他们已不再变老（2018）

我们一群小年轻之前什么都知不道
There was I, the young lads, knowing nothing about this.
然后就开始经常光顾那些女孩了
Off we go and these men were going up regularly to see the girls.
我比较机智 问其中一个讲
I was very keen. I said to one of these
我只有六便士
fellas, “I’ve only got a six pence.”
那不行啊 他说 要一先令呢
“Well, that’s no good,” he said, “It’s a shilling.”
那就是我第一次去妓院的经历
That was my first experience of a brothel.
我们进去看了几分钟
Anyway, we looked in there for a couple of minutes,
当四五个赤♥裸♥的女孩从走廊里跑出来的时
when four or five naked girls came running down the corridor.
《纠结》
算了 伯特 战壕里更安全
我们转头就跑
We turned tail and ran!
我算是开了眼了
It was an eye-opener to me.
她就站在哪 一个丰腴的女人
There she stood, a great big woman
手里拿着个教鞭
with this little cane in her hand
像我是小学生一样抽我的背
and she belted my backside as if I was a little schoolboy.
这个军官 那个军官的叫着
“Petty sergeant this” and “Petty sergeant the other!”
赌博 天呐 那时候我们成天赌
‘Ooh, gambling! Good Lord! People were gambling all day long.
加拿大人和澳大利亚人过去
The Canadians and Australians used
常常赌上一大笔钱
to gamble terrific amounts of money,
比我见过的任何一笔都要多
more money than I’d ever seen.’
酒啊
Beer up!
这里的啤酒确实很淡
‘The beer was very thin indeed.
只有十分之一是酒
It was one-and-nine stuff.
一品脱 九泡尿
One pint, nine piddles.’
周五总是香烟的发放日
‘Friday was always the issue day for cigarettes.
我们的男兵
想抽烟
香烟上有三个女巫
And the cigarettes were Three Witches,
每募捐25加分
我们将投入一加元
稍等一下
凯撒
很快地变成了三个婊♥子♥ 或红色的沙皇
which soon became “Three Bitches”, or Red Hussars.
所有的钱
都会用来
购买♥♥香烟
我认为收益是稳定的
I think they were made from stable returns.
不过总的来说 在大型的村庄里
But, generally, in good-sized villages,
你可以拿到忍♥冬牌香烟和玩者牌香烟
you could get Woodbines and Player’s
忍♥冬牌香烟
玩者牌香烟
它们远比发放的香烟要受欢迎
and they were far preferable to the issue cigarettes.’
当然 我们一直在和法国人做交易
‘Of course, we were always bartering with the Frenchmen.
我们过去用我们的内衣去换
We used to barter some of our
然后拿一条面包回来
under-clothing and get a loaf of bread.’
我们也用我们的英国货香烟去换他们的法国酒
‘We used to swap our British cigarettes for their French wine.’
不上前线和上前线一样累
‘It could be just as tiring out of the line
有时候还会更糟糕
as in the line and it was sometimes worse.’
如果你被选中做杂役
‘If you were chosen for a fatigue,
那么你就得参加工作小组
you’d have to go on the working party.’
你从三四英里外的一个大垃圾堆里收集杂物
‘You collected stores from a big dump three or four miles back.
大捆大捆的沙袋 准备好的遮泥板
Enormous bundles of sandbags, ready made-up duckboards
最糟糕的是铁丝网
and, worst of all, barbed wire.’
就是这样 永远都是艰难的工作
That’s that. ‘It was always hard work.
比起是战士 更是漂亮的能劳动的男孩
You were a bonny, labouring boy more than you were a fighter.’
每个人都非常累 但是这无济于事
‘All the chaps were very tired, but it made no difference.’
他们精神上也彻底疲惫了
‘And they were mentally tired out.
他们爬出战壕休息一会
They’d come out of a trench tour for a rest
这就是他们仅能获得的休息了
and this was the rest they were getting.’
现在把它塞下去
Tuck it down now.
你们会在轻轨上抗着东西
‘You would be carrying stuff up on a light railway.’
是的 他们铺设了窄轨轻轨
‘Yes, they laid a narrow-gauge light railway track.’
这是最简单的东西了 轮子上设了平台
‘It was the simplest of things, just platforms on wheels,
被轻型机车驱动
driven by light locomotives.’
轻轨总是令人厌烦的
‘Light railways, well, they were always a blooming nuisance,
因为总是偏离轨道
because they were always coming off the track.’
他们没控制好这辆卡车
‘They lost control of this truck going down a slight incline
从一个小斜坡上滑下来 撞上前面那辆
and it barged into the one in front,
遮泥板被撞得到处都是
scattered duckboards all over the place.’
我们过去常常把乱糟糟的罐头拿到驾驶员面前
‘We used to take our mess tins up to the engine driver
拿点沸水用来冲泡我们的茶
and get some boiling water for our brew up of tea.’
别瞎闹了 再来一个
– Stop messing around. And another.
