station where they answered with their lives for the peace, order and regular
communicationoftheline,whileotherswerenotfarfromthebridge,inasmall
wooden shed at the far end of the square where on market days the municipal
scaleswerekeptandwherethelocal octroi waspaid.Theretoothehostageshad
toanswerwiththeirlives,shouldanyonedestroyordamagethebridge.
Pavlewassittingthereonacaféchair.Withhandsonkneesandbowedhead,he
lookedtheperfectpictureofamanwho,exhaustedaftersomegreateffort,had
sat down for a moment's rest, but he had been sitting there motionless in the
samepositionforseveralhours.Atthedoortwosoldiers,reservists,satonapile
ofemptysacks.Thedoorswereshutandtheshedwasdarkandoppressivelyhot.
When a shell from Panos or Goleš whistled overhead, Pavle swallowed and
listened to hear where it fell. He knew that the bridge had been mined and
thought of that continually, asking himself whether one such shell could ignite
the explosives should it penetrate to the charge. At every change of guard he
listenedtothenon-commissionedofficergivinginstructionstothesoldiers:'At
theleastattempttodamagethebridge,oratanysuspicioussignthatsuchathing
is being prepared, this man must be killed at once.' Pavle had got used to
listening to these words calmly as if they did not refer to him. The shells and shrapnel,whichoccasionallyexplodedsoneartheshedthatgravelandpiecesof
metalstrucktheplanks,disturbedhimmore.Butwhattormentedhimmostofall
werehislong,hisendlessandunbearable,thoughts.
Hekeptthinkingwhatwastohappentohim,tohishouseandhisproperty.The
more he thought, the more everything seemed like a bad dream. In what other
waycouldallthathadhappenedtohiminthelastfewdaysbeexplained?The
gendarmeshadtakenawayhistwosons,students,onthefirstday.Hiswifehad
remained at home, alone with her daughters. The great warehouse at Osojnica
had been burnt down before his eyes. His serfs from the nearby villages had
probablybeenkilledordispersed.Allhiscreditsoverthewholedistrict—lost!
His shop, the most beautiful shop in the whole town, only a few paces from
wherehewasnow,hadbeenshutandwouldprobablybepillaged,orsetonfire
by the shells. He himself was sitting in the semi-darkness of this shed,
responsiblewithhislifeforsomethingthatinno way dependedonhim;forthe
fateofthatbridge.
His thoughts whirled in his head; tumultuous and disordered as never before,
theycrossedandmingledandwereextinguished.Whatsortofconnectionhadhe
with that bridge, he who all his life had paid no attention to anything save his workandhisfamily?Itwasnothewhohadminedit,norhadhebombardedit.
Not even when he had been an apprentice and unmarried, had he ever sat on
the kapia and wasted his time in singing and idle jokes, like so many Višegrad youths.Allhislifepassedbeforehiseyes,withmanydetailswhichhehadlong
agoforgotten.
He remembered how he had come from the Sanjak as a fourteen-year-old boy,
hungryandinshabbypeasantsandals.HehadstruckabargainwitholdPeterto
servehimforonesuitofclothes,hisfoodandtwopairsofsandalsannually.He
hadlookedafterthechildren,helpedintheshop,drawnwaterandgroomedthe
horses. He had slept under the stairs in a dark, narrow cupboard without
windowswherehecouldnotevenliedownatfulllength.Hehadenduredthis
hardlifeand,whenhewaseighteen,hadgoneintotheshop'onsalary'.Hisplace
hadbeentakenbyanothervillageboyfromtheSanjak.Intheshophehadgotto
know and understand the great idea of thrift, and had felt the fierce and
wonderfulpassioninthegreatpowerthatthriftgave.Forfiveyearshehadslept
inalittleroombehindtheshop.Infiveyearshehadneveroncelitafireorgone
tosleepwithacandlebesidehim.Hehadbeentwenty-threewhenPeterhimself
hadarrangedamarriageforhimwithagoodandwell-to-dogirlfromČajniče.
Shehadbeenamerchant'sdaughterandnowbothofthemsavedtogether.Then
camethetimeoftheoccupationandwithitliveliertrade,easiergainandlower
expenses. He made good use of the profits and avoided the expenses. Thus he
was able to get a shop and began to make money. At that time it was not
difficult. Many then made money easily and lost it even more easily. But what
wasmadewashardtokeep.Hehadkepthisandeverydaymademore.When
these last years came and with them unrest and 'polities', he, though already
advanced in years, had tried to understand the new times, to stand up to them
and adapt himself to them, and to go through them without harm and without
shame. He had been Vice-President of the Municipality, President of the
Religious Community, President of the Serbian Choral Society 'Concord',
main,shareholder of the Serbian Bank and member of the executive committee
ofthelocalAgriculturalBank.Hehadtriedhisbest,accordingtotherulesofthe
marketplace, to make his way wisely and honestly between the contrary
influences which increased daily, without allowing his own interests to suffer,
without being regarded with suspicion by the authorities or brought to shame
beforehisownpeople.Intheeyesofthetownsmenhepassedforaninimitable
exampleofindustry,commonsenseandcircumspection.
