莫斯科的寒夜

第四十章, 劉紹銘補譯
(夏濟安原譯無此章, 見夏志清序)

It was the first day of summer. It was already warm when the patrol left the village.
那是夏天的第一天. 巡邏隊離開村莊時, 天氣已相當和暖了.

The lieutenant marched in front and the eleven men followed in single file.
中尉小隊長走在前頭, 帶著十一人成單行前進.

The lieutenant led them into a wood where it was cool and you could hear the dry twigs breaking underfoot.
他們走進一片樹林去, 涼沁沁的. 腳底走過, 地上的乾枝壓得拍拍作響.

Under the shady banks and on the north side of the trees there was still a little snow.
樹蔭下的河邊和向北的樹上, 還看得到一些殘雪.

It was only a small wood and it gave out onto a large grassy down.
樹林很小, 可是前面的草原卻非常闊大.

The men marched behind the lieutenant across the down.
隊伍跟著中尉步過草原.

The grass was almost ankle high and there were many early summer flowers, some primroses still, and bluebells.
草深沒脛, 初夏的花朵如櫻草花 風鈴草等到處可見.

Mitka picked some bluebells and threaded them through the bayonet socket of his rifle.
米德迦拔了些風鈴草, 結在步槍的刺刀插口上.

None of the men was talking, but some behind Mitka also picked flowers which they wound around their rifles.
十多個漢子都悶不哼聲. 跟在米德迦後邊的幾個也學他的模樣, 把拔來的花朵結在步槍上面.

It was warm and the men were sweating. They still wore their winter clothes.
天氣暖, 他們穿的還是冬天衣服, 直淌著汗.

After marching for an hour the lieutenant rested his men beside a stream.
約摸走了一小時, 中尉下令在一條小溪旁休息.

He wanted to rest himself and there was no political officer with the party.
他自己也想休息一下, 反正沒有政治指導員在旁監督.

He rested for ten minutes. After that they went on over the wide down.
休息了十分鐘, 他們又回到大草𠩤上走.

The country was the undulating steppeland of the South. They could hear the sound of gunfire in the distance.
這地區是南部的大草原, 地面起伏不平. 遠處的槍聲隱約可聞.

Mitka took some sunflower seeds from his pocket and began to munch them, spitting out the husks. Another man was chewing a turnip he had found near the village.
米德迦從口袋裡掏出一些向日葵種子, 放在嘴巴去嚼, 然後把殼吐出來. 有一個士兵卻咬著一條從村子附近撿來的蘿蔔.

The patrol had crossed the wide down and had come to a wood.
巡邏隊終於越過草原, 又到了一片樹林來.

As they approached the wood the lieutenant stopped. He could hear the sound of an airplane. The airplane sounded close to them, but the lieutenant could not see it.
中尉還沒有踏入樹蔭, 突然止步, 他聽到飛機的聲響. 可是, 聲音離他們雖然很近, 卻看不到飛機的踪跡.

Mitka had heard many such airplanes.
米迦德對這種飛機的聲音卻聽慣了.

He stepped out of the file and began to unbuckle his trousers. He had wanted to do this for the last hour and now was a convenient moment.
他離開隊伍走出來, 一邊解開褲帶. 他打這個主意已經想了好一個鐘頭, 現在機不可失.