FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77  
78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   >>   >|  
mouth, I might listen to the distant batteries, to the sudden quick impatient chatter of the machine guns, to the rattling give-and-take of the musketry somewhere far away where the river was, I might watch the cool green hollows of the forest glades, the dark sleepy shadows, the bright patches of burning sky between the branches, I might say to myself that all these things together made the impression of my first battle ... and then would know, in my heart, that there was no impression at all, no thrill, no drama, no personality--only a sick throb in my head and a cold hand upon my chest and a desire to fling myself into any horror, any danger, if I could but escape this indigestible monotony.... Once Trenchard, treading very softly as though every one around him were asleep, came across and talked to me. "You know," he said in a whisper, "this isn't at all what I expected." "You needn't whisper," I answered irritably, "that battery's making such a noise that I can't hear anything you say." "Yes, isn't it!" he said with a little sigh. "It's very unpleasant indeed. Do you think Semyonov's forgotten us? We've been here a good many hours and we aren't doing very much." "No," I answered. "We're doing nothing except get sick headaches." There was a pause, then he said: "Where is everything?" "Everything?--What?" "Well, the battle, for instance!" "Oh, that's down the hill, I suppose. We're trying to cross the river and they're trying to prevent us." "Yes," he answered. "But that isn't exactly what I mean.... It's hard to explain, but even if we were to see our soldiers trying to cross the river and the Austrians trying to prevent them that wouldn't be--well, wouldn't be exactly the real thing, would it? It would only be a kind of side-show, rather unimportant like that dead man there!" But my headache prevented my interest in his speculations. I said nothing. He added as though to himself: "Perhaps each individual soldier sees the real thing for himself but can't express what he sees...." As I still made no answer, with another little sigh he got up and walked back, on tip-toe, to the side of Marie Ivanovna. Then suddenly, in the early hours of the afternoon, to our intense relief, Semyonov and Andrey Vassilievitch appeared. Semyonov was, as ever, short, practical, and unemotional. "Been a long time, I'm afraid. We found it difficult to see exactly where would be the best place. And, a
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76   77  
78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   102   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

answered

 

Semyonov

 
wouldn
 

whisper

 
prevent
 

battle

 
impression
 

soldiers

 

Austrians

 
explain

suppose

 

instance

 
Everything
 

interest

 

intense

 

afternoon

 

relief

 

Andrey

 

appeared

 
Vassilievitch

suddenly

 
Ivanovna
 

difficult

 

afraid

 

unemotional

 

practical

 

prevented

 

headache

 

headaches

 

speculations


unimportant

 

answer

 

walked

 
Perhaps
 
individual
 

soldier

 

express

 

branches

 

burning

 

patches


sleepy
 

shadows

 

bright

 

things

 

personality

 
thrill
 

glades

 

forest

 

impatient

 

chatter