Trafika Europe 14 - Italian Piazza

Edgardo Franzosini

injured and suffering soldiers were arriving from the front every day, in addition to the people whom the hospital trains had already evacuated from the south and center of the country, from the now lost provinces of Liège, Namur, and Brabant. Strange that Rembrandt had noticed nothing, after hovering around the station for days, despite being in the grips of a mi ld form of somnambul ism. “Do you know how to dress an arm, stop a hemorrhage, or administer medicine?” they asked him. “No,” repl ied Rembrandt. “You look young and strong: I ’m sure you can handle the poles of a stretcher.” After an hour of intensive training, during which they insti l led in him a few rudimentary notions about the transportation of the wounded, as wel l as how to monitor them ( it ’s important, they explained, to protect the wounded from themselves, to prevent them from doing stupid things or, worse, frommaking any rash movements), Rembrandt entered the ranks of the DSTP, the dispensés du service en temps de paix , those exempted from mi l itary service during peacetime. The other stretcher- bearers were mainly teachers who were on in their years, musicians from the town band, seminarians and priests ( it ’s easy to reawaken the faith of soldiers over whom death is hovering, leading them to pray, to confess, and thus prepare themselves for eternal happiness) . Rembrandt learned immediately that the main

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