Old Guys on Motor Bikes

-- By Otto Pfarrer --

Well, what else can I say? The trip was pleasant indeed. On our way to Mariazell we managed to see some of the places of interest and a couple of pubs in the town of Sopron, had a good swim in Lake Balaton, stopped for a while in Vienna, walked in Kaertner Strasse, ate, drank to our heart’s content, and felt good. But in Mariazell itself we faced a little problem, and some of the ‘pilgrims’ even grumbled about it.

pilgrim - паломник; приезжий
grumbled - ворчать; жаловаться; брюзжать

It happened that our Good Fathers also wanted to economize a little, and accomodation, as it were, was not precisely up to the mark. You know even bed and breakfast in most of the countries in Europe is not cheap at all, and so was it in this small Austrian town, too, frequented by tourists and pilgrims.

frequented - посещаемый

We had to be satisfied with sleeping in a hostel where luxury was an unknown notion. There were just one rest-room and a sort of cabin for washing in the end of the corridor, and often one had to queue up to wash his hands. But did it matter? After all we arrived at Mariazell not to bathe in tubs filled with hot water and foam, but to pray. Jesus Christ also suffered. So why couldn’t we for at least a couple of days? Sure we could. No bathroom and conveniences? And eight beds in a room in a barrack? Who cares about such trifles?
So purified in soul (if not quite in body) after having done our duties expected by God and the Good Fathers, we packed our belongings, and after some queuing up in the end of the corridor cleaned our teeth and washed our hands in the rest-room, and were ready to make as a tree and leaf (leave). But obviously our prayers lacked sincerity or some other deep feelings, and were not listened to by the Lord very attentively, for there was yet another ordeal waiting for us. Just before setting off the bus driver declared there was a minor problem. What is it? – asked the headmistress with her habitual sweet smile of a Saint. No air in the system, said the driver. In other words, it broke down. A mechanic was needed, and quickly. That’s no joke. It would cost us an arm and a leg, and half a day at least.

an arm and a leg - очень дорого

So let the people go for a little additional walk, a constitutional if you please, in this pretty little town of a fairy tale, and take a look at things they had no time to look at but which were worth looking at.

constitutional - моцион; прогулка

Or let them have an ice-cream or two, or a beer, or a sip of brandy, or whatever they prefer, and if they had spent all their Forints changed into Austrian Euros up to now, then they may drink cold water from the well in the centre of the town surrounded by statues of those lovely little angels. We would meet at 6 p.m. here, outside the hostel. Hopefully the repairs would have been over by that time, and there would be air in the system again. So accepting all these clever pieces of advice from the boss some friends and me too were strolling in the pretty little town, and as – due to June and the heatwave -- we grew rather thirsty during this cultural activity of ours we had a pint, then another or perhaps more because it was impossible to resist the temptation offered by good, cold and foaming beer of the town of Mariazell.

After all, the town was famous not only because of its Cathedral but of its beer too. We would have sinned if we had missed it. God forbid. But after this rather liberal libation I felt I must sit down on a bench in the central square and may be doze off a little. But if I start thinking about it more thoroughly, then the ‘may be’ should be replaced by ‘for sure’.

libation - возлияние; выпивка
God/Heaven forbid (that ...) -- expressing a wish that sth may not happen.
God (Heaven) forbid that anything awful should have happened to her.

Because, as far as I can remember, when all of a sudden I heard some very loud booming and rattling, I had to open a pair of very heavy eyelids of mine. Oh no, I thought in despair, I don’t need that at all. Another ordeal! Oh Lord, what do you punish me for? Why don’t you let tipsy people doze a little in this allegedly always sleepy and quiet little fairy town that respects and loves you so dearly?
Well, after having opened my eyes wide it was not difficult to discover the reason of this much booming and rattling. A gang of motor cyclists, about ten or twelve people on very, very expensive and fast travelling Yamaha motor-bikes, the types police also usually have, arrived at the central square and were ready to park down. I am far from being an expert in the field of motor bikes, but surely they were not some cheap jalopies at all.

jalopy - драндулет; полуразвалившийся ветхий автомобиль; старое средство передвижения;

Despite the mud and dust covering most parts of the machines, everything was glistening and glittering, and also the noise that they made was perhaps music to an expert ear of a professional. One could have bought at least a smaller family house with a garden here in this country for the price one of them cost. But to make a long story short, there it goes. Who do you think the motor cyclists were? Well, just a boy and his girl, the little precious pussy cat on duty on the rear saddle I thought, embracing the boy’s hip from behind as suitable. Both of them clad in very expensive leather jackets and pants, with safety helmets, price also equaling a king’s fortune. Some of the girls were waving long fair hair as handkerchieves from under the helmet.

clad - одетый