Friedrich (novel) - Potato Pancakes (1929)

Potato Pancakes (1929)

In this chapter, Friedrich and the narrator are both four years old. Because Friedrich's mother, Frau Schneider, needs to attend to business at City Hall, Friedrich stays over at the narrator's family for the day. At first, the narrator (whose sex and name remain ambiguous) is reluctant to share his toys with Friedrich. In a four-year-old fashion, he blocks the way to his room by spreading his legs and not trusting Friedrich. However, Friedrich doesn't seem to mind. Instead, he took out a cuckoo whistle and began playing with it. By blowing into it, Friedrich can make a noise like a bird. Intrigued, the narrator is given the cuckoo whistle and shares his toys with Friedrich. Once the narrator is tired of the cuckoo whistle, he plays with Friedrich for a little while then the two go to the narrator's mother, hungry. The narrator's mother makes potato pancakes for them, but when Friedrich and the narrator try to help, the pancakes flop onto the floor. Instead of throwing them away, Friedrich and the narrator eat from the ground. Because of the large mess they made, the narrator's mother allows them to take a bath with one another, an activity both enjoy very much. This became the foundation of their friendship.