I Am David

David heads toward the town of Florence. He pictures the globe he had been shown, and knows that he will have to go through Switzerland and then Germany to reach Denmark. In Bologna, David finds himself in front of a church and decides to enter it. A priest greets him kindly and asks who David’s God is. David answers that his God is “the God of the green pastures and the still waters” (109). The priest recognizes the extract from the 23rd psalm of David and assures David that his God is the same as David’s. The priest offers David food, but David instead asks to know the route from Italy into Switzerland.

In Milan, David earns money helping people with their luggage at the train station. On the back page of a newspaper, David sees a note intended for him written by Giovanni and Elsa, assuring him that he’s not being pursued but that they hope that he will return to live with them again. David feels that he would never genuinely fit in with the family. He also reflects that after the luxury of the house, he is not as satisfied on the open road as he once was. He feels lonely and despondent.

David leaves the main road to cross the border into Switzerland. He returns to the main road when he sees a Swiss flag hanging above a house. The lakes David passes are beautiful and impressive; he is observing one when a woman asks if she can paint him. David agrees. The woman spends hours painting David and then asks David back to her home for dinner. David sets the table and the lady, Sophie, is impressed. They talk over dinner; David learns that Sophie is Danish. David stays the night and looks through Sophie’s photo albums the next day. He asks about a woman with eyes that “look as if…as if she’d known a great deal, and yet she’s still smiling” (122). Sophie explains that the photo is of her friend Edith Hjorth Fengel; Edith’s husband and young son, David, were allegedly murdered in a dangerous foreign country. A guard in love with Edith helped smuggle her across the border, and she now lives again in Denmark.

David struggles through the snow. He is determined to reach Edith, who he has realized must be his mother. David had asked Sophie the name of the guard who helped Edith to escape; it was the man from the concentration camp. He now understands why the man helped him. He continues to maintain his story about belonging to the circus to Sophie; although he regrets lying to her, he does not want to risk exposure and arrest.

The snow falls harder, and David almost falls off a precipice. He struggles through the snow on all fours until he reaches the stable of a cruel farmer. He works for the farmer over winter; the farmer threatens to turn him in to the police if he does not. David sleeps in the barn with the animals at night and befriends the family dog, King. The family is cruel to David, but he does not mind—he is given more to eat than he was in the camp and realizes that he would have died if he had not been taken in over winter. He daydreams about what it will be like to meet his mother. As spring approaches, the farmer bars the door of the stable at night to prevent David from escaping.

David curses God for not helping him and then feels afraid of the repercussions. David considers that Johannes taught him never to blame others; he reflects that he may have been overly harsh with Carlo and that he must escape the situation on his own rather than relying on God. He cuts a hole in the side of the shed with his knife and, each night, digs more snow out to form a tunnel. He overhears the farmer saying to his family that he will turn David to the police soon now that spring has arrived, and David resolves to escape that night. He manages to dig his way out. He finds the road despite the darkness. He is scared when he sees a figure following him but realizes that it is King, the dog, and is touched that the dog willingly followed him. 

David enjoys the beauty of Swiss spring, particularly the blooming trees. David exchanges the money he earned in Italy at a bank. He writes to Carlo, explaining that he has realized that Carlo may be simply stupid and not purely bad; he thanks Giovanni and Elsa for their letter in the newspaper and passes his regards on to the other siblings, especially Maria.

David earns some money at the train station in Lucerne, which also allows him to look at maps. Eventually, he reaches Germany. He walks around the border but is intercepted by a man. He is terrified that the man is a policeman, but it is simply a kind Swiss man offering him a lift. The man takes him to Frankfurt and gives David some money and David and King some food. David gets more rides north; King learns to lie quietly and still at his feet.

One afternoon, David suddenly becomes aware of three men ahead watching him. He recognizes their look of blank focus and is sure he is about to be arrested. He lies down to hide with King, sobbing. Suddenly, King barks in a way that David feels means “run;” David understands that King wants David to run away. The men shoot King, and he dies. David escapes. He is devastated and incredulous that King sacrificed himself for him and is determined to reach his mother so that King’s sacrifice is not in vain.

David reaches Denmark. He continues to take lifts from various people, many of whom comment on how thin and unwell David seems. David runs from a kind truck driver who offers to buy them food; he remains terrified of discovery. He finds a directory in a telephone box and looks up “Hjort Fengel, E;” she lives at Strandvejen 758. A woman sees him thinking and asks in English if she can help; he asks how to reach the address. She says she is driving in that direction and gives David a lift.

David, feeling exhausted but appreciative of the beauty of Denmark, finds himself at the door of the house. He knocks and greets the woman who answers the door—his mother—in French: “Madame, I’m David, I’m….” Edith recognizes him: “David…my son David…” (153).