The battle of Waterloo is an enigma. It is as obscure to those who won it as to those who lost it. —
滑铁卢之战是一个谜团。对于那些赢得它的人和那些输掉它的人都一样晦涩难懂。 —

For Napoleon it was a panic;[10] Blucher sees nothing in it but fire; —
对于拿破仑来说，那是一场恐慌；布吕歇尔只看到其中火焰； —

Wellington understands nothing in regard to it. Look at the reports. —
威灵顿对此一无所知。看看那些报告。 —

The bulletins are confused, the commentaries involved. Some stammer, others lisp. —
公报混乱，评论牵扯复杂。有人结结巴巴，有人口齿不清。 —

Jomini divides the battle of Waterloo into four moments; Muffling cuts it up into three changes; —
若米尼将滑铁卢之战分为四个时刻；穆夫林将其分为三个变迁； —

Charras alone, though we hold another judgment than his on some points, seized with his haughty glance the characteristic outlines of that catastrophe of human genius in conflict with divine chance. —
只有夏拉斯，虽然在某些观点上我们有不同看法，却以他的傲慢目光抓住了天才与神奇机遇在人类冲突中的特点轮廓。 —

All the other historians suffer from being somewhat dazzled, and in this dazzled state they fumble about. —
其他历史学家全都在眩光中受苦，他们在这种眩光状态下笨拙地摸索。 —

It was a day of lightning brilliancy; in fact, a crumbling of the military monarchy which, to the vast stupefaction of kings, drew all the kingdoms after it–the fall of force, the defeat of war.
那是一个极速璀璨的一天；事实上，是军事君主制崩溃，以致各国王室大吃一惊，将所有王国引入其中–力量的崩溃，战争的失败。

[10] “A battle terminated, a day finished, false measures repaired, greater successes assured for the morrow,–all was lost by a moment of panic, terror.” —
“一场战斗结束，一天结束，虚假措施修正，为明天确保更大的成功，–所有都因一刻恐慌、恐吓而丧失。” —

–Napoleon, Dictees de Sainte Helene.

In this event, stamped with superhuman necessity, the part played by men amounts to nothing.
– 拿破仑，圣赫勒拿记录。

If we take Waterloo from Wellington and Blucher, do we thereby deprive England and Germany of anything? —
在这个被超自然必然性印记的事件中，人类所扮演的角色几乎微不足道。 —

No. Neither that illustrious England nor that august Germany enter into the problem of Waterloo. —
如果我们从威灵顿和布吕歇尔手中拿走滑铁卢，那么我们是否剥夺了英格兰和德国的任何东西？ —

Thank Heaven, nations are great, independently of the lugubrious feats of the sword. —
不。那位著名的英格兰和那位崇高的德国都不在滑铁卢问题中。 —

Neither England, nor Germany, nor France is contained in a scabbard. —
感谢上天，民族伟大，独立于刀剑的悲惨业绩之外。 —

At this epoch when Waterloo is only a clashing of swords, above Blucher, Germany has Schiller; —
在这个时代，当滑铁卢只是一场剑拔弩张的战斗时, 在布吕歇的上方，德国拥有席勒； —

above Wellington, England has Byron. A vast dawn of ideas is the peculiarity of our century, and in that aurora England and Germany have a magnificent radiance. —
在惠灵顿的上方，英格兰拥有拜伦。思想的巨大曙光是我们这个世纪的特点，在那个黎明中，英格兰和德国闪耀着壮丽的光芒。 —

They are majestic because they think. The elevation of level which they contribute to civilization is intrinsic with them; —
他们之所以伟大，是因为他们思考。他们为文明所做的提升是与他们内在的联系； —

it proceeds from themselves and not from an accident. —
它来自于他们自己，而不是由偶然造成的。 —

The aggrandizement which they have brought to the nineteenth century has not Waterloo as its source. It is only barbarous peoples who undergo rapid growth after a victory. —
19世纪他们为文明带来的壮丽并不源自滑铁卢。只有野蛮民族在获胜后才会迅速增长。 —

