一战中,在意大利救护车队服役的美国中尉弗雷德里克·亨利爱上了英军护士凯瑟琳·巴克利。亨利在一次敌军轰炸中负伤,凯瑟琳在医院护理他,俩人共同度过了一段愉快的时光,后来,凯瑟琳怀孕了,亨利重返前线,他发现战友里纳尔迪因厌战而情绪消沉。在部队撤退中,亨利化装逃跑去与凯瑟琳相会,中途历经艰险。不久,他身份暴露,遭到追捕,俩人便一起逃往瑞士,在那里他们等待自己的孩子出生,然而,等到的却是婴儿夭折,凯瑟琳身亡,亨利孤身单影,漂泊异乡。
亨利与凯瑟琳的爱情悲剧提示了那场荒唐战争留给青年一代难以愈合的精神创伤。

That morningthemajorin hcarge oftheward asked me if feltthat I could trave the next day．I saidI could．Hc saidthen dlcvwonid shipme OUt earlyin
themonfing．Hc saidlwould bebeRcr offmakingthetrip now beforeit gottoo 110t．
Whclltheylmd you up out ofbedto carry youintothe dressing-roomyou
couldlook out ofthcwindow and$CCthe ncw gravesinthe garden．A 80Idicr sat
outsidethe doorthat opened onto dlc garden，making CFOSSCS and painting on
them the rifles，rank，and regiment ofthemenwhowcrc buriedinthc~~vctrdcn．
Hc also ran errands for thc ward．and in his spare timc made me a cigarette．
1igjtcr Out of an cmpty Austrian ritlc—camidgc．，Ih：doctors were vcry nice and
seemed very capable．They wcrc anxious t0 ship me to Milan．whcere there wcrc
better X-ray facilidcs and whcrc．afh tIlc operation．I could takc mcchanico．
flmapy．1wanted c0 got0Milantoo．Theywantedto getus all OUtand back as
far as possible because all thc beds wcrc needed for the offensive，when it should
Sm．
The nigbtbeforeIIcRthefidd hospitalRinaldi cameinto sccme wicllthe
makpr orfrom 011r mess．They said that 1 would go to an American hospiml in
Milanthat hadjustbeeninstalled．SomeAmerican ainbniance units wcrctobe
sent down，andthis hospitalwouldlook afterthem andany otherAmericans on
8~~rviceinItaIv．Therewcremanyinthc Red C~~085．ne States had dcdared
war onGermany，but not onAustria．
The Italians were sure America would dedarc wal"on Ausaia too．and they
we．re very excited about any Americans coming down。even the Red Cross．
They askcdmeifIthoughtPresidentWilsonwould dcclarewar onAmtria andI
saiditwas only amaRcr ofday．1 did not know whatwe had against AustriⅡ．0
but it seemed logical that they~~onid declare war on her if they did on
Germany．They askedmcifwcwould dcclarewar onTurkey．I saidthatwas
doubtful．Twkey ,I said，was national bird，0 but the ioke trailslated so
badly and they weFe 80 puzzled and suspicious that I said“yes．we would probably
declare war on Turkey．And on Bulgaria?We had drunk several glasses of brandy
and I said yes by God on Bulgaria too and on Japan．But，they said。Japan is an
ally of England．You Call’t trust the bloody English．ne Japanese want Hawaii，I
Baid．Where is Hawaii?It is in the Pacific Ocean．Whv do the Japanese want it?
11ley don’t really want it，I said．That is all talk．11le Japanese are a wondefful
little people, fond of dancing and light wines. Like the French, said the major.
We will get Nice0 and Savoia ~~f~~om the French. We will get Corsica and all the
Adriatic coastline, Rinaldi said. Italy win return to the splendours of Rome, said
the major. I don' t like Rome. I said. It is hot and foll of fleas. You don' t likeRome? Yes, I love Rome. Rome is the mother of nations. 1 will never forget
Romulus suckling the Tiber. ~~What? Nothing. Let' s all go to Rome. Let' s go to
Rome to-night and never come back. Romc is a beautiful city, said the major.
The mother and father of nations, I said. Roma is feminine, said Rinaldi. It
cannot be the father. Who is the father, then, the Holy Ghost? Don' tblaspheme. I wash' t blaspheming, I was asking for information. You arednmk, baby. Who made me drunk? I made you drunk, said the major. I madeyou drunk because I love you and because America is in the war. Up to the hilt,I said. You go away in the morning, baby. Rinaldi said. To Rome, I said.No, to Milan. To Milan, said the major, to the Crystal Palace,~~to the Cova~~to Campari , ~~ to Bifli ' s, ~~ to the gaUeria . ~~ You lucky boy. To the GraaItalia, ~~ I said, where I will borrow money from George. To the Scala, ~~ saidRinaldi. You will go to the Scala. Every night, I said. You won' t be able toafford it every night, said the major.
The tickets arc very expensive. I win draw a sight draft~~ on my
grandfather, I said. A what? A sight draft. He has to pay or I go to jail. Mr
Cunningham at the bank does it. I live by sight drafts. Can a grandfather jail a
patriotic grandson who is dying that Italy may live? Live the American
Gan'baldi, said RinMdi. Viva the sight drafts, I said. We must be quiet, said
the major. Already we have been asked many times to be quiet. Do you go to-
morrow reaily, Federicoz He goes to the American hospital, I tell you, Rinaldi
said. To the beautiful nurses. Not the nurses with beards of the field hospital.
Yes, yes, said the major, I know he goes to the American hospital. I don' t
mind their beards, I said. If any man wants to raise a beard, let him. Why
don't you raise a beard, Signor Maggiore? It could not go in a gas-mask. Yes,
it conld. Anything can go in a gas-mask. I've vomited into a gas-mask. Don't be so loud, baby, Rinaldi said. We all know you have been at the front. Oh,
you fine baby, what will I do while you are gone.'? We must go, said the major.
This become* sentimental. Listen, I have a surprise for you. Your English. You
Know? The English you go to see every night at their hospital? She is going to
Milan too. She goes with another to be at the American hospital. They had not
got nurses yet from America. I talked to-day with the bead of their riparto.
They have too many women here at the front. They send some back. How do
you like that, baby? All right. Yes? YOU go to live in a big city and have your
English there to cuddle you. Why don' t I get wounded? Maybe you wiU, I
said. We must go, said the major. We drink and make noise and disturb
Federlco. Don' t go. Yes, we must go. Good-bye. Good luck. Many things. ~~
Giaou. Ciaou. Ciaou. Come back quickly, baby. Rinaldi kissed me. You smell
of lysol, Good-bye, baby. Good-bye. Many things. The major patted my
shoulder. 'They dptoed out. I found I was quite drunk, but went to sleep.
……~