The battery in the next garden woke me in the morning and I saw the sun coming through the window and got out of the bed. I went to the window and looked out. The gravel paths were moist and the grass was wet with dew. The battery fired twice and the air came each time like a blow and shook the window and made the front of my pajamas flap.
I could not see the guns but they were evidently firing directly over us. It was a nuisance to have them there but it was a comfort that they were no bigger. As I looked out at the garden I heard a motor truck starting on the road. I dressed, went downstairs, had some coffee in the kitchen and went out to the garage.
Ten cars were lined up side by side under the long shed. They were top-heavy, blunt-nosed ambulances, painted gray and built like moving-vans. The mechanics were working on one out in the yard. Three others were up in the mountains at dressing stations.
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4
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“敌人向那炮队开过炮吗?”我问一位机师。
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4
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"Do they ever shell that battery?" Tasked one of the mechanics.
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5
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“没开过,中尉先生。有那座小山的掩护。”
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5
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"No, Signor Tenente. It is protected by the little hill."
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6
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“这里情形怎么样?”
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6
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"How’s everything?"
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7
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“不太坏。这部车子不行,旁的都开得动。”他停住工作笑一笑。“你是休假才回来吧?”
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7
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"Not so bad. This machine is no good but the others march." He stopped working and smiled. "Were you on permission?"
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8
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“是的。”
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8
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"Yes."
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9
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他在罩衫上揩揩手,露齿而笑。“玩得好吗?”其余的机师都露齿而笑。
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9
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He wiped his hands on his jumper and grinned. "You have a good time?" The others all grinned too.
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10
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“好,”我说。“这车子怎么啦?”
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10
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"Fine," I said. "What’s the matter with this machine?"
I left them working, the car looking disgraced and empty with the engine open and parts spread on the work bench, and went in under the shed and looked at each of the cars. They were moderately clean, a few freshly washed, the others dusty.
I looked at the tires carefully, looking for cuts or stone bruises. Everything seemed in good condition. It evidently made no difference whether I was there to look after things or not.
I had imagined that the condition of the cars, whether or not things were obtainable, the smooth functioning of the business of removing wounded and sick from the dressing stations, hauling them back from the mountains to the clearing station and then distributing them to the hospitals named on their papers, depended to a considerable extent on myself. Evidently it did not matter whether I was there or not.
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17
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“配零件有什么困难没有?”我问那机械中士。
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17
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"Has there been any trouble getting parts?" I asked the sergeant mechanic.
"Good," I said and went back to the house and drank another bowl of coffee at the mess table. The coffee was a pale gray and sweet with condensed milk. Outside the window it was a lovely spring morning. There was that beginning of a feeling of dryness in the nose that meant the day would be hot later on. That day I visited the posts in the mountains and was back in town late in the afternoon.
The whole thing seemed to run better while I was away. The offensive was going to start again I heard. The division for which we worked were to attack at a place up the river and the major told me that I would see about the posts for during the attack.
The attack would cross the river up above the narrow gorge and spread up the hillside. The posts for the cars would have to be as near the river as they could get and keep covered. They would, of course, be selected by the infantry but we were supposed to work it out. It was one of those things that gave you a false feeling of soldiering.
I was very dusty and dirty and went up to my room to wash. Rinaldi was sitting on the bed with a copy of Hugo’s English grammar. He was dressed, wore his black boots, and his hair shone.
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25
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“好极了,”他一看见我就说。“你陪我去见巴克莱小姐吧。”
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25
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"Splendid," he said when he saw me. "You will come with me to see Miss Barkley."
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26
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“不去。”
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26
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"No.
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27
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“要去。你得帮我给她一个好印象。”
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27
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"Yes. You will please come and make me a good impression on her."
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28
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“好吧。等我弄一弄干净。”
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28
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"All right. Wait till I get cleaned up."
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“洗一洗就行,用不着换衣服。”
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"Wash up and come as you are."
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30
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我洗一洗,梳梳头,就跟他走。
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30
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I washed, brushed my hair and we started.
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31
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“等一等,”雷那蒂说。“还是先喝一点才去吧。”他打开箱子,拿出一瓶酒来。
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31
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"Wait a minute," Rinaldi said. "Perhaps we should have a drink." He opened his trunk and took out a bottle.
