Ben Granger is a war veteran aged twenty-nine–which should enable you to guess the war. —
本·格兰杰是一位二十九岁的老兵，这应该能让你猜到战争的是哪一场。 —

He is also principal merchant and postmaster of Cadiz, a little town over which the breezes from the Gulf of Mexico perpetually blow.
他还是卡迪斯的主要商人和邮政局长，这个小镇上的海风从墨西哥湾吹来，永远不停息。

Ben helped to hurl the Don from his stronghold in the Greater Antilles; —
本帮助将敌人从大安的基地中赶出来； —

and then, hiking across half the world, he marched as a corporal-usher up and down the blazing tropic aisles of the open-air college in which the Filipino was schooled. —
然后，穿越了半个世界，他身为一个下士引导，在开放的菲律宾学院里穿梭于火热的热带通道。 —

Now, with his bayonet beaten into a cheese-slicer, he rallies his corporal’s guard of cronies in the shade of his well-whittled porch, instead of in the matted jungles of Mindanao. —
现在，他的刺刀已经被打造成了起司切片器，在他经过精心修整的门廊阴影下，他与他的朋友们集结在一起，而不是在森林茂密的棉兰老岛。 —

Always have his interest and choice been for deeds rather than for words; —
他总是更喜欢行动胜于言辞； —

but the consideration and digestion of motives is not beyond him, as this story, which is his, will attest.
但对动机的考量和消化对他来说并不困难，正如这个故事所证明的那样，这个故事是他的。

“What is it,” he asked me one moonlit eve, as we sat among his boxes and barrels, “that generally makes men go through dangers, and fire, and trouble, and starvation, and battle, and such rucouses? —
“他在一个月光照耀的夜晚问我，当我们坐在他的箱子和桶之间时，‘是什么使男人们经历危险、火焰、困境、饥饿、战斗和其他混乱呢？’ ” —

What does a man do it for? —
“男人为了什么而这样做呢？ —

Why does he try to outdo his fellow-humans, and be braver and stronger and more daring and showy than even his best friends are? —
为什么他要超过他的同类，比他最好的朋友更勇敢、更强壮、更大胆、更出风头呢？” —

What’s his game? What does he expect to get out of it? —
“他的目的是什么？他希望从中得到什么？ —

He don’t do it just for the fresh air and exercise. —
他不是仅仅为了呼吸新鲜空气和锻炼身体而这样做的。” —

What would you say, now, Bill, that an ordinary man expects, generally speaking, for his efforts along the line of ambition and extraordinary hustling in the marketplaces, forums, shooting-galleries, lyceums, battle-fields, links, cinder-paths, and arenas of the civilized and vice versa places of the world?”
“现在，比尔，你会说普通人在追求抱负和在文明和反之世界的市场、论坛、射击场、演讲厅、战场、高尔夫球场、灰尘小径和竞技场等地方进行的非凡努力中，一般期望得到什么呢？”

“Well, Ben,” said I, with judicial seriousness, “I think we might safely limit the number of motives of a man who seeks fame to three-to ambition, which is a desire for popular applause; —
“嗯，本，”我以审慎的认真态度回答道，“我想我们可以安全地将追求名望的男人的动机限定为三个——雄心壮志，这是对群众掌声的渴望； —

to avarice, which looks to the material side of success; —
贪婪指向成功的物质一面；还有对某个女人的爱， —

and to love of some woman whom he either possesses or desires to possess.”
无论是他已经拥有她，还是他渴望拥有她。

Ben pondered over my words while a mocking-bird on the top of a mesquite by the porch trilled a dozen bars.
当我说这番话时，本正思索着，而门廊上的一只嘲鸟在荒原的一丛糙木上吟唱了十几个音符。

“I reckon,” said he, “that your diagnosis about covers the case according to the rules laid down in the copy-books and historical readers. —
“我猜,“他说道，”你的诊断按照课本和历史读物上的规定，大致涵盖了这个情况。 —

But what I had in my mind was the case of Willie Robbins, a person I used to know. —
但是我心里想的是威利·罗宾斯的情况，我曾经认识他。 —

I’ll tell you about him before I close up the store, if you don’t mind listening.
如果你不介意听的话，我会在打烊前给你讲述关于他的故事。

