第23部分(第6/7 頁)

ough　talk　about　losing。　What　has　been　done　this　summer　cannot　have　been　done　in　vain。〃

I　did　not　say　anything。　I　was　always　embarrassed　by　the　words　sacred；　glorious；　and　sacrifice　and　the　expression　in　vain。　We　had　heard　them；　sometimes　standing　in　the　rain　almost　out　of　earshot；　so　that　only　the　shouted　words　came　through；　and　had　read　them；　on　proclamations　that　were　slapped　up　by　billposters　over　other　proclamations；　now　for　a　long　time；　and　I　had　seen　nothing　sacred；　and　the　things　that　were　glorious　had　no　glory　and　the　sacrifices　were　like　the　stockyards　at　Chicago　if　nothing　was　done　with　the　meat　except　to　bury　it。　There　were　many　words　that　you　could　not　stand　to　hear　and　finally　only　the　names　of　places　had　dignity。　Certain　numbers　were　the　same　way　and　certain　dates　and　these　with　the　names　of　the　places　were　all　you　could　say　and　have　them　mean　anything。　Abstract　words　such　as　glory；　honor；　courage；　or　hallow　were　obscene　beside　the　concrete　names　of　villages；　the　numbers　of　roads；　the　names　of　rivers；　the　numbers　of　regiments　and　the　dates。　Gino　was　a　patriot；　so　he　said　things　that　separated　us　sometimes；　but　he　was　also　a　fine　boy　and　I　understood　his　being　a　patriot。　He　was　born　one。　He　left　with　Peduzzi　in　the　car　to　go　back　to　Gorizia。

It　stormed　all　that　day。　The　wind　drove　down　the　rain　and　everywhere　there　was　standing　water　and　mud。　The　plaster　of　the　broken　houses　was　gray　and　wet。　Late　in　the　afternoon　the　rain　stopped　and　from　out　number　two　post　I　saw　the　bare　wet　autumn　country　with　clouds　over　the　tops　of　the　hills　and　the　straw　screening　over　the　roads　wet　and　dripping。　The　sun　came　out　once　before　it　went　down　and　shone　on　the　bare　woods　beyond　the　ridge。　There　were　many　Austrian　guns　in　the　woods　on　that　ridge　but　only　a　few