Deborah Watling

On Wednesday morning I finished posting “Ah! Si j'avais un franc cinquante” (Oh If I Had A Dollar Fifty) by Boris Vian on Christian’s Translations. I also completed my memorization of “Joujou a la casse" (Dolly to the Trash) by Serge Gainsbourg and started looking for the chords. I found a set at the top of the first page of my search but I didn’t have time to write them all down. I’ll finish the chord search on Thursday.

Around midday I washed another four floor boards under the credenza in the kitchen. There are four more to go and then I can clean the credenza, put all the comic books back inside and not have to move it again.

I cut the mould off the last of my focaccia buns, sliced it in half and toasted it. I had it for lunch with peanut butter.

In the afternoon I did my exercises while listening to Amos and Andy. I skimmed through the Christmas 1954 episode, which is always the same story about Andy playing Santa Clause in a department store and Amos explaining the Lord’s Prayer to his daughter with a background of religious Christmas music. 

In the second story Sapphire is upset that they aren’t invited to a fancy Harlem New years Eve party. Andy runs into a debutante who invites him to escort her to the party and has him hold onto the ticket because he’s the man. Andy is worried about going because he can’t dance and so Kingfish pretends to be a dance teacher for Arthur Murray and while he is waltzing with Andy he picks his pocket of the ticket. Later Andy makes Kingfish give the ticket back. The night of the party Sapphire sprains her ankle and so they can’t go anyway. But Sapphire hasn’t really sprained her ankle. She knows that they weren't really invited and has given Kingfish a New Years gift of saving face.

I didn’t take a bike ride because I wanted to get caught up on my journal.

For dinner I had a fried egg and a toasted pretzel bun with a beer while watching two episodes of The Adventures of William Tell.

In the first story a cruel Austrian general known as The Spider is breaking the resistance in a certain part of Switzerland by capturing the wives and children of resistance fighters and sending them to Austria as slaves. One rebel travels to ask for help from William Tell. Tell comes and sneaks into the castle while posing as a Swiss spy for the Austrians named Karl Luger. He impresses the Spider with his abilities and so he is given money to infiltrate the local resistance. Meanwhile Tell and the resistance are planning to rescue the prisoners and kill the Spider. The prisoners are kept in the west tower and the Spider lives in the east tower and never leaves. The only way that Tell can get a shot at the Spider is from the west tower but the distance is too much for an ordinary crossbow. Tell needs a stronger crossbow but the problem is that such a weapon could not be locked and loaded by hand. Tell has Johan build one that can be pulled back with a crank. Gerda, the wife of one of the resistance leaders is being held prisoner with her children. Tell convinces the castle authorities that she has vital information and he needs to question her. As soon as he is let into the cell he knocks out the guards, tells the women to tie the guards and follow him up to the roof. From the roof Tell gives a signal and an arrow with a rope attached is shot to the roof. Tell secures the rope and constructs a zip line, although I don't know where got all the parts since I don’t think they could be shot up to the roof with an arrow. The women and children ride the zipline to safety while the guards try to get through the blocked door. Tell sets up the big crossbow, uses it to kill the Spider and then escapes via the rope.

Gerda’s daughter was played by Deborah Watling, who would later play Alice in The Life of Lewis Carroll. Later still she was the second Doctor’s companion Victoria Waterfield in Doctor Who from 1967 to 1968.

In the second story a young woman comes from the sheltered Rutli Mountain commune where she was born and raised to the busy market of a nearby town. She does not understand the concept of money and so when merchants ask her, “Why not take some apples?” or after she tries on a scarf, “Do you want it?” she thinks they are giving the items to her and walks away. A soldier comes to arrest her for theft and takes her to his captain who asks her for her first and last name. She says she is called Eve but her people don’t have last names because it divides people. He says he will help Eve but then he tries to kiss her. She calls for help and William Tell happens to be nearby picking up food for the resistance. Tell comes in through the window, crosses swords with the captain and kills him. The soldiers are coming and so he tells her to go through the window but she sprains her ankle and Tell has to carry her. When the soldiers find the captain’s body they think Eve has killed him. The soldiers decide to go to the mountain to arrest her. Meanwhile Tell carries Eve up the mountain to her home. When the cult leader Father Absolum hears that Tell killed a man he argues that he could have reasoned with him. Tell says he doesn’t believe in violence either but he also doesn’t believe in giving in to it. Eve’s betrothed, Joseph has trouble controlling his emotions. He is jealous that Tell had Eve in his arms and resents having a violent man among them and so ironically he attacks him. Absolam stops the fight and Tell shakes Joseph’s hand. At dinner tell tries to reason with Absolum about the Austrians but the father believes that if the Austrians were met with good will they would return it. Just then four Austrian soldiers come up the mountain. Tell wants to fight them but Absolum forbids it and so Tell gets out of sight. But when the soldiers say they’ve come to hang Eve for murder and go for her, Tell shoots one of them and begins to fight with his sword. He is wounded but kills a second soldier and the other two run away. Absolum insists that Tell stay until he is healed but Joseph believes Tell has brought violence on their community. Joseph goes to the major in charge of the soldiers and offers to lead them to Tell if he promises to leave his people alone. When the soldiers arrive Tell escapes into the cave of the copper mine. The major forces the entire community into the cave as well. Joseph reminds him of his promise but he says a promise is wasted on a peasant. The major tells the people that he will not let them out of the cave alive unless they send Tell out to him. Tell wants to give himself up but now Joseph has changed his mind about Tell and won’t let him leave. The soldiers cause a rock slide over the mouth of the cave to trap the people inside. The soldiers think that they have killed Tell and so they leave. The people can’t dig their way out and so Tell leads them into the unsafe mine where there is a way out that will take less digging. The mine begins to collapse just as they clear a passage and so Tell and Joseph have to hold the roof up while everyone gets out. Tell and Joseph escape just as the mine caves in. Joseph decides to join the resistance and Absolum says he will help if he can do so peacefully.

Eve was played by Maureen Davis.