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属类: 双语小说 【分类】世界名著 -[作者: 伊夫林-沃] 阅读:[70956]
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1
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“到现在为止,这是我们战斗过的最差劲的地方了。”指挥官说,“没有什么康乐设施,旅部就驻在我们的上头。弗莱特圣玛丽那儿有个酒馆,大概能坐二十来人——当然,那地方是不准军官进去的。营区还有个三军小卖部。我希望每周上梅尔斯特德-卡布里跑一趟运输。马奇梅因家的大宅离这儿有十英里路,等你到那儿一切也都玩儿完了。军官们首先关心的就是给他们连队的士兵组织娱乐活动。M.O.,我希望你去看一眼那些湖,看看适不适合泡澡。”

1
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‘THE worst place we’ve struck yet,’ said the commanding officer; ‘no facilities, no amenities, and Brigade sitting right on top of us. There’s one pub in Flyte St Mary with capacity for about twenty - that, of course, will be out of bounds for officers; there’s a Naafi in the camp area. I hope to run transport once a week to Melstead Carbury.  Marchmain is ten miles away and damn-all when you get there. It will therefore be the first concern of company officers to organize recreation for their men. M.O., I want you to take a look at the lakes to see if they’re fit for bathing.’

2
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“是,长官。”

2
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‘Very good, sir.’

3
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“旅部指望我们把这所房子给他们打扫干净。我本来认为我看见的剃了一半胡子、成天无所事事,只会在司令部闲逛的军官们会免了咱们这趟苦差。但是……赖德,你去找五十人一组的杂役,然后在十点四十五分的时候去那所房子向营指挥官汇报,他会向你们布置任务。”

3
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‘Brigade expects us to clean up the house for them. I should have thought some of those half-shaven scrim-shankers I see lounging round Headquarters might have saved us the trouble; however...Ryder, you will find a party of fifty and report to the Quartering Comandant at the house at 1045 hours; he’ll show you what we’re taking over.’

4
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“是,长官。”

4
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‘Very good, sir.’

5
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“看来我们的前辈们魄力并不很大嘛。这个山谷有很大潜力来进行突击训练和迫击炮射击的。武器训练官,今天上午侦察一下,旅部到达前把一切布置妥。”

5
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‘Our predecessors do not seem to have been very enterprising. The valley has great potentialities for an assault course and a mortar range. Weapon-training officer, make a recce this morning and get something laid on before Brigade arrives.’

6
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“是,长官。”

6
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‘Very good, sir.’

7
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“我要亲自和副官出去侦察一下训练区域。有谁碰巧知道这个地方吗?”

7
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‘I’m going out myself with the adjutant to recce training areas. Anyone happen to know this district?’

8
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我没说话。

8
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I said nothing.

9
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“那就这样,干活吧。”

9
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‘That’s all then, get cracking.’

10
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“就其自身而言,这个旧宅子了不起,”营指挥官说,“可惜毁得太厉害了。”

10
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‘Wonderful old place in its way,’ said the Quartering Commandant; ‘pity to knock it about too much.’

11
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他是一位上了年纪的、退了伍又被重新任命的陆军中校,从几英里外过来。我们在大门前一块空地上见面,我带着我集合起来的半连兵士在这儿待命。“请进。我一会儿带你到处转转,看看。这地方的房子很多,不过我们只征用了一楼,还有五六间卧室。楼上那些其他的仍是私人财产,大部分都塞满了家具。你绝没有见过那样的东西,有些可是无价之宝。

11
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He was an old, retired, re-appointed lieutenant-colonel from some miles away. We met in the space before the main doors, where I had my half-company fallen-in, waiting for orders. ‘Come in. I’ll soon show you over. It’s a great warren of a place, but we’ve only requisitioned the ground floor and half a dozen bedrooms. Everything else upstairs is still private property, mostly cram-full of furniture; you never saw such stuff, priceless some of it.