That is the temporary vanity of torrents swelled by a storm. —
那是暴风雨膨胀的暂时自负。 —

Civilized people, especially in our day, are neither elevated nor abased by the good or bad fortune of a captain. —
文明人，尤其是在我们这个时代，不会因一位指挥官的好运或厄运而高升或沦降。 —

Their specific gravity in the human species results from something more than a combat. —
他们在人类物种中的比重是由一种不仅仅是决斗的东西造就的。 —

Their honor, thank God! their dignity, their intelligence, their genius, are not numbers which those gamblers, heroes and conquerors, can put in the lottery of battles. —
感谢上帝，他们的荣誉，尊严，智慧，天才，并非那些赌徒，英雄和征服者可以置于战斗的彩票中的数字。 —

Often a battle is lost and progress is conquered. There is less glory and more liberty. —
经常是一场战斗失败而进步却取得胜利。荣耀更少，自由更多。 —

The drum holds its peace; reason takes the word. It is a game in which he who loses wins. —
战鼓沉默；理性发言。这是一场失败者获胜的游戏。 —

Let us, therefore, speak of Waterloo coldly from both sides. —
因此，让我们冷静地谈论滑铁卢的两面。 —

Let us render to chance that which is due to chance, and to God that which is due to God. What is Waterloo? —
让我们给机遇应得的去机遇，给上帝应得的去上帝。滑铁卢是什么？ —

A victory? No. The winning number in the lottery.
一场胜利？不。这是欧洲中奖的号码，由法国支付。

The quine[11] won by Europe, paid by France.
由此可见，滑铁卢是一种命运的游戏而已, 并非真正的胜利。

[11] Five winning numbers in a lottery.
[11] 在一个彩票中有五个中奖号码。

It was not worth while to place a lion there.
在那里放一只狮子是不值得的。

Waterloo, moreover, is the strangest encounter in history. Napoleon and Wellington. —
滑铁卢，此外，是历史上最奇特的对决。拿破仑和威灵顿。 —

They are not enemies; they are opposites. —
他们并不是敌人；他们是对立的。 —

Never did God, who is fond of antitheses, make a more striking contrast, a more extraordinary comparison. —
上帝从未做过更引人注目的对比，更极端的比较。 —

On one side, precision, foresight, geometry, prudence, an assured retreat, reserves spared, with an obstinate coolness, an imperturbable method, strategy, which takes advantage of the ground, tactics, which preserve the equilibrium of battalions, carnage, executed according to rule, war regulated, watch in hand, nothing voluntarily left to chance, the ancient classic courage, absolute regularity; —
一方面，精准、远见、几何学、谨慎、有把握的后退、保留军力、坚定的冷静、沉着的方法、利用地形的策略、保持营队平衡的战术、按规则执行的杀戮、按时看守的规范战争、不留给偶然的事情，古典勇气、绝对规律； —

on the other, intuition, divination, military oddity, superhuman instinct, a flaming glance, an indescribable something which gazes like an eagle, and which strikes like the lightning, a prodigious art in disdainful impetuosity, all the mysteries of a profound soul, associated with destiny; —
另一方面，直觉、预知、军事怪才、超人的本能、火焰般的眼光、难以描述的像鹰一样凝视、像闪电一样打击、高超的轻狂冲动、深邃灵魂的所有奥秘，与命运相联； —

the stream, the plain, the forest, the hill, summoned, and in a manner, forced to obey, the despot going even so far as to tyrannize over the field of battle; —
河流、平原、森林、山丘，被召唤，并某种程度上被迫服从，这位专制者甚至对战场专横跋扈； —

faith in a star mingled with strategic science, elevating but perturbing it. —
信念中掺杂了战略知识的星辰崇拜，使它升华又扰乱它。 —

Wellington was the Bareme of war; Napoleon was its Michael Angelo; —
威灵顿是经典战争的复仇。 —

and on this occasion, genius was vanquished by calculation. On both sides some one was awaited. —
波拿巴在他的鼎盛时期，在意大利遇到他，并英勇地击败了他。 —

