It was already looking as if this might end up in court, and he had no desire to be called as a witness in a case of this sort.

After that, Doll began to run out of steam in this battle against a sanctimonious woman who responded to all his arguments and challenges with a weak smile and evasive, equivocal replies. She wouldn’t even give a clear ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ answer when he asked her directly if she planned to enforce the ban on the young woman.

Then Doll abruptly broke into laughter and walked out on the hotelier’s wife. What was he fighting against here? Arguing with this woman, who for certain had voted every time for her adored Führer, was about as pointless as Don Quixote tilting at windmills. No: if he was going to get anywhere in this matter, he had to tackle the man who had started all these rumours — that old gossip and scandalmonger in trousers, the freeloading, free-drinking vet. He’d soon give him what for! And so, swept along on a fresh wave of anger, he set out to find Dr. Wilhelm. But it was a fool’s errand, because the vet wasn’t to be found anywhere — not at home, not in the town, not in any saloon bar. It was as if the old man, suspecting what was in store for him, had gone into hiding — and perhaps he had done exactly that.

So Doll had no option but to go to a lawyer and have him write formal letters to the vet and the hotelier’s wife. Doll learned from the lawyer that private actions for defamation could not be brought, now that there was a war on. But the others didn’t need to know this, and so letters threatening them with such an action were duly despatched. Maybe they had lawyers, too, or else they knew the score; at all events, they didn’t respond. The rumours continued.

All this only made him more bitter, just as the departure of the young woman only served to increase his anger. She had been forced to flee in the face of the jealous, rancorous talk of these small-town bigots. He felt like someone trying to fight his way through a wall of feathers and cotton wool: he could hit it as hard as he liked, but it made no difference. In his present state of mind, the letters written by his lawyer seemed to him far too mild and diplomatic, so he sat down and wrote a letter of his own to Dr. Wilhelm, in which he announced his intention of publicly slapping him in the face as a slanderer the next time their paths crossed …

Having sent the letter, he was overcome with regret. This was unworthy of him; he had sunk to the level of his enemies, instead of just quietly despising them, which had been his stance up until now. But the time would come when he would regret this letter even more. One morning, he walked into the waiting room at the station — and there was Piglet Willem, sitting on the sofa, with a bottle of wine in front of him!

Doll wished he could have turned around in the doorway and left, and it would certainly have been better for his peace of mind if he had. But as well as many strangers, there were also quite a few locals in the room, who were now looking back and forth expectantly from him to the vet. Doll knew that Wilhelm, like all old gossips, had shown the letter to the bar-room regulars and half the town, and his enemy’s threat — to slap him in the face when he saw him — was common knowledge. If Doll retreated now, the vet would have won, and the whole rumour mill would start up again.

So Doll entered the room and sat down opposite the other man. The landlord, normally so talkative, said nothing as he brought him the bottle he had ordered. All the locals were waiting for the strangers to leave the waiting room — their train was due to depart in a quarter of an hour. Meanwhile Doll sat clutching the stem of his wine glass, battling inwardly with himself. He’s not worth it, a little voice said inside him. He’s just an old man, a gossip, and a scandalmonger. What’s he got to do with your honour? And with a quick glance at the other man, who was sitting there in silence, like him, clutching his wine glass: But they’ll think me a coward, all of them, and him especially, if I do nothing. I’ve got to show these people that I won’t just take this lying down! I can’t back out now!

The strangers filed out of the waiting room, and only five or six locals were left. The room was completely silent.