12
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“顶层还住着一个看房子的和两个老仆人——他们绝不会给你添麻烦的——还有一个受了闪电战袭击影响的红十字会随军牧师,茱丽娅女士给了他一间屋子——一个成天紧紧张张的老鸟,不过他也不妨事。他已经开了那个小教堂;那地方禁止部队入驻;用这个小教堂的人多得叫人吃惊。

12
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‘There’s a caretaker and a couple of old servants live at the top - they won’t be any trouble to you - and a blitzed R.C. padre whom Lady Julia gave a home to -jittery old bird, but no trouble. He’s opened the chapel; that’s in bounds for the troops; surprising lot use it, too.

13
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“这个地方是茱丽娅·弗莱特女士的,现在她这样称呼自己。她原来嫁给了莫特拉姆,不知道是个什么部的部长。她现在在国外的某个妇女服务部门工作,我尽力给她照管这些东西。说来也怪,老侯爵把所有东西都留给她了——对儿子们太狠了。

13
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‘The place belongs to Lady Julia Flyte, as she calls herself now. She was married to Mottram, the Minister of-whatever-it-is. She’s abroad in some woman’s service, and I try to keep an eye on things for her. Queer thing the old marquis leaving everything to her - rough on the boys.

14
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“现在这是最后一处安顿办事员的地方了;不管怎样,还有很多房间。你看,我已经叫人把墙壁和壁炉都用木板盖住了——下头是很有价值的老艺术品。哎,好像有人在这儿捣蛋呢,一帮搞破坏的要饭的,战士们!幸亏我们发现了这个地方,要不然就得让你们给糟践了。

14
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‘Now this is where the last lot put the clerks; plenty of room, anyway. I’ve had the walls and fireplaces boarded up you see valuable old work underneath. Hullo, someone seems to have been making a beast of himself here; destructive beggars, soldiers are!  Lucky we spotted it, or it would have been charged to you chaps. 

15
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“这是另一间大房子,里面过去都是挂毯和绒绣。我建议你把这间屋子当会议室。”

15
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‘This is another good-sized room, used to be full of tapestry. I’d advise you to use this for conferences.’

16
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“我只是来这儿打扫的,长官。以后旅部的人会分配房间。”

16
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‘I’m only here to clean up, sir. Someone from Brigade will allot the rooms.’

17
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“哦,嗯,你可捞了一件轻松差使;最后来的这批人真不错。可是他们不该把壁炉弄成这个样子。怎么弄的这是?壁炉看起来很结实。不知道还能不能修好了?

17
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‘Oh, well, you’ve got an easy job. Very decent fellows the last lot. They shouldn’t have done that to the fireplace though. How did they manage it? Looks solid enough. I wonder if it can be mended?

18
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“我估计旅长会把这间屋子作为他的办公室的。上一位长官就是这样做的。这间屋子里有很多画没法移走,画在墙上了。像你看到的,我已经尽可能地把墙面都遮上了,可是当兵的什么事都干得出来——就像旅长在那个角落里干的那样。另外还有一间画了画的屋子,在外面廊柱下——都是现代画,你要问我的话,我得说那是这个大宅里最出彩的东西了。这里是原来的通讯部,他们弄得个乱七八糟的,太不像话了。

18
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‘I expect the brigadier will take this for his office; the last did. It’s got a lot of painting that can’t be moved, done on the walls. As you see, I’ve covered it up as best I can, but soldiers get through anything - as the brigadier’s done in the corner. There was another painted room, outside under pillars - modern work but, if you ask me, the prettiest in the place; it was the signal office and they made absolute hay of it; rather a shame.

19
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“这个难看的房间是他们原来当食堂用的,所以我就没把这间屋子的墙盖上,就算有损毁也问题不大。这地方总使我想起一家巨豪华的拍卖商店,你知道——叫‘和风家’……这是接待室……”

19
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‘This eyesore is what they used as the mess; that’s why I didn’t cover it up; not that it would matter much if it did get damaged; always reminds me of one of the costlier knocking-shops, you know - “ Maison Japonaise”...and this was the ante-room...’

20
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没花多长时间我们就看完了这些说话有回声的空房间。随后,我们出来走到露台上。

20
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It did not take us long to make our tour of the echoing rooms. Then we went outside on the terrace.

