War And Peace

‘I see that son of a bitch, Petrov, ’as dropped out, then,’ said one of the sergeants.

‘I’ve had me eye on ’im for some time,’ said the other.

‘Oh, well, not much of a soldier . . .’

‘Aye, an’ they do say the Third Company was nine short at roll-call yesterday.’

‘Well, when your feet gets frozen you can’t walk much further.’

‘What stupid drivel!’ said the sergeant.

‘So, you fancy doin’ the same, do you?’ said an old soldier, rounding on the man who had talked about feet being frozen.

‘Well, what do you expect?’ burst in the sharp-nosed ‘gaping’ soldier in a trembling, squeaky voice, half-sitting up on the other side of the fire. ‘If you ’ave a bit of fat on you, you got somethin’ to lose. For us thin ’uns it’s death. Just look at me. Ain’t got no strength left,’ he said with sudden determination, looking straight at the sergeant. ‘You ought to get me in the ’ospital. ’Ad it with me rheumatics, I ’ave. I’ll get left behind anyway . . .’

‘Come on, son, come on,’ said the sergeant calmly.

The soldier said no more, though the conversation went on.

‘We’ve took ’undreds of them Froggies today, and not a pair of decent boots between ’em. Nothing worth talkin’ about,’ put in one of the soldiers, changing the subject.

‘No, them Cossacks ’as ’ad the lot. We was cleanin’ a hut for the colonel, and we ’ad to carry ’em out. ’Orrible sight, boys,’ said the dancer. ‘Kept turnin’ ’em over, we did. One was still alive. You wouldn’t believe it. Jabberin’ away ’e was, in their lingo.’

‘Keeps ’emselves real clean, they does,’ the first man went on. ‘They’m all white, you know – ’e were as white as a birch-tree – and there’s some grand boys among ’em. Real gentlemen they be.’

‘I’m not surprised. They ’as their soldiers from all classes.’

‘And they don’t understand a word we says,’ put in the dancer, with a smile of bemusement. ‘I says to ’im, “What be your kingdom?” and’e comes out with all that foreign stuff. They’re a rum lot!’

‘I’ll tell you one thing, boys. Bloody marvellous,’ went on the man who had been so taken with their whiteness. ‘Some o’ them peasants down Mozhaysk way was telling me ’ow they was shiftin’ dead bodies where the big battle ’ad been, an’ them dead bodies – their lot – ’ad been there a good month. They was just layin’ there, their lot, clean and white like pieces of paper, and there wasn’t no smell comin’ off ’em.’

‘Oh, that’d be the cold, wouldn’t it?’ asked one.

‘Nay, son. I’ll give you cold! No, it were really ’ot. If it ’ad been cold, our boys wouldn’t ’ave rotted neither. But what they said was: go anywhere near one of ours, and ’e’d be all rottin’ away – maggots everywhere. ’Ad to put ’andkerchiefs over their noses an’ turn their’eads away before they could shift ’em. That’s what they said. They could ’ardly stand it. But they was clean and white like pieces of paper, and there wasn’t no smell comin’ off ’em.’

Nobody spoke.

‘Must be the grub,’ said the sergeant. ‘Fed ’em like gentry they did.’

There was no comment.

‘That there peasant down near Mozhaysk, where the battle was, ’e was saying they was fetched in from ten villages round, and they was at it twenty days and they still didn’t shift all the dead bodies. And all them wolves, he was sayin’ . . .’

‘Now, that were a right battle, that were,’ said an old soldier. ‘The only one worth talkin’ about. After that it was all . . . well, just puttin’ people through it.’

‘You’re right there, old boy. Day before yesterday we came across’em. Nothing doin’. Couldn’t get near ’em. Chucked their guns away just like that. Down on their knees they was, sayin’, “We do beg your pardong!” And that was just one example. I’ve ’eard it said that Platov’ad ’is ’ands on Boneypart – twice! Grabs ’im once, an’ whoosh! – ’e’s off again. Turned into a bird in ’is ’ands. Off ’e goes! No chance of killin’ ’im neither.’

‘You’re a lying sod, Kiselyov. I can tell by the look of you.’

‘God’s truth, I ain’t lyin’.’

‘By God, if I got me ’ands on ’im, ’e’d be six foot under. Aye, an’ a wooden stake through ’is ’eart. Just think ’ow many men ’e’s killed!’

‘Anyway, ’e’s ’ad it now, an’ ’e won’t be comin’ ’ere again,’ said the old soldier, yawning.

The conversation died down. The soldiers settled down for the night.

‘Look at them stars. Never seen ’em shine like that! Like a string o’ washin’ ’ung out by the women!’ said one soldier, goggling at the Milky Way.

‘Means a good ’arvest next year, boys!’

‘We need a bit more wood.’

‘Give your back a little warm and your belly’s frozen. Funny thing that.’

‘Oh my God!’

‘Who d’you think you’re shovin’? It’s a nice fire, but there’s more than you, you know. Look at ’im, sprawled out all over the place.’

Through the gathering silence came the sound of a few men snoring. The others were turning over and over to keep warm. A few words were exchanged.

From a fire a hundred paces away came a roar of merry laughter.

‘ ’Ark at that lot. It’s the Fifth, ’avin’ a good laugh,’ said a soldier. ‘Plenty of people there!’

Another soldier got to his feet and walked over to the Fifth.