Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11 The hours crept by. Paul sat in the radio room with Maman, Mr. Spire, Mrs. Bernard, and Mr. Leon. Victor, Pierre, and Marie had left the moment it was dark. Victor said they should be back within two hours. Paul watched the clock on the table. Maman and Mrs. Bernard sat in front of the radio. Mrs. Bernard spun a bicycle wheel that

时间一小时一小时地过去了。 保罗和妈妈、斯皮尔先生、伯纳德太太和莱昂先生坐在广播室里。 维克多、皮埃尔和玛丽一天黑就走了。 维克多说他们两小时内就会回来。 保罗看着桌子上的钟。 妈妈和伯纳德太太坐在收音机前。 伯纳德太太转动了一个自行车轮子

powered the radio. There was no electricity in the castle, of course. Their light came sputtering from just a couple candles set up by the far wall. They couldn't have them near the windows for fear of the Nazis seeing the flickers. Their supper — bread and stewed onions — was cold. The radio was tuned to the BBC, the London station. That's how the Allies sent many of their most important messages to the resistance. Mr. Leon said a new message was coming soon. But right now there was music playing. The jolly sounds of pianos and horns brightened their dim and chilly room. Paul kept rushing to the window, to peer up at the sky. Mr. Leon had explained that the Allies would be sending thousands and thousands of paratroopers ahead of the ships. These soldiers would keep German troops from getting to the beach to fight the Allies. "See anything yet?" Mr. Spire asked him.

给收音机供电。当然，城堡里没有电。 他们的光是从远处墙上支的几支蜡烛里发出来的。 他们不能把它们放在窗户附近，因为害怕纳粹看到闪光灯。 他们的晚餐——面包和炖洋葱——是凉的。 收音机调到英国广播公司伦敦站。 这就是盟军向抵抗组织传递重要信息的方式。 莱昂说，很快就会有新的消息传来。 但现在有音乐在播放。 钢琴和喇叭欢快的声音照亮了昏暗寒冷的房间。 保罗不停地冲到窗前，仰望天空。 莱昂先生解释说，盟军将派出成千上万的伞兵在船只前面。 这些士兵将阻止德国军队前往海滩与盟军作战。 “看到什么了吗？”斯皮尔先生问他。

Paul shook his head. The only thing coming from the sky right now was a light, spitting rain. "The paratroopers won't arrive until after midnight," Mr. Leon said. "And I don't know if any are coming this close to the beaches." Paul kept watch anyway. He just wanted a sign that this invasion was real and not just a dream. An hour crept by. Two. Paul was so restless he didn't know what to do with himself. "Paul," Mr. Leon said finally. "Come sit." Maman smiled up at him as he passed. She was tailoring a jacket for one of her customers, a reminder that even resistance fighters still needed jobs. Nobody was paid for spying on the Nazis or blowing up trains. No matter what Maman was doing for the resistance, she still had to earn money to buy food for herself and Paul. Mr. Spire pushed his chair over to make room at the table. Mr. Leon was studying a map. He

保罗摇了摇头。现在天空中唯一的东西就是一场细雨。 “伞兵要到午夜之后才会到达，”莱昂说。 “我不知道是否有船离海滩这么近。” 不管怎样，保罗一直在守望。他只是想要一个迹象表明这次入侵是真实的，而不仅仅是一个梦。 一个小时悄悄过去了。两个。保罗坐立不安，不知道该怎么办才好。 “保罗，”里昂先生最后说。 “过来坐。”他走过的时候，妈妈抬头朝他微笑。 她当时正在为一位顾客缝制一件夹克，这提醒人们，即使是抵抗组织的战士也需要工作。 没有人因为监视纳粹或炸毁火车而得到报酬。 不管妈妈为抵抗运动做了什么，她还是得挣钱给自己和保罗买吃的。 斯皮尔先生把椅子挪了挪，给桌子腾地方。 莱昂先生正在研究地图。 他

showed Paul the beaches where the Allies would be landing. "This invasion is just the start," Mr. Leon said. "After the Allies take control of the beaches, more troops and equipment will be coming from England. The Allies will take back our towns and cities. They'll take back Paris. Then they'll battle their way across Europe, all the way to Germany." Mr. Leon ran his finger across the map, and Paul imagined it was magically sweeping the Germans away. If only beating the Nazis would be that easy. Paul knew the Nazis would fight back ferociously. "Do you think the Nazis suspect anything?" Paul asked. "We hear that Hitler is on vacation in the mountains of Germany," Mr. Leon said. "I'm afraid his vacation is about to be ruined," Mrs. Bernard quipped. They all laughed.