21
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“这间房子是其他级别军官的厕所和盥洗室,真猜不透他们干吗偏偏把厕所建在了这个地方。我接手以前这地方就被搞成这样了。这里和前边原来是隔断的。我们铺设了穿过树林的小路,能跟大路连上,虽然不那么雅致吧,但还算实用。进进出出的运输车多得很,也把这地方弄得乱七八糟的。看看,不知哪个冒失鬼正从黄杨树篱间穿过去了,所有栏杆都撞倒了……知道的是一辆三吨卡车,不知道的会以为至少是一辆丘吉尔型坦克干的。

21
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‘Those are the other ranks’ latrines and wash-house; can’t think why they built them just there; it was done before I took the job over. All this used to be cut off from the front. We laid the road through the trees joining it up with the main drive; unsightly but very practical; awful lot of transport comes in and out; cuts the place up, too. Look where one careless devil went smack through the box-hedge and carried away all that balustrade; did it with a three-ton lorry, too; you’d think he had a Churchill tank at least. 

22
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“那个喷泉是我们的女主人最心爱的一处地方。每逢招待宾客的夜晚,青年军官们会经常在里面取乐,这个喷水的装置太破了,我就用铁丝网把它圈起来了,再关掉水源。现在看着还是有些不利索。司机们都把烟头和吃剩的三明治扔到里面……你们没办法进到里面去打扫的,拉了铁丝网了。真是个漂亮的、了不起的地方,是不是……

22
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‘That fountain is rather a tender spot with our landlady; the young officers used to lark about in it on guest nights and it was looking a bit the worse for wear, so I wired it in and turned the water off. Looks a bit untidy now; all the drivers throw their cigarette-ends and the remains of the sandwiches there, and you can’t get to it to clean it up, since I put the wire round it. Florid great thing, isn’t it?...

23
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“哎,要是你所有地方都看过了,那我可就走了。祝你今天顺利。”

23
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‘Well, if you’ve seen everything I’ll push off. Good day to you.’

24
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他的司机把一只烟头弹进喷泉干涸的水池里,敬个礼,然后打开车门。我敬了礼,这位营指挥官的车就开走了,穿过橙树林中那条新铺的碎石路的豁口。

24
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His driver threw a cigarette into the dry basin of the fountain; saluted and opened the door of the car. I saluted and the Quartering Commandant drove away through the new, metalled gap in the lime trees.

25
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“胡珀,”我叫道,这时我看到我的人已经开始干起来了,“你看这伙人让你带半小时行不行?”

25
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Hooper,’ I said, when I had seen my men started, ‘do you think I can safely leave you in charge of the work-party for half an hour?’

26
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“刚才我一直在琢磨,不知道我们能在什么地方搞些茶叶来。”

26
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‘I was just wondering where we could scrounge some tea.’

27
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“看在基督的份上,”我说道,“他们才刚刚开始。”

27
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‘For Christ’s sake,’ I said, ‘they’ve only just begun work.’

28
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“大家都烦透了。”

28
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‘They’re awfully browned off.’

29
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“叫他们别松劲儿。”

29
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‘Keep them at it.’

30
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“好极了。”

30
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‘Rightyoh.’

31
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在凄凉空荡的一楼逗留的时间不长,我上了楼,徘徊在那熟悉的走廊里,试着推推锁住的门,打开没锁的门进去看看,里面的家具一直堆到天花板上。终于碰见了一位老女仆,她手里端着一杯茶。“哎哟,”她说道,“这不是赖德先生吗?”

31
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I did not spend long in the desolate ground-floor rooms, but went upstairs and wandered down the familiar corridors, trying doors that were locked, opening doors into rooms piled to the ceiling with furniture. At length I met an old housemaid carrying a cup of tea. ‘Why,’ she said, ‘isn’t it Mr Ryder?’

32
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“是我。我正在想什么时候能碰到一个认得的人呢。”

32
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‘It is. I was wondering when I should meet someone I know.’

33
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“霍金斯太太正在上面她的老房间里呢。我这是给她端茶过去。”

33
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‘Mrs Hawkins is up in her old room. I was just taking her some tea.’

34
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“我替你拿给她。”我说,穿过一扇扇挂着粗呢布的门,走上没铺地毯的楼梯,到了育婴室。

34
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‘I’ll take it for you, I said, and passed through the baize doors, up the uncarpeted stairs, to the nursery.

