Page:Diary of a Prisoner in World War I by Josef Šrámek.pdf/30

 paths—make a bad move and fall down. There are 35 of us, mostly Czechs with Sergeant Roubík. Our commander is Theodor Tcheikovitch from Monte Negro, a first-class bastard. He looks like a fugitive convict. The boys immediately nicknamed him Babinský. It fits him perfectly. With an oak stick, he is always ready to earn recognition through slaps and blows, and he becomes a real nightmare for everyone.

We are assigned work on a railway construction here. The railway is routed along nothing but bridges, tunnels, and embankments. Dynamite has to be used to dig everything. The work is very hard. We sleep in the rocks like badgers, and I am cold, as I have neither coat nor blanket. Meals are all the same: beans with a bit of goat's meat for lunch and supper, thickened soup in the morning, and one loaf of bread daily.

I do not work the rock but go for bread and kitchen stuff every day. I must get up at 4:00 a.m. to bring the meat before 7. They carry it from the slaughterhouse to Glisura on carts. From there we have to drag it on our backs across the rocks for almost one hour's distance.

When there is no rain it is good. But when the rain starts, it goes on for days and days, and you can't get your feet out of the mud.