At a critical moment one of Guy's soldiers asks for permission to go on leave, so that he can take part in a competition.
"Competition for what, Shanks?"
"The slow valse, sir. We've practised together three years now. We won at Salford last year. We'll win at Blackpool, sir, I know we will. And I'll be back in the two days, honest, sir."
"Shanks, do you realise that France has fallen? That there is every likelihood of the invasion of England? That the whole railway system of the country is disorganised for the Dunkirk men? That our brigade is on two hours' notice for active service? Do you?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then how can you come to me with this absurd application?"
"But, sir, we've been practising three years. We got a first at Salford last year. I can't give up now, sir."
"Request dismissed"
Evelyn Waugh.
ReplyDeleteBut couldn't tell you which book in the trilogy !
Quite right! But of course it's so easy to locate anything these days on the Internet, isn't it! For instance, I could search search for this sentence I've just written and Google would probably find it!
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