The Blessings of Kontadan

Kontadan was bitten by a horse which had come out of nowhere and charged him, the wound was quite terrible. A stupor has clouded the men and only four of us committed to action while all the others on the street chewed their bread and stared listlessly. Myself, Varsano, a private named Gualem, and finally at Kontadan's order, Mepra, once the sharpest shot among us, took our rifles as well. The throng on the street watched it silently, trans-fixed by this aberration.