Spaghetti for two

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Spaghetti for Two is a short story by Federica de Cesco from 1986, which is often discussed in schools as.

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The short story “Spaghetti for Two” by Federica de Cesco from 1986 is about the teenager Heinz, who is subject to misunderstanding in a fast-food restaurant in Switzerland due to prejudice. It is told how it happens that two strangers share lunch from the same plate.

At the beginning of the story, the reader learns that Heinz is a confident teenager who is more interested in girls, mopeds, music and sports than school. After school, he often goes out to eat because the school bus drives badly home. It is the same today. Heinz orders a vegetable soup in a fast food restaurant. Because he forgot the spoon, the young person briefly leaves his plate unattended. Upon his return, he is surprised to find that a black boy is eating his supposed soup at his place. He sits down angrily and full of prejudices. He suspects that the stranger might be a poor asylum seeker with no knowledge of German or homeless. In order to at least be full, he decided to demonstratively eat from the same plate.

After the dish is eaten, Heinz pauses. His initial assumption that the other boy has no money turns out to be wrong as he stands up and returns with a serving of spaghetti and two forks. Heinz accepts the wordless offer to share. The youngster thinks this is fair, since he believes that the black boy has previously helped himself to his soup. He's also interested in how this incident ends.

Finally, it turns out that Heinz himself made the mistake when he notices that his own soup is untouched on the next table. He was blinded by his own prejudices. In perfect German and very friendly, the boy who introduces himself as Marcel invites the embarrassed Heinz to another meeting in the fast-food restaurant.

The plot is based on an episode of the book Make It Good, and Thank You for the 1984 fish by Douglas Adams , in which two travelers in a train coupe "share" what they think are their own biscuits, although Adam's authorship is also questioned.

Heinz's age

There are several versions of the short story in which Heinz is of different ages. There are versions in circulation in which he is described as an almost 14-year-old, 15-year-old or a 16-year-old boy. The story was filmed by Betina Dubler and Mathias Rosenberger based on a script by Betina Dubler.

Use of the subject

The motif can also be found in the story A beautiful relationship by Henning Venske , published in the text collection Welcome to the prime of life! (Coppenrath 2016, ISBN 978-3-649-66941-8 ).

Web links

bibliography

  • Cesco, Federica de (2007): Spaghetti for two. In: German book. Speech and reading book 8, ed. by Heinrich Biermann and Bernd Schurf, with advice from Karlheinz Fingerhut. Developed by Heinrich Biermann et al., Berlin, pp. 49–51. First published in: Cesco, Federica de (1986): Friendship has many faces. Stuttgart.

Individual evidence

  1. Douglas Adams: Take care , and thanks for the fish . Rogner and Bernhard bei Zweiausendeins, Munich 1985, ISBN 3-8077-0211-3 (English: So long, and thanks for all the fish . 1984. Translated by Benjamin Schwarz).
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