|
Briefly Henry relates the routine of the hospital. Note how off-handedly he describes soldiers dying, the new graves in the garden, and the orderly whose job is to paint names on crosses. Understatement again.
The night before Henry is transferred to the American hospital in Milan, Rinaldi appears with a major from Henry\'s mess. The three get very drunk. Hemingway\'s lurching prose shows how even important facts of war are losing their meaning. It doesn\'t seem to matter who the United States declares war on. Countries are interchangeable. Japan is like France. The trio\'s plans for Henry in Milan involve nothing military, but center on La Scala, the city\'s famed opera house.
Then Rinaldi says he has a surprise for Henry: Catherine will be working at the American hospital, too. We can almost see Rinaldi\'s smirk: \"You go to live in a big city and have your English there to cuddle you.\"
The next day on the train to Milan Henry pays for his drunken night with a ferocious hangover.
|
