decorated. I was always able to forget.

You take it
You take it. Listen. I got out and told the driver to go on and that if we had not caught up to them at the junction of the road to Cormons to wait there. After a while the English ambulance came up and they put me onto a stretcher and lifted the stretcher up to the ambulance level and shoved it in. the major said. Do you suffer much Have a drink. they would not be loaded. Over on the right they had the Duke of Aosta. The dead were off to one side.Its Manera. We do not like the English.I was away for two days at the posts. and the major started us with red wine in mugs. keeping to the side. They carried wounded in and brought them out.

But it was checked and in the end only seven thousand died of it in the army. coming down.He wiped his hands on his jumper and grinned.Just as you like. I said. Miss Barkley was sitting on a bench in the garden. that the office opened on.You should not let us talk this way. Passini was quiet now. Something picturesque. Miss Barkley was quite tall.The captain.I left them working. The dressing station was on the Austrian side of the river under the edge of the hill and stretcherbearers would bring the wounded back across the pontoon bridge. I asked him if there was a big dugout where the drivers could stay and he sent a soldier to show me.

I said. They want to get you the medaglia dargento but perhaps they can get only the bronze. and my winter boots. I said. They took off my trousers and the medical captain commenced dictating to the sergeant adjutant while he worked. dusty and tired. Maria. It would be the same when the offensive started. Why dont you go to the hospitalThey wont let me.How you like this goddam warRotten. Here now we have beautiful girls. stupid from inexperience. with the sun on it.Will you tell her how sorry I amYes. They had come back for him.

baby.We looked at each other in the dark. I did hurt you.No.What forBecause you are gravely wounded.We sat down on a bench and I looked at her. The priest looked up. the trees around the square and the long avenue of trees that led to the square; these with there being girls in the town.Whats the matterHe looked at me.Four hundred twenty or minnenwerfer.Yes.You have that pleasant air of a dog in heat. I thought. no. It is a disgrace that they should stay so long that they become friends.

Wonderful. It was quiet.Its better to wear him. There.That was because it was first. He bellows. I had treated seeing Catherine very lightly.It was because we were scared. One of their drivers came over to me. Rinaldi saluted. spaced by the interval of their dust. The officers all came from such good families. There had been a little town but it was all rubble. he said. thats nothing to how it will feel later.

I had been driving and I sat in the car and the driver took the papers in. I said. Every night priest five against one! They all laughed again. I said. This captain baited him often. It was an Astra 7. Signor Tenente.Isnt there anywhere we can goNo. Why did you do itI dont know. Tenente. I went with him and found the dugout. darling. I tried to make out whether they were members of the family or what; but they were all uniformly classical.At dinner I ate very quickly and left for the villa where the British had their hospital. I saluted and went out.

Let me feel it.He should have fine girls.Wonderful. You wont go awayNo.Here is the American Tenente. At the foot of the bed was my flat trunk.. At the post on the top they took the stretcher out and put another in and we went on. What is defeat You go home. Hold on to my neck. It was the first time I had ever heard her laugh. sucking in the ends. With your priest and your English girl.You were sweet to tell me.I will send Miss Barkley.

Are you coming to nightNo. Rinaldi said goodnight. Nobody knew anything about it although they all spoke with great positiveness and strategical knowledge. He slapped me on the shoulder. as I said. I had treated seeing Catherine very lightly. Catherine. then. That is why we have this war. I will write you cards to my family in Amalfi. He was goodlooking.Yes. Thats what keeps you from being court martialled for self inflicted wounds. and in the fall when the rains came the leaves all fell from the chestnut trees and the branches were bare and the trunks black with rain.Goodnight.

Did they cross the river all rightEnormously. I myself felt as badly as he did and could not understand why I had not gone. the stump of his leg twitching. I looked back and saw Rinaldi standing watching me and waved to him.They have big Skoda guns. There were big search lights on that front mounted on camions that you passed sometimes on the roads at night. Outside it was nearly dark. They could drive all right. The door was open.Wonderful. The major was unhooking the forceps now. There were many marble busts on painted wooden pillars along the walls of the room they used for an office. I heard the machine guns and rifles firing across the river and all along the river.I will get it for you. They had always cracked in other wars.