35
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保姆霍金斯直到我说话才认出我来,我的到来让她一时有些慌乱,直到我挨着她在壁炉边坐了一会儿,她才恢复了原先的平静。她在我认识她的这些年里变化都不大,只是最近才显出老态。最近几年的种种变故都发生在她的老年,很难让她接受和理解。她告诉我说她的眼力已经不行了,只能做一些粗针线活计了。她由于多年温和的交谈而变得尖锐的嗓音,现在又恢复到最初那种柔和质朴的声调了。

35
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Nanny Hawkins did not recognize me until I spoke, and my arrival threw her into some confusion; it was not until I had been sitting some time by her fireside that she recovered her old calm. She, who had changed so little in all the years I knew her, had lately become greatly aged. The changes of the last years had come too late in her life to be accepted and understood; her sight was failing, she told me, and she could see only the coarsest needlework. Her speech, sharpened by years of gentle conversation, had reverted now to the soft, peasant tones of its origin.

36
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“……只有我还在这儿,还有两个年轻的女仆,和那个可怜的蒙布灵神父,他的家遭了轰炸,炸得片瓦不存,一件家具也没有了。后来茱丽娅菩萨心肠把他带到这儿住,他的神经受到了些刺激……还有布莱兹赫德夫人,现在是马奇梅因夫人了,照理说,我该尊称她一句‘夫人’的,可是这么叫她,我别扭,她也别扭。

36
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‘...only myself here and the two girls and poor Father Membling who was blown up, not a roof to his head nor a stick of furniture till Julia took him in with the kind heart she’s got, and his nerves something shocking...Lady Brideshead, too, Marchmain it is now, who I ought by rights to call her Ladyship now, but it doesn’t come natural, it was the same with her.

37
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起先,茱丽娅和科迪莉娅打仗去了,她就带着两个男孩到这儿来了,后来军队把他们赶出去了,他们就去了伦敦。在家里连一个月都没有住到,布赖德就像可怜的爵爷一样,跟义勇骑兵队走了,他们的家也遭了轰炸,所有的东西都没了,她过去搬到这儿的、存放在马车房里的家具也没有了。她在伦敦郊区又找了一所房子,后来也被军队占用了。我最后听说,她现在住在海边一家旅馆里,那种地方总归跟自己的家不一样吧?看着也不大合适。

37
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First, when Julia and Cordelia left to the war, she came here with the two boys and then the military turned them out, so they went to London, nor they hadn’t been in their house not a month, and Bridey away with the yeomanry the same as his poor Lordship, when they were blown up too, everything gone, all the furniture she brought here and kept in the coach-house. Then she had another house outside London, and the military took that, too, and there she is now, when I last heard, in a hotel at the seaside, which isn’t the same as your own home, is it? It doesn’t seem right.?

38
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“……你昨天晚上听了莫特拉姆先生的讲话没有?他把希特勒骂了个臭死。我对伺候我的女仆艾菲说:‘如果希特勒在听他的讲话,如果他听得懂英语的话,虽然我不太相信,那他一定也会觉得没脸见人了。’

38
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‘...Did you listen to Mr Mottram last night? Very nasty he was about Hitler. I said to the girl Effie who does for me: “If Hitler was listening, and if he understands English, which I doubt, he must feel very small.”

39
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谁想得到莫特拉姆会干得这么漂亮呢?还有他的那么多在这儿住过的朋友也干得不错。威尔科克斯先生经常搭公共汽车从梅尔斯特德来看我,每个月两次,他人可真好,我很感激。我对他说:‘真没想到,我们招待的还是一帮天使呢。’因为威尔科克斯先生向来不喜欢莫特拉姆先生那些朋友,我没有看见过那些人,都是听你们说的,茱丽娅也不喜欢他们,不过他们干得很漂亮,不是吗?”

39
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Who would have thought of Mr Mottram doing so well? And so many of his friends, too, that used to stay here? I said to Mr Wilcox, who comes to see me regular on the bus from Melstead twice a month, which is very good of him and I appreciate it, I said: “We were entertaining angels unawares,” because Mr Wilcox never liked Mr Mottram’s friends, which I never saw, but used to hear about from all of you, nor Julia didn’t like them, but they’ve done very well, haven’t they?’

