Porta feriti I shouted holding my hands cupped. as I went in.

 baby
 baby. I said. depended to a considerable extent on myself. I said. TaorminaYou talk like a timetable. Come with me if you want.Start in to eat. Inside there was a light. I am listening. I was after him. There was a cough. At first it dropped slowly and regularly. Rocca said. said Manera. the captain said looking at the priest and at me. Did you think I was Italian There were some Italians with one of our units.

You ought to have let me know.I walked behind her out into the garden.Good. and really you are just like me underneath. said the captain. I will write you cards to my family in Amalfi. and the whole thing going well on the Carso made the fall very different from the last fall when we had been in the country. Everything seemed in good condition. Florence. I said. is a short cut. But I am telling it for our priest here.Theyll shell the   out of us. I had drunk much wine and afterward coffee and Strega and I explained. I hope you feel better.The next afternoon I went to call on Miss Barkley again.

 and went through the trenches in the smasheddown town and along the edge of the slope. He slapped me on the shoulder. the operation was successful. he himself so small that you could not see his face but only the top of his cap and his narrow back.Yes there is. went to the jail and asked to see the priest. I had on wool stockings but Passini wore puttees. Where have you beenIve been out on post. you met British men and sometimes women.I say its rotten. When he stopped swishing and fell asleep they came down and I blew them away and finally covered my face with my hands and slept too.We sat on the flat stone bench and I held Catherine Barkleys hand. I must write some letters. I was a fool not to.Ill bring it to you. They were top-heavy.

 I denied this. I went out swiftly. stepping carefully among the wounded.I have to go. havent youBut I lost the truss. Not in this war. Suddenly to care very much and to sleep to wake with it sometimes morning and all that had been there gone and everything sharp and hard and clear and sometimes a dispute about the cost. Dont you read it. she said. He smiled.Which side is it onHere. all of myself.There is a class that controls a country that is stupid and does not realize anything and never can. It was cold in the car in the night as the road climbed. you patriots. the major said.

 Were you on permissionYes. But dont bring a lot of Italians.I see. Good by.Its a charming place. You rarely find any one any good this close to the front. I wanted to go to the Black Forest. What inflicted the woundsThe medical captain. Manera said he hoped it would come before the bombardment started.You ought to have let me know.They come after you. I hope youll be comfy. I said. I thought somebody was screaming. the long barrels of the guns covered with green branches and green leafy branches and vines laid over the tractors. Did you think I was Italian There were some Italians with one of our units.

All right.Wait a minute. But the Italians had crossed and spread out a little way on the far side to hold about a mile and a half on the Austrian side of the river. Beautiful young girlsaccompanied by their mothers. close behind the lines.Ill just step out the door a minute. The afternoon was a quiet time. We are not peasants. There are a few real wounded.Goodnight. We parked the cars beyond a brickyard. falling and the soldiers marching and afterward the road bare and white except for the leaves. she said.It hasnt come up. Goodnight.Kiss me.

 I said. Look at your valorous conduct in asking to go always to the first line.Yes.He walked across to the dressing station.After a while we said good-night and left.No. Passing where the shells had landed I avoided the small broken places and smelled the high explosive and the smell of blasted clay and stone and freshly shattered flint. Inexperienced.I like him. You are a dear. I went back and told the drivers I would get them as soon as the food came. The earth of the dugout was warm and dry and I let my shoulders back against the wall.I said I knew. He stopped working and smiled.I pressed her hand. I said and poured the basin full of water.

 capitano (next finger).If everybody would not attack the war would be over.Priest not happy. the major said to the two stretcher bearers. They were afraid. It was hard and slippery. The others listened. I undid the clasp of the gold chain and put it around my neck and clasped it. He opened his trunk and took out a bottle. His shoulder was smashed and his head was hurt.You dont need to say a lot of nonsense. The sun was going down and looking up along the bank as we drove I saw the Austrian observation balloons above the hills on the other side dark against the sunset. E. It ought to be good.Isnt there anywhere we can goNo. Nobody knew anything about it although they all spoke with great positiveness and strategical knowledge.

 I stroked her hair and patted her shoulder. They take your home. I could go to Spain if there was no war. Rinaldi saluted. Passini said still respectfully. Let him go to centres of culture and civilization. but not losing sight of the priest. I had imagined that the condition of the cars.Ah. You will be good to me. The wine was bad but not dull. tannic and lovely. This captain baited him often. There is only one difference between taking a girl who has always been good and a woman. you dont.Bacchus.

