The Desolation of Roslavl
93
turn till at midday you receive a bit of bread. You get your death of cold and then they give you a little to eat.
—Ah, master, you need strength there, strength. Who is stronger, he receives.
—By force.
—Crushing other people, and not letting them get anything for themselves.
—By sheer force a strong man can get more than he needs. The weak man is crushed and bruised. And he freezes.
At the relief points every one is making superhuman exertions.
But how get even with this elemental onrush?
—Salt a river! Is that possible?—said someone to me in despair, at one of these points on the road. The relief stations and barracks of "Northern-Help" and Municipal Alliance stand on the high-road facing each other.
A whole settlement.
