Viewing page 71 of 150

This transcription has been completed. Contact us with corrections.

-70-

aeroplanes flew over us. The forerunners traced long white lines across the blue sky: aerial trails to be followed by the bombers. We could see bombs falling on Florence. Decidedly Florence is not an open city: out of doors we feel part of the tragedy taking place so very near us. We duck our heads when the planes are low and menacing for it would seem our hill has become the target. At first Antonio would stand up outside the trench to point out the planes and count the falling bombs, but his wife finally pulled him down.
The Professor who does not want to experience another house falling on him, ran to the fields with his two maids but as there was no time to reach the canal, he sought refuge near the potatoe patch. The Signora S. who seems to have little faith in the expensive refuge set up by her engineer, went to the other side of the garden wall and sat under the trees close to the chicken coop. I follow my own 'infallible instinct', she told us, 'and besides I must have something over my head in order not to see 'ces animaux là-haut'- she came to look at our new trench but refused to enter it. Had not her architect who planned the great subterranean refuge under the Fiat factories told her that when a bomb falls near a trench the earth has a way of closing in and crushing one to death. She made us feel that we were literally soliciting death from graves already dug. Then following her own 'infallible instinct' she left us to seek [[strikethrough]] shelter [[/strikethrough]]

Transcription Notes:
like on page 69, aeroplanes is spelt as one word, and I elected to keep it as I believe that to be correct for the time. Change it if it seems fit. arguably the first colon should be a semi-colon. "Potatoe" is spelt with an e at the end, however I believe this to be correct for the time there is an extra "'" in the quotes of the second paragraph, i left it in