Battlefields and playgrounds [antikvár]

1: The MenaceThe mountain rolls in from the west, a slow, lazy slope of vineyards that turns gently south, cradling the village of Oszu.I was little then, and I found it impossible to believe that the world was any older than I was. Yet the grown-ups all claimed that it had been created in six days, before even they were born. They also said that only one God was responsible, which was obviously untrue, but the grown-ups couldn't see facts that were staring them in the face. In our village alone there were three Gods, all of whom had houses; the Catholic One had the biggest, then came the Calvinist One, and then the Jewish One. Not to mention the One who owned the little chapel on the hill above the High Street. He had a Son, so there were really two Gods living in the same tiny building, which was even more puzzling.I thought that God might own several houses, like the Count, who was also invisible and had palaces in Vienna and Budapest as well as the Castle at the edge of the village. But it wasn't the same, because people ganged up together and each gang only ever went to one of God's houses, quarrelling with anybody who didn't go to the same one; and they all spent their time insulting each other's God.But I was above all that because I was only passing through the village. On this particular occasion I had stayed for two years, but I was just passing through all the same. There was certainly no question of my staying once I was old enough to go to a proper school. Until then, I had to learn Hebrew at the heder in our Jewish temple, our shul. Grandfather grumbled that if I didn't play truant so much I'd find out more about God and not ask so many questions.At midday, the Christian kids would wait outside the heder for a stone-throwing fight. The stones were small and didn't hurt much,1