Page 128 - The Book Thief

THE MAYORS LIBRARY

Certainly, something of great magnitude was coming toward 33 Himmel Street,
to which Liesel was currently oblivious. To distort an overused human
expression, the girl had more immediate fish to fry:

She had stolen a book.

Someone had seen her.

The book thief reacted. Appropriately.

Every minute, every hour, there was worry, or more to the point, paranoia.
Criminal activity will do that to a person, especially a child. They envision a
prolific assortment of caughtoutedness. Some examples: People jumping out of
alleys. Schoolteachers suddenly being aware of every sin youve ever committed.
Police showing up at the door each time a leaf turns or a distant gate slams shut.

For Liesel, the paranoia itself became the punishment, as did the dread of
delivering some washing to the mayors house. It was no mistake, as Im sure you
can imagine, that when the time came, Liesel conveniently overlooked the house
on Grande Strasse. She delivered to the arthritic Helena Schmidt and picked up
at the cat-loving Weingartner residence, but she ignored the house belonging to

BrgermeisterHeinz Hermann and his wife, Ilsa.

ANOTHER QUICK TRANSLATION Brgermeister = mayor

On the first occasion, she stated that she simply forgot about that placea poor

excuse if ever Ive heard oneas the house straddled the hill, overlooking the town,
and it was unforgettable. When she went back and still returned empty-handed,
she lied that there was no one home.

No one home? Mama was skeptical. Skepticism gave her an itch for the wooden