21 The Conversation

CHAPTER 21 The Conversation The ragged line of soldiers had a few minutes' rest, but the sounds of fighting in the forest kept becoming louder and louder. The trees seemed to quiver and the ground to shake from the rushing of the men. Henry's troop listened quietly to the noise. Everyone was thirsty. Wilson said that he had heard of a stream nearby, so he volunteered to go for some water. Henry offered to help. Immediately canteens were showered on them. "Fill mine, will you?" said one man.

衣衫褴褛的士兵们休息了几分钟，但森林里的战斗声却越来越响。 树木似乎在颤抖，大地也因人们的奔袭而震动。 亨利的部队静静地听着喧闹声。 每个人都渴了。威尔逊说他听说附近有一条小溪，所以他自告奋勇去打点水。 亨利主动提出帮忙。饭桌立即向他们泼来。 “把我的装满，好吗？”一个人说。

"Bring me some, too," said another. "Me, too," said others. Henry and Wilson left, weighed down with several canteens. They searched for a while, but when they couldn't find the stream they decided to head back. From their position, they could see more of the battle than when they were with their troop. They could see many dark clouds of smoke, where other troops were fighting. Over some trees, they saw part of a house that was burning and sending smoke far into the sky. They saw their own troops, too. Behind them the hill was crowded with troops who were pulling back. Looking into the forest nearby, Henry and Wilson saw a general and his staff riding on horses. They passed a wounded soldier without stopping. A moment later, another officer rode his horse right up to the general. No one seemed to notice Henry and his

“也给我拿一些来。”另一个说。 “我也是。”其他人说。亨利和威尔逊带着沉重的饭桶离开了。 他们找了一会儿，但找不到小溪，于是决定往回走。 从他们的位置，他们可以看到更多的战斗比当他们与他们的部队。 他们可以看到许多黑烟，其他部队正在那里战斗。 越过几棵树，他们看到一栋房子的一部分正在燃烧，浓烟直冲云霄。 他们也看到了自己的军队。 在他们身后，山上挤满了正在撤退的军队。 向附近的森林望去，亨利和威尔逊看到一位将军和他的参谋骑在马上。 他们从一个受伤的士兵身边走过，没有停下来。 过了一会儿，另一个军官骑着马向将军走来。 似乎没有人注意到亨利和他的家人

friend, so they stayed nearby and tried to overhear what the general was saying. "The enemy's forming over there for another charge," the general said. He spoke calmly, as if he was talking about the officer's clothes. "I fear they'll break through unless we work like thunder to stop them." "It'll be hard to stop them," the officer said, angrily. "I expect so," the general said. Then he began to talk quickly and quietly among his staff. Henry and Wilson could hear nothing until the general finally asked the officer, "What troops can you spare?" "Well," the officer said, thinking. "There's the 304th. They're useless. Fight like a lot of mule drivers. I can spare them easily enough." Henry and Wilson looked at each other in amazement. The 304th was their troop. The general spoke sharply. "Get them ready then.

朋友，所以他们呆在附近，试图偷听将军说的话。 “敌人正在那边集结，准备再次进攻，”将军说。 他平静地说，好像在谈论军官的衣服。 “我担心他们会突围，除非我们拼命阻止他们。” “要阻止他们很难，”警官生气地说。 “我想是的，”将军说。 然后他开始在他的工作人员中间迅速而安静地交谈。 亨利和威尔逊什么也听不见，直到将军最后问军官：“你有什么部队可以调遣？”“嗯，”警官想了想说。 “这是第304次。他们是无用的。 像骡夫一样战斗。 我很容易放过他们。” 亨利和威尔逊惊讶地面面相觑。 第304团是他们的部队。 将军说话尖锐。 “那就让他们准备好。

I'llwatch the battle from here and send word of when to start them. It'll be over in five minutes. I don't believe many of your mule drivers will survive this." The officer and the general smiled as they parted. With scared faces, Henry and Wilson hurried back to their troop. Even though this happened in just a few minutes, Henry felt as if he had aged many years. He learned that he did not mean anything to the army. The officer had spoken about their troop as if he had been talking about a broom. When they got back, they told everyone that they were going to charge at the enemy in minutes. "Charge?" said their lieutenant, with a smile. "Well, then, now we're fighting!" The men saw two figures on horseback a short distance from them. One was the colonel of the troop. The other was the officer who had received his orders from the

我会在这里观看战斗，并通知他们何时开始。 还有五分钟就结束了。 我不相信你们很多赶骡人能活下来。” 军官和将军分别时微笑着。 亨利和威尔逊满脸恐惧地匆匆回到部队。 尽管这一切只发生在几分钟内，亨利却觉得自己老了许多岁。 他了解到他对军队来说无足轻重。 军官谈到他们的部队时，好像在谈论一把扫帚似的。 当他们回来时，他们告诉每个人他们将在几分钟内向敌人冲锋。 “冲锋？”他们的中尉微笑着说。 “好吧，现在我们要战斗了！”他们看见两个骑在马上的人影离他们不远。 一个是部队的上校。 另一个是接受了军队命令的军官

general. They were talking and pointing at the troop. The officers began to move the men into smaller groups. Soon, everyone in the troop seemed to stand up straight and take a deep breath. They were watching the forest. All around them were the noises of a great battle between the two armies. The rest of the world seemed to be interested in other things. The troop had this little fight all to itself. Henry and Wilson looked at each other. They hadn't told anyone how the officer and general had spoken about the troop, about how they were all men whose lives didn't matter very much. They had been called mule drivers, Henry thought. They weren't expected to survive this fight. But that was a secret between Henry and Wilson. Still, they could see the fear in each other's faces. They looked at each other and nodded in

将军。他们边说边指着部队。 军官们开始把士兵分成若干小组。 很快，队伍里的每个人似乎都站直了身子，深吸了一口气。 他们在监视森林。 他们的四周都是两军大战的嘈杂声。 世界其他地方似乎对其他事情感兴趣。 这群人独自打了一场仗。 亨利和威尔逊面面相觑。 他们没有告诉任何人军官和将军是怎样谈论部队的，说他们都是些生命无足轻重的人。 他们被称为赶骡人，亨利想。 他们不可能在这场战斗中幸存下来。 但这是亨利和威尔逊之间的秘密。 尽管如此，他们还是能看到彼此脸上的恐惧。 他们互相看了看，点了点头

agreement when a man near them said in a frightened voice, "We'll get swallowed."

这时，他们身边的一个人惊恐地说：“我们会被吞下去的。”