Most of them dont. one of the captains said.Four for 105.Did they cross the river all rightEnormously. You only pretend to be American.That will be nice. he straightened up. Passini was quiet now. said Passini. said Passini and spat on the floor. I said.Must attack.Dont be angry.AnotherAll right.You did exactly right. capitano (next finger).

 the drivers walking along beside the mules wearing red fezzes. I had a drink with a captain that I knew in one of the dugouts and went back across the bridge. selfinflicted wounds.The priest smiled. for you have sinned. They were hospitals beyond the river. I turned her so I could see her face when I kissed her and I saw that her eyes were shut. He sat down beside me.Do you suppose it will always go onNo. The battery fired twice and the air came each time like a blow and shook the window and made the front of my pajamas flap. then finally it climbed quite fast. Oh you should see what I did in the removal of three metres of small intestine and better now than ever.Certainly not. I breathed and I was back. sure that this was all and all and all and not caring. All alone at the war with no new girls.

Were you thereNo. Ill go and see him and ask if he will recommend you. I will get you a copy.I do not believe it. cloudy with snowwater and running fast through the spiles of the bridge. There was one smashed bridge across the river. Besides. Thats where the money comes from. Inside the dugout were the three drivers sitting against the wall. They would take me as soon as possible.I cut the cheese into pieces and laid them on the macaroni. even in the ambulance business. He said it was true and by the corpse of Bacchus we would test whether it was true or not. then. They sat down and waited. You will be good to me.

 I said. They had always cracked in other wars. Goodby. But then he wanted to go to war and I didnt know.Priest wants us never to attack.I have one.Fine. Didnt you see itNo. You will be decorated. the steel helmet on the same peg. There was a great splashing and I saw the star shells go up and burst and float whitely and rockets going up and heard the bombs. Everybody hates this war. baby. I watched the snow falling. No one to make fun of. the stumps of trees projected.

 It was hard and slippery. You walk up and down.Ill leave you two. bound in leather. She came back from wherever she had been. Ill always come back. He talks French. They take your sisters. Didnt you see itNo.There arent any four hundred twenties in the mountains.Shes Scotch.Oh. In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders. My orderly had finished pouring water and the bed felt cool and lovely and I was telling him where to scratch on the soles of my feet against the itching when one of the doctors brought in Rinaldi. He saw us and smiled. I said.

Do you always know what people thinkNot always.If I go back theyll make me get operated on and then theyll put me in the line all the time.Lets drop it anyway. I stroked her hair and patted her shoulder. Get out of here. My orderly had cut paper into strips and tied the strips to a stick to make a brush that swished the flies away. the dust rising from the wheels and going off through the trees. I looked across the wire at the Austrian lines.Yes.That road will be a dirty mess. He laughed.Ill be right here. The outlines of the cypresses that lined it were sharp and clear. doing things that hurt sharply and severing tissue Are you sureMe trying to lie still and feeling my stomach flutter when the flesh was cut.Dont go. the smooth functioning of the business of removing wounded and sick from the dressing stations.

 bound in leather. spilled the thin gold chain together and put it all in my breast pocket. Ill paint all this and Does that sting Good. The other cars pulled up. you have come back. In a little while we would say insulting things.There isnt any place. We went along the rough new military road that followed the crest of the ridge and I looked to the north at the two ranges of mountains. Maybe you will get an English medal too.How is everythingSplendid. instead there is a war. he said.The drops fell very slowly. Every one laughed. The frescoes were not bad. like bridge.

 poured out into the glass held with the same hand; after this course. the window open and the sunlight coming into the room. How are the girlsThere are no girls. They lifted me onto the table.Shes not awfully well. Three others were up in the mountains at dressing stations. You do not really like it. Then in Italian: Lift him very carefully about the legs. chemical smells and the sweet smell of blood. The British hospital was a big villa built by Germans before the war. It was all right with me. To the north we could look across a valley and see a forest of chestnut trees and behind it another mountain on this side of the river. the lieutenant said. clear red. Those were all the Austrians mountains and we had nothing like them. Something landed outside that shook the earth.

 One leg was gone and the other was held by tendons and part of the trouser and the stump twitched and jerked as though it were not connected. Thats all over for a while. Stupid. But its very beautiful.How is everythingSplendid. It was one of those things that gave you a false feeling of soldiering. said the captain. Tell me just exactly how it happened. The war was changed too. The Italian salute never seemed made for export. and tears came in my eyes from the reflex. I said. Goodnight. They seemed glad to see me and in a little while Miss Ferguson excused herself and went away.Porta feriti I shouted holding my hands cupped. as I went in.