Therefore, after having decided7 that the “Voisin” would not keep its appointment, I returned to Fregona and again visited Maria de Luca, the good woman who had already helped me so much. She was not 374 in the least impressed by all that had happened and she offered to give me lodgings8 in her house where the gendarmes9 had not entered for a long time. I willingly accepted, also because I thought that by being near Vittorio I might be able to help Giovannino escape. On the very day I arrived, when we least expected it, a platoon of gendarmes arrived and asked to search the house for hidden metals. I barely had time to go from the cellar to the stable and climb up to the hay-loft before they entered. I buried myself in the hay close to the wall where the hay was thickest. The gendarmes entered the house, examined every inch without leaving a thing unturned. Finally, as they did not find what they were searching for, they came to the barn, and as they climbed up the stairs to the hay-loft, I heard one of them mumble11 in German, “Still, he must be here, I am certain.” Without hesitating a second they began digging their bayonets in the hay to see if someone were 375 hidden in it. I crouched12 as close to the wall as possible and heard the sharp points pass a few inches above my head. At last they went! I drew a long breath and the close call I had just had made me think of the future. I decided not to be over-confident. This visit probably was the first of a series of other careful searches, and therefore, I had better keep my eyes open and try every means of escaping from their vigilance. I shaved off my mustache, put on a worn, patched skirt, a torn waist and a black handkerchief on my head, as is the custom of our peasant women, and with a hoe on my shoulder I went towards the grain fields on the hill. I crouched between two furrows13 and pretended to work so that a passing gendarme10 would never suspect that the ugly old woman working with her shoulders towards him was the man with the beard whom they were hunting. But even this disguise had its disadvantages. I should not have liked to meet a gendarme in 376 the woods at night while dressed as a woman. I looked like an old hag, but one never can tell. I appealed for another disguise to wear at night to a cousin of Maria de Luca who lived at Fregona and who mended all the uniforms of the transient soldiers who stopped there. I acquired one of the Italian uniforms left in a house by one of our soldiers at the time of the retreat and I sent it to this seamstress asking her to make the changes necessary for transforming it into an Austrian uniform. The son of my landlady14 had a rifle and some German cartridges15 stolen from the Germans during the first days of the invasion. To please me he dug up the weapon and the shoulder straps16 from the wheat-field where they had been buried. With this and the help of a yellow and black band on which the magic word “Gendarmerie” had been written I became a perfect Austrian gendarme in flesh and bones. Naturally I did not use this disguise in the day-time. As 377 long as it was light I would stay hidden under a projecting rock concealed17 by shrubs18 which one could reach after a long, difficult and rough ascent19. This little promontory20 was almost inaccessible21, a veritable eagle’s nest. Nevertheless, during the dangerous hours the children would station themselves at points from which they could dominate the movement on the roads and as soon as they saw a platoon of gendarmes approaching they would make a certain noise and I would hide under the bushes where I was certain no one would find me. By night, however, I would take long walks about the country to exercise my legs and to visit the people I wanted to see. I then also exercised my gendarme’s privilege of searching for pigeons.
As I walked in the woods at night disguised as a gendarme, to avoid meeting anyone, I occasionally fired a shot in air. For deserters and prisoners, on hearing these shots, would flee in the direction opposite 378 to the one from which the shot is fired, and the very gendarmes, who amused themselves by frightening the population in this way and then entering their houses to steal, avoided the area in which they have heard the shots supposing that some of their comrades are there already. In these nocturnal peregrinations I communicated with the community teacher and doctor at Fregona, and together with the pastor22 we plotted a means for attempting to escape. Although I had taken all these precautions not to be discovered, someone might be shadowing me and referring my every move to the Austrians. I learnt, for instance, that the enemy knew that my beard had been cut. Therefore, I should have to be even more careful and not let anyone see me.
In the middle of the night when all were asleep, very cautiously I approached the house of Maria de Luca. I climbed up and entered the hay-loft, thence I descended23 to the stable, from the stable to the cellar 379 and finally entered the kitchen without making the least noise. By day now I did not feel safe even in my secluded24 hiding-place. I dared not stop for more than an hour anywhere and I wandered from hill to hill from wood to wood to hide my tracks. I tried to change my disguise as often as possible. Generally by day I went dressed as a woman and by night as a gendarme. I had become convinced that even the clemency used towards the sister of Giovannino was nothing but a feint done in the hope that the poor woman would try to get into communication again with her accomplices25, through whom they hoped finally to reach the head of the band, the notorious man with the beard. Therefore, I broke all relations with Minelle and the house of the refugees. Occasionally, however, Rino came at night to meet me on the hill and these were the only moments in which I enjoyed a bit of calm, a bit of rest.
One day, after returning from a more 380 strenuous walk than usual, I felt dizzy, chills came over me and soon a fever so strong seized me that I became delirious26.... I remember only the sweet face of a woman bending over my pillow during the long hours filled with terrible nightmares; I remember a charitable hand to which I clung desperately27 while gasping28 for breath; then the awakening29, the quick convalescence30 in a comfortable bed surrounded by the whispers of many anxious friends who hoped for my speedy recovery.... Later I learnt that I had had the influenza31, that I had been near death, and that I owed my recovery to the intelligent care of the doctor of Fregona and the affectionate care of the good Maria who had tended me as carefully as though she had been my own mother. I later learned that while I was sick with very high fever the gendarmes came to search the house. The women carried me on a mattress32 to the cellar where they hid me under a huge cask. Fortunately, 381 the gendarmes were contented33 with a less detailed34 search than formerly35 and with my usual good fortune I miraculously36 escaped the danger of being taken.
