Weiberschterba, koi Verderba · Pferdeverrecka, des brengt Shrecke

Weiberschterba, koi Verderba / Pferdeverrecka, des brengt Shrecke is a proverb Eva recalls from western Russian-German settlements: women dying is no tragedy, but horses dying is a disaster. Its stark comparison gives voice to a social order that treats women’s lives as expendable, a judgment made especially pointed by the healing practice that Fidelis accepts for the sick Markus.

The Saying and Its Meaning

Eva first recalls that she had once been urged to consult a Braucher, a woman healer, during her own illness. She refused, saying that Russian-Germans wore out their women, and cited the proverb as evidence of the attitude she associated with those communities. She then translates its two-part contrast directly: women’s deaths do not count as tragedy, whereas the death of a horse is disastrous. The proverb’s force lies in its compressed hierarchy: a woman’s life is set below the loss of a useful animal.

The Healing Tradition Around It

Later, when Markus is ill, a cousin of Gus Newhall persuades Fidelis to let a Braucher visit him. The narrator notes that the renowned clinic in the Middle West has failed to help Eva and that Brauche is known for treating children. The healer’s methods include tying a raw egg to a child’s stomach, transferring the illness into it, and burning it while reciting exact words; she also measures people’s bodies to identify tendencies toward disease and selects verses intended to repel harm. The proverb therefore accompanies a tradition whose women’s expertise is sought as care, even as Eva’s recollection condemns the disregard for women that she sees within the same cultural world.

Narrative Significance

The saying turns a broad social criticism into a memorable, practical comparison. It also frames a contrast between Eva’s refusal and Fidelis’s decision: Eva rejected the healer when she herself was ill, while Fidelis permits one to come for Markus after conventional treatment has failed. The narrative does not resolve that contrast into a verdict on Brauche; instead, it places the proverb beside the healer’s concrete skills, leaving the tension between women’s devaluation and women’s indispensable labor in view.