向保罗展示了盟军将要登陆的海滩。 “这次入侵只是个开始，”莱昂说。 “盟军控制海滩后，更多的部队和装备将从英国运来。 盟军将夺回我们的城镇。 他们会夺回巴黎。然后他们会一路打到欧洲，一直打到德国。” 莱昂先生用手指在地图上扫了一下，保罗想象着它神奇地把德国人扫走了。 要是打败纳粹这么容易就好了。 保罗知道纳粹会猛烈反击。 “你觉得纳粹会怀疑吗？”保罗问。 “我们听说希特勒正在德国山区度假，”莱昂说。 “恐怕他的假期就要毁了，”伯纳德太太打趣道。 他们都笑了。

But just then the music stopped. "This is it," Mrs. Bernard said. Paul expected a voice to say, "The Allied invasion has begun!" or something like that. But instead, the voice read what sounded like lines from a poem. Something about someone sighing, and violins, and the autumn. Mr. Leon jumped up. "Yes! That's it!" Paul looked at Maman. "It's a message to resistance groups all over France," she said. "It's telling us that the invasion is about to start." She told him how, all over France, resistance groups had been waiting for this message. "And now they're springing into action," she said. Each group had been given a different assignment by the Allies. Roads to dynamite. Bridges to destroy. Ammunition warehouses to blow up. "We have another small team here in Le Roc that has been listening for this message," Maman went on. "Their mission is to cut the telephone

但就在这时，音乐停了。 “就是这里，”伯纳德太太说。 保罗希望听到这样的声音：“盟军的入侵已经开始了！”或者类似的话。 但相反，这个声音读起来像是一首诗。 关于某人的叹息，小提琴，还有秋天。 莱昂先生跳了起来。“是啊!就是这样!”保罗看着妈妈。 “这是给全法国抵抗组织的信息，”她说。 “它告诉我们，入侵即将开始。” 她告诉他，法国各地的抵抗组织都在等待这一消息。 “现在他们开始行动了，”她说。 盟军给每个小组分配了不同的任务。 通往炸药的道路。摧毁桥梁。 弹药仓库要炸了。 “我们在勒洛克有另一个小组一直在监听这条消息，”妈妈接着说。 “他们的任务是切断电话

lines so that local Nazis won't be able to speak to their generals." Maman put her arm around Paul and hugged him. "It's happening, Paul. If all goes well, this war — this nightmare — could be over." Paul's heart rose up. But then a voice rang from the hallway. It was Pierre. "They're back!" Maman said. But something about the sound of Pierre's voice gave Paul a chill. They flew out of the room. He saw Pierre, holding Victor up. There was a trail of blood behind them. Victor's eyes fluttered. Pierre seemed to be using all his strength to support Victor's weight. Paul wondered how he had possibly gotten him back here. Maman and Mr. Leon rushed over and took hold of Victor. "What happened?" Maman cried.

这样当地的纳粹分子就不能和他们的将军说话了。” 妈妈用胳膊搂住保罗，拥抱了他。 “事情正在发生，保罗。如果一切顺利，这场战争——这场噩梦——就可以结束了。” 保罗的心一跳。就在这时，走廊里响起了一个声音。 是皮埃尔。“他们回来了!”妈妈说。 但是皮埃尔说话的声音使保罗打了个寒颤。 他们飞出了房间。 他看见皮埃尔扶着维克多。 他们身后有一道血迹。 维克多的眼睛眨了一下。皮埃尔似乎用他的全部力量来支撑维克多的体重。 保罗不知道他是怎么把他弄回来的。 妈妈和里昂先生冲过去抓住维克多。 “发生什么事了?”妈妈哭了。