A Fable

The runner learns that the airplanes were firing blank rounds. He talks to Sutterfield about the arrival of the German general on the airbase and the need to “make it look all regular, all orthodox” (311) to anyone watching. The generals cannot afford to let the men know that war can be stopped if the soldiers simply refuse to fight. The runner has a plan: He believes that the soldiers should cross no-man’s land to the German trenches, leaving their weapons behind. He believes that the Germans will see this gesture of peace and the war will end. Sutterfield plans to go with him. They visit the sentry, who has been under arrest since he attacked the runner. They attack the guards and free the sentry from his incarceration. Escorting the reluctant sentry through the trenches, they speak to the rest of the troops. The runner tries to convince the other soldiers that the generals are conspiring to restart “this ghastly and incredible contretemps” (319). Despite the sentry’s panic and reluctance, the men begin to run into no-man’s land. From the other trenches, German soldiers begin to emerge, similarly empty handed. A barrage of artillery shells begins. The sentry is killed, and the runner is severely injured.

Later, as night falls, Levine walks around the airbase. He eats a meal and talks to people about the men who climbed out of their trench, met the unarmed enemy in no-man’s land, and were then decimated. He retrieves his flight overalls, which have now nearly been entirely burned up by the phosphorus tracer blanks used during the arrival of the German general. Taking a pistol, he enters alone into a toilet cubicle and turns off the gun’s safety.

The old marshal meets with his friend, the Quartermaster General, who asks the marshal to affirm that he met with a German general and that unarmed men from both sides were killed several hours before in no-man’s land. He speaks of the hierarchy of generals who have perpetuated the war by killing their own men rather than allow it to end with a mutiny. Once, the Quartermaster General believed that the marshal had the power to redeem and absolve humanity. Now, he has lost faith in his old friend and wishes to resign. The marshal explains that they learned about the corporal after one of the 13 mutinous regiment betrayed him. The traitor is named Polchek, and his betrayal allowed the high command to intervene “in time” (330) to avoid a complete end to the war. The Quartermaster accuses the marshal of being afraid, pointing out that he needed to ally with the Germans to triumph over his own men, people who simply did not want to fight any longer. The marshal plans to offer the corporal a reprieve and an escape from execution, by which he hopes to undermine the “gesture and martyrdom” (332) of the corporal’s death. Horrified, the Quartermaster leaves.

The 13 men of the mutinous regiment are given a final meal. The corporal sits at the head of the table and passes around the food. They debate whether they should say a prayer before eating until something quick is uttered in Latin. As they eat, someone notices that Polchek has lost his appetite. He tells the corporal that he has a “bad belly” and insistently raises a toast “to peace” (338). Then, the dinner is interrupted by the guards and Polchek is taken away. One of the men named Pierre Bouc is also taken away. According to the corporal, Bouc only joined their regiment in the previous days, and he is not known to anyone. Bouc agrees that he does not know the mutineers. He is taken away with Polchek.

Shortly after, the sergeant of the guards separates the corporal from the remaining 10 men. The corporal is taken to a car where the old marshal is waiting inside. They drive silently to a hill nearby, where an old Roman citadel is located. The marshal speaks to his son, the corporal, about the end of the war. He believes that the Germans will sue for peace within a year and that this peace will last “for a little while” (344). The Germans are the best soldiers in the world, he believes, as they fight for glory. This is why they will lose the war. He offers the corporal his car and papers which will allow him to travel anywhere in the world. He points out that Polchek betrayed the corporal and that the other man denied him. Polchek will be executed, and the other men allowed to go, the marshal says, provided that the corporal flees Europe. The corporal is reluctant, insisting that his 10 remaining followers will continue to spread his message, so the marshal offers him an alliance as father and son. He insists that the corporal is caught in a paradoxical situation he cannot win. The corporal again refuses. The marshal declares the corporal’s goal of seeking peace is futile, he explains, as humanity will continue to develop greater and more terrible means of waging war. Back at the building where the men are being held, the struggling and scared Pierre Bouc denies knowing the corporal once again. The corporal forgives Bouc and bids goodbye to his father.

The sergeant escorts the corporal to a cell which already holds two other condemned men. One of the men introduces himself as Lapin and introduces his fellow inmate with the nickname Horse. They were arrested for killing an old woman during a botched robbery. Lapin insists that they were simply trying to “get to Paris” (359); Paris is also the only word Horse will say. Lapin’s story is interrupted by the sergeant, who takes the corporal away again. This time, he is taken to the prison commandant to receive a final blessing before his execution the following day. The priest reiterates the marshal’s offer of an escape. Gragnon will also be executed if the corporal refuses, the priest says. The corporal resents this extortion attempt. The priest describes the execution of Jesus Christ by the Romans and the founding of the Catholic Church, as well as the spread of Christianity in the wake of Christ’s martyrdom. The priest falls to his knees and asks the corporal to save him as well. The corporal pulls him to his feet and tells him to leave. The priest wanders through the prison compound, feeling “disorientated” (369). He thinks about the corporal and asks a passing guard for use of a bayonet. Taking the sharp bayonet, he stabs himself in the abdomen in the same way that Christ was stabbed while on the cross. He cries as he feels himself die.

A small French car transports three unfamiliar American soldiers through the town. They arrive at the town hall, where one of the soldiers—a man named Buchwald—leads the others inside. The youngest of the men is the son of an Iowan farmer who promised his fiancé that he will mark everywhere he goes in France on a map. Buchwald questions whether he will want to remember this particular assignment, for which they have all volunteered. The third man, an African American named Philip Manigault Beauchamp, is an undertaker. A sergeant-major enters and hands the men a German pistol for their assignment. They are told to shoot Gragnon from the front with a German bullet, whereupon they will claim that he was killed in the planned attack on Monday. He will receive a medal and praise for his bravery; the temporary peace will be completely covered up. Gragnon, however, wants to be shot in the back so that “the whole world see that not the enemy but his own men did it” (377). The three men are led to Gragnon’s cell. Inside, the Iowan panics. Beauchamp and Buchwald wrestle with Gragnon and shoot him in the wrong place. Buchwald sends Beauchamp out for a candle to plug up the wound with wax so that they can shoot him again.