The poor wretches1 were very much depressed3. They had been detrained at Bar-le-Duc, and sent off to find us, in charge of a subaltern. They had been wandering about for three days, with little or no food. They were worn out when they joined us. Their feet were bleeding, and in their eyes was the reflection of horrible visions. Oh, those fields of corpses5! And the smell! Several of them were sick once more at the mere6 recollection of it. Or again, in other places—those bodies buried in haste—the arms and feet sticking out of the ground! And then, on the second evening they had suddenly found themselves in the firing line. Bullets whizzed past their ears—Zzp, Zzp—and shells surrounded them. Several of their men had already been killed.
[Pg 380]
It must be added that these men left F—— five days before under a gloomy impression. News had just got through of our regiment7 of regulars who since the very beginning had been fighting a few miles away from us, though we had never come across them. And what news it was! Leaving Longuyon on the morning of the 21st, engaged that evening at Ethes, and thrown back on Tellencourt, they had been, so to speak, volatilised, during those two days. Their losses had been enormous. One battalion8 had been wiped out and another was missing—the only hope was that the whole of it might have been taken prisoners—the third had been saved by the self-possession of a company commander.
When one thought of the recruiting, to a great extent local—The regulars! All the young harvest! The flower of the country! A great many of our poilus had a younger brother, sometimes two or three, among these troops which were said to be exterminated9. They were to be seen with anxious eyes, and quivering nostrils10, hazarding some name or other, in an agony of suspense11. Details were generally lacking, but a trenchant12 reply would sometimes come:
"Killed, killed!"
"Killed?"
"Exactly."
What a blow it was. Some of them staggered, but most of them bowed their heads and said nothing. Then seized with compassion13, I would go up to them.
What I was more anxious about than anything else was, as may be imagined, the general situation. What was happening? I feverishly15 questioned Langlois.
[Pg 381]
He was a school-master too, but from Paris. Playoust's set had immediately tried to get hold of him, but he made it quite clear that he intended to remain neutral, on good terms with us. He had an interesting head. He was sunburnt, and had intensely blue eyes, a big nose with a narrow bridge, and a determined16 chin. Besides that, he was slim and muscular, and had a graceful17 carriage. There was a look of a musketeer or condottiere about him—a look which was deceptive18 for that matter, as I soon realised. He was a good sort, but nothing beyond that. His intelligence was limited.
During his weeks at the dep?t everything seemed to have rolled off him, like water off a duck's back, without making the faintest impression. He was eager for news, no doubt, but he was far from attaching to it the tragic19 and capital importance which clothed the least occurrence in this hour of our history.
It was disappointing and exasperating20 to me. I would have given a lot to meet Fortin and have a talk with him. We had just heard that he had become a humble21 private again, and was with the reinforcement detachment.
However, I set about extracting all the news from Langlois, bit by bit, and finished by attaining22 my end.
To begin with, the period of optimism had continued. The enemy had been intercepted23 on the Meuse, and at Liège, Namur, and Dinant. Our offensive was developing at Mulhouse and towards Morhange. That had gone on until Friday, the 21st. That day's communiqué still gave a favourable24 picture of the situation. There were two shadows on it, however: the day was described as having been "less fortunate" in Lorraine, and the occupation of Brussels. The next[Pg 382] day, there was nothing very new. A huge battle was going on. The guns were talking.
Complete silence for two days. On the third—it was Tuesday—the communiqué announced, in terms very flattering to our troops, that the attack had had no decisive results and that we had fallen back on our covering positions. The casualties were heavy on both sides. One paper claimed to see a second Valmy in the engagement.
But since then things had been going from bad to worse! To how great an extent? I pressed Langlois, and implored25 him to try and recall the smallest details—the text even of the bulletins. We were holding out? Apparently26. Towards Nancy our luck seemed to be re-establishing itself. In the North? Oh. Langlois admitted that he really knew nothing about the North. I pretended to be as calm as possible in order to encourage him. Come along! The daily reports? What did they point to? They were perplexing—"The English have lost a little ground on our extreme left...." "We have had to bring our line slightly farther back...." What else? Ever since the day following "Charleroi" they had talked of German patrol parties venturing right up to near Douai and Valenciennes. A note which had an official twang about it had appeared on this subject. There was no cause for alarm! Merely isolated27 instances! That was all very well! But the same day we read in the socialistic manifesto28 that "Our richest and most cultivated regions are invaded."
"And what about the Russians?" I asked. "Haven't they come in yet?"
"Yes—things are going all right down there apparently."
[Pg 383]
There were no details, of course.
The detachment had left F——, Langlois continued, at midday on the 29th,—the Paris dailies had just arrived.
