Military life in Italy : sketches - Societa italiana di storia militare

222 MILITARY LIFE.
not seen in so long a time. Then, suddenly, they turn their
eyes and seem to become aware, at that point, where and among
whom they are ;
a toss of the head
they heave a deep sigh, give
as if to chase away the feeling of melancholy which begins to
creep into their hearts, rise and away they run to join the
others, and join in the general racket, since it is no use to
grieve over things which cannot be helped.
But not all solitary men change their thoughts so easily.
Many of the younger soldiers and some of the older ones remain
there the entire evening, thinking and thinking, plucking
up the grass about them. Some, seated cross-legged, Turk
fashion, polishing their bayonets with a bit of rag, mending
their clothes, or attending to some other affair, accompanying
their work with a low and monotonous chant, which is sorrowful
both in thought and expression.
Others seize their knapsacks,
spread out on it a sheet of paper, upon which is depicted a
soldier starting for the war, or a great heart
pierced by a huge
arrow ; they stretch themselves flat on the ground, draw out
the stump of
sponge of a dried-up
a rusty pen, and squeeze and arrange the stringy
inkstand, and, after having looked at the
point against the light several times, and pressed
it as many
times against their nails, they pass and repass the palm of the
hand over the sheet, and breathing upon it, drawing in and out
their necks as they do so, scratch great crooked words and
form wavering pot-hooks, raising
their faces heavenward from
time to time, as if asking inspiration for a word or phrase
which they no longer remember, but which they have certainly
read, they could swear to it, in some printed book, the name
of which has slipped from their mind. Like the soldiers, the
officers, too, have their sad hours, and they sit cross-legged on