For Whom the Bell Tolls - Ernest Hemingway [146]
They are brave but stupid people, he thought. But they have sense enough now not to attack us again until the planes come. Unless, of course, they have a mortar coming. It would be easy with a mortar. The mortar was the normal thing and he knew that they would die as soon as a mortar came up, but when he thought of the planes coming up he felt as naked on that hilltop as though all of his clothing and even his skin had been removed. There is no nakeder thing than I feel, he thought. A flayed rabbit is as well covered as a bear in comparison. But why should they bring planes? They could get us out of here with a trench mortar easily. They are proud of their planes, though, and they will probably bring them. Just as they were so proud of their automatic weapons that they made that stupidness. But undoubtedly they must have sent for a mortar too.
One of the men fired. Then jerked the bolt and fired again, quickly.
“Save thy cartridges,” Sordo said.
“One of the sons of the great whore tried to reach that boulder,” the man pointed.
“Did you hit him?” Sordo asked, turning his head with difficulty.
“Nay,” the man said. “The fornicator ducked back.”
“Who is a whore of whores is Pilar,” the man with his chin in the dirt said. “That whore knows we are dying here.”
“She could do no good,” Sordo said. The man had spoken on the side of his good ear and he had heard him without turning his head. “What could she do?”
“Take these sluts from the rear.”
“Qué va,” Sordo said. “They are spread around a hillside. How would she come on them? There are a hundred and fifty of them. Maybe more now.”
“But if we hold out until dark,” Joaquín said.
“And if Christmas comes on Easter,” the man with his chin on the ground said.
“And if thy aunt had cojones she would be thy uncle,” another said to him. “Send for thy Pasionaria. She alone can help us.”
“I do not believe that about the son,” Joaquín said. “Or if he is there he is training to be an aviator or something of that sort.”
“He is hidden there for safety,” the man told him.
“He is studying dialectics. Thy Pasionaria has been there. So have Lister and Modesto and others. The one with the rare name told me.”
“That they should go to study and return to aid us,” Joaquín said.
“That they should aid us now,” another man said. “That all the cruts of Russian sucking swindlers should aid us now.” He fired and said, “Me cago en tal; I missed him again.”
“Save thy cartridges and do not talk so much or thou wilt be very thirsty,” Sordo said. “There is no water on this hill.”
“Take this,” the man said and rolling on his side he pulled a wineskin that he wore slung from his shoulder over his head and handed it to Sordo. “Wash thy mouth out, old one. Thou must have much thirst with thy wounds.”
“Let all take it,” Sordo said.
“Then I will have some first,” the owner said and squirted a long stream into his mouth before he handed the leather bottle around.
“Sordo, when thinkest thou the planes will come?” the man with his chin in the dirt asked.
“Any time,” said Sordo. “They should have come before.”
“Do you think these sons of the great whore will attack again?”
“Only if the planes do not come.”
He did not think there was any need to speak about the mortar. They would know it soon enough when the mortar came.
“God knows they’ve enough planes with what we saw yesterday.”
“Too many,” Sordo said.
His head hurt very much and his arm was stiffening so that the pain of moving it was almost unbearable. He looked up at the bright, high, blue early summer sky as he raised the leather wine bottle with his good arm. He was fifty-two years old and he was sure this was the last time he would see that sky.
He was not at all afraid of dying but he was angry at being trapped on this hill which was only utilizable as a place to die. If