Poor Cadet Biegler had gotten so drunk that he was mistakenly sent to the cholera ward. The next figure of fun is Lieutenant Dub of the Third Company, another ultra-conservative buffoon. He is always proclaiming loyalty to the idea of Making Austria Great Again, and blathering such trumpety tripe: "And the little idiot Dub ceremonially added: 'Blood and life for the Habsburg! For Austria, whole, united, great!'"
~~ Jaroslav Hašek, The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War, Books Three & Four. The Samizdat edition of the new English rendition, translated by Zdeněk "Zenny" Sadloň, AuthorHouse, 2009, page 64.
As a character, I love Dub! The good soldier Švejk has his hands full with him, though.
"'When there is 'attention,' then you must be bugging your eyes out like a tomcat does when he is shitting into chopped straw. . .'"
"Lieutenant Dub directed an upset look into the carefree face of the good soldier Švejk and asked him angrily:
'Do you know me?'
'I do know you, Lieutenant, Sir. . .'
"I'm telling you that you don't know me yet.'
Švejk replied again with that carefree calm, as if giving a report: 'I do know you, Lieutenant, Sir, you are, I dutifully report, from our march battalion.'
'You don't know me yet,' Lieutenant Dub was screaming once again. 'You know me perhaps from the good side, but wait until you get to know me from the bad side. I am mean,* don't think to yourself otherwise, I'll drive everyone to tears. So, do you know me or don't you know me?'
I do, Lieutenant, Sir.' . . .
~~ Jaroslav Hašek, The Fateful Adventures of the Good Soldier Švejk During the World War, Books Three & Four. The Samizdat edition of the new English rendition, translated by Zdeněk "Zenny" Sadloň, AuthorHouse, 2009, page 70.
*"nasty" in the Cecil Parrott translation.
Today's Rune: Journey.
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