suerte!». Había un gran contraste entre su pesimismo universal y su alegría
I stopped at a barber shop and was shaved and went home to the hospital. My leg was as well as it would get for a long time. I had been up for examination three days before.
There were still some treatments to take before my course at the Ospedale Maggiore was finished and I walked along the side street practising not limping. An old man was cutting silhouettes under an arcade. I stopped to watch him.
Two girls were posing and he cut their silhouettes together, snipping very fast and looking at them, his head on one side. The girls were giggling. He showed me the silhouettes before he pasted them on white paper and handed them to the girls.
—Son hermosas —dijo—. ¿Y usted, Tenente?
Las chicas se marcharon mirando sus siluetas y riendo. Eran chicas simpáticas. Una de ellas trabajaba en la tienda de vinos enfrente del hospital.
—De acuerdo —dije.
—Quítate la gorra.
“No. Con él puesto.”
—No será tan hermoso —dijo el viejo—. Pero —se animó—, será más militar.
Cortó con las tijeras el papel negro, luego separó las dos capas, pegó los perfiles en una cartulina y me los entregó.
¿Cuánto cuesta?