Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3 ONE HOUR LATER Paul brushed off his soccer ball one last time, then slapped it on the table at the market. "I'm not taking that," the man behind the table said gruffly. Paul knew his name was Boris. He was the only leatherworker left in town. "Nobody wants one of those," Boris said.

第三章一小时后保罗最后一次刷掉他的足球，然后把它啪地一声放在市场的桌子上。 “我不接受这个，”桌子后面的男人粗声粗气地说。 保罗知道他的名字叫鲍里斯。 他是镇上仅存的制革工人。 “谁也不想要这种东西。”鲍里斯说。

Paul scrunched up his face, trying to think of what to say to Boris next. "But it's good leather," Paul said. Boris shook his head. "Don't want it." Paul sighed. He hadn't thought of what would happen if he couldn't sell the ball. He grabbed it back and found a quiet spot in the dirt to sit down and think. This park near the river used to be a place filled with flowers, where families sat on blankets and ate crunchy bread and soft cheese. Where kids threw their bread crusts to the ducks and floated toy sailboats in the river. There were no flowers anymore, no food for picnics. The Nazis had chopped down the trees and sent the wood to Germany. Nobody came here for fun. Even the ducks were gone; people had eaten them out of desperation. But Paul had an extra reason for hating it down here. It was something that had happened last fall. Paul picked up a stick and stabbed it into the dirt

保罗皱起脸来，努力想下一步该对鲍里斯说些什么。 “但这是很好的皮革，”保罗说。 鲍里斯摇了摇头。“我不想要。” 保罗叹了口气。他没有想过如果球卖不出去会发生什么。 他把它抓了回来，在泥土里找了一块安静的地方坐下来思考。 这个靠近河边的公园曾经是一个鲜花盛开的地方，人们坐在毯子上，吃着脆面包和软奶酪。 孩子们把面包屑扔给鸭子，在河里漂浮玩具帆船。 没有鲜花，没有野餐的食物。 纳粹砍倒了这些树，把木材运到了德国。 没人来这里是为了好玩。连鸭子都不见了；人们因为绝望而吃了它们。 但保罗讨厌这里还有一个额外的原因。 那是去年秋天发生的事。 保罗拿起一根棍子，把它插进泥土里

as the memory flashed through his mind like a jagged piece of glass. He'd come here with Maman that day, to sell the last of the silver cups she'd inherited from her grandmother. They had to sell the cup to buy coal for the winter so they wouldn't freeze. Paul was waiting for Maman as she bargained with the merchant who bought silver. And then suddenly Paul saw a man walking very quickly across the park. Paul instantly recognized him: It was his teacher, Mr. Leon. Paul and Gerard loved Mr. Leon. He never yelled at them when they kicked their ball through the hall. He told the best stories about the Castle Le Roc, the crumbling old castle at the edge of town. He told them that many believed there was a dragon that still lived in the tower. It was a huge winged beast with a snake's head, a falcon beak, and fiery breath.

这段记忆像一块锯齿状的玻璃一样闪过他的脑海。 那天他和妈妈一起来这里，卖掉她从祖母那里继承来的最后几个银杯。 他们不得不卖掉杯子买煤过冬，这样他们就不会冻僵了。 保罗在等妈妈，妈妈正在和买银器的商人讨价还价。 突然，保罗看见一个人飞快地穿过公园。 保罗立刻认出了他：那是他的老师莱昂先生。 保罗和杰勒德都喜欢莱昂先生。 当他们把球踢过大厅时，他从不对他们大喊大叫。 他讲了关于洛克城堡（Castle Le Roc）的最好的故事，那是位于城镇边缘的一座摇摇欲坠的古老城堡。 他告诉他们，许多人相信还有一条龙住在塔里。 这是一种巨大的有翼兽，蛇头，鹰嘴，喷着烈焰。

"Its glowing eyes peer through the cracks of the tower," he would say, in that low, smooth voice of his. "Its wings go whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!" Most people in town were too scared to go to the castle. But sometimes Paul and Gerard would sneak up there. But even better than his stories, Mr. Leon made Paul feel safe. No matter what was happening outside their school. That day in the park, Paul was about to call out to Mr. Leon. But suddenly Mr. Leon broke into a run. And two Nazi soldiers came chasing after him. Paul closed his eyes, trying to stop the nightmare memory — the three gunshots, the sight of Mr. Leon falling to the ground and then rolling into the river. Paul had watched as his teacher's body sank down. Even now, he couldn't believe that Mr. Leon was gone. Paul stabbed the dirt with the stick again. He remembered how the Nazis closed down the

