The Mistery of Belicena Villca not abandon us in Hell . You are a Warrior of Heaven and Hell , a Man of Honor , and you will know how to get us out of here ! -- Such a conviction , it is obvious to clarify , deeply impressed me .
– Are we in Hell ? Yes we have come a long way ! – commented Von Grossen ironically . It is possible then that the son of a bitch Schaeffer is nearby , as this is the most appropriate place for him .
Of course , no one imagined that Von Grossen ' s joke corresponded to the strictest reality : the traitor and the German expedition were close , very close to there . However the journey did not resume until the next morning , on my initiative . I wanted everyone to rest and I looked for trivial excuses to justify the stop . I explained , to the no longer so hasty Standartenführer , that I needed to " reflect " on what was seen and heard , and review the orders of the Daivas dogs . And I think that for the first time on the trip , from Bhutan , everyone internally thanked having to waste a day on the Threshold of the Valley of the Immortal Demons .
Camaraderie is not a quantifiable bond , a measurable relationship , a ratio between peers . It is not a mere affective link , like friendship , but spiritual coincidence , identity of ideals that are carried out simultaneously . Camaraderie is determined by absolute instants : the time and the space of the event ; but it lacks an extensive temporal dimension ; that is to say , camaraderie does not admit a category of duration , it is inconceivable a permanent comrade , like a friend . Camaraderie produces Comrades of the act , of the coincident circumstance ; it implies the meeting of two or more , in the same moment , with a common ideal that is made concrete . Friendship , on the contrary , is temporally extensive and spatially limiting and encompassing ; it consists of a thick sentimental link , almost measurable , that unites persons regardless of the event in which they participate . Friendship is independent from any ethical norm because it springs from the heart , like any affective relationship . In the camaraderie , on the contrary , Honor is always present . It is demanded not to question the moral conduct of a friend ; it is an obligation , instead , to observe the ethical attitude of a Comrade : One could betray the country , with help from a friend . But it is only possible to die for the fatherland , with the help of a Comrade .
Of the opposition between friendship , affective , and camaraderie , spiritual , it becomes clear why the traitor manages to extend his betrayal in time , " forever ", analogous to friendship , and why the hero must demonstrate his courage in the act of an instant , an instant that Honor , and the ethics of humility , oblige to later forget : that instant of the hero , which has implied all its value in the act of its occurrence , is the absolute instance of the Comrades , the perfect coincidence of those who will fight for the same ideal . Because , and the clarification is evident , the instant of the hero is a time for Kshatriyas , for Warriors , that is , for Comrades .
In a trench , a chief and ten soldiers are sheltering . It suddenly falls inside a deadly grenade . A soldier throws himself on it and softens the explosion with his body : he has died but has saved everyone else ; he is a hero . It should be noted , in this example , that the hero , in his absolute instance , is the charismatic leader of the group . Let ' s take a good look : this is a professional army , there are hierarchies and military ranks , superiors and subordinates , bosses and soldiers . However , that external organization , that superficial order , does not count against the imponderable Death ; the internal forces of human order they are powerless to oppose the dissolving power of Death . When the grenade falls in the trench , only Death and the men who are going to die are real : in that instant of terror there are no superiors and subordinates , bosses and soldiers , but men who are going to die . But someone decides to oppose the body to Death . He thinks in an instant and decides : he will stop Death , he will not let it pass beyond himself . It is not a suicide : it is an act of giving one ' s life in favor of an ideal . " I die so that they triumph ."
First act : The grenade falls into the trench and the grenade is Death : in front of It , a group of men is going to die .
Second act : A man rises from his own humanity and decides to “ die alone and save them ”, “ so that they triumph ”. And whoever works that way is neither chief nor soldier , for courage does not require hierarchies , but the hero . Here is the miracle : a soldier seizes the absolute instance and ceases to be soldier to become a hero . And there are no more bosses or soldiers , not even men who are going to die , but the hero and his Comrades .
His companions , chief and soldiers , are the Comrades who coincide together with him in the act of Death . But , above all acts , there is the objective of the war , the ideal of the warrior , the fatherland or perhaps a national goal . The attainment of the ideal , then , needs the fact of life . Death , in that case , is the Enemy . Hence , stopping Death , preventing it from taking the life of those who fight for the ideal , is an act of service to the ideal , outside of all regulations . If not , the act of the hero would be a mere suicide and the survivors would save a meaningless life . But the life rescued from Death has a meaning : the triumph of the ideal . The hero throws himself on the grenade but he says very
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