Read Online Revolution Baby by Alison Anderson, Joanna Gruda - Free Book Online
Authors: Alison Anderson, Joanna Gruda
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how to swim, she said yes. How was I to know she would answer any old thing!â
âShe didnât answer any old thing, she surely misunderstood your question, you must have noticed that her French is not very good.â
âWell she shouldnât answer, if she doesnât understand! If she answers, I canâtââ
âAll right, all right, I know you didnât mean her any harm. But it is not a very smart idea to push someone in the canal, even if they do know how to swim. You do understand, donât you, that Lena could have drowned? Youâre going to have some time to give some serious thought to all that.â
âTime to give some serious thoughtâ meant three whole days where I was not allowed to take part in any activities. I could only go out and sit on the âthinking chairâ located behind the building of LâAvenir Social. And it was from this humiliating position that I heard the Cowboysâ cries of victory when they won their first big battle, without me.
CHAPTER 10
Solidarity
As a name for an orphanage, LâAvenir Social must sound a bit pompous. But it wasnât just to show off, our establishment was an orphanage for workers, its allegiance was communist, and it advocated the right to universal education. All our instructors sincerely wanted to turn us into adults capable of autonomous reflection, committed to society. We learned to read and write at the village school; at the AS, the instructors made sure to teach us everything else: an appreciation of nature and history, how to show respect, thoughtfulness, compassion, and helpfulness, and how to live with others . . . There was also a political side to our education, and in my case this began with the Spanish Civil War.
One day when we were playing in the yard, Arnold called to us in his loud voice to gather round. There were a dozen or so of us. He squatted down, and in the dirt on the ground he made a big drawing.
âYouâve already heard about whatâs going on in Spain. Now I want to explain it all to you in detail. Look at my drawing . . . Do you know what it is?â
âItâs a pair of girlâs underpants!â shouted Marcel, one of the big boys.
âDoes someone have a better idea?â
âIt must be a map of Spain . . . â
This came from one of the older girls, Madeleine, who was very serious and had great presence of mind.
âExactly, thatâs what it is. Itâs not a very good drawing, but it should help me to fill you in about what is happening in Spain. I think itâs important for you to understand what is at stake in this war, because two days from now, we will be going into Paris to take part in a major demonstration in support of the Republic in Spain.â
For most of us, a demonstration was above all an opportunity to get out of the orphanage, to go and shout and sing at the top of our lungs in the middle of a crowd; in short, it was a holiday, and whatever prompted it was secondary. And if it hadnât been for Arnoldâs solemn manner in gathering us all together, we would have allowed our joy to explode. But we could sense it would be inappropriate to hint at our futile reasons for wanting to take part in a demonstration. So we all looked sidelong at each other with a smile before focusing our interest on that map of Spain that looked nothing like a girlâs underpants.
With the help of lines, arrows, pebbles and bits of wood, Arnold described the confrontation between the Republican and Nationalist troops in Spain. It was very interesting, but fairly complicated. There were other countries getting involved, Italy and Germany to be precise, on the side of the bad guys (the nationalists, led by Francisco Franco)âbut nobody wanted to support the good guys (the Republicans, whom Franco had tried to overthrow by a military uprising). Still, there were people coming from all over, putting their
âShe didnât answer any old thing, she surely misunderstood your question, you must have noticed that her French is not very good.â
âWell she shouldnât answer, if she doesnât understand! If she answers, I canâtââ
âAll right, all right, I know you didnât mean her any harm. But it is not a very smart idea to push someone in the canal, even if they do know how to swim. You do understand, donât you, that Lena could have drowned? Youâre going to have some time to give some serious thought to all that.â
âTime to give some serious thoughtâ meant three whole days where I was not allowed to take part in any activities. I could only go out and sit on the âthinking chairâ located behind the building of LâAvenir Social. And it was from this humiliating position that I heard the Cowboysâ cries of victory when they won their first big battle, without me.
CHAPTER 10
Solidarity
As a name for an orphanage, LâAvenir Social must sound a bit pompous. But it wasnât just to show off, our establishment was an orphanage for workers, its allegiance was communist, and it advocated the right to universal education. All our instructors sincerely wanted to turn us into adults capable of autonomous reflection, committed to society. We learned to read and write at the village school; at the AS, the instructors made sure to teach us everything else: an appreciation of nature and history, how to show respect, thoughtfulness, compassion, and helpfulness, and how to live with others . . . There was also a political side to our education, and in my case this began with the Spanish Civil War.
One day when we were playing in the yard, Arnold called to us in his loud voice to gather round. There were a dozen or so of us. He squatted down, and in the dirt on the ground he made a big drawing.
âYouâve already heard about whatâs going on in Spain. Now I want to explain it all to you in detail. Look at my drawing . . . Do you know what it is?â
âItâs a pair of girlâs underpants!â shouted Marcel, one of the big boys.
âDoes someone have a better idea?â
âIt must be a map of Spain . . . â
This came from one of the older girls, Madeleine, who was very serious and had great presence of mind.
âExactly, thatâs what it is. Itâs not a very good drawing, but it should help me to fill you in about what is happening in Spain. I think itâs important for you to understand what is at stake in this war, because two days from now, we will be going into Paris to take part in a major demonstration in support of the Republic in Spain.â
For most of us, a demonstration was above all an opportunity to get out of the orphanage, to go and shout and sing at the top of our lungs in the middle of a crowd; in short, it was a holiday, and whatever prompted it was secondary. And if it hadnât been for Arnoldâs solemn manner in gathering us all together, we would have allowed our joy to explode. But we could sense it would be inappropriate to hint at our futile reasons for wanting to take part in a demonstration. So we all looked sidelong at each other with a smile before focusing our interest on that map of Spain that looked nothing like a girlâs underpants.
With the help of lines, arrows, pebbles and bits of wood, Arnold described the confrontation between the Republican and Nationalist troops in Spain. It was very interesting, but fairly complicated. There were other countries getting involved, Italy and Germany to be precise, on the side of the bad guys (the nationalists, led by Francisco Franco)âbut nobody wanted to support the good guys (the Republicans, whom Franco had tried to overthrow by a military uprising). Still, there were people coming from all over, putting their
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