The General of the Dead Army: A Novel by Ismail Kadare

Author:Ismail Kadare
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Classics, War
ISBN: 9781611454185
Publisher: Arcade Pub.
Published: 1963-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

15

HAVING LEFT THE ROAD and advanced for a while through fields the two vehicles were now skirting vineyards.

The general, map spread on his knees, glanced out occasionally through the window, knowing that at the same moment, in the cabin of the lorry behind with his copy of the self-same map also spread on his knees, the expert was probably glancing out of his window in exactly the same way, thus ensuring that there was no chance of their missing the precise spot at which they were supposed to stop.

On the right there is a line of tall poplars. Looking towards them you see the farm buildings beyond, and then further on still, a mill. The place is at the foot of the trees. So as to be able to locate the graves again more easily later we dug them in a V formation, the point towards the sea. Five on one side, five on the other, then the lieutenant at their head.

“Tell him to drive towards the poplars,” the general said. The priest translated the order to the driver. As they stepped out of the car the tops of the tall trees were quivering in the wind. The priest set off towards the site of the graves slightly ahead of the rest of the group, and uttered a cry of surprise.

“What is it?” the general asked as he caught up with him.

“Look,” the priest said, “look over there.”

The general turned his eyes in the direction indicated.

“What does it mean?” he said angrily.

At the foot of the poplars were two rows of opened graves forming a V. The trenches had presumably been dug some ten or fifteen days before, since the recent rains had half filled them with water.

“I just can’t understand it,” the priest said.

“Someone has come and opened these graves before us,” the general said. His voice quivered as he spoke.

“Here is the expert,” the priest said. “We shall see what he has to say.”

“What is it?” the expert asked in his turn as he approached.

Without a word the general gestured with one hand towards the trenches. The expert looked at them for a moment then shrugged his shoulders.

“That’s strange!” he said in a low voice.

“These graves have been opened without our authorization, without our knowledge,” the priest said. “What have you to say?”

Once more the expert shrugged.

“When will these provocations end I should like to know?” the general cried. “I shall take the matter to the highest authority immediately.”

“At the moment I can give you no explanation,” the expert said, “but I hope to be able to clear the matter up without delay. If you will only have a little patience.”

“Of course, of course,” the general said, fuming with fury.

The workmen and the two drivers had by now caught up and were also staring stupefied at the graves.

“Nothing like this has ever happened to us before,” the oldest one said.

The expert counted the graves for the second time as he rolled up his map.

“Listen,” he said turning to the lorry driver.

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