The Country Doctor
Maalaislaakari
In a deserted village between the trenches, an old doctor is trying to carry on living as he did before the war. In the evenings, he bathes his feet in water brought by his housekeeper. There is still hot water, but the dogs have become wild scavengers and a dead horse in the yard and the cannons in the nearby town all threaten the peaceful life. The night bell rings and the doctor has to go into the besieged town to make a sick call. A dying child, tied to its bed, weakly witnesses how the frail doctor is bullied by black marketeers. Third and final part of Lillqvist’s Kafka trilogy.