Thus,formorethanahalfofanormalhumanexistencehehadworked,saved,
worried and made money. He had taken care not to hurt a fly, been civil to all
andlookedonlystraightaheadofhim,keepingsilentandmakingmoneyinhis
ownway.Andherewaswhereithadledhim;tositbetweentwosoldierslikethe
lowestofbrigandsandwaituntilsomeshellorinfernalmachineshoulddamage
the bridge and, for that reason, to have his throat cut or be shot. He began to think (and that pained him most of all) that he had worked and worried and
illusedhimselfallinvain,thathehadchosenthewrongpathandthathissons
and all the other 'youngsters' had been right, and that times had come without
measuresorcalculationsorwhichhadsomesortofnewmeasuresanddifferent
calculations;inanycasehisowncalculationshadbeenshowntobeinaccurate
andhismeasuresshort.
'That'sthewayofit,'saidPavletohimself,'that'stheway;everyoneteachesyou
and urges you to work and to save, the Church, the authorities and your own
commonsense.Youlistenandliveprudently,infactyoudonotliveatall,but
workandsaveandareburdenedwithcares;andsoyourwholelifepasses.Then,
allofasudden,thewholethingturnsupsidedown;timescomewhentheworld
mocks at reason, when the Church shuts its doors and is silent, when authority
becomesmerebrut
eforce,whentheywhohavemadetheirmoneyhonestlyand
with the sweat of their brows lose both their time and their money, and the violentwinthegame.Noonerecognizesyoureffortsandthereisnoonetohelp
oradviseyouhowtokeepwhatyouhaveearnedandsaved.Canthisbe?Surely
thiscannotbe?'Pavleaskedhimselfcontinually,andwithoutfindinganyanswer
went back to the point whence his thought had started—the loss of all that he
possessed.
Tryashemighttothinkofsomethingelse,hecouldnotsucceed.Histhoughts
returned continually to the point where they had started. Time crept by with
mortal slowness. It seemed to him that the bridge over which he had crossed
thousandsoftimesbuthadneverreallylookedat,nowlaywithallitsweighton
hisshoulderslikesomeinexplicableandfatefulburden,likeanightmarebutina
sleepfromwhichtherewasnoawakening.
ThereforePavlewentonsittingthere,huddledonhischairwithbowedheadand
shoulders. He felt the sweat oozing from every pore under his thick starched
shirt, collar and cuffs. It fell in streams from under his fez. He did not wipe it awaybutletitstreamdownhisfaceandfallinheavydropstothefloorandit
seemedtohimthatitwashislifethatwasdrainingawayandwasleavinghim.
Thetwosoldiers,middle-agedHungarianpeasants,remainedsilentandatebread
and ham sprinkled with paprika; they ate slowly, cutting off with a small
penknife first a piece of bread and then a slice of ham as if they were in their ownfields.Thentheytookamouthfulofwinefromanarmycanteenandlittheir
shortpipes.Puffingaway,oneofthemsaidsoftly:
'Eh,Ihaveneverseenamansweatsomuch.'
Thentheywentonsmokingincompletesilence.
But it was not only Pavle who sweated such bloody sweat and lost himself in
thatsleepfromwhichthereisnoawakening.Inthosesummerdays,onthatlittle
pieceofearthbetweentheDrinaandthedryfrontier,inthetown,inthevillages,
on the roads and in the forests, everywhere men sought death, their own or
others',andatthesametimefledfromitanddefendedthemselvesfromitbyall
themeansintheirpower.Thatstrangehumangamewhichiscalledwarbecame
more and more intense and submitted to its authority living creatures and
materialthings.
Notfarfromthatmunicipalshedadetachmentofanunusualarmywasresting.
The men were in white uniforms with white tropical helmets on their heads.
TheywereGermans,theso-calledSkadardetachment.Beforethewartheyhad
been sent to Skadar (Scutari in Albania) where they were to maintain law and order together with detachments from other nations, as part of an international
army.Whenwarbrokeout,theyhadreceivedorderstoleaveSkadarandplace
themselves at the disposal of the nearest Austrian Army command on the
Serbianfrontier.Theyhadcometheeveningbeforeandwerenowrestinginthe
hollow which separated the square from the marketplace. There, in a sheltered
corner, they awaited the order to attack. There were about 120 of them. Their
captain,aplumpreddishmanwhosufferedfromtheheat,hadjustbeencursing
atthegendarmeriesergeantDaniloRepac,cursinghimasonlyaseniorofficerof
the German army can curse, noisily, pedantically and without any sort of
consideration. The captain was complaining that his soldiers were dying of
thirst, that they had not even the most necessary supplies, since all the shops
nearby,whichwereprobablyfullofeverything,wereshutdespitetheorderthat
allshopsweretoremainopen.
'Whatareyouherefor?Areyougendarmesordolls?MustIdieherewithallmy
men?OrmustIbreakopentheshopslikearobber?Findtheownersatonceand
make them sell us provisions and something worth drinking! At once! Do you
understandwhatthatmeans?Atonce!'
