Page:Diary of a Prisoner in World War I by Josef Šrámek.pdf/35



Having marched all day, we arrived in Prokuplya at 10. We were crammed into cafés. We slept crowded on the floor. The next day we moved to a meadow. It keeps on raining all day and all night. I am drenched. It keeps on raining. I bought timber for 3 dinars, made a campfire, and tried to dry myself a bit. We moved to another meadow.

We arrived in Korshumliya and slept in a café the first night. Our team was divided there. One half went with Theodor to repair roads somewhere. Our officers were camped there. Misery, hunger, and lice were beginning to appear. We went all day over hills and through, no rests, road or no road. Mud was everywhere, and it kept on raining. We reached a village in early evening, but there was no place for us, so we went to a meadow. Sitting in the water, I was trembling from cold as it was raining hard. When the rain stopped for a while, we made a fire with great effort. But a storm came, and we had to run away from the flood. It rained very hard, and the thunder roared all night. This was one of the worst nights I've experienced.

In the morning we marched on. My wet blankets weigh three times their dry weight; we are fatigued, sleepless, hungry. We have half of a loaf bread per day. Happily, I have saved some money.