Page 389 - The Book Thief

brought back a small note and placed it on the kitchen table.

Another week passed, and still, Hans Hubermann waited for his punishment. The
welts on his back were turning to scars, and he spent the majority of his time
walking around Molching. Frau Diller spat at his feet. Frau Holtzapfel, true to
her word, had ceased spitting at the Hubermanns door, but here was a handy
replacement. I knew it, the shopkeeper damned him. You dirty Jew lover.

He walked obliviously on, and Liesel would often catch him at the Amper River,
on the bridge. His arms rested on the rail and he leaned his upper body over the
edge. Kids on bikes rushed past him, or they ran with loud voices and the slaps
of feet on wood. None of it moved him in the slightest.

DUDEN DICTIONARY MEANING #8 *
Nachtrauern Regret:
Sorrow filled with longing,
disappointment, or loss.
Related words: rue, repent,
mourn, grieve.

Do you see him? he asked her one afternoon, when she leaned with him. In the

water there?

The river was not running very fast. In the slow ripples, Liesel could see the
outline of Max Vandenburgs face. She could see his feathery hair and the rest of
him. He used to fight the Fhrer in our basement.

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. Papas hands tightened on the splintery wood. Im an
idiot.

No, Papa.

Youre just a man.

The words came to her more than a year later, when she wrote in the basement.