It was the exact calculator who succeeded. Napoleon was waiting for Grouchy; —
这一次是精确计算者取得了成功。拿破仑在等待格鲁希； —

he did not come. Wellington expected Blucher; he came.
他没有到来。威灵顿期待布吕歇；他来了。

Wellington is classic war taking its revenge. —
威灵顿是经典战争在报复。 —

Bonaparte, at his dawning, had encountered him in Italy, and beaten him superbly. —
波拿巴在他的黎明时期，在意大利遇到他，并英勇地击败了他。 —

The old owl had fled before the young vulture. —
老猫头鹰已在年轻的秃鹫之前逃走了。 —

The old tactics had been not only struck as by lightning, but disgraced. —
老套路不仅被闪电击中，还被耻辱。 —

Who was that Corsican of six and twenty? —
那位26岁的科西嘉人是谁？ —

What signified that splendid ignoramus, who, with everything against him, nothing in his favor, without provisions, without ammunition, without cannon, without shoes, almost without an army, with a mere handful of men against masses, hurled himself on Europe combined, and absurdly won victories in the impossible? —
那位辉煌的无知者意味着什么？与他势不两立，一无所获，没有粮食，没有弹药，没有大炮，没有鞋子，几乎没有军队，仅凭一小撮人对抗庞大的欧洲联军，他大胆地赢得了不可能的胜利？ —

Whence had issued that fulminating convict, who almost without taking breath, and with the same set of combatants in hand, pulverized, one after the other, the five armies of the emperor of Germany, upsetting Beaulieu on Alvinzi, Wurmser on Beaulieu, Melas on Wurmser, Mack on Melas? —
那个雷厉风行的囚犯从哪里而来，几乎没喘口气，仍手握同一队的作战人员，一个接一个地干掉了德国皇帝的五支军队，撞倒了博涅里、阿尔文齐、沃尔姆瑟、梅拉斯和马克？ —

Who was this novice in war with the effrontery of a luminary? —
那个战争新手是谁，胆大如日？ —

The academical military school excommunicated him, and as it lost its footing; —
军校学院排斥他，可是随着他失去所据，灭亡贝卢，蒙特贝洛，蒙蒂诺特，曼图瓦，阿尔科拉，他写道：“滑铁卢”。 —

hence, the implacable rancor of the old Caesarism against the new; —
故此，老凯撒主义对新文明的无情怨恨； —

of the regular sword against the flaming sword; and of the exchequer against genius. —
对规矩刀剑对燃烧剑，财政官对天赋。 —

On the 18th of June, 1815, that rancor had the last word. —
1815年6月18日，怨毒有了最后的说法。 —

and beneath Lodi, Montebello, Montenotte, Mantua, Arcola, it wrote: Waterloo. —
在洛迪、蒙特贝洛、蒙特诺特、曼图瓦、阿尔科拉之下，它写着：“滑铁卢”。 —

A triumph of the mediocres which is sweet to the majority. Destiny consented to this irony. —
这是中庸者的胜利，也是大多数人心照不宣的。 —

In his decline, Napoleon found Wurmser, the younger, again in front of him.
在巅峰时期，拿破仑再次面对年轻的沃尔姆瑟。

In fact, to get Wurmser, it sufficed to blanch the hair of Wellington.
实际上，要击败沃尔姆瑟，只需要让威灵顿的头发变白。

Waterloo is a battle of the first order, won by a captain of the second.
滑铁卢是一场一流的战斗，却被一个二流的指挥官赢得。

That which must be admired in the battle of Waterloo, is England; —
必须令人钦佩的是滑铁卢战役中的英国； —

the English firmness, the English resolution, the English blood; —
英格兰的坚定，决心，和英国人的血液； —

the superb thing about England there, no offence to her, was herself. —
在那里最壮观的是英格兰自身，不冒犯她； —

It was not her captain; it was her army.
不是她的将军；而是她的军队；

Wellington, oddly ungrateful, declares in a letter to Lord Bathurst, that his army, the army which fought on the 18th of June, 1815, was a “detestable army.” —
惠灵顿，出奇的忘恩负义，在一封写给巴瑟斯特勋爵的信中宣称，他的军队，1815年6月18日战斗的那支军队，是一个“该死的军队”； —

What does that sombre intermingling of bones buried beneath the furrows of Waterloo think of that?
那些掩埋在滑铁卢耕地下的阴暗的骨骼混合体会怎么想？；