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32
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“别喝施特烈嘉,”我说。
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32
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"Not Strega," I said.
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33
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“不。是格拉巴。①”
①一种意大利白兰地。
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33
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"No. Grappa."
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34
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“好吧。”
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34
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"All right."
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35
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他倒了两杯酒,我们伸出了食指碰碰杯。酒性好凶。
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35
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He poured two glasses and we touched them, first fingers extended. The grappa was very strong.
"All right," I said. We drank the second grappa, Rinaldi put away the bottle and we went down the stairs. It was hot walking through the town but the sun was starting to go down and it was very pleasant. The British hospital was a big villa built by Germans before the war.
Miss Barkley was in the garden. Another nurse was with her. We saw their white uniforms through the trees and walked toward them. Rinaldi saluted. I saluted too but more moderately.
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39
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“你好,”巴克莱小姐说。“你不是意大利人吧?”
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39
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"How do you do?" Miss Barkley said. "You’re not an Italian, are you?"
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40
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“噢,不是。”
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40
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"Oh, no."
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41
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雷那蒂在跟另外一位护士说话。他们在笑。
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41
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Rinaldi was talking with the other nurse. They were laughing.
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42
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“你真怪,怎么进了意大利军队。”
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42
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"What an odd thing--to be in the Italian army."
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43
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“也不是真正的军队。只是救护车队罢了。”
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43
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"It’s not really the army. It’s only the ambulance."
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44
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“不过还是很怪。你为什么这样做?”
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44
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"It’s very odd though. Why did you do it?"
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45
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“我也不知道,”我说。“并不是每件事都有解释的。”
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45
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"I don’t know," I said. "There isn’t always an explanation for everything."
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46
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“噢,没有解释?我的教养却告诉我是应该有解释的。”
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46
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"Oh, isn’t there? I was brought up to think there was."
"What is the stick?" I asked. Miss Barkley was quite tall. She wore what seemed to me to be a nurse’s uniform, was blonde and had a tawny skin and gray eyes. I thought she was very beautiful. She was carrying a thin rattan stick like a toy riding-crop, bound in leather.
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52
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“这根东西的主人去年阵亡了。”
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52
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"It belonged to a boy who was killed last year."
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53
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“非常抱歉,问得太冒昧了。”
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53
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"I’m awfully sorry."
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54
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“他是个很好的孩子。他本来要和我结婚,但他在索姆战役①中牺牲了。”
① 索姆是法国北部河名,于1916 年和1918 年发生剧烈战役。这里指1916 年战役,英法联军初次运用新武器——坦克——进攻德军,以解除德军围攻凡尔登的压力。
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54
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"He was a very nice boy. He was going to marry me and he was killed in the Somme."
"I’ve heard about it," she said. "There’s not really any war of that sort down here. They sent me the little stick. His mother sent it to me. They returned it with his things."
"I wanted to do something for him. You see I didn’t care about the other thing and he could have had it all. He could have had anything he wanted if I would have known. I would have married him or anything. I know all about it now. But then he wanted to go to war and I didn’t know."
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72
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我一句话都没有说。
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72
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I did not say anything.
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73
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“当时我什么都不懂。我以为给了他反而会害他。我以为给了他以后他会熬不住,后来他一死,什么都完了。”
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73
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"I didn’t know about anything then. I thought it would be worse for him. I thought perhaps he couldn’t stand it and then of course he was killed and that was the end of it."
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74
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“我不知道。”
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74
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"I don’t know."
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75
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“唉,完了,”她说。“什么都完了。”
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75
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"Oh, yes," she said. "That’s the end of it."
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76
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我们望望雷那蒂,他和那护士在谈话。
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76
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We looked at Rinaldi talking with the other nurse.
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77
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“她叫什么?”
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77
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"What is her name?"
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78
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“弗格逊。海伦·弗格逊。你的朋友是位医生吧?”
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78
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"Ferguson. Helen Ferguson. Your friend is a doctor, isn’t he?"
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79
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“是的。他人很好。”
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79
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"Yes. He’s very good."
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80
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“那好极了。这么挨近前线,很难找到好人。我们是挨近前线的吧?”