40
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最后我问她:“有茱丽娅的信吗?”

40
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At last I asked her: ‘Have you heard from Julia?’

41
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“科迪莉娅来过信,只是上个星期,她们俩一直在一起。茱丽娅在信纸下边附了一句问候我的话。她们两个都很好,尽管她们不能说在什么地方,可是蒙布灵神父说,从字里行间可以想见得到那地方是巴勒斯坦,布赖德的义勇骑兵队也在那个地方,这可就好了。科迪莉娅说,她们盼望着打完了仗就回家来,我相信我们大家都盼着这一天呢……不过我能不能活到那天,就是另外一回事了。”

41
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‘From Cordelia, only last week, and they’re together still as they have been all the time, and Julia sent me love at the bottom of the page. They’re both very well, though they couldn’t say where, but Father Membling said, reading between the lines, it was Palestine, which is where Bridey’s yeomanry is, so that’s very nice for them all. Cordelia said they were looking forward to coming home after the war, which I am sure we all are, though whether I live to see it, is another story.’

42
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我在她那儿待了半个小时,离开时答应常来看她。我走到走廊时,发现人们没有干活的迹象,胡珀一脸内疚。

42
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I stayed with her for half an hour, and left promising to return often. When I reached the hall I found no sign of work and Hooper looking guilty. 

43
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“他们都得去拉垫床的草去了。布洛克中士告诉我我才知道。我不知道他们是不是快回来了。”

43
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‘They had to go off to draw the bed-straw. I didn’t know till Sergeant Block told me. I don’t know whether they’re coming back.’

44
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“不知道?你怎么下达命令的?”

44
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‘Don’t know? What orders did you give?’

45
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“噢,我告诉布洛克中士说,如果他认为值得一拉的话,那就把士兵的垫床草拉回来,我的意思是说如果晚饭前还有时间的话。”

45
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‘Well, I told Sergeant Block to bring them back if he thought it was worthwhile; I mean if there was time before dinner.’

46
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这时已经将近十二点了。“胡珀,你们又头脑发热了。六点以前什么时候去拉草不行呀。”

46
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It was nearly twelve. ‘You’ve been hotted again, Hooper. That straw was to be drawn any time before six tonight.’

47
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“噢,上帝啊,对不起,赖德,布洛克中士——”

47
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‘Oh Lor; sorry, Ryder. Sergeant Block - ‘

48
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“都怪我自己走开了……吃完中饭就把那批人集合好带到这儿,非得把活干完了才能放他们走。”

48
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‘It’s my own fault for going away...Fall in the same party immediately after dinner, bring them back here and keep them here till the job’s done.’

49
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“好极了——啊,哎,你不是说你以前认识这个地方吗?”

49
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‘Rightyoh. I say, did you say you knew this place before?’

50
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“认识,很熟悉。它是我一个朋友的。”当我吐出这几个字的时候,听起来就像塞巴斯蒂安说这话时一样古怪,那时他没有说“这是我的家”,而是说“这是我家的地方”。

50
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‘Yes, very well. It belongs to friends of mine,’ and as I said the words they sounded as odd in my I ears as Sebastian’s had done, when, instead of saying, ‘It is my home,’ he said, ‘It is where my family live.’

51
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“这也看不出有什么意义啊——这么大地方的一个家。有什么用呢?”

51
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‘It doesn’t seem to make any sense - one family in a place this size. What’s the use of it?’

52
-

“嗯,我想旅长会觉得它很有用的。”

52
-

‘Well, I suppose Brigade are finding it useful.’

53
-

“但这并不是它当初建造的目的,对吗?”

53
-

‘But that’s not what it was built for, is it?’

54
-

“不是,”我说,“当然不是为这个造的。也许只是出于一种建筑方面的兴趣而已,就像生一个儿子,却不知道他会怎么长大成人。我也不知道,我什么也没有建过,而且我也失去了把我的儿子抚养成人的权利。我没有家,没有儿女,人到中年,没有爱情,胡珀。”他看看我,看我是不是在开玩笑,后来断定我说真的呢,就笑了起来。“现在回营房去吧,避开指挥官,如果他侦察完了回来,别向任何人透露我们上午干的蠢事。”

54
-

‘No,’ I said, ‘not what it was built for. Perhaps that’s one of the pleasures of building, like having a son, wondering how he’ll grow up. I don’t know; I never built anything, and I forfeited the right to watch my son grow up. I’m homeless, childless, middle-aged, loveless, Hooper.’ He looked to see if I was being funny, decided that I was, and laughed. ‘Now go back to camp, keep out of the C.O.’s way, if he’s back from his recce, and don’t let on to anyone that we’ve made a nonsense of the morning.’

