away chatting to two rather prim looking ladies.
So it was arranged. Tony would have a crash course in German
pronunciation. And, I would be playing Bach!
That afternoon Aunt Lilian and I listened carefully as Tony read
through the German to the Recitative. Luckily the piano was in tune and I
played the underlying, limpid, detached chords as Tony sang the new words
softly. Aunt Lilian had written them out for him while Tony and I sat side
by side on the piano stool. At last he smiled, stood up, patted me on the
back and launched full-voiced into that beautifully cadenced set of words.
We played and sung it together several times. Aunt Lilian pointed out how
to put emphasis on certain syllables. Uncle Johann and young Johann had
been out somewhere and when they came in both were amazed at the progress.
The harder part was to learn the aria. Aunt Lilian took him off to walk in
the garden to read through the words, "Geduld!", "Patience!" "Wenn mich
falsche Zungen stechen...." "When such false tongues may charge me...".
I practised the wonderful opening noting that it should have a cello
accompanying as well.
When they came back in I played through the opening and Tony came in
full-throated with "Geduld". I played on and he sounded really good with
the false tongues passage next. He said we could take the score the next
day and he would learn the German words off by heart. He knew the melody
and Dr Baines, who trained their choir as well as being the substitute
Cathedral organist, had told him how to interpret the words so he would
sing the German words in the same way.
I found that Uncle Johann had inherited the piano when his mother
died.
He said she played it 'in her boudoir' but his father had a grand piano
in his house. Aunt Lilian said they still had it tuned every six months
and went off and came back with a bundle of music books. As I knew quite a
few pieces off by heart I played about six pieces and was congratulated.
So, Tony was to sing and I was told I had to entertain the family!
To be continued:.......................