“Of course,” she explains, “I’d have to go to teachers’ training school. But I could do that. The regulation closing it to girls is only a provisional one, and that’s just bad luck for me….”
“Oh, that’s too bad,” the young foreigner says, breaking down a little, and trying to think of something reassuring to say. “But you have the B.D.M., haven’t you? That must be nice, you must like that — all the sports — and being with the girls — and farm life — and festivals —”
But she has stopped him with one look, a hard stare of mockery that cuts the words.
“Certainly I like the B.D.M.,” she is saying, “we have almost as good a time as the boys do — almost as much marching, and then we learn a lot about war, and we hear almost as many speeches as they do — yes, honestly, almost.”
She is starting to go, with the same look of necessity that the little boy had had when he spoke about his examinations. “I have to go to the registrar’s office,” she says. “My chum’s getting married.”
“Your chum? Is she as young as — I mean, is she fifteen, too?” the young man asks, startled.
“Sixteen,” the Hitler-girl answers, “and her fiancé is eighteen. But she’s going to have a baby, and so they’re getting married; their parents won’t give them any money unless they do, that’s about the only reason.”
The young man is embarrassed. He is not very sophisticated, and he is not talking well at all; in fact, he acts like an inexperienced young sociologist asking embarrassing questions in front of a grass hut. “But are they allowed to?” he is asking. “They’re both minors….”
“Allowed,” she repeats, “of course they’re allowed. The State wants children, and if there’s an old law, then someone makes a new one, and everything’s all right again, just like that!”
The young man has recovered a little poise. “I only meant that young men under twenty-one used to be minors, not permitted to marry.” He has been acting like a child; he must get used to changes, and not behave like an outlandish fool. I must adjust more quickly to these changes, he thinks, and holds out his hand for the paper she is giving him.