Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6 TWO WEEKS LATER 5:30 A.M. UNION ARMY CAMP MIDDLEBURG, VIRGINIA The bugle blared reveille, and Thomas sat up with a start. All around him he could hear the sounds of sleepy men, groaning and cussing at the bugler. Birdie was curled up next to him. She snuffled, but didn't wake up. In her hands was a little doll Henry had made for her, a tattered sock stuffed with straw, with two cracked buttons as eyes. From the way Birdie clutched it to her heart, you'd think it was made of gold.

第六章两周后，早上五点半 军号吹响了起夜的号角，托马斯被吓了一跳，坐了起来。 他听见周围都是昏昏欲睡的人对号手呻吟和咒骂的声音。 伯迪蜷缩在他旁边。 她抽了抽鼻子，但没有醒过来。 她手里拿着亨利给她做的一个小娃娃，一只塞满稻草的破破烂烂的袜子，两颗裂开的纽扣当眼睛。 从小鸟把它紧紧攥在胸前的样子，你会觉得它是金子做的。

Thomas peeked his head out of the tent and looked around the army camp, which stretched out across a huge field. There were hundreds of tents, crammed together in rows. A few early-rising soldiers stood groggily and shaved in front of mirrors hung from tree branches. There were more than six hundred men here, Henry had explained, just one regiment of the huge Union army. They'd been camped here for three months, waiting for their next big battle with the rebel soldiers of the South. At first, Thomas was sure he and Birdie wouldn't be allowed to stay here. But the story of Thomas and the skunk had swept through the camp. Soldiers came up to Thomas, smiled at him, and patted him on the back, said that the Union army should start shooting skunks out of their cannons. And soon enough, Thomas felt almost like he and Birdie belonged there. They got their own tent. There was plenty of food, and Birdie had never been

托马斯从帐篷里探出头来，环视了一下军营，军营横跨一片广阔的田野。 那里有几百个帐篷，一排排地挤在一起。 几个早起的士兵昏昏沉沉地站在树枝上挂着的镜子前刮胡子。 亨利解释说，这里有六百多人，只是庞大的联邦军队中的一个团。 他们在这里驻扎了三个月，等待与南方叛军的下一场大战。 起初，托马斯确信他和伯蒂不会被允许留在这里。 但是托马斯和臭鼬的故事已经传遍了整个营地。 士兵们走到托马斯跟前，对他微笑，拍拍他的背，说联邦军队应该开始用大炮射击臭鼬了。 很快，托马斯就觉得他和伯蒂都属于那里了。 他们有自己的帐篷。那里有很多食物，而小鸟从来没有去过

happier. She had the run of the camp and spent most of her days helping two older soldiers, Lester and Homer, with the supply wagons. Les even made her a new dress, out of an old flour sack. For the first time in Thomas's life, his ears didn't ring with the sound of Mr. Knox shouting, "Boy! You get here now!" He didn't drop to sleep at night aching from his head to his toes. He woke up in the morning looking forward to the day — to helping the men with their chores, listening to their stories, and watching them practice their battle formations and shooting. And best of all, there was Henry, who'd barely let Thomas out of his sight since that day in the woods. "You know how it works," Henry had told Thomas. "You save a man's life, you're stuck with him forever." He really did remind Thomas of Clem, the way his voice rose up when he told stories about the children he taught in his Vermont schoolhouse, his

更快乐。她在营地里负责管理，大部分时间都在帮助两个年长的士兵，莱斯特和霍默，搬运补给车。 莱斯甚至用一个旧面粉袋给她做了一件新衣服。 这是托马斯有生以来第一次没有听到诺克斯先生大喊“孩子!你现在就给我过来!”晚上他从头到脚都疼得睡不着觉。 他早上醒来，期待着新的一天——帮助士兵们做家务，听他们讲故事，看他们练习战斗阵型和射击。 最棒的是，还有亨利，自从那天在树林里，他几乎没让托马斯离开过他的视线。 “你知道这是怎么回事，”亨利告诉托马斯。 “你救了一个人的命，你就永远离不开他了。” 他确实让托马斯想起了克莱姆，当他讲起他在佛蒙特州学校里教的孩子们的故事时，他的声音变得响亮，他的

patient way of listening when Thomas told him about his life with Mr. Knox, the feeling Thomas got when they were together, that he and Birdie were safe. Thomas had just climbed out of his tent when Henry appeared. "Morning, soldier," the corporal said. Birdie's head popped out of the tent. When she saw Henry standing there she leaped up and threw her arms around him. "I love my doll!" she said, beaming up at him.

当托马斯告诉他他和诺克斯先生的生活时，他耐心地听着，他们在一起时托马斯的感觉，他和伯蒂是安全的。 托马斯刚从帐篷里爬出来，亨利就出现了。 “早上好，士兵，”下士说。 小鸟的头从帐篷里探了出来。 当她看到亨利站在那里时，她跳起来，用双臂搂住了他。 “我爱我的娃娃!”她笑着对他说。

"No doll could ever be as pretty as you, Birdie," Henry said, kneeling down. "Les and Homer are looking for you. Can you ask them to put an extra biscuit aside for me?" She nodded happily and scampered off toward the supply wagons, chattering hellos to every soldier she passed. Thomas noticed that even the weariest men looked up and smiled when Birdie breezed by, their faces lighting up as though Birdie herself were a bright candle. Henry turned to Thomas, his face serious. "We've gotten our orders," Henry said. "We're to march out today." Thomas's heart sank. The men were leaving? What would happen to him and Birdie? Henry seemed to read Thomas's thoughts. "Of course you and Birdie are coming with us," he said. "I'm glad about that," Thomas said, relief washing over him.

“没有娃娃能像你一样漂亮，伯迪，”亨利说着，跪了下来。 “莱斯和侯默在找你。 你能让他们给我多留一块饼干吗?”她高兴地点了点头，朝补给车跑去，跟每一个经过的士兵都叽叽喳喳地打招呼。 托马斯注意到，当伯迪轻轻走过时，即使是最疲惫的人也会抬起头来微笑，他们的脸上焕发出光彩，就好像伯迪是一支明亮的蜡烛。 亨利转向托马斯，一脸严肃。 “我们接到了命令，”亨利说。 “我们今天要游行。” 托马斯的心一沉。那些人要走了? 他和伯迪会怎么样? 亨利似乎读懂了托马斯的心思。 “你和小鸟当然要和我们一起去，”他说。 “我很高兴，”托马斯说，如释重负。

"You won't be when we get out into that heat," Henry said with a little smile. "It's going to be brutal. Two days, I'd say." "Where are we heading?" Thomas said. "We're marching to Pennsylvania," Henry said. "The town's called Gettysburg." Henry squinted into the distance. "It seems like we're in for a big battle."

“等我们走到外面那么热的地方，你就不会这样了。”亨利微笑着说。 “这将是残酷的。两天，我想说。” “我们要去哪儿?”托马斯说。 “我们正在向宾夕法尼亚进军，”亨利说。 “这个镇叫葛底斯堡。” 亨利眯着眼睛看远处。 “看来我们要打一场大战了。”