Chapter 13, Number 26: Listening and understanding
Speaker: But you are over the most important, a life full of work. The Old: Nothing but work. Speaker: You should rest now. The Old: One really should not live anymore. Speaker: Your family shouldn't hear that. The Old: They all live without me. The Old: Nobody asks me. Nobody talks... what we will do tomorrow, how is it outside. The Old: They go out... and in. Running away. The Old: I don't know whereto. I never know, what they are doing, what's happening. Speaker: Of course. You just sit there all day long and don't see so well, what's going on around you. The Old: I see nothing. Speaker: So you get the feeling that life's passing by... out there on the streets. The Old: Here, too... here in the house, too. The Old: Everybody comes and goes. Nobody says wherefrom, whereto.
The Old: Nobody asks the old. It's a useless life... you know? The Old: The young farmer doesn't need me anymore. The whole house doesn't need me anymore. Speaker: But the children do visit you often, wanting this and that. Speaker: Sometimes you fix a broken toy. I've seen that myself. The Old: Oh yeah. The childen... Speaker: That's a lot. What do you think, how much the childen will miss you, once you aren't there anymore. Speaker: And then - ha - then... all the others, too. They are used to you being around. Speaker: But you feel the loss just when you have something no longer. The Old: Those are nice words. It is hard to be old. The Old: I thank you. The Old: Come back... if your work allows time, for a little conversation. The Old: And if it's not too boring for you, with the old.