In Another Country

-          Ernest Hemingway (1898-1961)

 It was autumn, so it was cold. The narrator was in Milan, Italy. He, a wounded American soldier, used to go to the hospital every afternoon. He was having treatment by a machine. His knee did not bend. The doctor who operated the machine used to console him by saying that he would be able to play football again.

There was also a major, who was an Italian, having the machine treatment. He had a small hand like a baby’s. He had been the greatest fencer in Italy before the First World War. The doctor used to show him a photo of successful treatment of withered hand like his. But both of them had no faith in the machine.

The narrator met three other wounded soldiers of his age. They had also got the same medals as he had. When they walked in the street, the people hated them for being soldiers. Though the three boys hated the narrator because he was an American, they had to accept him as a friend against outsiders. They entered a café and found its waitresses to be the most patriotic in Italy.

The major said that the machine was a nonsense thing because it was being experimented on them. He said the narrator should not marry after his recovery because he should not place himself in a position to lose. His wife who was very young had just died of pneumonia. He was weeping. He told the hospital staff to turn off the machine and went away. After three days, he returned and restarted treatment.