:41:09
'Of course, every soldier believes
in chance and trusts his luck.
:41:13
'But no soldier outlives
a thousand chances.
:41:23
'We call them corpse rats.
:41:25
'They have shocking evil faces
and even on our empty stomachs,
:41:28
'it is nauseating
to see their long naked tais.
:41:38
'The bait is bread,
so rotten even we won't eat it.
:41:47
'they'll come among us
to snatch them away.
:41:54
'It's a way to pass the time.'
:42:10
Gas masks. Gas masks.
:42:13
'Gas, the most feared,
most obscene weapon of all.
:42:17
'We remember the awful sights
in the hospital.
:42:21
'The gas patients who, surfocating,
:42:23
'cough up their burned lungs
in clots.
:42:26
'Better take your chances
in the open
:42:28
'than stay in the hollows
where the vapours settle.'