Bell for Adano, A - John Hersey [93]
“The main thing I hope this painting will have,” the old man said, “is the life and breath of the Mister Major. In the eyes I hope there will be a slight look of mischief which I have seen there, something which I think shows that he is rather fond of young ladies.” He turned on Gargano severely: “But that is not all that I intend to have in the eyes.”
He went on: “In the way the mustache is trimmed, there will be a little vanity, not much, just enough to make a man dress neatly and look once, not twice, in every mirror he passes.”
D’Arpa said in a high voice: “These are ridiculous little things, what about the big things?”
Lojacono said: “Sometimes I think you are a ridiculous little man. The big things come from the little things. I am not finished. There is something about officials that makes them poke their noses, which are usually asleep on their faces, into unfinished matters.”
D’Arpa said: “Go on, old man.”
“In the chin, there will be strength, in the ears, alertness, in the fix of the hair, neatness, in the cheeks, a sympathetic warmth. You will like it,” the old man said. “So will he.”
D’Arpa said again: “But the big things, what about the big things?”
The painter said: “You will not see the big things until you have seen the portrait for some time, just as you did not recognize them in the man until you got to know him. Why list them? You know what they are as well as I do.”
But D’Arpa said: “What do you think they are, Lojacono?” The critics did not really come to criticize. They came to find out what to look for.
The old man said: “There is only one big thing, really. All the others are tied up in it. It is the wish, which is visible in this man’s face, that each person in this town should be happy. That is a very big thing. If that were visible in every official’s face, well, painters would not be criticized before they were finished.”
Gargano squinted at the portrait and said: “I think the eyes will be all right.”
D’Arpa said: “There is obviously something unfinished about that sleeping nose. It will be all right when it is finished.”
Saitta said: “I am glad you explained to me about the background, painter. Have you any suggestions about the manure?”
Lojacono said: “I only suggest that you leave me alone until I have finished. When is it that you want the painting?”
D’Arpa said: “We thought we would give it to him next Friday, on the afternoon before the party which is in his honor. We thought we would make it entirely his day.”
The white-haired painter said: “It will be finished, and you will like the face, I promise you.”
Chapter 33
GENERAL MARVIN believed in what he called “keeping in touch.” He liked to know what was going on, both in the world and in the Army.
Accordingly he had his aide Lieutenant Byrd read to him for about an hour each morning. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings, when the courier pouches arrived from Algiers, he had the Lieutenant read him Various things from the pouch.
That Monday morning, the Lieutenant read him Ernie Pyle’s colon. and Pup Tent Poets from he Stars & Stripes, an article on Teller mines and S-mines in the Infantry Journal, a condensation of birth control in the Reader’s Digest, three situation reports from A.F.H.Q., a handful of fan letters arising from an article about the General in some magazine, and a letter of commendation of the General from Secretary Stimson, referring to a battle in Tunisia. This last had arrived several days before, and without being told, Lieutenant Byrd had had the sense to read it to the General every morning.
By the time these things were finished, the General was in an excellent mood. But as always seemed to be the case, when Lieutenant Byrd started in on the memoranda from Various officers, the old man gradually got angry.
Memoranda always seemed to be written about things that had gone