Bastel Hyrtl



Pauli's mother. She is now in her mid seventies, and still living in Immenstadt, Bavaria.

Bastel looked old before she was, but then didn't change for many years. Trynel, her husband, claims looking old was due to the stress of raising four children and, once they left home, she could relax and look after herself properly. There may be some truth in this. Her marriage was as good as arranged whilst she was still in her early teens, although she did not object to the suggested choice.

The key point in the above is 'Trynel, her husband, claims'. Bastel believes, or at least believed, strongly in tradition and vows. She promised to obey when they married, and obey she will beyond all things. Also, when he gets angry, she attempts to direct the anger at her without defending herself, which makes her seem like a bit of a doormat. In his presence, she simply sits or stands, straight backed, hands clasped and politely dealing with every situation like a 'proper woman', as he would call it.

When he was not around to give the orders was when people actually took notice of her. She may have been there to deflect the anger of her husband away from other people, but that in turn made her resilient rather than cracked. She still adhered to the rules of being a 'proper woman' when he was not present, but that in turn meant that she ran the household as he would have, in his stead. She was as hard a taskmaster to please as her husband, but would simply just gaze in disappointment when things went wrong, and give a small smile when things went right.

When he rang his father, Pauli was confused as to why the woman he remembered mostly for overseeing his homework sessions would only answer the phone if her husband was not around. And then he realised just how much his leaving, and the mess left behind, had actually upset things.