他们已不再变老（2018）

当然了 前线没有卫生设施
‘Of course, there were no sanitary arrangements.
他们就挖了一条沟槽
They’d dig a trench
在对面立根杆子
and stick a pole across.
一回可以有七八个人坐在上面
You’d get about seven or eight chaps on the pole.’
天哪 上个厕所真的太可怕了
‘God! To have a clear out was terrible.
人们习惯了上厕所时毫无隐私可言
People used to go to the toilet with no privacy.’
因为我天性非常腼腆 所以如果
‘Being rather a shy nature, if I pissed
和别人一起撒尿 我会有点紧张
with somebody, I felt a bit nervous
但是 如果在军队里
but, when you’re in the army,
你会对这习以为常的
you got quite used to it.’
这一点关系都没有 因为军队里没有
‘It didn’t matter a damn, cos there’s
女人之类的东西
no women or anything like that.’
苍蝇常常会爬满你的屁♥股♥
‘The flies used to crawl all over your bottom.
这是最讨厌的
Most unpleasant.’
我们也没有卫生纸之类的东西
‘We had no such thing as toilet rolls.’
所以你得用手来擦屁♥股♥
‘You had to wipe your behind with your hand.’
你的手上可能会沾满各种各样的东西
‘Your hands might have been in all sorts,
但是你从来不会去洗
but you never washed.’
你听到了一声可怕的叫喊
‘Well, you heard a terrific shout…’
-天哪 -支撑的棍子咔嚓一声断了
Christ! ‘..and the pole had snapped
四个坐在台子上的人
and the four men who were sitting
全部仰头翻进了粪便里去
on the bar fell down in the muck.’
战争里常有些场景令人啼笑皆非
‘There was always a humorous side of the war.
我们得伸长步♥枪♥把他们捞上来
‘We had to put rifles down for them to hang onto
他们上岸时像极了黏糊糊的兔子
and they came out like slimy rabbits
没有一个人愿意挨上他们
and nobody wanted to go near ’em.’
我们没有一点多余出来的衣服
‘We had no spare clothes at all
而且你会连续几个星期不洗衣服不洗澡
and you were living for weeks without washing or getting a bath.’
我的身上爬满了跳蚤
‘And I personally became really badly infested
变得肮脏不堪邋里邋遢
and “chatty” as we used to call it, with these lice.’
跳蚤是一个令人毛骨悚然的难题
‘Oh, lice was a dreadful problem.’
它们是些古怪的小东西
‘They were funny little things,
长得像龙虾之类
like little lobster sort of things
有六条腿 常常一天十餐
with six legs and they used to feed ten times a day.’
你得把这些该死的东西弄死
‘You had to kill the bloody things.
我最喜欢用火烧了它们
My favourite way was burning them.’
你会把线缝放在蜡烛上烤
‘You would run the seams over a lighted candle
然后就能听到虫卵噗噗噗噗噗地响
and you could hear the eggs going pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop-pop!’
越早把衬衫拿走穿
‘The sooner you got your shirt back again,
身体的热量越会孵化剩下的卵
the heat of the body hatched the eggs that you’d missed.’
第二天我们还是糟糕依旧
‘We were just as lousy next day.’
成千上万的援兵
即将到来
-大家都自行准备早餐 -你好啊
‘Each man prepared his own breakfast.’ Cheerio.
面包和果酱
‘Bread and jam.
差不多一条面包要16个人来分
It was about 16 men to a loaf of bread.’
还有一点培根
‘There’d be a little of bacon, which
足够6个人吃
would suffice for half a dozen men.’
把培根片放在军用饭盒的盖上
‘You put your rasher of bacon in your mess tin lid,
往火里多加些柴火棍儿
put a few more sticks on your fire
你就可以油炸培根
and you would fry your bacon…
然后用一块饼干把油给吸掉
…and then soak up the fat with a piece of biscuit.
早餐就完成了
Then there you are with a breakfast.’
晚餐常常是混切在一起炖着的
‘Dinnertime was mostly bully beef cut up and stewed
咸牛肉和罐头蔬菜
along with all sorts of vegetables from tins.’
军粮
罐头食品里混满了咸牛肉
‘Magonoghie’s tinned stew was mixed up with the bully beef.’
我曾经进过法国防空洞
‘I’ve got into French dugouts
吃了里面留下来的饼干
and eaten biscuits which have been left
是两年前其他部队剩下的
by the troops two years’ previously
我能尝到里面绿色霉菌的味道
and tasted the green mould in them,
但是我并没有生病
but they didn’t do me any harm.’
这就是当时的情景
‘This was how it was and anything’s
当你很饿的时候 能吃的就是美味
good, you know, when you’re hungry.’
那个时候人们常常感到饥饿
‘And people were always hungry.’
