hired hand at the timber yard, of Kuttenberg
“Why must I always get the worst of it? I break my back carrying wood for Julian, only to freeze at night.”
Things Hynek had written, latest first, with the glosses of his neighbours.
the Tuesday before Whitsun, at Vespers
Why does Standa get a dry shed by the slaughterhouse while I rot in the dark? He is no better a man than me, yet I wake up shivering with foul water in my nose. Would it kill the Lord to give me a dry patch of straw?
Nota scribaeHe wiped his nose on his sleeve no less than four times while speaking.
the feast of St John before the Latin Gate, at Prime
How am I supposed to rest when Ralph screams every time he tries to stand? His crushed heel is surely going to turn black and fill the whole cellar with foul humours. Am I to catch the sickness because a timber fell on him?
the second day of Easter week, at None
Is it a crime to be short a few pennies at Easter? Matilda locked her door and refuses to mend the yard above my corner. The thaw water leaks through smelling of pig dung. Am I a beast to sleep in this?
the feast of St Gregory, at Sext
Julian pointed right at me again this morning. He saves the heaviest, roughest timber just for me, I know he does. My hands are torn to shreds with splinters. Why must I break my back while the clerks sit up high?
Julian is an arrogant whoreson, true enough, but the wood weighs the same for all of us.
He pays on time. Do the work and be glad you can eat.
Nota scribaeDictated near the timber yards. He sounded as though he might weep.
the morrow of Candlemas, at Compline
The cellar is freezing. Worse still, I cannot sleep because I hear Wilhelm whispering in the pitch black. He talks to his dead Emma as if she were sitting right there. Is it not enough that I am cold, must I also be kept awake by ghosts?
You have sharp ears for a boy who pretends to be asleep. Mind your own affairs.
Leave the old man to his grief, you miserable whelp.
From drop 2026-10-26-4316967; the words set down by gemini-3.1-pro-preview on 2026-10-28.
The shed smells of pig blood, Hynek. You would weep after one night.
At least pig blood does not drip directly into your eyes while you sleep!