Bell for Adano, A - John Hersey [105]
Major Joppolo pushed his way through the crowd of children and went up three or four stairs. When the children saw the Mister Major, they started stamping and shouting in unison: “Caramelle! Caramelle!”
The Major held his hand up. Gradually the noise subsided. He waited until there was silence, all except for the catching of breath that children do when they have been crying.
And now the Major made the last public speech he would ever make in Adano. He didn’t know that it would be his last, but he made it simple and right, and if he had planned a farewell speech, he couldn’t have done better.
“Children of Adano,” he said, “I am sorry to have to tell you that there are no caramels here.” There was a brief wail of protest.
“I’m afraid that you have been misled. But I’m sure that Gargano didn’t mean any harm when he told you that there would be caramels here. He told you that so as to be sure that you would come, because he had something very important to tell you.
“Gargano, may I tell them?” Gargano nodded. “Children, you know the little Calvi boy who was hit by the truck last night? Do you know why he was hit? Pasquale son of Gigante do you know why he was hit?” Pasquale son of Gigante was one of the larger boys who had teamed up to outwit the others. He shook his head.
“Massimo son of Zupi, do you know why?”
This boy, another of the team, also shook his head. “I know,” a small voice said, and a small hand went u.
“Why, Marco?”
Marco son of Manifattura, one of the smaller ones who had been cheated, said: “Because he was selfish.” “Marco is right. Marco says that the Calvi boy was killed because he was selfish. Marco, you are exactly right. That is what Gargano wanted to tell you, isn’t it, Gargano?”
That was not just what Gargano had in mind, but he nodded absently.
“The Calvi boy would never have been killed if he and Pasquale and Massimo and the other big ones had not been selfish. If they had not tried to get everything for themselves, no one would have been hurt, and all would have had some candies.
“Now we don’t want any more children killed in this town. You don’t want any more of your friends to be killed, I’m sure. So from now on this is how we will handle the candies. I am going to appoint a committee, and the committee will take down the names of all the children who want caramels, and they will appoint two children to collect the candies carefully each evening as the trucks go through town. The American soldiers will go on throwing candies, of that I’m certain. The two collectors will put the candy in a box, and the committee will give out the candies in order, according to the names on the list. That means that everyone will have some, and no one will be hurt.
“For the committee I want Marco and Pasquale -” A voice shouted: “Pasquale will be selfish, he will put some of the candies in his pocket instead of in the box.” The Major said: “I don’t think he will. Pasquale and Massimo and Eliodoro and Elisabetta.”
And then the Major added: “I want you to be happy together. I want all of you to have as much as you can of what you want, without hurting anyone else. That is what I want in Adano.”
The Major left and Gargano took the children home. On the way back to the party, Tina said: “Now I know why I love you.
Major Joppolo said: “Why?”
“Because of what you want for Adano. That’s why everyone here loves you. There is no one here who will say a bad word about you, and that’s a rare thing in Adano. “
The Major said: “And I know why I like you.” “Why?”
“For a very selfish reason: because you make me feel as if I were almost important.”
“Oh, you are,” Tina said, with just enough mockery in her voice.
When the Major and Tina got back to the party. Giuseppe met them, wringing his hands