from: German War Primer (1937), and: My Poorer Classmates from the Edge of the City

brecht 125 Bertolt Brecht Translated by Ed Ochester from: German War Primer (1937) Those who take the meat from the table teach contentment. Those who are getting the gift demand sacrifice with a smile. The big gobblers talk to the hungry about the great times to come. The men leading the country over a cliff say governing's too complicated for the average guy. When the politicians talk about peace the common people know it means war. When the politicians curse war the mobilization papers are already written out. Those on top say: This thing leads to glory. Those down below say: It goes to the grave. 126 the minnesota review Bertolt Brecht Translated by Ed Ochester My Poorer Classmates from the Edge of the City My poorer classmates in their thin overcoats always came too late for the morning class because they'd delivered milk or the papers for their mothers. The teachers, grousing, graded them down. They didn't bring lunch. During breaks they did their homework in the bathrooms. That was verboten. The break was for recreation and eating. When they didn't know the value of TT the teacher asked them: why don't you stay in the gutter you come from? But they knew the answer to that. The poorer students from the edge of the city were promised little jobs in the civil service. So they learned the contents of their worn books by heart, by the sweat of their brows, learned to lick the teachers' boots and despise their own mothers. The little jobs for poorer students from the edge of the city lay under the ground. Their office chairs had no seats. Their prospects consisted of the roots of short plants. For what had they been allowed to learn Caesar's campaigns and Greek grammar? The formula for sulphur and the value of TT? In the mass graves of Flanders, for which they were tracked, what did they need but a sprinkling of lime? ...