This time there was a communiqué which was undeniably odd. Even he had been startled. He quoted the exact text: "The situation on our front, from the Somme to the Vosges, is exactly the same to-day as it was yesterday."
From the Somme to the Vosges! It was my turn to get a shock. What! Then the Huns were at Amiens! Yes, everything went to prove it. Even nearer perhaps? They had heard a rumour29 on their train journey, of sanguinary engagements at Bapaume and at Peronne. Other reports were circulating. Soisson and St. Quentin were said to have been cut off, the Compiègne forest on fire.
I would not believe it all. I clung to the communiqué of the 27th. But in any case it was a terrible awakening30. Even Guillaumin, who joined us, was not incredulous, for once. An orderly had just confirmed the news of the investment of La Fère. We put this fortress31 down as being about half-way between the frontier and Paris. Was the capital in danger? Not yet, after all! We pictured a huge force barring the way to the intrenched camp.
What worried me most was public opinion which, with us, is so nervous and impressionable. There was good reason to be calm about the morale32 of the army. But the departments in the background. We were given a gloomy reflection of the spirit reigning33 there now....
And the government especially? I had a vague dread34 of some faltering35, some lack of real energy in[Pg 384] this coterie36 of middle-aged37 bourgeois38, who had grown up amid the dejection which had followed the defeat, and had been softened39 by forty years of enjoyable egoism. Would they hold out? What did we know of it? We had got no more letters since the game had been played and lost in the North.
Certain facts which I learnt from Langlois were not calculated to reassure40 me. The cabinet had been modified! Socialists41 in the Ministry42. If it should mean the road to some humiliating pact43? There was still a fear of civil war, in which France would drown herself in a fratricidal struggle or, worse than all else, fling herself into the arms of the infamous44 wretch2 who would speak of peace!
I kept my anxiety to myself in my continuous endeavour not to shake any one's courage. I watched my poilus with delight as they exerted themselves to cheer up the new-comers. The Judsis and Lamalous laughed at their glum45 looks.
"Like to know wot they'd say, if they'd seen any real fightin'!..."
They pulled their legs, inventing fantastic feats46 of prowess by the regiment, or the company. The taking of "Beauclair" for instance! Judsi often returned to the subject of that exploit. They had found more burnt and spitted Bosches in there than you'd believe possible. A carpet, no a pile, of them rising right up to the first storey. Maddening for the ground-floor people of whom there was not a sign to be seen.
"Now you'll do. W'en a man knows 'ow to laugh, 'e'll make a soldier!"
[Pg 385]
Thereupon, news arrived. We had been attached to the 4th Corps4 again, and were to be entrained. What for? Paris. We were to form a part of the troops constituting the mobile defence.
There was general rejoicing. Paris! A certain number of the men came from the city or the suburbs, and even for the others the magic syllables48 evoked49 endless delights. What ho! for the picture palaces and the pretty girls, in their first free hour....
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1
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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depressed
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| adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的 | |
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corps
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| n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组 | |
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corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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6
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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battalion
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| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
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exterminated
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| v.消灭，根绝( exterminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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trenchant
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| adj.尖刻的，清晰的 | |
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compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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feverishly
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| adv. 兴奋地 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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deceptive
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| adj.骗人的，造成假象的，靠不住的 | |
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tragic
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| adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的 | |
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exasperating
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| adj. 激怒的 动词exasperate的现在分词形式 | |
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21
humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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22
attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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23
intercepted
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| 拦截( intercept的过去式和过去分词 )； 截住； 截击； 拦阻 | |
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24
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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implored
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| 恳求或乞求（某人）( implore的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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isolated
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| adj.与世隔绝的 | |
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manifesto
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| n.宣言，声明 | |
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rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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30
awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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fortress
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| n.堡垒，防御工事 | |
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32
morale
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| n.道德准则，士气，斗志 | |
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reigning
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| adj.统治的，起支配作用的 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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faltering
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| 犹豫的，支吾的，蹒跚的 | |
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coterie
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| n.(有共同兴趣的)小团体，小圈子 | |
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middle-aged
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| adj.中年的 | |
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bourgeois
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| adj./n.追求物质享受的(人)；中产阶级分子 | |
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39
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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40
reassure
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| v.使放心，使消除疑虑 | |
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41
socialists
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| 社会主义者( socialist的名词复数 ) | |
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42
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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43
pact
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| n.合同，条约，公约，协定 | |
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infamous
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| adj.声名狼藉的，臭名昭著的，邪恶的 | |
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45
glum
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| adj.闷闷不乐的，阴郁的 | |
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46
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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47
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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48
syllables
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| n.音节( syllable的名词复数 ) | |
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49
evoked
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| [医]诱发的 | |
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50
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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51
toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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