This Month's Installment
As always, the italicized parts are what I'm unsure about.
"Were there even many people with you?""A few men who wanted to say goodbye before they go in the field. They must leave behind business and work and part from wife and children. But you should have heard with what confidence and joy they went, all of them! One took his boys with, whom I had just confirmed; and when his wife cried, he said, 'Mudder, laß jut sein... 's is Anstandspflicht jejens Vaterland.'"After the meal, he lay down and immediately fell into a death-like sleep.He must have rested for a long time because it was already softly getting dark when Else step into his room. He could barely pull himself together, he didn't know where he was. All of a sudden, it occurred to him: "Oh, yes, it is war!" Then he was very awake."I have disturbed you reluctantly, but Seydelmann was just here. A few more people have come who move out to-morrow morning and wish Holy Communion."He stood up immediately and put on his cassock."The one asked for you specifically, he is a son of Bärwalder Kutscher.""What? Of old Schikorr himself? I married him here only in May - and now also with!"Two couples stood in the sacristy, in which he distributed Holy Communion at such a late hour: the young Schikorr, who in his civilian occupation was a locksmith and now made a martial impression as a cavalryman, and then an-other. In the dim twilight, he couldn't recognize the uniform. But he stood so quietly and calmly at the side of the pale blonde woman---125---that he thought: "Perhaps one who must not go directly into the fire, a military officer or something like that."After the ceremony, he approached him, as he was in the habit of doing. Now he saw that he belonged to the navy. "Chief engineer on a submarine." He answered so quietly and firmly, as if it were a small trial run. And the young blond woman at his side brushed away a tear, as if she was ashamed of herself.Hans had also said a few friendly words to young Schikorr. When he left the sacristy, he saw that his left foot was dragging."What's wrong, Schikorr? Something with your leg?""Yes, but, Pastor, it is nothing.""But you are limping."A bright smile.
Commentary/Grammatical Minutiae
When Hans quotes one of his parishioners, it's spelt in what is apparently the man's dialect, and I understand only a few words of it, so I just left it as it is.
I had been translating Sakristei as vestry because this is the only translation that my dictionary provides. I'd suspected that it could also mean sacristy, and the context here seemed to favor this (why hold Communion in the vestry?), so I lookt up sacristy in the English-to-German section of my dictionary and found Sakristei. I'm sure there are a few earlier instances I should change now.