不论什么时候 你都可能被炸死
‘At any given moment, you can expect to be shelled.
你几乎没有任何保护措施
You got very little protection against that.’
五英里之外发炮时
‘One would hear a mild pop
人们能听到轻微的响声
as the gun fired five miles away…’
-长官 这里 -很好
– Sir, here. Very good.
炮弹会在五六秒之内飞来
‘..and in the five or six seconds it took for them to come,
你心里会紧张不安
you can pass through quite a number of psychological changes.’
稳住
Steady!
没有什么比持续的轰炸更让人
‘I can’t remember anything more nerve-wracking
紧张流汗了 它从不间断 日日夜夜
than the continuous shelling, without stop, day and night.’
我们常常听说
‘Well, we were always told that you
炮弹击中你时 你是听不到爆♥炸♥声的
never heard the shell that hit you
因为炮弹的速度比声速快得多
because most of them travelled faster than sound.’
你甚至能感到心脏砰砰撞击地面
‘You could literally feel your heart pounding against the ground.
情绪会极度紧张
The emotional strain was absolutely terrific.’
尽管轰炸可能在50码开外
‘Although a shell might burst 50 yards away,
还是会有烧得火红的
you might find a fragment of jagged iron
凹凸不平的半磅铁片
really red hot and weighing half a pound
落到你的战壕里
arriving in your trench.’
你眼睁睁看着人们被炸得七零八碎
‘I mean, you’d seen people blown to little bits.
我曾经不得不把别人装进沙袋里
I’ve actually had to put a man in a sandbag.’
时不时就会有巨大的轰响声
‘Every now and again, there would be a great roar
就像有架飞机即将要降落似的
like an aeroplane coming in to land.’ –
在0.2秒的时候 你可能会判断失误
‘And, in a fifth-of-a-second, your resolution would break
然后跑到了泥地里去
and you’d throw yourself into the mud
其他人会对你放声大笑
and the other ones laugh at you.’
榴霰弹会在空中炸开
‘The shrapnel shell would burst in the air
向地面的军队扫射子弹
and spray bullets on the troops below…
就像是霰弹枪里射出的一样
…as if they’re from a shotgun.’
子弹飞射下来
‘The bullets came down,
像是地狱里的烤炉搁架在呼啸
whistling like all the hobs of hell.’
我们的另一个难题是
‘Another one of the annoyances we had
德国人热衷于在地下埋炸♥弹♥
was that the Germans were very active with mining.
我们蹲伏在防护矮墙下
We crouched down underneath the front
躲避落下来的碎片
parapet to dodge the debris falling
我命令士兵们快速射击
and I got the men to open up rapid fire
防止德国人进入坑中
to prevent the Germans from getting into
轰炸我们
that crater where they could bomb us.’
前线战壕一旦被破坏
‘As the front line gets damaged,
就得立刻去修复
it’s got to be repaired.
待在战壕里的人
Well, the people who were in the line,
只能继续这样下去
they’ve got to get on with it.’
我曾经甚至想有
‘I had in my mind that we expected big
猛烈的炮火轰炸我们骑兵
gunfire to light amongst all us cavalry
这样一定能把我们从地球的表面抹去
and absolutely swipe us off the face of the earth.’
我大声命令 快速前进 像这样
‘I shouted, “Gallop!” like that!’
炮火在战马之间轰炸
‘And they dropped ’em all amongst the horses.
真是一团糟
Ooh, a heck of a mess.
被炸倒的战马的肠子直勾勾地挂出来
The horses were laying down with their intestines hanging out
还有那些头上挂彩的人
and men with matter hanging out their heads.’
重新组队
Regroup!
那些男孩们骂道 该死的德国佬
‘The boys, they said, “Bloody Germans!”
失去一匹马就像失去了一个朋友
To lose a horse was like losing a friend.’
-准备 -准将向我们的上尉求助
Ready! ‘The brigadier turned to our captain.
他说
He said,
看那个男孩 已经萎靡不振两三天了
“See that the boy has two or three days’ rest.
如果一个人能喜爱动物到如此程度
When a boy likes an animal like that,
他一定犯不出什么大错
there’s not a lot wrong with him.”‘
前线的各个地方 都有股味道
‘Over the whole of the front line, there was a smell.
这不是什么复杂的气味
It wasn’t a complicated smell.
是腐烂的尸体散发出的气味
It was the smell of decaying corpses.’
恶心 难闻的气味
‘Nasty, sickly smell.
你永远忘不了那气味
You never forgot that smell.’
这气味意味着死亡
‘It was the smell of death.
如果你闻过死老鼠
If you’ve ever smelt a dead mouse,
你就知道了 但是会更恶心千百倍
it was like that, but hundreds and hundreds of times worse.’
这气味永远挥之不去