Oficiales (Officers)
En español
El director, un capitán de aspecto bonachón y cara de persona inteligente. Fachada perfecta para su cerebro rígido. El jefe de batallón, un héroe de la guerra de liberación y de muchos otros combates, que sólo llegó a teniente por faltarle todos los grados culturales posibles. Nada lo salva del mote de "carabela coja" al arrastrar desde su delgadez extrema una pierna inutilizada por una bala. El político del batallón, la caricatura perfecta del marrano, incapaz de decir su propio nombre sin equivocarse, de tratar a un subordinado con respeto ni a un superior con dignidad. Su ocupación: atiborrar la nevera de su oficina con la comida que sustrae de la porción de los alumnos y rodearla luego por una cuerda con marcas para detectar cualquier hurto. El jefe de la compañía, un infeliz que luchó en todas las guerras sin pasar de soldado raso, hasta que accede a la escuela y las formalidades obligan a darle grados de sargento. El jefe de pelotón, otro sargento, negro hasta las encías, salido de algún cañaveral para convertirse en instructor de infantería en un mes, ventaja que obtiene por saber leer y escribir.
In English (tran. by Andrew Hurley)
The principal (the "director") is a captain who gives the impression of an easygoing sort of guy. He also has an intelligent face, which is the perfect cover for his rigid mind. The battalion commander, a hero of the war of liberation and many other combats, managed to make liutenant only because he lacked every possible degree of culture. Nothing saves him from being called a "limping caravel" as he drags his skin-and-bones self around on a leg rendered useless by a bullet. The batallion political officer. The perfect caricature of a neanderthal, incapable of pronouncing his own name without making a mistake, incapable of treating a subordinate with respect or addressing a superior with dignity. His occupation: stuffing the refrigerator in his office with the food he steals from his students' mess and then wrapping it with twine knotted so he'll be able to detect any tampering. The company commander, a sad sack who fought in all the wars without being promoted past corporal until the day he came to the school and formalities required that he be given a sergeant's stripes. The platoon leader, another sargeant, black to the sole of his feet and the palm of his hands--even his gums black--who has emerged from some canefield to become, within a month, an infantry instructor, a position he obtains because he knows how to read and write.