[Gutenberg 40507] • The Challenge of the Dead / A vision of the war and the life of the common soldier in France, seen two years afterwards between August and November, 1920

Excerpt from The Challenge of the Dead: A Vision of the War and the Life, of the Common Soldier in France, Seen Two Years Afterwards Between, August and November, 1920

The cobbled way to Bruges is not marked by destruction. The trees give shade, the houses stand, the fields are ploughed. Alice in an estaminet says she learned French from the French prisoners kept there - her bar used to be crowded with them. The Belfry of Bruges stands against the sky ahead - as if lifted out of the plain up to heaven itself.

You cross a canal which looks like a moat, and are in Bruges itself, a perfectly whole, undamaged, serene and peaceful city. Trams, shops, carts pulled by dogs, rows of estaminets, old gateways, old churches, and then the Grande Place. The broad market-place is empty, but one sits facing the great tower and listens to the ever-repeating chimes of the bells - silver in the evening hour. It is - no, it is impossible - yes, it is The Rosary which is being played by the bells.