这里的第二条线
Second line there.
德国人可以看见蒸汽和烟雾从蒸汽机里出来
‘The Germans could see the steam and smoke from the steam engine,
所以过去主要是燃油发动机
so then it was mostly petrol engines
跑到战壕里去
which used to run up to the trenches.’
轻轨只延伸到通信战壕那么远
‘The light railway only went as far as the communication trench
剩下的路我们得自己用手推了
and then we had to push the thing along by hand.’
接着
Now, then…
有人走过来说 就是这样
‘Somebody came along and said, “Oh, this is it!
-我们会在圣诞节之前回家的 -是吗
We’re gonna be home by Christmas.” “Oh?”
从这条路一直走下去
“Well, just go down the road and look
看到那里的田野 你就会懂的
in a field there, you’ll see.”
不会告诉我们为什么 总之走就对了
Wouldn’t tell us why. Anyway, we went down.’
他们被放置在路边盖着篷布
‘They were on the roadside covered with tarpaulin sheets.
除了一个方形的轮廓你什么也看不出来
You could see nothing except a square outline.’
然后长官会说
‘And then the officer said,
这些应该是要保密的
“These are supposed to be hush-hush.”‘
我们问是什么 只是简单回复”坦克”
‘When we asked what it was, the simple reply was, “Tanks.”
考虑到水的短缺 我们自然地假定是水箱
Knowing the shortage of water, we naturally assumed water tanks
以为我们会有备用的储备
and thought we were getting reserve supplies.
这只是被保护的很好的秘密之一
It was one of the best-kept secrets.’
我们很高兴
‘We were delighted as these wonderful
当这些漂亮的机器为我们赢得战争的时候
machines were going to win the war…
那么不久大家就可以回家了
…and soon everybody’d be home again.
当然 从未如愿发生过
Of course, it didn’t happen like that.’
我们被带出了队伍 接受了紧张的培训
‘We were taken out of the line and had intensive training.’
把刺刀插♥进♥沙袋 怒吼着
‘Plunge the bayonet into the sack, shout like hell.’
是为了让我们习惯如何刺进别人的身体
‘It was to get used to plunging them into somebody’s body.’
我们也在步♥枪♥射击场练习射击
‘Then we fired our rifles on the rifle range.’
发射手榴弹是个技术活
‘Firing rifle grenades was a specialist job.’
但是他们笨手笨脚的
‘But they were clumsy.
我一点也不喜欢他们
I didn’t like them much.’
强行军 行进的时候一次休息也没有
‘Forced marching, marching without a rest
还有正面强攻 右翼突袭和左翼突袭
and also frontal attack, right flank attack, left flank attack,
两翼攻击 夜袭
both flanks attack, night attack
我们就纳闷这些辛苦训练究竟是为了什么
and we wondered what the devil all this training was for.’
军队指挥官说他只是收到指令
‘The corps commander said that he had just received instructions
让我们前进
to go ahead with an operation
执行突破德军防线的任务
to break through the German lines.’
来了 惠灵顿
Come on, Wellington!
我们被收到指令 列队 全速行军
‘We were told to parade, full marching
我们得返回前线了
order. We had to go back up the front.
我们才出前线一些时日而已
We’d only been out of the line a couple of days.’
我们可以看见源源不断的供给
‘We could see streams of supplies,
大部分是送往前线的弹♥药♥
mostly ammunition columns going up towards the front.’
我们没有很多通知
‘We didn’t have a lot of notice,
但是我们知道这里要有大动作了
but we knew there was gonna be a big advance.’
弹♥药♥一直在送往前线
‘So, batteries pushed forward,
前线充满了弹♥药♥
forward positions filled up with ammunition.’
把这些梯子装上去
– Let’s get these ladders up!
随着大部队越来越近 队伍也活跃了
‘As our great push drew nearer, the line livened up,
战争开始变得更加危险 而不再那么有趣
it began to get much more dangerous and not nearly so much fun.’
我们了解到 将对德国机♥枪♥
‘We learnt that a bayonet charge was
进行刺刀冲锋
to be made on German machine guns.’
我希望每个人都记住
“I wish it to be impressed on all ranks,
接下来要启动的这项行动的重要性
the importance of the operations about to commence.
德国人现在既没有兵也没有枪
The Germans are now outnumbered and outgunned
他们很快就会被打得屁滚尿流
and will soon go to pieces
如果我们每个人都投入战争
if every man goes into the fight
决心克服一切可能会发生的问题
determined to get through whatever the local difficulties may be.
我有信心我们这支旅队
I am confident that the brigade will distinguish itself
会在第一场战争中脱颖而出
in this, its first battle.
每个人都要记住 全英国都在看着你
Let every man remember that all England is watching him.”
我们一整晚都在行军 情况变得很糟糕
‘We marched all through the night and it got so bad
以至于一旁的军官得把跑出去的人
that officers at the side were pushing men back into line
推回到队伍里面