1 A Rumor of Battle

CHAPTER 1 A Rumor of Battle The cold passed slowly from the earth. The moving fog revealed an army dressed in blue resting on the hills. As the soldiers woke up, they could see more of the muddy roads and the river. A tall soldier went to wash his shirt and came running back with a story he had heard. "We're going to move tomorrow," he said. "We're going up the river. We'll cross over it and come around behind them." "I don't believe it," another private said loudly. "I've been ready to move eight times

第一章战斗的谣言寒冷慢慢地从地球上传播开来。 移动的雾显露出一支身穿蓝色制服的军队在山上休息。 当士兵们醒来时，他们可以看到更多泥泞的道路和河流。 一个高个子士兵去洗衬衫，跑回来时讲了一个他听到的故事。 “我们明天就要搬家了，”他说。 “我们要沿河而上。 我们要过河，绕到他们后面去。” “我不相信，”另一个列兵大声说。 “我已经准备搬家八次了

in the last two weeks, and we haven't moved yet." While the men continued to argue about whether or not they would be moving the next day, a young private named Henry Fleming went to his hut to be alone and think. It amazed him to think that there could be a battle so soon. And he would be in it! It would be one of those great affairs of the earth. Henry had dreamed of battles and of being a hero all his life, but he had never thought he would actually be in a war. Back at home, he hadn't believed the war was real. He thought that men were better now, or at least more peaceful than they had been in the past. Surely they would not go to war. But now they were fighting a civil war, the North against the South! This was his chance to be a hero. Henry had wanted to enlist several times,

在过去的两个星期里，我们还没有行动。” 当人们继续争论第二天是否要搬家时，一个名叫亨利·弗莱明的年轻列兵回到他的小屋独自思考。 想到这么快就会开战，他感到很吃惊。 他会在里面的！这将是地球上最伟大的事情之一。 亨利一生都梦想着战斗，梦想着成为英雄，但他从未想过自己真的会参战。 回到家里，他不相信战争是真的。 他认为现在的人比过去好了，或者至少比过去更平和了。 他们肯定不会开战。 但现在他们正在打一场内战，北方反对南方！这是他成为英雄的机会。 亨利曾多次想入伍，

but his mother had discouraged him. She had given him a hundred reasons why he was needed more on the farm than on the field of battle. Finally, when he couldn't wait any longer, he went into town and joined up. When he told her, she said, "The Lord's will be done, Henry," and then she continued to milk the cow. "You watch out and take care of yourself. Don't go thinking you can beat the whole rebel army right away. You're just one little fellow among a lot of others." She told him to watch out for bad men who would curse or do other things that would make her ashamed of him. "I don't know what else to tell you," she said. "Except that you must never avoid your duty on my account. If there comes a time when you have to be killed to do the right thing, Henry, don't think of anything except doing what's right." His spirits had soared on the way to

但是他的母亲劝阻了他。 她给了他一百个理由，为什么他在农场里比在战场上更需要他。 最后，当他再也等不下去的时候，他就进城去参军了。 当他告诉她的时候，她说：“愿上帝的旨意得以实现，亨利。”然后她继续挤牛奶。 “你要小心，照顾好自己。 别以为你能马上打败整个叛军。 你只是许多人中的一个。” 她告诉他要小心那些坏男人，他们会诅咒或做其他让她为他感到羞耻的事情。 “我不知道还能告诉你什么，”她说。 “除了你永远不能为了我而逃避你的责任。 如果有一天，为了做正确的事，你不得不被杀，亨利，除了做正确的事，什么也不要想。” 在去的路上，他的情绪高涨

Washington. The troop was treated so well as they traveled that he already felt as if he was a hero. Then, after many difficult journeys and long pauses, there had come months of boring life in a camp. Here there were no death struggles. All the men did was try to keep warm and do practice drills over and over again. All he thought about during this time was the battles to come. Henry didn't much care about what kind of men he would fight. There was a more serious problem. He wanted to know that he wouldn't run from battle. He had never needed to think about this before, but now a battle was really going to happen and he realized that he might run. As far as war was concerned, he didn't know anything about himself. After a time, the tall soldier entered the hut. He was followed by the loud private who had disagreed with him earlier. They

华盛顿。这支部队在旅途中受到了很好的待遇，他已经觉得自己是个英雄了。 然后，在经历了许多艰难的旅程和长时间的停顿之后，在营地里度过了几个月的无聊生活。 这里没有死亡挣扎。 男人们所做的就是尽量保持温暖，一遍又一遍地练习。 在这段时间里，他满脑子想的都是即将到来的战斗。 亨利不太关心他会和什么样的人作战。 还有一个更严重的问题。 他想知道他不会逃避战斗。 他以前从不需要考虑这个问题，但现在一场战斗真的要爆发了，他意识到他可能会逃跑。 就战争而言，他对自己一无所知。 过了一会儿，高个子士兵走进小屋。 跟在他后面的是一个大嗓门的列兵，他先前曾和他有过不同意见。 他们

were still fighting. The tall soldier was named Jim Conklin. The loud one was called Wilson. "That's all right," said Jim as he entered, waving his hand. "You can believe me or not. All you've got to do is sit and wait. Pretty soon you'll find out I was right." "Well, you just know everything in the world, don't you?" said Wilson. "Didn't say I knew everything in the world," said Jim sharply. He began to pack his belongings into his knapsack. Henry watched them nervously and finally asked, "Going to be a battle for sure then, is there, Jim?" "Of course there is," replied Jim. "You just wait until tomorrow and you'll see one of the biggest battles ever. You just wait." He talked about the other troops and the battles he had heard about. Then Henry asked how their own troop would do.

我们还在战斗。这个高大的士兵名叫吉姆·康克林。 声音大的那个叫威尔逊。 “没关系，”吉姆一进门就挥着手说。 “信不信由你。 你所要做的就是坐着等。 很快你就会发现我是对的。” “嗯，你知道世界上的一切，不是吗？”威尔逊说。 “我可没说我无所不知，”吉姆厉声说。 他开始把东西装进背包。 亨利紧张地看着他们，最后问道：“那肯定要打一场仗了，是吗，吉姆？”“当然有，”吉姆回答。 “你只要等到明天，你就会看到有史以来最大的一场战斗。 你就等着吧。”他谈到了其他部队和他听说过的战斗。 然后亨利问他们自己的部队会怎么样。