Page:Diary of a Prisoner in World War I by Josef Šrámek.pdf/39

 We marched all day; in the evening we arrived in an Arnaut village as it began to rain hard. The commander wanted us to live in kutchas but the Arnauts were locked inside and didn't want to open. Our guards broke the gates after a long and useless negotiation, and we moved in. But we are now in the rain again because the roof is full of holes.

Steblova is a small village. We buy potatoes as small as cherries. Arnauts sell us baked pumpkins and corn flour, trading for underwear or boots. A kitchen has been established here; the ktichenkitchen [sic] crew boil water with a few green leaves twice a day. Bread is available only sometimes.

It started to freeze and snow. We looked for timber and dismantled the fences. There was no sign of a fence in 3 days. Arnauts dismantled and hid the rest. I made pasta balls and other specialties from corn flour. It was not greasy, and it was unsalted, but everybody liked it—though not even dogs would eat it back home.

Sad times—no bread or meals for 3 days, and yet we have to work. We are dying for food. It is raining; the creek flooded the road, and the supplies can't reach us. We boil corn and rose hips. I traded a little corn flour for a shirt and underwear. The Arnauts do not want Serb