wednesday, november 3, 1943
dearest kitty,
to take our minds off matters as well as to develop them, father ordered a catalog from a correspondence school. margot pored through the thick brochure three times without finding anything to her liking and within her budget. father was easier to satisfy and decided to write and ask for a trial lesson in "elementary latin." no sooner said than done. the lesson arrived, margot set to work enthusiastically and decided to take the course, despite the expense. it's much too hard for me, though i'd really like to learn latin.
to give me a new project as well, father asked mr. kleiman for a children's bible so i could finally learn something about the new testament.
"are you planning to give anne a bible for hanukkah?" margot asked, somewhat perturbed.
"yes. . . well, maybe st. nicholas day would be a better occasion," father replied.
jesus and hanukkah don't exactly go together.
since the vacuum cleaner's broken, i have to take an old brush to the rug every night. the window's closed, the light's on, the stove's burning, and there i am brushing away at the rug. "that's sure to be a problem," i thought to myself the first time. "there're bound to be complaints." i was right: mother got a headache from the thick clouds of dust whirling around the room, margot's new latin dictionary was caked with dirt, and rim grumbled that the floor didn't look any different anyway. small thanks for my pains.
we've decided that from now on the stove is going to be lit at seven-thirty on sunday mornings instead of five-thirty. i think it's risky. what will the neighbors think of our smoking chimney?
it's the same with the curtains. ever since we first went into hiding, they've been tacked firmly to the windows. sometimes one of the ladies or gentlemen can't resist the urge to peek outside. the result: a storm of reproaches. the response: "oh, nobody will notice." that's how every act of carelessness begins and ends. no one will notice, no one will hear, no one will pay the least bit of attention. easy to say, but is it true?
at the moment, the tempestuous quarrels have subsided; only dussel and the van daans are still at loggerheads. when dussel is talking about mrs. van d., he invariably calls her' 'that old bat" or "that stupid hag," and conversely, mrs. van d. refers to our ever so learned gentleman as an "old maid" or a "touchy neurotic spinster, etc.
the pot calling the kettle black!
yours, anne
