The Ones Who …
Austria arrived at the table at which Hungary and America were already sitting for breakfast, having decided to take only one slice of bread and a huge cup of coffee from the buffet. Mariazell was as untameable as ever, but his entire hair looking more ruffled than usual. He thought it was way too early in the morning to be seen in public.
'What's that?', asked America in surprise.
'On my plate?', Austria wondered as he sat down. 'Bread with … how do you call it …' He looked at Hungary for help. 'Marillenmarmelade.'
'Apricot jam', she assisted.
'Thanks. I always forget that word.' Especially when my brain is still asleep.
'He thinks "apricot" is too un-Austrian', Prussia added wryly, carefully balancing a tray with orange juice, bread, butter, several types of sausage and cheese, as well as a huge serving of corn flakes with milk and fruit on his hand. Despite their hotel being in Central London, there was no typical English breakfast with bacon and eggs. France had insisted for the chef of their conference hotel to be non-English in advance of their meeting, and apparently, he had had his way.
'No', America said, 'I meant "What's that" as in what's that' — he indicated Austria's slice of bread — 'in comparison to that'. He gestured to Prussia's breakfast tray.
'I can't eat when I'm tired', Austria explained. 'Not a morning person.'
America shot him a glance as if Austria was insane. 'Dude, breakfast is the most important meal of the day!' he cried. 'You should totally eat more in the mornings. Prussia's doing it the right way.' The concept of not being hungry seemed to be entirely beyond him.
'Please refrain from comparing me to Prussia, as he is still used to morning assemblies from his centuries in the military.' And don't 'dude' me in the mornings, Austria thought. I can't take that at 7:30 a.m.
'Yeah, we know you aren't that much of a fighter', Prussia chimed in. 'Bella gerant alii, and all that stuff.'
Austria shot him a warning glance. 'You know very well that is not quite true', he said. 'How many times did we cross swords — in the literal sense?'
'True, but in the end, I beat you at Königgrätz.' Prussia grinned.
'In the end, my dear Prussia, I remained a nation while you were dissolved, Austria said icily. 'That's what your wars got you.'
Prussia flinched, then started to glare at Austria, who sipped his coffee, looking unperturbed.
America' gaze was a mixture of nervousness and confusion. 'Uh— Hungary? Are they — are they always like this?'
'Why, of course, that's normal', Hungary replied calmly. 'It's just their usual banter. Don't let it bother you.'
America looked as if he was about to shake his head. Then, he thought better of it, and said a little nervously: 'Well, actually, I wanted to talk to you about what lead to the second time you were dissolved, Prussia …'
'Go on', Hungary encouraged him, smiling. There sat the most powerful nation of the world, looking like a little boy who didn't want the grown-ups to fight. It was quite endearing.
'Um, well, so it's about the 25th anniversary of the German Reunification. I was wondering what to do with that November 9, because it's also the date of really nasty events, the Pogrom Night of 1938 in particular.'
Prussia nodded. 'It's sometimes called the fateful day of German history. If you believe in fate, that is.'
'Well', America went on, 'after some time, I had really cool idea.' His face lit up at the memory.
Austria watched him warily. He had heard too many of America's cool ideas during various conferences to not be sceptical now.
'It really is a nice idea', Hungary, who had read Austria's gaze, whispered to him.
'I thought it would be great for the anniversary to re-enact a few scenes of the reunification process with some of the countries who were involved in it', America said. 'Especially the one who set the ball rolling', he nodded to Hungary, 'and the one who gained and lost everything in it.' That was Prussia, of course.
Prussia and Austria looked at each other.
'A stage play?', Austria wondered, not quite managing to keep his surprise out of his voice. 'That really sounds like a good idea.'
Prussia nodded.
'So you agree to it?', America cried cheerfully. 'That's gorgeous! Let's meet as soon as possible for the rehearsals! I'm already looking forward to being the director!'
Oh dear, Austria thought. What had he just got himself into?
—
Notes:
'Marillen' is the Austrian German word for 'apricots'. In non-Austrian German, it's 'Aprikosen'.
With 'Bella gerant alii', Prussia alludes to an elegiac couplet — an ancient Greek form of lyric poetry, consisting of a hexameter verse followed by a pentamenter verse — in Latin on Hapsburg marriage politics, perhaps dating back as far as the 15th century:
Bélla geránt aliī, tú felix Áustria nūbe.
Nám quae Márs aliīs, dát tibi díva Venūs.
May others wage war, you, happy Austria, marry.
For what Mars gives to others, you receive from the god-like Venus.
Königgrätz (Hradec Králové in Czech) is a Bohemian city near which the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian war took place on 3 July 1866. The Prussian victory is regarded as a major step on the way to the foundation of a German Empire without Austria (the so-called 'lesser German solution') in 1871.
The first time Prussia was dissolved was in 1947, as a consequence of the German defeat in World War II; the second time was the dissolution of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) in 1990 (I follow the notion that Prussia became East Germany after WWII).
