A Long Long Time Ago And Essentially True

This summary section includes Chapter 5: “Czesław,” Chapter 6: “For Sale,” Chapter 7: “You Do Not Have to Talk First About the Massacre at Katyń,” and Chapter 8: “Vampire, Whore, Nightmare, Witch, Piranha, Frog-Face, Villain, Devil, Sonofabitch, Shithead, Hooligan, and Halfdead.”

The story returns to 1939. Having completed multiple renovations at the Hetmański home, the Pigeon asks Pan Hetmański’s permission to walk Anielica to church on Sunday. He adds that his real name is Czesław and hints that, at some point, he’ll ask for more than a walk to church with Hetmański’s daughter.

Beata ends her work week for Pani Bożena on Friday afternoons. She receives two American $20 bills as payment. This amount of money seems like a fortune to the rural girl. Initially, she visits the local shops and spends freely before realizing that she ought to be contributing something toward Irena’s grocery bills. On one particular Friday, Bożena encourages Beata to take some time for herself and quit early. The girl goes to a cinema and sits through three features because she loves film so much. When Beata gets back to the flat, she finds Irena and Magda arguing again about Magda’s partygoing lifestyle. At the same time, Irena approves of Beata’s choice to go to the movies. She thinks Beata works too hard while Magda doesn’t work enough.

When Sunday morning arrives, Anielica and Czesław set out for church with Władysław as their chaperone. The walk down the mountain is a long trip. Midway to their destination, the group sees a girl emerging from the trees. Her name is Marysia. She’s Jewish and lives in a nearby shtetl (a small village). She and Władysław have been carrying on a secret romance. The couple steals off into the shrubbery, leaving a confused Anielica and Czesław behind. They can’t show up at church without their chaperone, so they wait. To pass the time, they begin talking to one another and start mentioning the many one-line notes they have passed during the preceding months. Their communication covered only mundane subjects. Haltingly, they start to piece together a conversation.

Beata awakens to hear Irena preparing food for the dozen stray black cats who live in their courtyard. She has given them some rudely colorful names. After this daily ritual is complete, Irena proposes an outing with Beata. Tourist season is about to start, and Irena takes in boarders to defray expenses. Beata is surprised when Irena shows her an area that was once called The Bermuda Triangle: “‘Spatiw, Pod Gruszką, and Feniks. [...] We always said that between these three places, it was so easy to disappear.’ ‘You mean, get arrested?’ She shakes her head. ‘Internal exile. Inside yourself’” (63). Irena was once a painter who was active in the arts community and its political protests. After Magda was born, she decided that party membership would be important for her daughter’s future, so she gave up her radical ways. Now, she shows Beata her old haunts wistfully, noting how much has changed over the years.

This summary section includes Chapter 9: “The Simultaneous Fall, Conversion, and Betrothal of Władystaw Jagiełło,” Chapter 10: “The Festival of Virgins,” and Chapter 11: “The Difference Between Matrimony and the Nazis.”

In 1939, the walk to church resumes once Władysław and Marysia conclude their tryst. Right outside the church, Władysław bids Marysia an overly amorous farewell that is witnessed by a local gossip, Pani Plotka. After mass ends, the old biddy loudly denounces Władysław’s bad behavior, causing an uproar among the villagers. Czesław steps in and boldly says that Władysław and Marysia were secretly engaged and that she’ll convert to Christianity. He’s been helping to renovate the Hetmański house in preparation for the communal wedding feast. Diverted by the prospect of a celebration, the villagers decide to overlook Władysław’s indiscretion. For his part, the prospective groom is horrified at the thought of his unexpected nuptials.

At Irena’s flat, Beata continues to overhear bitter conversations between mother and daughter. Irena reproaches Magda for not studying for her upcoming final exams. At Stash’s club, Beata has begun tentative conversations with the clarinet player and learns that his name is Tadeusz. After his set each night, he comes to the bar for orange juice and a brief chat with Beata. Since Kinga will soon leave for Italy, she encourages Beata to invite Tadeusz to a last get-together during the upcoming Festival of the Virgins. Beata quails at asking him, even though Tadeusz is obviously interested in seeing her outside the club.

Later, at the festival, the streets are jammed. Kinga is trying to find a few other friends who agreed to meet her, and she drags Beata through the crowd. The latter wishes she were home and away from all the noise. When Kinga finds her friends, she learns that one of them is already too drunk to stand up. This person turns out to be Magda. Her boyfriend dumped her that day, and she went on a drinking binge. Beata volunteers to get Magda home in a cab and promises not to tell Irena about the incident. Early the next morning, Magda goes to stay with a friend to study for her exam, while Beata tells Irena that her daughter has gone to the library.

The earlier timeline resumes as the Hetmański household prepares for the wedding: “‘What’s the difference between matrimony and the Nazis?’ ‘In the end, they say the Nazis put you out of your misery.’ Every man in the surrounding villages claimed to have invented this joke” (84). They repeat it to the nervous groom at every opportunity. The bride’s parents are appalled at Marysia’s conversion and refuse to attend the ceremony. By this time, everyone in the village knows that Marysia is already a few months pregnant. Despite its inauspicious beginnings, the marriage will likely prove successful because Marysia is an optimist in a land of pessimists. The Half-Village community enjoys the celebration, unaware that Germany is about to start another war.