England has been too modest in the matter of Wellington. —
在惠灵顿的问题上，英国太谦逊了； —

To make Wellington so great is to belittle England. —
让惠灵顿如此伟大，实际上是贬低了英国； —

Wellington is nothing but a hero like many another. —
惠灵顿只是和其他英雄一样； —

Those Scotch Grays, those Horse Guards, those regiments of Maitland and of Mitchell, that infantry of Pack and Kempt, that cavalry of Ponsonby and Somerset, those Highlanders playing the pibroch under the shower of grape-shot, those battalions of Rylandt, those utterly raw recruits, who hardly knew how to handle a musket holding their own against Essling’s and Rivoli’s old troops,–that is what was grand. —
那些苏格兰灰骑兵，那些骑兵卫队，那些迈特兰和米切尔的团，帕克和肯普特的步兵，波森比和萨默塞特的骑兵，那些在炮弹雨中吹奏风笛的苏格兰人，莱兰德特的团，那些几乎不会持枪的新手新兵，他们与埃斯林和里沃利的老部队抗衡，这才是值得称赞的； —

Wellington was tenacious; in that lay his merit, and we are not seeking to lessen it: —
惠灵顿是顽固的；在这方面是他的优点，我们不是在贬低它； —

but the least of his foot-soldiers and of his cavalry would have been as solid as he. —
但他最不起眼的步兵和骑兵一样坚固； —

The iron soldier is worth as much as the Iron Duke. As for us, all our glorification goes to the English soldier, to the English army, to the English people. —
铁士兵的价值不亚于铁公爵的价值；至于我们，所有的赞颂都归于英国士兵，英国军队，英国人民； —

If trophy there be, it is to England that the trophy is due. —
如果有战利品，那么应该归功于英格兰； —

The column of Waterloo would be more just, if, instead of the figure of a man, it bore on high the statue of a people.
如果滑铁卢纪念柱更公正些，那它应该不是描绘一个人的雕像，而是高举一个民族的雕像。

But this great England will be angry at what we are saying here. —
但这个伟大的英国会对我们在这里所说的感到愤怒。 —

She still cherishes, after her own 1688 and our 1789, the feudal illusion. —
在经历了自己的1688年和我们的1789年之后，她依然怀有封建的幻想。 —

She believes in heredity and hierarchy. This people, surpassed by none in power and glory, regards itself as a nation, and not as a people. —
她相信血统和等级制度。这个在力量和荣耀上无人能及的民族，把自己视为一个国家，而不是一个人民。 —

And as a people, it willingly subordinates itself and takes a lord for its head. —
这个人民乐意让自己屈从并接受一个领主作为头领。 —

As a workman, it allows itself to be disdained; —
作为工人，它允许自己被蔑视； —

as a soldier, it allows itself to be flogged.
作为士兵，它允许自己被鞭打。

It will be remembered, that at the battle of Inkermann a sergeant who had, it appears, saved the army, could not be mentioned by Lord Paglan, as the English military hierarchy does not permit any hero below the grade of an officer to be mentioned in the reports.
值得记住，再英克曼战役中，一名据说拯救了军队的中士无法被帕格兰勋爵提及，因为英国军事等级制度不允许在报告中提及低于军官级别的英雄。

That which we admire above all, in an encounter of the nature of Waterloo, is the marvellous cleverness of chance. —
我们最钦佩的，是在水卢战役中的一次遭遇中，偶然机会的神奇聪明。 —

A nocturnal rain, the wall of Hougomont, the hollow road of Ohain, Grouchy deaf to the cannon, Napoleon’s guide deceiving him, Bulow’s guide enlightening him,– the whole of this cataclysm is wonderfully conducted.
一场夜间的大雨，侯谷蒙的城墙，奥安的空路，格鲁希不听炮声，拿破仑的向导欺骗了他，布罗的向导启示了他，–整个这场大混乱都被精心指挥。

On the whole, let us say it plainly, it was more of a massacre than of a battle at Waterloo.
总的来说，让我们直言不讳地说，水卢战役更像是一场屠杀，而不是一场战役。