Hes an American. I saw arched stone bridges over the river where tracks turned off from the road and we passed stone farmhouses with pear trees candelabraed against their south walls and low stone walls in the fields.We wont quarrel. He broke off. That was how it ought to be.Id really rather. Most of the helmets were too big and came down almost over the ears of the men who wore them. sototenente (the thumb). What made it pretty was that it sounded like Island. I could pull backward along with my arms and elbows. I had gone to no such place but to the smoke of cafe and nights when the room whirled and you needed to look at the wall to make it stop. TaorminaYou talk like a timetable. she said.Slit the tunic. I myself felt as badly as he did and could not understand why I had not gone.

Through the other noise I heard a cough. I said.And you dont have to say you love me. sucked and snapped in the ends. baby. The lieutenant said I slipped the truss on purpose. I wished to God it was over though.Ive heard about it. This was a joke. No. He is a priest; he will appreciate it.Also they make money out of it.I cut the cheese into pieces and laid them on the macaroni.They come after you.She looked at me.

wont youWhat the hell.Yes. Rinaldi said. The cognac is under the bed. I could see the river far down below.The drops fell very slowly. There had been a little town but it was all rubble. I said. how do you feel Where is that damn corkscrew You are so brave and quiet I forget you are suffering.If you drop me again. gray leather boxes heavy with the packs of clips of thin.And the priest was locked up. He paused and thought. They were a real mask. dont you It seemed it was a very funny joke if you understood it properly.

I took off my tunic and shirt and washed in the cold water in the basin. She put it in my hand. We are brothers and we love each other. Here now we have beautiful girls.Its Manera. The major said there was an Italian story something like that about the duchess who could not sleep at night. You do not really like it. We went for a stretcher but there wasnt any. I said. Every one at the table laughed. I followed his hands with my eyes. It was really very large and beautiful and there were fine trees in the grounds. There is nothing as bad as war.You have that pleasant air of a dog in heat. Im sorry.

I see. They are too stupid.Of a whatHe explained. They took off my trousers and the medical captain commenced dictating to the sergeant adjutant while he worked. But it was checked and in the end only seven thousand died of it in the army. a hard bright burst and flash and then gray smoke that blew across the road. I said. That was how it ought to be. He bent over me. Then. I wish she were here now. I just tell you. You understand Priest every night five against one. the operation was successful. We are all splendid.

Why did you join up with the ItaliansI was in Italy.Be a good boy and be careful. After I was wounded I never found him. I said. Youve been away a long time. The gravel paths were moist and the grass was wet with dew. I had not said it before.I will go and see. and then a drink of the wine. In the jolt of my head I heard somebody crying. A shell burst short near the river bank. You will please come and make me a good impression on her. I looked back and saw Rinaldi standing watching me and waved to him. far below. baby.

Yes. Manera said. I liked to watch her move. Your friend is a doctor.65 caliber with a short barrel and it jumped so sharply when you let it off that there was no question of hitting anything.The driver came out of the door with the papers for the wounded in the car.Theyll send you to a hospital. he said. They told me you were on duty. all this in a moment. You only pretend to be American. loosely packed cigarettes that spilled tobacco and needed to have the ends twisted before you smoked them. with plaster and rubble in their gardens and sometimes in the street. I saw a third range of mountains. They were silent until I went out.

Because the captain doctor knew I had this rupture. Back at the villa I went upstairs to the room. She had slapped my face hard. The cognac is under the bed.That priest.All thinking men are atheists. Signor Tenente.She looked at me. You ought to wash. I like the simpler pleasures. Middle name First name Rank Where born What class What corps and so on. I was after him. They say if you can prove you did any heroic act you can get the silver. He said that if the thing went well he would see that I was decorated. I was always able to forget.