Jamus and I are talking. We stick to unimportant subjects, distant things that belong to another world.
Jamus describes his service on a British warship. At night the ship sails under a starry sky, while one sailor keeps watch on the bridge, peers into the moonlit sky, and dreams of sad evenings in foreign lands. A group of sailors sit in a bar in Alexandria, cigarette ends lie in a puddle of beer on the table, and a one-eyed boy fills the glasses. Sad Scottish songs fill the air. A little whore timidly offers her thin body to drunken soldiers on the streets of La Valletta. Her cold lips lustlessly kiss their puffy faces ... in the far distance I feel sympathy for her, with her small round breasts and her skinny body.
I am amazed to notice that I have to answer a call of nature. Strange that my body is still functioning normally. "Come and take a shit!" I say to Jamus. He gets up, independent ofhis own will, like one hypnotized. We are herd animals who instinctively follow each other. If one of us eats, the rest get hungry. If one goes to sleep, the rest feel tired. I cut a path through the cacti with my knife. We walk a little distance, drop our trousers, and crouch.
Earlier, when we were recruits, we found this embarrassing. In Camp "Jonah" the toilets were open and arranged Idee a carousel. We sat next to each other and could see each other. In the first days we found it revolting. We went to the toilet when our comrades were on an exercise, or we looked for a more distant latrine. We were also shy of washing ourselves in the big common shower room. We stood in the corner and watched enviously as those with experience got undressed and jumped into the shower in full view of all.
"Virgins!" they shouted at us and sprayed us with the cold water. "There’s nothing to worry about. We won’t eat you!" And we shame-fully got undressed, slowly, in the hope that they would be finished and gone before we were completely naked.
Now we would take a shower in front of the whole battalion and we don’t mind taking a shit in a long line. It is even pleasant to talk while you are doing it. It encourages a philosophical state of mind.
We crouch for a long time between the cacti. The bad food, the irregular mealtimes, and the huge quantities of watermelon that we have been consuming have done nothing for our digestion. We all suffer from diarrhea. Suddenly Jamus laughs out loud.