Vietnam or Thailand ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Updated: June 4, 2025
"Tell him he is wrong," sing the swarm of insects that buzz about the lime-tree. And even a loud roar from the guns that travels across the landscape seems to say gruffly: "He is wrong! He is wrong!" During the evening the chief came back to see Leglise, who said to him with the same mournful gravity: "No, I won't, Monsieur, I would rather die."
The second leg was amputated at the thigh. I took him in my arms to lay him on his bed, and he was so light, so light.... This time when he woke he asked no question. But I saw his hands groping to feel where his body ended. A few days have passed since the operation. We have done all it was humanly possible to do, and Leglise comes back to life with a kind of bewilderment.
You were only hit by one bomb, but I think you might have had several, and still be with us. And besides, the notice, far from being exaggerated, is really insufficient; it says you have lost a leg, whereas you have lost two! It seems to me that this fully compensates for anything excessive with regard to the bombs." "That's true!" agrees Leglise, laughing.
We waited three whole days, and then Leglise gave in. "Well, do what you must. Do what you like." On the morning of the operation, he asked to be carried down to the ward by the steps into the park. I went with him, and I saw him looking at all things round him, as if taking them to witness. If only, only it is not too late! Again he was laid on the table. Again we cut through flesh and bones.
I call on every one for help. "Genest, Barrassin, Prevot, come, all of you." Yes, let ten of us do our best if necessary, to support Leglise, to hold him, to soothe him. A minute of his endurance is equal to ten years of such effort as ours. Alas! were there a hundred of us he would still have to bear the heaviest burden alone. All humanity at this hour is bearing a very cruel burden.
France is a country richer in warmth of heart than in any other virtue. It is a blessed duty to give happiness to those who have sacrificed so much. And a thousand hearts, the generous hearts of women, applaud me at this moment. Leglise listens, shaking his head. He does not venture to say "No." Leglise has not only the Military Medal, but also the War Cross. The notice has just come.
I took him into the ward, full of wounded men, and he at once went towards Leglise unhesitatingly, as if he knew him perfectly. "How are you?" he asked, taking the young man's hand. "Mon General, they've cut off my leg..." "Yes, yes, I know, my poor fellow. And I have brought you the Military Medal."
To make our task easier, Leglise suggested that he should hold on to the head of the bed with both hands and throw himself back on his shoulders, holding his stumps up in the air. It was a terrible, an unimaginable sight; but he began to laugh, and the spectacle became comic. We all laughed. But the dressing was easy and was quickly finished. The stumps are healing healthily.
I look at his narrow chest, his thin face, his boyish forehead with the serious furrow on it of one who accepts all responsibilities, and I do not know how to show him my respect and affection. Leglise's fears were baseless. General G arrived just now. I met him on the terrace. His face pleased me. It was refined and intelligent. "I have come to see Corporal Leglise," he said.
The things I said were just the right things, and they came so readily that now and then I was afraid of holding out so sure a promise of a life I am not certain I can preserve, of guaranteeing a future that is not in man's hands. Gradually, I feel his resistance weakening. There is something in Leglise which involuntarily sides with me and pleads with me.
Word Of The Day
Others Looking