Hubertus slammed his notebook shut. “I say, we just do it,” he said, addressing the members of the Rottberg Musikverein who had gathered for their customary end-of-year meeting. “If they can lump us together with Felddorf in the same pastoral district, I’d say we have every right to do the same. Times are hard, and we all have to look out for ourselves.”
“But it’s not really the same, though,” Karin countered, fiddling with the keys on her clarinet. “The pastoral districts are the result of them having too few priests, but there are loads of musicians now, a lot more than there used to be. I can remember, even when I was little, there wasn’t even a Musikverein in Rottberg at all.”
“Exactly! And that’s exactly why we need to expand our area of interest,” Hubertus replied smoothly. “It’s going to get more and more important for associations like ours to take advantage of all the resources at our disposal.”
With the scraping of wooden chair legs on floor tiles, Gitti rose from her seat. “No offense, Hubert,” she said, “but you’re talking rubbish. There are legal regulations for where the Verein can organize a fundraiser, namely, within our local municipality. And we haven’t quite been annexed by Felddorf yet.”
There were a few laughs from the other members, but Hubertus wasn’t to be discouraged. “I’d say, that’s a question of interpretation,” he said. “We’re practically the same parish now—”
“No, that’s not true, Rottberg is a parish of its own. We’re in the same pastoral district as Felddorf, that’s different.”
“Well exactly, the same pastoral district. So why shouldn’t we use that to our advantage? And if some stickler decides they want to challenge us on it, this whole pastoral district thing is so new, I think they’d have a job making it stick. Who knows, we could even set a precedent.”
“I think your grasp of all this is very simplistic. But alright, let’s say there’s no legal problem with doing a fundraiser in Felddorf – what do you think the Felddorfers are going to tell you if you rock up with a troupe from here to ask them for donations? What about their own Musikverein, their star singers, and the volunteer fire brigade? What should we expect if we all come begging around the same time?”
“We just have to make sure we’re first.”
Gitti put her hands on her hips. “You can forget that. Their Musikverein does its collection on the 26th; there’s no way you can go before that; no one’s going to let you in on Christmas Day. Besides, it’s all in the calendar by now, everyone knows exactly who’s coming on what day.”
“So – we have to make sure we’re the first ones on the 26th,” Hubertus said. “It’s a dog-eat-dog world; nothing ventured, nothing gained. But I’m not going to strongarm anyone, so let’s have a vote, all democratic. All those in favor of extending our yearly collection to include Felddorf, please raise your hands.”
All over the hall, hands went up in the air. Hubertus counted them conscientiously.
“That’s thirty-four in favor. And now, all those against. – I’m counting twenty-seven, is that right? Yes? Right then, the proposal’s been accepted thirty-four to twenty-seven. Let’s do this, boys! – And girls,” he added quickly, noticing some raised eyebrows in the audience.
Gitti gave a performative shrug, slapping her hands against her thighs in resignation before sitting down again. “Rubbish,” she muttered to the person next to her. “But Herr Hubertus knows better, as usual. Just don’t anyone say later I didn’t warn you.”
(…to be continued…)
Transadaptation Volume 7 – Via Ellipsis – Continuation of Uncertainty, Instability and Extremes Transadapted
January: An Unexpected Trip Down Memory Lane – Sarah-Leah Pimentel (South Africa)
February: Blow-up – Veronika Groke (Austria)
March: Futuros Murguistas – Alejandra Baccino (Uruguay)
April: The Nomenclature Man – Paulius Limantas (Lithuania)
May: Amanecerá y veremos – Adriana Uribe (Columbia)
June: Finding Light in Yerevan – Armine Asryan (Armenia)
July: The Last Judgement – Nadia Silva Castro (Brazil)
August: Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad Worm? – Narantsogt (Natso) Baatarkhuu (Mongolia)
September: Second Steps – Jonay Quintero Hernandez (Spain)
October: New Normality – Svetlana Molchanova (Russia)
November: Pandemic Love – Li Xiakun (China)
December: Beyond Comprehension – Rahaf Konbaz (Syria)
Background – Context
Transadaptation Volume 6: Meaning? – Uncertainty, Instability and Extremes Transadapted (forthcoming) (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2025)
Transadaptation Volume 5: Of Flowing Vicissitudes – Life Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2024)
Transadaptation Volume 4: Material Dissent – Adulthood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2023)
Transadaptation Volume 3: Evanescent – Young Adulthood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2022)
Transadaptation Volume 2: Conceived – Childhood Transadapted, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2021)
Transadaptation Volume 1: In the Middle – Prelude to a Contemporary Transadaptation, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2020)
Peripatetic Alterity: A Philosophical Treatise on the Spectrum of Being – Romantics and Pragmatists by Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2019)
La Syncrétion of Polarization and Extremes Transposée, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2019)
The Codex of Uncertainty Transposed, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2018)
L’anthologie of Global Instability Transpuesta, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2017)
From Wahnsinnig to the Loony Bin: German and Russian Stories Transposed to Modern-day America, (eds.) Angelika Friedrich, Yuri Smirnov and Henry Whittlesey (2013)
Emblems and stories on the international community
Perception by country – Transposing emblems, articles, short stories and reports from around the world
Credits
Top left to top right: 1. Hallstaat, Austria – After snowfall – Dahee Son (Unsplash); 2. Nassereith, Austria – In the valley – Robin Dessens (Shutterstock)
Bottom left to bottom right: 1. Austria – An Alp village – pymata (Shutterstock); 2. Salzkammergut, Austria – In the village – Canadastock (Shutterstock)
Inner group (top left to top right): 1. Hittisau, Austria – On the periphery – Ulrich Knoll (Unsplash); 2. Austria – The village – Sven D (Unsplash)
Inner group (bottom left to bottom right): 1. Hallstatt, Austria – The mountain homes – Radek Kozak (Unsplash); 2. Brixen im Thale, Austria – The valley villages – Stephan Seeber (Unsplash)