“它发光的眼睛透过塔的裂缝窥视着。”他会用他那低沉而流畅的声音说。 “它的翅膀嗖嗖，嗖嗖，嗖嗖！”镇上的大多数人都不敢去城堡。 但有时保罗和杰勒德会偷偷溜过去。 但比他的故事更好的是，莱昂先生让保罗感到安全。 不管学校外面发生了什么。 那天在公园里，保罗正要叫李昂先生。 但突然，莱昂先生跑了起来。 两个纳粹士兵追了过来。 保罗闭上眼睛，试图停止噩梦般的记忆——三声枪响，看到莱昂先生倒在地上，然后滚进河里。 保罗看着他老师的尸体沉下去。 即使是现在，他也不敢相信莱昂先生已经离开了。 保罗又用棍子戳土。 他记得纳粹是如何关闭

school after that. They said Mr. Leon was a traitor, a criminal, and a spy. But as it turned out, Mr. Leon was a hero. What nobody had known before Mr. Leon's murder was that he belonged to a secret group called the resistance. It was like a small army, but not with soldiers. Its members were regular people — writers, shopkeepers, farmers, doctors… and teachers. They stole Nazi secrets for the Allies. They blew up Nazi trains loaded with weapons and tanks. It still shocked Paul that Mr. Leon had been in the resistance. It didn't matter now, though. The resistance had been crushed, in Le Roc and all over France. That's what Paul had heard. The Nazis had hunted the members down, killed thousands of them. And usually the Nazis didn't just shoot them. They tortured them first so they would spill the names of others in their group.

然后去学校。他们说莱昂先生是叛徒、罪犯和间谍。 但事实证明，莱昂是个英雄。 在里昂先生被谋杀之前，没有人知道他是一个名为抵抗组织的秘密组织的成员。 它就像一支小军队，但没有士兵。 它的成员都是普通人——作家、店主、农民、医生……还有教师。 他们为盟军窃取纳粹机密。 他们炸毁了满载武器和坦克的纳粹火车。 莱昂先生曾经参加过抵抗运动，这仍然使保罗感到震惊。 不过现在已经不重要了。 在勒洛克和整个法国，抵抗被粉碎了。 这就是保罗听到的。 纳粹追捕了这些成员，杀死了数千人。 通常纳粹不会直接射杀他们。 他们先折磨他们，让他们说出小组里其他人的名字。

Mr. Leon, people said, had been lucky he died quickly. Paul closed his eyes. Mr. Leon had risked his life fighting for something important. Couldn't Paul at least try a little harder to get a present for Maman? He couldn't give up so easily. Back at Boris's table, Paul set the ball down once again. "I told you," Boris said, his lips closing in a tight line. "Nobody wants that ball. Take it home." Paul felt a lump forming in his throat. "Please… it's my mother's birthday," he said, struggling to keep his voice steady. "I need the money so I can get her a gift." Without a word, Boris snatched the ball. He reached into his pocket and handed Paul ten coins. Paul's heart leaped. He smiled at Boris, then took the coins and ran to the bakery, the one all the Nazi officers went to. Paul slapped his coins on the counter. The pretty, young shopgirl, Marie, looked at him with

人们说，莱昂很幸运，他死得很快。 保罗闭上了眼睛。莱昂先生冒着生命危险为一件重要的事情而战。 保罗就不能再努力一点，给妈妈买件礼物吗？ 他不能这么轻易放弃。 回到鲍里斯的桌子旁，保罗再次把球放下。 “我告诉过你，”鲍里斯说，他的嘴唇紧紧地抿成一条线。 “没人想要那个球。把它带回家。” 保罗感到喉咙里有个肿块。 “求你了……今天是我妈妈的生日，”他说，努力让自己的声音保持稳定。 “我需要钱给她买礼物。” 鲍里斯二话没说，抓起了球。 他把手伸进口袋，递给保罗十枚硬币。 保罗的心怦怦直跳。他对鲍里斯笑了笑，然后拿起硬币跑到面包店，所有纳粹军官都去的那家面包店。 保罗把硬币啪地一声扔在柜台上。 年轻漂亮的女店员玛丽看着他