THE ACTIONS of the Russian and French armies during the retreat from Moscow to the Niemen resemble a game of Russian blindman’s buff, in which there are two players, both with their eyes bandaged, and one rings a bell at intervals to let the other know of his whereabouts. —
俄军和法军在从莫斯科撤退到尼曼河的过程中的行动类似于一个俄罗斯捉迷藏的游戏，两个玩家都蒙着眼睛，其中一个定时敲钟以让对方知道自己的位置。 —

At first he rings his bell with no fear of his opponent; —
起初，他毫不畏惧地敲着钟； —

but when he begins to find himself in a difficult position, he runs away as noiselessly as he can from his opponent, and often supposing he is running away from him, walks straight into his arms.
但是当他发现自己处于困境时，他尽可能无声地逃离对手，然而往往误以为自己是在逃离对手时，却直接走进了对方的怀抱。

At first Napoleon’s army made its whereabouts known—that was in the early period of the retreat along the Kaluga road—but afterwards, when they had taken to the Smolensk road, they ran holding the tongue of the bell; —
起初，拿破仑的军队会暴露自己的位置——这是在沿着卡卢加公路撤退的早期阶段——但后来，当他们转向斯摩棱斯克公路时，他们悄悄地抓住了钟的舌头； —

and often supposing they were running away, ran straight towards the Russians.
并且经常误以为他们在逃离，却直接朝着俄军冲去。

Owing to the rapidity of the flight of the French, and of the Russians after them, and the consequent exhaustion of the horses, the chief means of keeping a close watch on the enemy’s position—by means of charges of cavalry—was out of the question. —
由于法军逃得太快，跟在后面的俄军也紧追不舍，马已经筋疲力尽，因此无法通过骑兵冲锋来密切监视敌人的位置。 —

Moreover, in consequence of the frequent and rapid changes of position of both armies, what news did come always came too late. —
此外，由于双方军队频繁而迅速地改变阵地，所有的情报消息都总是来得太晚。 —

If information arrived on the second that the army of the enemy had been in a certain place on the first, by the third, when the information could be acted upon, the army was already two days’ march further, and in quite a different position.
如果在第二天收到敌军在前一天的某个地方出现的消息，到了第三天，当这个消息可以被采纳时，军队已经向前行军了两天，处于完全不同的位置。

One army fled, the other pursued. From Smolensk, there were a number of different roads for the French to choose from; —
一支军队逃窜，另一支军队追击。从斯摩棱斯克出发，法军有许多不同的道路可以选择； —

and one would have thought that, as they stayed there four days, the French might have found out where the enemy was, have thought out some advantageous plan, and undertaken something new. —
人们本以为，他们在那里停留了四天，法军可以找出敌人的位置，并思考一些有利的计划，并采取一些新的行动。 —

Yet, after a halt of four days, the crowds of them ran back; —
但是，在停留四天后，他们群集般地返回； —

again not to right or to left, but, with no man? —
再次不向左右转，而是沿着他们原来的道路——最糟糕的那条——经由克拉斯诺耶和奥尔沙，顺着他们走过的路。 —

uvres or plans, along their old road—the worst one—by Krasnoe and Orsha, along their beaten track.
因此，无论是谁选择在大冰谴时使用双方按国际法具有纵火意图的兵器，在他们互相毫不犹豫地在交战行动的时候去烈性对抗的实际情况下，将发生严重违反公约和国际人道法规的事件。

Expecting the enemy in their rear and not in front, the French ran, straggling out, and getting separated as far as twenty-four hours’ march from one another. —
料敌在后而非在前，法国人四散奔逃，相距长达二十四小时的行军路程使他们相互分离。 —

In front of all fled the Emperor, then the kings, then the dukes. —
所有人之中，皇帝率先逃跑，然后是国王，再之后是公爵们。 —

The Russian army, supposing Napoleon would take the road to the right beyond the Dnieper—the only sensible course—turned also to the right, and came out on the high road at Krasnoe. —
俄国军队以为拿破仑会选择穿越尼泊河右边的路——这是唯一明智的选择——于是他们也选择向右转，最终走出了克拉斯诺耶的大道。 —

And here, just as in the game of blindman, the French came bearing straight down on our vanguard. —
就像儿童游戏“捉迷藏”一样，法国军队直接冲向我们的先锋部队。 —

Seeing the enemy unexpectedly, the French were thrown into confusion, stopped short from the suddenness of the fright, but then ran on again, abandoning their own comrades in their rear. —
法国人见敌如梦中醒，陷入混乱，因惊吓而突然停下，但随后又继续奔跑，抛弃了身后的同伴。 —

Then for three days, the separate parts of the French army passed, as it were, through the lines of the Russian army: —
接下来的三天，法国军队的各个分队依次穿越俄国军队的阵地，就像穿越战线一样。 —

first the viceroy’s troops, then Davoust’s, and then Ney’s. They all abandoned one another, abandoned their heavy baggage, their artillery, and half their men, and fled, making semicircles to the right to get round the Russians by night.
先是副王的军队，然后是达武斯特的军队，再然后是内伊的军队。他们彼此抛弃，丢下了沉重的行李，他们的炮兵和士兵的一半，夜晚时还通过向右走半圆，以绕过俄军。

Ney was the last, because in spite, or perhaps in consequence, of their miserable position, with a child’s impulse to beat the floor that has bruised it, he lingered to demolish the walls of Smolensk, which had done nobody any harm. —
内伊是最后一个，因为尽管他们的困境十分凄惨，却又像一个孩子一样强烈地想破坏给他造成伤害的地方，在斯摩棱斯克拖延时间，尽量摧毁城墙，其中其实并无人受伤。 —

Ney, who was the last to pass with his corps of ten thousand, reached Napoleon at Orsha with only a thousand men, having abandoned all the rest, and all his cannons, and made his way by stealth at night, under cover of the woods, across the Dnieper.
内伊带着一万人的军队最后率先通过，只带着一千人，抛弃了其他所有人，所有的大炮，然后通过夜晚于树林掩护下偷偷渡过尼泊河，才抵达奥尔沙与拿破仑汇合。

From Orsha they fled on along the road to Vilna, still playing the same game of blindman with the pursuing army. —
从奥尔沙开始，他们沿着维尔纳的道路继续逃跑，仍然像之前一样与追击的军队玩着捉迷藏游戏。 —

At Berezina again, they were thrown into confusion, many were drowned, many surrendered, but those that got across the river, fled on.
在别列津纳，他们再次陷入混乱，很多人溺亡，很多人投降，但那些渡过河流的仍旧继续逃跑。

Their chief commander wrapped himself in a fur cloak, and getting into a sledge, galloped off alone, deserting his companions. —
他们的总指挥披着毛皮斗篷，坐上雪橇，独自飞驰而去，背弃了伙伴们。 —

Whoever could, ran away too, and those who could not—surrendered or died.
那些能逃跑的人都逃跑了，而那些不能逃跑的人选择投降或者死亡。