Word: vierbein
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...story is as old as reveille. In a prewar barracks town, Gunner Asch and his friend Vierbein run afoul of discipline and authority in an artillery battery. The trouble with Vierbein is that the mere sight of a corporal or a sergeant is enough to reduce him to terrified obedience. He is an unsoldierly-looking fellow with a built-in knack for getting into trouble (when he is detailed to beat carpets for the sergeant major's wife, she offers herself to him on a carpet just as her husband comes along). Inevitably, he is a butt...
...friend Asch suffers from no such fears of the military. A bright, thoughtful type with a gyroscopic sense of self-preservation, he hates the whole military setup but manages to land all the cozy details while creating the impression that he is a first-rate soldier. While Vierbein works himself to death without reward, Asch's brilliantly planned loafing brings him a recommendation for corporal...