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.

古屋雜憶 /古戰場

終於有日會一句句啃完這篇文章.

霍桑《古屋雜憶》(夏濟安譯):

#8

Come, we have pursued a somewhat devious track in our walk to the battle-ground. Here we are, at the point where the river was crossed by the old bridge, the possession of which was the immediate object of the contest.

我們不是要去看美國獨立戰爭的古戰場嗎？這一繞，可多走了不少路。現在到了，這個地方本來有一座橋，當年兩軍相爭者就是這個東西。

On the hither side grow two or three elms, throwing a wide circumference of shade, but which must have been planted at some period within the three-score years and ten that have passed since the battle day.

橋這一頭，有兩三棵榆樹，蔭影所蓋之處，地方倒也不少，可是樹還是戰後所栽，年壽頂多不過七十歲而已。

On the farther shore, overhung by a clump of elder bushes, we discern the stone abutment of the bridge. Looking down into the river, I once discovered some heavy fragments of the timbers, all green with half a century's growth of water moss; for during that length of time the tramp of horses and human footsteps have ceased along this ancient highway.

在河的彼岸，我們可以看得見在接骨木排垂下的石質橋墩。我有一次朝河裏一看，看見水裏浸了好幾塊粗重木頭，綠綠的長滿了青苔，因為這半個世紀以來，橋既不復存在，這條公路上已經很少有人馬走過了。

The stream has here about the breadth of twenty strokes of a swimmer's arm, a space not too wide when the bullets were whistling across. Old people who dwell hereabouts will point out the very spots on the western bank where our countrymen fell down and died; and on this side of the river an obelisk of granite has grown up from the soil that was fertilized with British blood.

河在這一段，大約有游泳家臂划二十次那麼的寬，但是在雙方槍彈交飛的時候，這點距離不好算寬的了。住在附近的父老會指給你看：西岸那幾處地方曾經有我們的同胞中彈倒下陣亡的。河的這一邊，豎有一塊花崗石的石碑，那裏的土地正浸透了英國人的血。

The monument, not more than twenty feet in height is such as it befitted the inhabitants of a village to erect in illustration of a matter of local interest rather than what was suitable to commemorate an epoch of national history. Still, by the fathers of the village this famous deed was done; and their descendants might rightfully claim the privilege of building a memorial.

碑高不過二十呎，用以紀念一次全國性的戰事，似嫌不夠宏偉，可是在村民眼光中，這樣一塊碑，紀念本地一件要事，也就是夠大的了。而且當時我方的戰士，就是本地村民的祖先，勒石建碑的事情，照理也應該由子孫們來擔任的。