much of anything. Deprived of his livelihood, never having imagined an alternative to the art, science, and style of carving up meat, Padioleau was reduced to zero, in despair over the absence of any possible vocational rehabilitation, unable to envisage a future or comfort himself with the idea that some people can overcome their handicaps and do so in many fields, even in the most sophisticated professions, where they may even reach the heights of geniusâalthough it is true that among the blind, one runs into more pianists than butchers.
Once these two men had found each other again, they were obliged to try passing the time together. Cards being out of the question for Padioleau, reading aloud from the newspaper having finally lost its charm for Anthime, they once more found themselves seriously at loose ends. Attempting to dispel this ennui,they would often evoke the boredom theyâd felt at the front and which, edged with terror, had been frankly worse, after all. They distracted themselves by recalling how theyâd come up with distractions, and talked about the pastimes theyâd invented in the past. Dâyou remember? Dâyou remember?
Arcenel used to busy himself sculpting bas-reliefs from the veins of white stone that surfaced in places from the clay of the trenches. Bossis had taken an interest in creating rings, watch charms, eggcups out of scavenged metals: aluminum from spent enemy shells, copper and brass from the shell casings, cast iron from the lemon and egg grenades. Drawing on his civilian background in shoes, Anthime had begun by cutting laces from abandoned leather straps. Then heâd had an idea and turned those same straps, knotted and furnished with a clasp, into wristbands to which he could attach pocket watches via small loops soldered on at six and twelve oâclock. Believing heâd invented the wrist-watch, Anthime had cherished the magnificent dream of copyrighting this invention when he got homeâonly to learn that ten years earlier, Louis Cartier had comeup with the same idea to help out his friend Santos-Dumont, a pilot whoâd complained how hard it was to consult his pocket watch while flying.
Yes, theyâd had some good times in spite of everything. Even though delousing wasnât heaps of fun, still, between alerts it was always a distraction for the menâ albeit a vain and temporary oneâto hunt down lice, to pry them loose from their skin and clothing, but that arthropod always leaves behind innumerable and constantly renewed eggs, which in clothes could only be killed by a firm pressing with a nice hot iron, an accessory not provided in the trenches. In addition to learning how to use conventional weapons, theyâd acquired practical experience with slingshots, and one of their funniest memories, for example, was of winging tin cans full of urine over the barbed wire to the guys across the way. The concerts given by the regimental musicians had been entertaining in a different sense, and then thereâd been the accordion the captain sent someone to buy in Amiens: heâd made sure it was played every evening, and the orderlies and liaison officers had danced to the music. And the days when mail was distributed, whenever possibleâthey had been fun, because themen had sent off a lot of mail and received a lot, too, tremendous numbers of postcards but also letters, among which had been the short note informing Anthime of Charlesâs death. And now it was too late for Charles to take advantage of an advertisement that appeared two years into the conflict: âLe Miroir will pay any price for photographic documents of particular interest relating to the war.â
15
W E ALL KNOW THE REST . The first two months of the spring offensives in the fourth year of the war consumed vast numbers of soldiers. The armyâs reliance on mass tactics required the permanent replenishment of large battalions, an ever-higher level of
Once these two men had found each other again, they were obliged to try passing the time together. Cards being out of the question for Padioleau, reading aloud from the newspaper having finally lost its charm for Anthime, they once more found themselves seriously at loose ends. Attempting to dispel this ennui,they would often evoke the boredom theyâd felt at the front and which, edged with terror, had been frankly worse, after all. They distracted themselves by recalling how theyâd come up with distractions, and talked about the pastimes theyâd invented in the past. Dâyou remember? Dâyou remember?
Arcenel used to busy himself sculpting bas-reliefs from the veins of white stone that surfaced in places from the clay of the trenches. Bossis had taken an interest in creating rings, watch charms, eggcups out of scavenged metals: aluminum from spent enemy shells, copper and brass from the shell casings, cast iron from the lemon and egg grenades. Drawing on his civilian background in shoes, Anthime had begun by cutting laces from abandoned leather straps. Then heâd had an idea and turned those same straps, knotted and furnished with a clasp, into wristbands to which he could attach pocket watches via small loops soldered on at six and twelve oâclock. Believing heâd invented the wrist-watch, Anthime had cherished the magnificent dream of copyrighting this invention when he got homeâonly to learn that ten years earlier, Louis Cartier had comeup with the same idea to help out his friend Santos-Dumont, a pilot whoâd complained how hard it was to consult his pocket watch while flying.
Yes, theyâd had some good times in spite of everything. Even though delousing wasnât heaps of fun, still, between alerts it was always a distraction for the menâ albeit a vain and temporary oneâto hunt down lice, to pry them loose from their skin and clothing, but that arthropod always leaves behind innumerable and constantly renewed eggs, which in clothes could only be killed by a firm pressing with a nice hot iron, an accessory not provided in the trenches. In addition to learning how to use conventional weapons, theyâd acquired practical experience with slingshots, and one of their funniest memories, for example, was of winging tin cans full of urine over the barbed wire to the guys across the way. The concerts given by the regimental musicians had been entertaining in a different sense, and then thereâd been the accordion the captain sent someone to buy in Amiens: heâd made sure it was played every evening, and the orderlies and liaison officers had danced to the music. And the days when mail was distributed, whenever possibleâthey had been fun, because themen had sent off a lot of mail and received a lot, too, tremendous numbers of postcards but also letters, among which had been the short note informing Anthime of Charlesâs death. And now it was too late for Charles to take advantage of an advertisement that appeared two years into the conflict: âLe Miroir will pay any price for photographic documents of particular interest relating to the war.â
15
W E ALL KNOW THE REST . The first two months of the spring offensives in the fourth year of the war consumed vast numbers of soldiers. The armyâs reliance on mass tactics required the permanent replenishment of large battalions, an ever-higher level of
Similar Books