One evening while I was still convalescing37 and as we were seated about the fire, talking, we heard sharp knocks at the door. I ran to hide at once but Maria shortly after came and told me there was no danger, that our visitors were four Italian sergeants39 who had escaped from the concentration camp at Consiglio and had come to ask for something to eat and the road to Vidor where they wanted to try to cross the Piave. I returned and found myself face to face with the fugitives40. Three of them had the worn, tired look of most prisoners, but one looked healthy and sturdy and as if he had not suffered much.
“I am a sergeant38 in the artillery41 taken prisoner during the last offensive. My name is Italo Maggi and I was born at Como, therefore, I can swim like a fish and 382 can row well because I was a boatman on the lake. These three men, who are not at home in the water, have placed their trust in me because they hope I shall be able to get them over to the other side. We don’t care if a stray shot hits us, what we do want is to get out of the hands of these tyrants42.”
Truly this man must have been sent to me by the divine Providence43. In our last attempt we had not succeeded in passing because none of us could swim well enough to face so turbulent a stream. But, with the help of the sergeant I was certain to succeed. I could be useful to him as a guide for I knew a place where we could cross and then I would trust to the strength of his robust44 arms to carry us across. But the other men would be in the way, for experience had taught me that in ventures of such a nature the group must be small. I, therefore, called Italo aside and briefly45 explained to him that I was an Italian officer, that I knew the road to the Piave very well and 383 that I could obtain some civilian46 clothes or an Austrian uniform for him, according to what disguise he would decide to wear. My physical condition then was such that I could not travel so I begged him not to abandon me but to wait a few days. We would then complete the details of our plan and let the others journey alone and try their luck. I hesitated for a long time before forsaking47 them but at times the necessities of war are cruel. I had no way of getting either the food or the clothing necessary for enabling them to attempt the venture. To journey with them in their actual condition would have meant certain seizure48. On the other hand by placing my services at the disposal of Italo I was certain I could bring him and myself to safety. The sergeant accepted at once and placed himself at my disposal. We dressed him in civilian clothes and he wandered about with me for several days while we waited until the uniform 384 of an Austrian soldier was prepared for him.
At the last moment we changed our plan; my sergeant was to be dressed as a civilian and was to follow behind me so that if we were to meet a gendarme he, who did not know German, would pretend he was a prisoner, and I, dressed as an Austrian soldier, would pretend I was the gendarme who had arrested him.
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1
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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2
strenuous
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| adj.奋发的，使劲的；紧张的；热烈的，狂热的 | |
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3
confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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4
procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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5
clemency
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| n.温和，仁慈，宽厚 | |
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6
brewing
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| n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式 | |
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7
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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lodgings
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| n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍 | |
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9
gendarmes
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| n.宪兵，警官( gendarme的名词复数 ) | |
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gendarme
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| n.宪兵 | |
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11
mumble
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| n./v.喃喃而语，咕哝 | |
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12
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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13
furrows
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| n.犁沟( furrow的名词复数 )；（脸上的）皱纹v.犁田，开沟( furrow的第三人称单数 ) | |
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landlady
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| n.女房东，女地主 | |
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15
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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16
straps
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| n.带子( strap的名词复数 )；挎带；肩带；背带v.用皮带捆扎( strap的第三人称单数 )；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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18
shrubs
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| 灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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19
ascent
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| n.(声望或地位)提高；上升，升高；登高 | |
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promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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inaccessible
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| adj.达不到的，难接近的 | |
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pastor
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| n.牧师，牧人 | |
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23
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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24
secluded
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| adj.与世隔绝的；隐退的；偏僻的v.使隔开，使隐退( seclude的过去式和过去分词) | |
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25
accomplices
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| 从犯，帮凶，同谋( accomplice的名词复数 ) | |
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delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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28
gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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29
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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30
convalescence
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| n.病后康复期 | |
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31
influenza
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| n.流行性感冒，流感 | |
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32
mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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33
contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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34
detailed
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| adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的 | |
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35
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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miraculously
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| ad.奇迹般地 | |
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convalescing
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| v.康复( convalesce的现在分词 ) | |
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38
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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39
sergeants
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| 警官( sergeant的名词复数 )； （美国警察）警佐； （英国警察）巡佐； 陆军（或空军）中士 | |
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40
fugitives
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| n.亡命者，逃命者( fugitive的名词复数 ) | |
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41
artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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42
tyrants
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| 专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物 | |
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43
providence
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| n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝 | |
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44
robust
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| adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的 | |
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45
briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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46
civilian
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| adj.平民的，民用的，民众的 | |
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47
forsaking
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| 放弃( forsake的现在分词 )； 弃绝； 抛弃； 摒弃 | |
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48
seizure
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| n.没收；占有；抵押 | |
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