The Bridge on the Drina - PDFDrive.com Page 33

  bridgewastoberepaired,andcomplicatedscaffoldingwaserectednearthepiers

  and on the bridge itself windlass lifts were set up; by their help the workers movedupanddownthepiersasonsomenarrowwoodenbalconyandstoppedat

  places where there was a hole or where tufts of grass had grown out of the

  stonework.

  Every hole was plugged, the grasses plucked out and the birds' nests removed.

  Whentheyhadfinishedthistask,workbeganonthewaterloggedfoundationsof

  thebridge.Thecurrentwascheckedanditscoursealteredsothattheblackened

  andcorrodedstonecouldbeseen,togetherwithanoccasionaloakbeam,worn

  awaybutpetrifiedbythewatersinwhichithadbeenplaced330years before.

  Theindefatigableliftsloweredcementandgravel,loadafterload,andthethree

  central piers which were the most exposed to the strong current and the most

  corrodedwerefilledinatthebasesasarottentoothisfilledatitsroot.

  Thatsummertherewerenosessionsonthe kapia andthecustomarylifearound

  the bridge was suspended. The bridge was crowded with horses and carts

  bringing sand and cement. The shouts of the workmen and the orders of the foremen echoed from all sides. On the kapia itself a wooden toolshed was

  erected.

  Thetownsmenwatchedtheworkonthegreatbridge,astonishedandperplexed.

  Somemadeajestofit,othersonlywavedtheirarmsandwenttheirway,andto

  all of them it seemed that the foreigners were doing this work, as they did all

  other work, only because they must work at something. Work for them was a

  necessity and they could not do otherwise. No one said this, but everybody

  thoughtit.

  All those who had been accustomed to pass their time on the kapia now sat outsideLotte'shotel,Zarije'sinnorinfrontofthewoodendoor-shuttersofthe

  shops near the bridge. There they drank coffee and told stories, waiting until

  the kapia shouldbefreeagainandthatattackonthebridgeshouldpass,asaman

  waitsfortheendofashowerorsomeotherinconvenience.

  In front of Alihodja's shop which was sandwiched between the Stone Han and

  Zarije'sinn,wherethebridgecouldbeseenfromanangle,twoTurkssatfrom

  earlymorning,twohangers-oninthemarketplace,chattingabouteverythingand

  moreespeciallyaboutthebridge.

  Alihodjalistenedtotheminill-humouredsilence,pensivelywatchingthebridge

  whichwasswarmingwithworkmenlikeants.

  In those twenty years the hodja had married three times. Now he had a wife muchyoungerthanhimselfandmalicioustonguessaidthatthatwasthereason

  he was always ill-humoured until noon. By these three wives he had fourteen

  children. His house was filled with a noisy crowd all day long and in the

  marketplacetheysaidinjestthatthe hodja didnotknowallhisownchildrenby

  name.Theyeventoldastoryofhowoneofhisnumerousbroodmetthe hodja in

  asidestreetandtookhishandtokissit,butthe hodja onlystrokedhisheadand

  asked:'Godgiveyougoodhealth,son!Andwhosemayyoube?'

  To the eye the hodja had not changed greatly; only he was now plumper and redderintheface.Henolongermovedsobrisklyandwenthomeupthatsteep

  slopetoMejdanmoreslowlythanbefore,forhishearthadbeentroublinghim

  for some time, even when he was asleep. He had therefore gone to the district

  doctor, Dr Marovski, the only one of the newcomers whom he recognized and

  respected. The doctor gave him some drops which did not cure his ills, but

  helped him to bear them, and from him Alihodja learnt the Latin name for his

  complaint: anginapectoris.