55
-

“好——赖德。”

55
-

‘Okey, Ryder.’

56
-

这所大宅有一处我还没有去过,现在我去了。小教堂并没有露出年久失修的病态;那幅“新艺术”绘画还像以前一样鲜明和光彩照人;“新艺术”的灯又在祭坛前点燃起来。我念了一句祈祷文,那是一句古老的、新学来的祈祷词,念完就离开了那儿朝营房走去。在往回走的路上,我听见前方炊事班号声响起来了,这时我想:

56
-

There was one part of the house I had not yet visited, and I went there now. The chapel showed no ill-effects of its long neglect; the art-nouveau paint was as fresh and bright as ever; the art-nouveau lamp burned once more before the altar. I said a prayer, an ancient, newly-learned form of words, and left, turning towards the camp; and as I walked back, and the cook-house bugle sounded ahead of me, I thought:

57
-

“建筑者们不知道他们的建筑将会派上什么用场。他们用那个旧城堡的石块建造了一幢新房子;一年又一年,一代又一代,他们不断地丰富、扩展这大宅;一年年过去,园子里郁郁葱葱的树木长大成材;直到突如其来的霜冻,才出现了胡珀的时代;这片地方荒凉了,整个工程也白费了;尘归尘,土归土[1],一切都是过眼云烟。

[1]原文为拉丁文。
57
-

‘The builders did not know the uses to which their work would descend; they made a new house with the stones of the old castle; year by year, generation after generation, they enriched and extended it; year by year the great harvest of timber in the park grew to ripeness; until, in sudden frost, came the age of Hooper; the place was desolate and the work all brought to nothing; Quomodo sedet sola civitas. vanity of vanities, all is vanity.

58
-

“但是,”我一边思索着,一边步子更加轻快地走向营房,原来的号声停顿了一下,接着又响了起来,发出“快来——吃——哦,快来——吃——哦,热土豆哦”的号声,“但是这还不是最后的话,甚至也还不是恰当的话,而是十年前一个死了的字眼。

58
-

‘And yet,’ I thought, stepping out more briskly towards the camp, where the bugles after a pause had taken up the second call and were sounding ‘Pick-em-up, pick-em-up, hot potatoes’, ‘and yet that is not the last word; it is not even an apt word; it is a dead word from ten years back.

59
-

“某种与建造者的预期相距甚远的东西,出自他们的建筑,出自我也在其中扮演了角色的、残酷的人间悲剧;我们当时始料未及的东西,一团小小的红色火焰——一盏设计精美的黄铜灯盏,挂在教堂的黄铜大门前——这是古老的骑士们从坟墓里看到的火焰,燃烧,又熄灭;这火焰再次为远离家乡,心却更加远离阿克里或耶路撒冷的士兵重新燃烧起来——是建造者和悲剧作家再次点燃了它。今天早上我在那里发现了它,在古老的基石中重新燃烧。”

59
-

‘Something quite remote from anything the builders intended, has come out of their work, and out of the fierce little human tragedy in which I played; something none of us thought about at the time; a small red flame - a beaten-copper lamp of deplorable design relit before the beaten-copper doors of a tabernacle; the flame which the old knights saw from their tombs, which they saw put out; that flame burns again for other soldiers, far from home, farther, in heart, than Acre or Jerusalem. It could not have been lit but for the builders and the tragedians, and there I found it this morning, burning anew among the old stones.’

60
-

我加快步子,赶到了我们用作会客室的小屋。

60
-

I quickened my pace and reached the hut which served us for our ante-room.

61
-

“你今天看来不是一般的愉快。”那位副指挥官说。

61
-

‘You’re looking unusually cheerful today,’ said the second-in-command.

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