"Long time since you've had anything decent to eat, eh?" Kat asks one of the youngsters.
He grimaces. "For breakfast, turnip-bread—lunch, turnip-stew—supper, turnip-cutlets and turnip-salad." Kat gives a knowing whistle.
"Bread made of turnips? You've been in luck, it's nothing new for it to be made of sawdust. But what do you say to haricot beans? Have some?"
The youngster turns red: "You can't kid me."
Katczinsky merely says: "Fetch your mess-tin."
We follow curiously. He takes us to a tub beside his straw sack. It is nearly half full of a stew of beef and beans. Katczinsky plants himself in front of it like a general and says:
"Sharp eyes and light fingers! That's what the Prussians say."
We are surprised. "Great guts, Kat, how did you come by that?" I ask him.
"Ginger was glad I took it. I gave him three pieces of parachute silk for it. Cold beans taste fine, too."
Grudgingly he gives the youngster a portion and says: