4 A Letter from Wilson

CHAPTER 4 A Letter from Wilson Another night came and the columns of men crossed two bridges. Henry was sure that they would be attacked from the caves in the woods at any moment. But no one bothered them in their camping place, and the soldiers slept the brave sleep of tired men. In the morning they woke up early and ran along a narrow road that led deep into the forest. The men began to count the miles. Many threw away their knapsacks. Soon, few carried anything but their necessary clothes,

第四章威尔逊的信又一个夜晚来临了，纵队跨过两座桥。 亨利确信他们随时会从树林里的山洞里遭到袭击。 但是在他们的宿营地没有人打扰他们，士兵们像疲惫的人一样勇敢地睡着了。 第二天早上，他们起得很早，沿着一条通向森林深处的窄路跑去。 男人们开始数里程。 许多人扔掉了他们的背包。 很快，除了必要的衣服，很少有人带别的东西，

blankets, canteens, guns, and ammunition. "You can now eat and shoot," said Jim to Henry. "That's all you want to do." They marched on and on for a few days, and Henry began to think of this as nothing but a demonstration of men in blue uniforms showing how well they could march. One gray dawn, however, he was kicked in the leg by Jim. Before he was even fully awake, Henry found himself running down a road among men who were panting from moving so fast. From far ahead of them came the sudden sputter of firing guns. They were running right toward it! Henry was confused. He tried to think as he ran with his friends, but all he knew was that the men behind would run him over if he fell. He needed to focus in order to keep from tripping. He felt as if he was being carried along by a mob. One by one, other troops came into view.

毯子，食堂，枪和弹药。 “你现在可以吃和射击了，”吉姆对亨利说。 “这就是你想要做的。” 他们连续行军了几天，亨利开始认为这不过是一群穿蓝制服的人在展示他们的行军能力。 然而，在一个灰暗的黎明，他的腿被吉姆踢了一脚。 亨利还没完全清醒过来，就发现自己在路上跑着，周围的人都因为跑得太快而气喘吁吁。 从他们前面很远的地方突然传来噼里啪啦的枪声。 他们正朝它跑去！亨利很困惑。 他和朋友们一边跑一边努力思考，但他只知道，如果他摔倒了，后面的人会从他身上碾过去。 他需要集中注意力，以免绊倒。 他觉得自己好像被一群暴徒拖着走。 其他部队一个接一个地出现了。

Henry knew that his time had come. He was about to be tested. Looking around, he saw that it would be impossible to escape from the troop. They were on all sides. He felt as if he was in a moving box. Henry realized that he had never wanted to come to the war. He felt as if he hadn't chosen to join the army. He had been dragged in by the government, who had made him feel that it was his duty to come, and now they were taking him out to be killed. He felt angry for being here. He didn't trust the people who were in charge of the army. When the men arrived at the clearing, Henry expected to see a battle scene. Instead, there were a few groups of men running back and forth. They were firing at the landscape. A flag fluttered. The troop passed a dead body, and the wind raised the man's beard as if a hand were stroking it. Strange ideas took hold of Henry as he

亨利知道他的时机到了。 他即将受到考验。 他向四周看了看，发现要从部队中逃脱是不可能的。 他们到处都是。他觉得自己好像在一个移动的箱子里。 亨利意识到他从来就不想参战。 他觉得自己好像没有选择参军。 他是被政府拖进来的，政府让他觉得他有义务来，现在他们要把他带出去处死。 他为来到这里而生气。 他不信任掌管军队的人。 当士兵们到达空地时，亨利本以为会看到战斗场面。 取而代之的是几群人跑来跑去。 他们向风景射击。 一面旗帜飘动着。队伍经过一具尸体，风吹起了那人的胡子，仿佛有一只手在抚摸它。 奇怪的想法攫住了亨利

marched on and on. He thought the land threatened him. At any moment the enemy would attack, killing him and his friends. He wanted to warn them that the generals didn't know what they were doing, but he knew that no one would listen. They would probably laugh. When they stopped and lay on the ground for safety, many of the men in the troop began building tiny hills in front of them. They used stones, sticks, earth, and anything else they thought might stop a bullet. The men discussed whether this was honorable or not—whether it would be more honorable to stand and face the enemy without protection. The troop was ordered to move again and again, which made Henry impatient. He wondered out loud why they were doing this. Jim ate a little and answered, "Oh, I suppose we must go walking around to keep them from getting too close, or something."

继续前进。他认为这片土地威胁到了他。 敌人随时可能进攻，杀死他和他的朋友们。 他想警告他们，将军们不知道他们在做什么，但他知道没有人会听。 他们可能会笑。 当他们停下来躺在地上寻求安全时，部队中的许多人开始在他们面前建造小山。 他们使用石头、棍棒、泥土以及任何他们认为可以阻挡子弹的东西。 士兵们讨论这样做是否光荣——是否在没有保护的情况下站起来面对敌人更光荣。 部队被命令一次又一次地移动，这让亨利不耐烦了。 他大声地纳闷他们为什么要这样做。 吉姆吃了一点，回答说：“哦，我想我们必须绕着他们走一圈，免得他们靠得太近。”

In the afternoon the troop went out over the same ground it had walked in the morning. The land was more familiar to Henry. It didn't threaten him anymore. But any time they passed into a new region, his old worries of stupidity and fear came back to him. After a while, he decided that the stupidity didn't matter much. He wondered what it would be like to get shot right away in his first battle. Soon Henry heard guns ahead. He saw the soldiers running, followed by the sound of gunfire. Henry forgot about getting shot. He watched the battle, spellbound. Suddenly he felt a heavy hand on his shoulder. He turned and saw the loud soldier, Wilson.

下午，这群人又走到了早上走过的地方。 这片土地对亨利来说更熟悉。 它不再威胁到他了。 但每当他们进入一个新的地区，他对愚蠢和恐惧的旧担忧就会重现。 过了一段时间，他觉得愚蠢并不重要。 他想知道在他的第一次战斗中被枪杀会是什么感觉。 不久，亨利听到前面有枪声。 他看见士兵们在奔跑，接着是枪声。 亨利忘了中枪的事。 他入迷地看着战斗。 突然，他感到一只沉重的手搭在他的肩膀上。 他转过身，看见了那个大声叫嚷的士兵威尔逊。

"It's my first and last battle, old boy," Wilson said. He was very pale and his lip was trembling. "Eh?" murmured Henry, in great astonishment. "I said it's my first and last battle. Something tells me—" "What?" asked Henry. "I want you to take these here things to my folks," he said, and ended with a little sob of pity for himself. He handed Henry a small envelope. "Why, what the devil..." began Henry. But the other man gave him a glance as from the depths of a tomb, raised his limp hand, and turned away.

“这是我第一次也是最后一次战斗，老伙计，”威尔逊说。 他脸色苍白，嘴唇在颤抖。 “嗯？”亨利惊讶地低声说。 “我说这是我第一次也是最后一次战斗。 我有预感——”“什么？”亨利问。 “我要你把这些东西送给我的父母，”他说，最后呜咽了一声自怜。 他递给亨利一个小信封。 “啊，见鬼……”亨利开始说。 但另一个人像从坟墓深处一样瞥了他一眼，举起软弱无力的手，转身走开了。