Les
difícils contrasenyes que l'exèrcit utilitzava en aquell moment
eren una petita font de perill. Es tractava de les feixugues
contrasenyes dobles en què una paraula ha de ser contestada amb una
altra. En general, eren de naturalesa elevada i revolucionària, com
Cultura - Progreso,
o Seremos - Invencibles
-, sovint pels sentinelles analfabets era difícil recordar unes
paraules tan altisonants. Recordo que una nit la contrasenya era Cataluña
- Heroica i, un jove camperol
cara-rodó, anomenat Jaume Domenech, se'm va apropar perplex i em va
demanar:
"Heroica
- Què vol dir heroica?"Li vaig explicar que significava el mateix que valiente. Una mica més tard fent un tomb per la trinxera en la foscor el sentinella el va desafiar:
"Alto! Cataluña! "
"Valiente", va cridar Jaume, segur que ho estava dient bé.
Pum!
Per sort, el sentinella va errar el tret. En aquella guerra tothom havia errat un tret alguna vegada, era humà.
The
difficult passwords which the army was using at this time were the
minor source of danger. They were those tiresome double passwords in
which one word has to be answered by another. Usually they were of an
elevating and revolutionary nature, such as Cultura – progreso,
or Seremos – invencibles, and it was often impossible to get
illiterate sentries to remember these highfalutin' words. One night,
I remember, the password was Cataluña – heroica, and a
moon-faced peasant lad named Jaime Domenech approached me, greatly
puzzled, and asked me to explain.
“Heroica
– What does heroica mean?”
I told him
that it meant the same as valiente. A little while later he
was stumbling up the trench in the darkness, and the sentry
challenged him:
“Alto!
Cataluña!”
“Valiente!”
yelled Jaime, certain that he was saying the right thing.
Bang!
However,
the sentry missed him. In this war everyone always did miss everyone
else, when it was humanly possible.
Homage
to Catalonia, George Orwell