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80
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"That’s splendid. You rarely find any one any good this close to the front. This is close to the front, isn’t it?"
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81
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“相当近了。”
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81
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"Quite."
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82
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“这是一条胡闹的战线,”她说。“但是风景很美。他们不是要发动总攻击吗?”
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82
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"It’s a silly front," she said. "But it’s very beautiful. Are they going to have an offensive?"
"Since the end of ’fifteen. I started when he did. I remember having a silly idea he might come to the hospital where I was. With a sabre cut, I suppose, and a bandage around his head. Or shot through the shoulder. Something picturesque."
"Yes," she said. "People can’t realize what France is like. If they did, it couldn’t all go on. He didn’t have a sabre cut. They blew him all to bits."
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89
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我一声也不响。
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89
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I didn’t say anything.
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90
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“照你想,这战争永远打不完吗?”
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90
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"Do you suppose it will always go on?"
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91
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“不会的。”
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91
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"No."
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92
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“有什么可以叫它停止呢?”
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92
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"What’s to stop it?"
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93
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“总有个地方会撑不住的。”
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93
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"It will crack somewhere."
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94
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“我们撑不住。我们在法国就撑不住。像索姆这样搞几次,就非垮不可。”
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94
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"We’ll crack. We’ll crack in France. They can’t go on doing things like the Somme and not crack."
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95
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“这里不会垮的。”
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95
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"They won’t crack here," I said.
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96
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“你这样想吗?”
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96
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"You think not?"
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97
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“是的。他们今年夏天打得很不错。”
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97
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"No. They did very well last summer."
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98
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“他们可能垮的,”她说。“什么人都可能垮的。”
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98
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"They may crack," she said. "Anybody may crack."
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99
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“德国人还不是一样。”
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99
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"The Germans too."
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100
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“不,”她说。“我可不这样想。”
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100
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"No," she said. "I think not."
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101
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我们向雷那蒂和弗格逊小姐那边走去。
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101
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We went over toward Rinaldi and Miss Ferguson.
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102
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“你爱意大利吗?”雷那蒂用英语问弗格逊小姐。
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102
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"You love Italy?" Rinaldi asked Miss Ferguson in English.
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103
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“相当爱。”
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103
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"Quite well."
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104
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“不懂,”雷那蒂摇摇头。
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104
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"No understand," Rinaldi shook his head.
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105
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我把“相当爱”译成意大利话。
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105
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"Abbastanza bene," I translated.
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106
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他还是摇头。
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106
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He shook his head.
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107
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“这不行。你爱英格兰吗?”
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107
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"That is not good. You love England?"
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108
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“不怎么爱。你知道,我是苏格兰人。”
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108
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"Not too well. I’m Scotch, you see."
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109
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雷那蒂茫然看着我。
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109
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Rinaldi looked at me blankly.
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110
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“她是苏格兰人,所以她爱苏格兰甚于英格兰,”我用意大利话说。
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110
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"She’s Scotch, so she loves Scotland better than England," I said in Italian.
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111
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“但是苏格兰正是英格兰啊。”
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111
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"But Scotland is England."
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112
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我把这句话翻译给弗格逊小姐听。
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112
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I translated this for Miss Ferguson.
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113
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“还不好算,”弗格逊小姐说。
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113
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"Pas encore," said Miss Ferguson.
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114
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“真的?”
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114
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"Not really?"
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115
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“从来不是。我们不喜欢英格兰人。”①
① 苏格兰人和爱尔兰人,因为受了英格兰人的并吞和压迫,在情感上始终有相当距离。
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115
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"Never. We do not like the English."
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116
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“不喜欢英格兰人?不喜欢巴克莱小姐?”
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116
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"Not like the English? Not like Miss Barkley?"
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117
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“噢,这就不同了。你可别这样咬文嚼字。”
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117
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"Oh, that’s different. You mustn’t take everything so literally."
After a while we said good-night and left. Walking home Rinaldi said, "Miss Barkley prefers you to me. That is very clear. But the little Scotch one is very nice."
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119
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“很不错,”我说。其实连她的人长得怎么样我都没有留心。“你喜欢她吗?”
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119
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"Very," I said. I had not noticed her. "You like her?"