  AlihodjawasoneofthefewlocalTurkswhohadacceptednoneofthenovelties

  and changes which the newcomers had brought, either in dress, in customs, in

  speechorinmethodsoftradeandbusiness.Withthatsamebitterobstinacywith

  whichhehadatonetimestoodoutagainstuselessresistance,hehadforyears

  stood out against everything that was Austrian and foreign and against

  everythingthatwasgatheringimpetusaroundhim.Forthatreasonhesometimes

  came into conflict with others and had had to pay fines to the police. Now he

  wasalittletiredanddisillusioned,buthewasessentiallyjustthesameashehad

  beenwhenhehadarguedwithKaramanlionthe kapia, obstinate in everything

  and at all times; save that his proverbial freedom of speech had turned to

  sharpness and his fighting spirit into a sullen bitterness which even the most

  daringwordscouldnotexpressandwhichwascalmedandextinguishedonlyin

  silenceandinsolitude.

  Withtimethe hodja hadfallenmoreandmoreintoasortofcalmmeditationin

  which he had no need of anyone else and found all men hard to endure.

  Everyone,theidlemerchantsofthemarketplace,1hiscustomers,hisyoungwife

  and all that horde of urchins which filled his house with noise, irritated him.

  Beforethesunrosehefledfromhishousetohisshopwhichheopenedbefore

  any of the other merchants. There he carried out his morning devotions. There

  hislunchwasbroughttohim.Andwhen,duringtheday,conversation,visitors

  andbusinessboredhim,heputupthewoodenshuttersandwithdrewintoatiny

  closet behind the shop which he called his coffin. That was a secret place,

  narrow,lowanddark;the hodja almostfilleditwhenhecrawledin.Hehadthere

  asmallstoolcoveredwitharugonwhichhecouldsitwithcrossedlegs,afew

  shelveswithemptyboxes,oldscalesandallsortsofrubbishforwhichtherewas

  noroomintheshop.Inthatnarrowdarkholethe hodja couldhearthroughthe

  thin walls of his shop the hum of life in the marketplace, the sound of horses'

  hoovesandthecriesofthesellers.Allthatcametohimasfromanotherworld.

  He could hear too some of the passers-by who stopped before his closed shop

  and made malicious jokes and comments about him. But he listened to them

  calmly, for to him these men were dead and had not realized it; he knew and

  forgot them in the same moment. Hidden behind those few planks, he felt

  himself completely protected from all that this life could bring him, this life

  which in his opinion had long become rotten and proceeded along evil ways.

  Therethe hodja shuthimselfinwithhisthoughtsonthedestinyoftheworldand

  the course of human affairs, and forgot all else, the marketplace, his worries

  about debts and bad tenants, his too young wife whose youth and beauty had suddenly turned into a stupid and malicious ill-humour, and that brood of

  children which would have been a heavy burden on an Emperor's treasury and

  aboutwhichhethoughtonlywithhorror.

  After he had recovered his spirits and rested there, the hodja would again take downhisshuttersasifhehadjustcomebackfromsomewhere.

  Sonowhelistenedto
theemptychatterofhistwoneighbours.

  'YouseenowhowthetimesareandthegiftsofGod;timeeatsawayevenstone

  likethesoleofashoe.ButtheSchwabeswillnothaveitsoandatoncemend

  whatisdamaged,'philosophizedoneofthem,awell-knownlazybonesfromthe

  marketplace,ashesippedAlihodja'scoffee.

  'WhiletheDrinaistheDrinathebridgewillbethebridge.Eveniftheyhadnot

  touchedit,itwouldlastitsappointedtime.Allthisexpenseandallthistrouble

  willservethemnothing,'saidtheotherguest,ofthesameoccupationasthefirst.

  They would have dragged on their idle chatter indefinitely had not Alihodja

  interrupted.

  'AndItellyouthatnogoodwillcomeoftheirinterferingwiththebridge.You

  willsee,nothinggoodwillcomeofallthisrestoration.Whattheyrepairtoday

  theywillteardownagaintomorrow.ThelatelamentedMulaIbrahimusedtotell

  me that he had learnt from ancient books that it is a great sin to meddle with

  living water, to turn its course aside or change it, were it even for a day or an hour.ButtheSchwabesdonotfeelthemselvesaliveunlesstheyarehammering

  orchisellingsomethingorother.Theywouldturnthewholeworldupsidedown

  iftheycould!'

