5 The Battle Begins

CHAPTER 5 The Battle Begins The men were stopped at the edge of a grove. They crouched among the trees, pointed their restless guns out at the fields, and tried to look beyond the smoke. Out of the haze they could see other men running. Some shouted and gestured as they ran. The men in Henry's troop watched and listened eagerly. They kept busy by talking about the rumors they had heard. "I met one of the boys from Maine," one of the men said. "He says his brigade fought the whole rebel army for four hours and killed

第五章战斗开始了那几个人在一个小树林的边上停住了。 他们蹲在树林里，不停地用枪指着田野，试图透过烟雾向外看。 透过薄雾，他们看到其他人在奔跑。 一些人一边跑一边喊着，做着手势。 亨利的部队里的人急切地看着，听着。 他们不停地谈论他们听到的谣言。 “我遇到了一个来自缅因州的男孩，”其中一个男人说。 他说，他的旅与整个叛军战斗了四个小时，并被击毙

about five thousand of them. He says one more fight like that and the war will be over." The noise in front of them grew, and Henry and his friends were frozen into silence. They could see a flag waving angrily in the smoke. Near it were the blurred shapes of troops. A confused stream of men fled across the fields. A shell screaming like a storm went over the heads of the reserves. It landed in the grove and exploded, flinging brown earth and a shower of pine needles everywhere. Bullets began to whistle among the branches and nip at the trees. Twigs and leaves came sailing down. It was as if a thousand small invisible axes were flying at them. Many of the men had to dodge and duck their heads. The lieutenant of Henry's company was shot in the hand. He cursed so much that a nervous laugh went through the troop. He held his wound carefully so no blood would

大约有5000人。 他说再打一次这样的仗，战争就结束了。” 他们面前的喧闹声越来越大，亨利和他的朋友们鸦雀无声。 他们看到一面旗帜在烟雾中愤怒地挥舞着。 在它的附近是军队模糊的身影。 一群混乱的人穿过田野逃走了。 一枚炮弹像暴风雨一样呼啸着从预备队的头上飞过。 它落在小树林里爆炸了，棕色的泥土和松针散落了一地。 子弹开始在树枝间呼啸而过，刺向树木。 树枝和树叶随风飘落。 仿佛有一千把看不见的小斧头在向他们飞来。 许多人不得不躲闪，低下头。 亨利连队的中尉手部中枪。 他骂得那么凶，队伍里传出一阵紧张的笑声。 他小心地捂着伤口，以免流血

drip onto his pants. Then the captain of the company wrapped a handkerchief around the wound. The battle flag in the distance waved about madly. It seemed to be struggling to free itself. The swirling smoke was filled with horizontal flashes. Men running quickly away from the fight appeared to come out of the smoke. They grew in numbers until it was obvious that the whole troop was fleeing. The flag suddenly sank down as if dying. Its motion as it fell seemed to be a sign of despair. The looks on the faces of the men running away scared Henry. He felt like nothing in the world would hold him still if he was given the chance to run. But the men in his troop had to hold their ground. They stood together as a group, shaking and growing pale. Henry had one little thought in the middle

滴在他的裤子上。然后连长用手帕把伤口包起来。 远处的战旗疯狂地挥舞着。 它似乎在挣扎着挣脱自己。 旋转的烟雾充满了水平的闪光。 从硝烟中出现了迅速逃离打斗现场的人。 他们的人数越来越多，直到很明显整个部队都在逃跑。 旗子突然沉了下来，好像要死了。 它下落时的动作似乎是一种绝望的迹象。 那些逃跑的人脸上的表情吓坏了亨利。 他觉得如果他有机会逃跑，世界上没有什么能阻止他。 但是他的部队里的人不得不坚守阵地。 他们站在一起，浑身发抖，脸色变得苍白。 亨利在中间有一个小小的想法

of all this chaos. The monster that had made the other troops flee had not yet appeared. He decided to get a look at it. If he could do that, he thought, he might run faster than anyone else.

所有这些混乱。那个使其他军队逃跑的怪物还没有出现。 他决定去看一看。 他想，如果他能做到这一点，他可能会跑得比任何人都快。