23 The Flag

CHAPTER 23 The Flag When the two youths turned with the flag, they saw that much of the troop was gone. Not only that, but the survivors were starting to pull back. Several officers were giving orders, screaming over the noise of the battle. "Where are you going?" the lieutenant cried. Henry and Wilson had a small fight over the flag. Each of them wanted to carry it. Finally, Henry pushed Wilson away. The troop moved back into the trees. By

第二十三章旗帜当两个年轻人拿着旗帜转身时，他们看到大部分部队都走了。 不仅如此，幸存者也开始撤退。 几个军官在发号施令，在战斗的喧闹声中尖叫着。 “你上哪儿去？”中尉喊道。 亨利和威尔逊为国旗发生了一场小争吵。 他们每个人都想拿着它。 最后，亨利把威尔逊推开了。 部队又回到了树林里。 通过

the time they had returned to the open space where they had started, there seemed to be mobs of enemy soldiers all around them. Most of the men in the troop were surprised and discouraged. Henry kept moving, a look of rage on his face. He was angry that they had been called mule drivers, and even angrier that they were now forced to pull back. He hated that officer who didn't even know him, but had called him a mule driver. Henry had wanted his troop to win this battle. He wanted to return to that officer and say, "So, we're mule drivers, are we?" But now Henry knew they were not going to win, and he had to let go of his dreams for revenge. Henry wrapped himself in his pride and kept the flag high. He and the lieutenant yelled at the troop to keep fighting, but the men were like a worn down machine. Many of the soldiers could not continue when they

当他们回到出发的空地时，周围似乎有一大群敌军士兵。 部队里的大多数人都感到惊讶和沮丧。 亨利继续往前走，脸上带着愤怒的表情。 他很生气他们被称为赶骡人，更生气的是他们现在被迫撤退。 他讨厌那个甚至不认识他却叫他骡夫的军官。 亨利希望他的军队赢得这场战役。 他想回去对那个军官说：“那么，我们是骡夫，是吗？”但现在亨利知道他们不会赢，他必须放弃他的梦想来复仇。 亨利沉浸在骄傲之中，把旗子高高举起。 他和中尉对士兵们大喊大叫，要他们继续战斗，但士兵们就像一台破旧的机器。 许多士兵无法继续前进

saw others falling and wounded. There was smoke everywhere. Through a sudden break in a cloud, Henry saw a group of enemy troops. They yelled and began firing as Henry's troop pulled back. The battle seemed to take forever. In the haze, some soldiers panicked and got lost. Many of them headed in the wrong direction. Soldiers became confused about where the enemy was and where gunfire was coming from. Men ran in every direction, looking for ways to escape. All the while, with almost regular timing, men continued to fall. Very sure of himself, Henry walked into the middle of the mob and took a stand with the flag. It was as if he expected someone to push him to the ground, and he was using the flag to hold himself up. Without knowing it, he was posed like the heroes he had seen and imagined. Wilson came up to him and said, "Well,

看到其他人摔倒和受伤。 到处都是烟。 透过云层的突然裂缝，亨利看到了一群敌军。 当亨利的部队撤退时，他们大喊大叫并开始射击。 战斗似乎持续了很长时间。 在雾霾中，一些士兵惊慌失措，迷路了。 他们中的许多人朝着错误的方向前进。 士兵们弄不清敌人在哪里，炮火从哪里来。 人们四处奔逃，寻找逃跑的方法。 与此同时，几乎有规律地，男性继续下降。 亨利非常自信，他走到人群中间，举着国旗站了起来。 就好像他希望有人把他推倒在地，而他却用那面旗帜支撑着自己。 不知不觉中，他摆出了他所看到和想象中的英雄的姿势。 威尔逊走过来对他说：“嗯，

Henry, I guess this is good-bye." "Oh shut up, you darned fool!" Henry replied. He would not look at his friend. The officers worked to get the troop into a circle. They wanted the men to face the approaching enemy. The ground was uneven and torn. The men crawled into ditches and tried to hide behind anything that might stop a bullet. Henry saw that the lieutenant was standing quietly now. He was using his sword like a cane to hold himself up. There was something strange in this little pause. The lieutenant looked like a child who had cried all he could and now didn't know what to do. He was thinking and mumbling to himself. Some lazy smoke curled slowly around the troop. The men hiding from the bullets waited for it to lift so they could see once and for all what would happen to them.

亨利，我想该说再见了。” “闭嘴，你这个该死的傻瓜！”亨利回答。 他不愿看他的朋友。 军官们努力使部队排成一个圆圈。 他们要士兵们面对逼近的敌人。 地面凹凸不平，坑坑洼洼。 士兵们爬进沟渠，试图躲在任何能挡子弹的东西后面。 亨利看到中尉现在正静静地站着。 他把剑当作拐杖来撑住自己。 在这短暂的停顿中有一种奇怪的感觉。 中尉看起来像个孩子，哭了个不停，现在不知道该怎么办了。 他一边想一边喃喃自语。 一些懒懒的烟在部队周围慢慢地袅袅升起。 躲在枪林弹雨中的人等着枪林弹雨升起来，这样他们就能一劳永逸地看清自己的下场。