  Thefirstoftheidlerstriedtoshowthat,whenallwassaidanddone,itwasnot

  sobadthattheSchwabesshouldrepairthebridge.Ifitdidnotprolongitslifeit

  wouldatanyratedoitnoharm.

  'Andhowdoyouknowthattheywilldoitnoharm?'the hodja brokeinangrily.

  'Whotoldyou?Don'tyouknowthatasinglewordcandestroywholecities;how

  muchmorethensuchababel!AllthisearthofGod'swasbuiltuponaword.If

  youwereliterateandeducated,asyouarenot,thenyouwouldknowthatthisis

  not a building like any other, but one of those erected by God's will and for

  God's love; a certain time and certain men built it, and another time and other

  menwilldestroyit.YouknowwhattheoldmensayabouttheStoneHan;there

  was none other like it in the Empire. Yet who destroyed it? Had it been a question of its solidity and the skill of its construction it would have lasted a thousandyears;yetithasmeltedawayasifithadbeenmadeofwaxandnowon

  theplacewhereitwasthepigsgruntandtheSchwabes'trumpetsounds.'

  'But,asIthink,Ibelieve...'theidlerreplied.

  'You believe wrongly,' interrupted the hodja. 'According to your ideas nothing would ever have been built and nothing destroyed. That has never occurred to

  you.ButItellyouthatallthisisnotgood,itforetellsevil,forthebridgeandfor

  thetownandforallofuswhoarelookingatitwithourowneyes.'

  'Heisright.The hodja knows best what the bridge is,' broke in the other idler, maliciouslyrecallingAlihodja'sonetimemartydomonthe kapia.

  'Youneedn'tthinkthatIdon'tknow,'saidthe hodja withconvictionandatonce

  began, quite calmly to tell one of his stories at which the townsfolk used to

  mock,buttowhichtheylovedtolistentimeandtimeagain.

  'AtonetimemylatelamentedfatherheardfromSheikDedijeandtoldmeasa

  child how bridges first came to this world and how the first bridge was built.

  When Allah the Merciful and Compassionate first created this world, the earth

  wassmoothandevenasafinelyengravedplate.Thatdispleasedthedevilwho

  envied man this gift of God. And while the earth was still just as it had come

  fromGod'shands,dampandsoftasunbakedclay,hestoleupandscratchedthe

  faceofGod'searthwithhisnailsasmuchandasdeeplyashecould.Therefore,

  the story says, deep rivers and ravines were formed which divided one district

  fromanotherandkeptmenapart,preventingthemfromtravellingonthatearth

  thatGodhadgiventhemasagardenfortheirfoodandtheirsupport.AndAllah

  felt pity when he saw what the Accursed One had done, but was not able to

  returntothetaskwhichthedevilhadspoiledwithhisnails,sohesenthisangels

  to help men and make things easier for them. When the angels saw how

  unfortunatemencouldnotpassthoseabyssesandravinestofinishtheworkthey

  had to do, but tormented themselves and looked in vain and shouted from one

  sidetotheother,theyspreadtheirwingsabovethoseplacesandmenwereable

  to cross. So men learned from the angels of God how to build bridges, and

  therefore, after fountains, the greatest blessing is to build a bridge and the

  greatest sin to interfere with it, for every bridge, from a tree trunk crossing a mountainstreamtothisgreaterectionofMehmedPasha,hasitsguardianangel

  who cares for it and maintains it as long as God has ordained that it should

  stand.'

  'Soitis,soitis,byGod'swill!'thetwoidlersmarvelledhumbly.

