第28部分(第3/8 頁)

sible　that　there　were　Germans　there。　They　were　ing　from　the　north　and　down　the　road　from　Cividale。　They　could　not　have　e　through　from　the　south。　The　Italians　were　even　more　dangerous。　They　were　frightened　and　firing　on　anything　they　saw。　Last　night　on　the　retreat　we　had　heard　that　there　had　been　many　Germans　in　Italian　uniforms　mixing　with　the　retreat　in　the　north。　I　did　not　believe　it。　That　was　one　of　those　things　you　always　heard　in　the　war。　It　was　one　of　the　things　the　enemy　always　did　to　you。　You　did　not　know　any　one　who　went　over　in　German　uniform　to　confuse　them。　Maybe　they　did　but　it　sounded　difficult。　I　did　not　believe　the　Germans　did　it。

I　did　not　believe　they　had　to。　There　was　no　need　to　confuse　our　retreat。　The　size　of　the　army　and　the　fewness　of　the　roads　did　that。　Nobody　gave　any　orders；　let　alone　Germans。　Still；　they　would　shoot　us　for　Germans。　They　shot　Aymo。　The　hay　smelled　good　and　lying　in　a　barn　in　the　hay　took　away　all　the　years　in　between。　We　had　lain　in　hay　and　talked　and　shot　sparrows　with　an　air…rifle　when　they　perched　in　the　triangle　cut　high　up　in　the　wall　of　the　barn。　The　barn　was　gone　now　and　one　year　they　had　cut　the　hemlock　woods　and　there　were　only　stumps；　dried　tree…tops；　branches　and　fireweed　where　the　woods　had　been。　You　could　not　go　back。　If　you　did　not　go　forward　what　happened？　You　never　got　back　to　Milan。　And　if　you　got　back　to　Milan　what　happened？　I　listened　to　the　firing　to　the　north　toward　Udine。　I　could　hear　machine…gun　firing。