The senior Peter Paulus was already walking along the somewhat dark corridor to the spacious room in which the parish priest Leopold Lehmann gave Hebrew lessons to the pupils in the upper classes, when the senior teacher Laaks caught up with him, called to him, and engaged him in a mysterious, very excited conversation.  Laaks was apparently reprimanding Paulus.  It was strange, however, that he didn’t look like a teacher chastising a pupil, but rather like a mistrustful relative who believes himself taken advantage of in an inheritance matter.  The behavior of the senior was also by no means the behavior of a subordinate...

The discussion between the two must have lasted a very long time.  For when Peter Paulus entered more pale than usual and explained that his late arrival was caused by an official conversation, the priest Lehmann had long since concluded the topic of that day’s curriculum.  He was engaged in a religious discussion which, following the modern trend, he linked regularly to the Hebrew lesson.  They were speaking at the moment about God and the nature of student life, but came, after a few unimportant discussions, to the main topic:  abortion and the inner life, which gave them pause.  The discussion was triggered by a report in an art journal that someone had cut out and brought for the purpose of discussion.  The priest read out loud: 

Collapse of the famous dancer Lola Lalà

A correspondent has wired us that the famed variety dancer Lola Lalà, who also appears under the name Lo Lálalà and whose maiden name is Leni Levi, had to be taken to a lunatic asylum, which caused a tremendous sensation.  The pitiful woman had been found toward morning in a wheat field, stark naked in her birthday suit, crying bitterly and smoking a large cigar.  Mr Gottschalk Schulz, a poet of sensitivity, has published a moving poem about this in the “Newspaper for Enlightened Citizens”.  It has a piquant attraction because—­so it is rumored and probably correctly—­the poet maintained quite warm relations with the poor and charming dancer.  Therefore this beautiful poem will not be withheld from our readers:-The poem had the heading:  Smoke on the Field.  The priest didn’t read it out, however, because it was too smutty.  Also it was not relevant.  Instead he read: 

As I learn further from a special, authentic source in the late evening, the cause of the mental collapse of the dancer is said to have been a fright caused by a burglary that happened after an abortion that was carried out successfully.  A court-ordered investigation is underway.

After this the priest started to talk about abortion by saying:  “Human knowledge reaches its pinnacle in the realization that he is the most highly developed earthly being.  No one can deny this.”  He didn’t notice the deliberately exaggerated and suppressed laughter of a few boys.  And he slowly continued.  He condemned abortion as disagreeable to God from a religious and socio-political point of view.  In conclusion, he said:  “We are modern.  We don’t shrink from treating offensive questions with moral seriousness.”