Of all pitched battles, Waterloo is the one which has the smallest front for such a number of combatants. —
在所有正面交锋中，水卢战役是参战人数最多的战斗中前线最窄的一场。 —

Napoleon three-quarters of a league; Wellington, half a league; —
拿破仑的前线有四分之三的里程；惠灵顿的有一半的里程； —

seventy-two thousand combatants on each side. —
双方各有七万两千名战士。 —

From this denseness the carnage arose.
正是由于这种密集导致了大量的伤亡。

The following calculation has been made, and the following proportion established: Loss of men: —
已经进行了下面的计算，并建立了以下的比例：人员损失： —

at Austerlitz, French, fourteen per cent; Russians, thirty per cent; —
在奥斯特利茨，法国人，百分之十四；俄国人，百分之三十；奥地利人，百分之四十四。 —

Austrians, forty-four per cent. At Wagram, French, thirteen per cent; Austrians, fourteen. —
在瓦格拉姆，法国人，百分之十三；奥地利人，百分之十四。 —

At the Moskowa, French, thirty-seven per cent; Russians, forty-four. —
在莫斯科瓦，法国人，百分之三十七；俄国人，百分之四十四。 —

At Bautzen, French, thirteen per cent; Russians and Prussians, fourteen. —
在包岑，法国人，百分之十三；俄罗斯人和普鲁士人，百分之十四。 —

At Waterloo, French, fifty-six per cent; the Allies, thirty-one. —
在滑铁卢，法国人，百分之五十六；盟军，百分之三十一。 —

Total for Waterloo, forty-one per cent; one hundred and forty-four thousand combatants; —
滑铁卢的总数，百分之四十一；十四万名战士； —

sixty thousand dead.
六万人死亡。

To-day the field of Waterloo has the calm which belongs to the earth, the impassive support of man, and it resembles all plains.
今天滑铁卢战场拥有属于大地的平静，人类的冷静支持，它看起来与所有平原一样。

At night, moreover, a sort of visionary mist arises from it; —
此外还有一种幻象般的薄雾从中升起； —

and if a traveller strolls there, if he listens, if he watches, if he dreams like Virgil in the fatal plains of Philippi, the hallucination of the catastrophe takes possession of him. —
如果一个旅行者在那里闲逛，如果他倾听，如果他观察，如果他像维吉尔在菲利比灾难的平原上做梦，那么灾难的幻觉会占据他。 —

The frightful 18th of June lives again; the false monumental hillock disappears, the lion vanishes in air, the battle-field resumes its reality, lines of infantry undulate over the plain, furious gallops traverse the horizon; —
那可怕的6月18日重现；虚假的纪念丘消失了，狮子在空中消失，战场恢复了现实，步兵队伍在平原上起伏，狂热的冲锋横穿地平线； —

the frightened dreamer beholds the flash of sabres, the gleam of bayonets, the flare of bombs, the tremendous interchange of thunders; —
惊恐的梦想者看到刀光闪烁，刺刀闪耀，炸弹的闪烁，雷声的巨大交换； —

he hears, as it were, the death rattle in the depths of a tomb, the vague clamor of the battle phantom; —
他仿佛听到墓穴深处的死亡呼吸声，战斗鬼魅的模糊喧嚣； —

those shadows are grenadiers, those lights are cuirassiers; —
那些影子是近卫兵，那些光线是铁甲骑兵； —

that skeleton Napoleon, that other skeleton is Wellington; —
那个骷髅拿破仑，另一个骷髅是威灵顿； —

all this no longer exists, and yet it clashes together and combats still; —
所有这一切已不复存在，却仍在激烈碰撞和战斗； —

and the ravines are empurpled, and the trees quiver, and there is fury even in the clouds and in the shadows; —
沟壑变得深紫，树木颤抖，甚至云彩和阴影中也充满了愤怒； —

all those terrible heights, Hougomont, Mont-Saint-Jean, Frischemont, Papelotte, Plancenoit, appear confusedly crowned with whirlwinds of spectres engaged in exterminating each other.
所有那些可怕的高地，奥古蒙、圣让山、弗里斯蒙、帕普洛特、普朗斯瓦，似乎都被混乱地战斗中的幽灵旋风所覆盖。