  Sotheypassedtheirtimeinconversation,asthedayspassedandtheworkwent

  on there on the bridge, whence they could hear the squeaking of carts and the

  poundingofmachinesmixingsandandcement.

  Asalways,inthisdiscussiontoo,the hodja hadthelastword.Noonewantedto

  press an argument with him to the end, least of all those two idle and empty-

  headedfellowswhodranktheircoffeethereandknewwellthatthenextdayalso

  theywouldhavetopassagoodpartoftheirlongdayinfrontofhisshop.

  So Alihodja talked to everyone who stopped before the shutters of his shop,

  whetheronbusinessorjustmakingacall.Theyalllistenedtohimwithmocking

  curiosity and apparent attention, but no one in the town shared his opinions or

  had any understanding of his pessimism or his forebodings of evil, which he

  himselfwasunabletoexplainortosupportbyproof.Furthermoretheyhadfor

  longbeenaccustomedtolookonthe hodja asaneccentricandanobstinateman

  who now, under the influence of ripening years, difficult circumstances and a

  youngwife,sawtheblacksideofeverythingandgaveeverythingaspecialand

  ill-omenedsignificance.

  Thetownspeoplewere,forthemostpart,indifferenttotheworkonthebridge,

  astheyweretowardseverythingwhichthenewcomershadbeendoingforyears

  inandaboutthetown.Onlythechildrenweredisappointedwhentheysawthat

  the workmen with their wooden ladders went in through that black opening in

  thecentralpier,that'room'inWhichbyuniversalchildishbelieftheArablived.

  From this place the workmen brought out and tipped into the river countless

  baskets of birds' droppings. And that was all. The Arab never appeared. The

  childrenmadethemselveslateforschool,waitingvainlyforhoursfortheblack

  mantoemergefromhisdarknessandstrikethefirstworkmaninhispath,strike

  himsostronglythathewouldflyfromhismovingscaffoldinginagreatcurve

  into the river. They were furious that this had not happened, and some of the

  urchins tried to say that it had happened already, but they did not sound

  convincingandalltheir'wor
dsofhonour'weretonopurpose.

  As soon as the repair work on the bridge was finished, work began on a water

  supply. Till then the town had had wooden fountains of which only two on

  Mejdan gave pure spring water; all the others, down on the level, were

  connectedwithwaterfromtheDrinaortheRzavandrancloudywheneverthe

  waterofthosetworiverswascloudy,anddriedupaltogetherduringthesummer

  heats when the river level fell. Now engineers found that this water was

  unhealthy. The new water was brought right from the mountains on the other side of the Drina, so that the pipes had to be taken across the bridge into the town.

  Once again there was noise and commotion on the bridge. Flagstones were

  raisedandachanneldugfortheconduits.Firesburntonwhichpitchwasboiled

  and lead melted. Hemp was plaited into ropes. The townspeople watched the

  work with distrust and curiosity as they had always done before. Alihodja was

  irritated by the smoke which drifted across the square to his shop, and spoke

  disdainfullyofthe'new'uncleanwaterwhichpassedthroughironpipessothatit

  was not fit to drink or for ablutions before prayer and which not even horses

  would drink if they were still of the good old breed that they once were. He

  laughed at Lotte who brought the water into her hotel. To everyone willing to

  listen he proved that the waterworks were only one of the signs of the

  approachingevilwhichsoonerorlaterwouldfalluponthetown.

  However,nextsummer,thewatersupplywasinstalled,evenassomanyearlier

  works had been introduced and completed. Clean and abundant water, which

  was no longer dependent either on drought or flood, flowed into the new iron

  fountains.Manybroughtthewaterintotheircourtyardsandsomeevenintotheir

  houses.

  That same autumn the building of the railway began. That was a much longer

  andmoreimportanttask.Atfirstitdidnotseemtohaveanyconnectionwiththe

  bridge.Butthatwasonlyapparent.

  Thiswasthenarrowgaugerailwaydescribedinnewspaperarticlesandofficial