'He has the most lovely hands!' the innkeeper's wife exclaimed. 'Such long delicate fingers!'
The mother didn't move. She didn't even turn her head to look.
'Go on!' cried the innkeeper's wife. 'He won't bite you!'
'I am frightened to look. I don't dare to believe that I have another baby and that he is all right.'
'Don't be so stupid.'
Slowly, the mother turned her head and looked at the small, incredibly serene face that lay on the pillow beside her.
'Is this my baby?'
'Of course.'
'Oh... oh... but he is beautiful.'
The doctor turned away and went over to the table and began putting his things into his bag. The mother lay on the bed gazing at the child and smiling and touching him and making little noises of pleasure. 'Hello, Adolfus,' she whispered. 'Hello, my little Adolf...'
'Ssshh!' said the inkeeper's wife. 'Listen! I think your husband is coming.'
The doctor walked over to the door and opened it and looked out into the corridor.
'Herr Hitler!'
'Yes.'
'Come in, please.'
A small man in a dark-green uniform stepped softly into the room and looked around him.
'Congratulations,' the doctor said. 'You have a son.'
The man had a pair of enormous whiskers meticulously groomed after the manner of the Emperor Franz Josef, and he smelled strongly of beer. 'A son?'
'Yes.'
'How is he?'
'He is fine. So is your wife.'
'Good.' The father turned and walked with a curious little prancing stride over to the bed where his wife was lying. 'Well, Klara,' he said, smiling through his whiskers. 'How did it go?' He bent down to take a look at the baby. Then he bent lower. In a series of quick jerky movements, he bent lower and lower until his face was only about twelve inches from the baby's head. The wife lay sideways on the pillow, staring up at him with a kind of supplicating look.
'He has the most marvellous pair of lungs,' the innkeeper's wife announced. 'You should have heard him screaming just after he came into this world.'
'But my God, Klara...'
'What is it, dear?'
'This one is even smaller than Otto was!'
The doctor took a couple of quick paces forward. 'There is nothing wrong with that child,' he said.
Slowly, the husband straightened up and turned away from the bed and looked at the doctor. He seemed bewildered and stricken. 'It's no good lying, Doctor,' he said. 'I know what it means. It's going to be the same all over again.'
'Now you listen to me,' the doctor said.
'But do you know what happened to the others, Doctor?'