第28部分(第5/8 頁)

t　it　was　losing　its　color。

〃You　look　out　of　this　window；　Luigi；〃　I　said。　〃I'll　go　look　out　the　other　window。〃

We　had　each　been　drinking　out　of　one　of　the　bottles　and　I　took　my　bottle　with　me　and　went　over　and　lay　flat　on　the　hay　and　looked　out　the　narrow　window　at　the　wet　country。　I　do　not　know　what　I　expected　to　see　but　I　did　not　see　anything　except　the　fields　and　the　bare　mulberry　trees　and　the　rain　falling。　I　drank　the　wine　and　it　did　not　make　me　feel　good。　They　had　kept　it　too　long　and　it　had　gone　to　pieces　and　lost　its　quality　and　color。　I　watched　it　get　dark　outside；　the　darkness　came　very　quickly。　It　would　be　a　black　night　with　the　rain。　When　it　was　dark　there　was　no　use　watching　any　more；　so　I　went　over　to　Piani。　He　was　lying　asleep　and　I　did　not　wake　him　but　sat　down　beside　him　for　a　while。　He　was　a　big　man　and　he　slept　heavily。　After　a　while　I　woke　him　and　we　started。

That　was　a　very　strange　night。　I　do　not　know　what　I　had　expected；　death　perhaps　and　shooting　in　the　dark　and　running；　but　nothing　happened。　We　waited；　lying　flat　beyond　the　ditch　along　the　main　road　while　a　German　battalion　passed；　then　when　they　were　gone　we　crossed　the　road　and　went　on　to　the　north。　We　were　very　close　to　Germans　twice　in　the　rain　but　they　did　not　see　us。　We　got　past　the　town　to　the　north　without　seeing　any　Italians；　then　after　a　while　came　on　the　main　channels　of　the　retreat　and　walked　all　night　toward　the　Tagliamento。　I　had　not　realized　how　gigantic　the　retreat