Ateverywordthecaptaingrewmoreandmoreflushed.Inhiswhiteuniform,his
close-shavenheadredasapoppy,heseemedtoburnwithangerlikeatorch.
SergeantRepac,astounded,onlyblinkedandwentonrepeating:
'Iunderstand,sir.Atonce.Iunderstand.Atonce!'
Then,passingsuddenlyfromhiscatalepticstiffnesstofrenziedaction,heturned
andhurriedfromthemarketplace.Itseemedasifthesergeant,approachingtoo
closetothatcaptainflamingwithanger,hadhimselfbeentouchedbythatflame,
whichmadehimrun,curse,threatenandbeatallroundhim.
ThefirstlivingbeingwhomhemetinthecourseofhismadrushwasAlihodja,
who had just come down from his house to cast an eye on his shop. Looking
closely at the once familiar ' wachtmeister' Repac, now completely changed,
rushing towards him, the astonished hodja asked himself whether this savage
and maddened man was really the same 'wachtmeister' whom he had watched
for years, calm, dignified and humane, passing in front of his shop. Now this
sombre and infuriated Repac looked at him with new eyes which no longer
recognized anyone and saw only their own fear. The sergeant at once began to
shout, repeating what only a short time ago he had heard from the German
captain.
shopsopen?Foryoursake,Ihavehadto...'
Andbeforetheastonished hodja wasabletoutteraword,heslappedhimhard
ontherightcheeksothathisturbanslidfromhisrighteartohisleft.
Then the sergeant rushed frenziedly on to open other shops. The hodja set his turban straight, let down his door-shutter and sat on it, almost out of his mind
from astonishment. Around the shop crowded a swarm of strange-looking
soldiers in white uniforms such as he had never seen before. It seemed to
the hodja asifheweredreaming.Butinthesetimeswhenslapsfellfromheaven
henolongerfeltreallyastonishedatanything.
Sothewholemonthpassed,inpreliminarybombardmentofthebridgeandinthe
firingfromthesurroundinghills,insufferingandviolenceofeverykind,andin
theexpectationofworsemisfortunes.Inthefirstdaysthegreaternumberofthe
citizenshadalreadyleftthetownwhichnowlaybetweentwofires.Bytheend
ofSeptemberthecompleteevacuationofthetownbegan.Eventhelastofficials
were withdrawn, by night along the road which led over the bridge, for the
railwaylinehadalreadybeencut.Thenthearmywaswithdrawnlittlebylittle
from the right bank of the Drina. There remained only a small number of
defence squads, a few engineers' units and some gendarme patrols, until the
orderscameforthemtootoretire.
Thebridgeremainedasifundersentenceofdeath,butnonethelessstillwhole
anduntouched,betweenthetwowarringsides.
XXIV
Duringthenighttheskycloudedoverasifitwereautumn;thecloudsclungto
the
tops of the mountains and lingered in the valleys between them. The
Austrians had taken advantage of the darkness of the night to effect the
withdrawalofeventhelastdetachments.Alreadybeforedawntheywereallnot
onlyontherightbankoftheDrinabutontheheightsbehindtheLiještechain,
outofsightandoutofrangeoftheSerbianguns.
Atdaybreaktherewasafine,almostautumnal,rain.Inthatrainthelastpatrols
visitedhousesandshopsinthevicinityofthebridgetoseeiftherewereanyone
still in them. Everything was as if dead; the officers' mess, Lotte's hotel, the
ruinedbarracksandthosethreeorfourshopsattheentrancetothemarketplace.
But in front of Alihodja's shop they came upon the hodja who had just come downfromhishouseandletdownhisdoor-shutter.Thegendarmes,whoknew
the hodja asaneccentric,warnedhimmostseriouslytoshuthisshopatonceand
leavethemarketplace,foranylongerstayinthevicinityofthebridgewasmost
'dangerous to life' and strictly forbidden. The hodja looked at them as if they weredrunkanddidnotknowwhattheyweresaying.Hewantedtoreplythatlife
hadbeendangerousforalongtimepastandthateveryonewasmoreorlessdead
alreadyandonlywaitinghisturntobeburied,buthethoughtbetterofit,taught
by the bad experience of the last few days, and merely told them calmly and
naturally that he had only come to take something from the shop and would
returnhomeatonce.Thegendarmes,whowereevidentlyinahurry,warnedhim
oncemorethatheshouldmoveawayassoonaspossible,andwentonacrossthe
square to the bridge. Alihodja watched them marching away, their footfalls
inaudibleinthedustwhichthemorningrainhadturnedtoathick,dampcarpet.
He was still watching them as they crossed the bridge, half concealed by the
stoneparapet,sothattheycouldseeonlytheirheadsandshouldersandthelong
bayonets on their rifles. The first rays of sunlight struck on the heights of the ButkovoRocks.
All their orders were like this, severe, important and yet basically senseless,
thought Alihodja, and smiled to himself like a child who has outwitted his