That was all a lie. It was all a lie both ways. You did not need a girl unless you thought about
them. He learned that in the army. Then sooner or later you always got one. When you were
really ripe for a girl you always got one. You did not have to think about it. Sooner or later it
could come. He had learned that in the army.
Now he would have liked a girl if she had come to him and not wanted to talk. But here at home
it was all too complicated. He knew he could never get through it all again. It was not worth the
trouble. That was the thing about French girls and German girls. There was not all this talking.
You couldn't talk much and you did not need to talk. It was simple and you were friends. He
thought about France and then he began to think about Germany. On the whole he had liked