“Willie was one of our social set up in San Augustine. —
“威利是我们圣奥古斯丁社交圈中的一员。 —

I was clerking there then for Brady & Murchison, wholesale dry-goods and ranch supplies. —
那时我在那里为布雷迪和默奇森公司工作，这是一家批发服装和农场用品公司。 —

Willie and I belonged to the same german club and athletic association and military company. —
威利和我属于同一个德国舞会俱乐部，运动协会和军事单位。 —

He played the triangle in our serenading and quartet crowd that used to ring the welkin three nights a week somewhere in town.
他在我们的小组里弹三角铁，在城里的某处每周三天晚上我们总会让天空回荡起来。

“Willie jibed with his name considerable. —
“威利非常与他的名字相称。 —

He weighed about as much as a hundred pounds of veal in his summer suitings, and he had a ‘where- is-Mary?’ expression on his features so plain that you could almost see the wool growing on him.
他在夏季的衣服里大约有一百磅牛肉那么重，他脸上的表情很明显，几乎可以看到他身上的羊毛在长。”“然而，即使你用铁丝网把他拒之门外，他也无法抵挡住女孩们的吸引力。”

“And yet you couldn’t fence him away from the girls with barbed wire. —
“你知道那种年轻人——傻瓜和天使的混合体——他们一边冲进去，一边又害怕踩踏；但是他们机会一到，却从不吝啬踩踏。他总是在‘愉快的场合’发生时露面，看起来像个心满意足的国王，同时又像配有甜腌菜的生牡蛎一样不自在。” —

You know that kind of young fellows-a kind of a mixture of fools and angels-they rush in and fear to tread at the same time; —
“他跳舞时像是脚上绑了后蹄；他掌握的词汇量大约有三百五十个词，他可以在一周的舞会中糊弄过去，并且还能抄袭来应付两顿冰淇淋和一个星期天晚上的约会。” —

but they never fail to tread when they get the chance. —
“他跳舞时像是脚上绑了后蹄； —

He was always on hand when ‘a joyful occasion was had,’ as the morning paper would say, looking as happy as a king full, and at the same time as uncomfortable as a raw oyster served with sweet pickles. —
他掌握的词汇量大约有三百五十个词，他可以在一周的舞会中糊弄过去，并且还能抄袭来应付两顿冰淇淋和一个星期天晚上的约会。” —

He danced like he had hind hobbles on; —
“他跳舞时像是脚上绑了后蹄； —

and he had a vocabulary of about three hundred and fifty words that he made stretch over four germans a week, and plagiarized from to get him through two ice-cream suppers and a Sunday-night call. —
他掌握的词汇量大约有三百五十个词，他可以在一周的舞会中糊弄过去，并且还能抄袭来应付两顿冰淇淋和一个星期天晚上的约会。” —

He seemed to me to be a sort of a mixture of Maltese kitten, sensitive plant, and a member of a stranded Two Orphans company.
在我看来，他像是马耳他小猫、多情草和一位被困的“两个孤儿”剧团成员的混合体。

“I’ll give you an estimate of his physiological and pictorial make-up, and then I’ll stick spurs into the sides of my narrative.
“我会给出他生理和画面构成的估计，然后我会给我的叙述加速。

“Willie inclined to the Caucasian in his coloring and manner of style. —
“威利在肤色和风格上更偏向于高加索人。 —

His hair was opalescent and his conversation fragmentary. —
他的头发呈乳白多彩，他的对话破碎不连贯。 —

His eyes were the same blue shade as the china dog’s on the right-hand corner of your Aunt Ellen’s mantelpiece. —
他的眼睛跟你姨姨爱伦壁炉角落的那只瓷狗一模一样的蓝色。 —

He took things as they come, and I never felt any hostility against him. —
他接受事物的現狀，我从未对他怀有任何敌意。我让他留下来， —

I let him live, and so did others.
其他人也是这样。

“But what does this Willie do but coax his heart out of his boots and lose it to Myra Allison, the liveliest, brightest, keenest, smartest, and prettiest girl in San Augustine. —
“但这个威利做的事情却是把他的心魂抠在了靴子里，然后把它输给了迈拉·艾莉森——圣奥古斯丁最活泼、聪明、灵敏、聪明和漂亮的女孩。 —

I tell you, she had the blackest eyes, the shiniest curls, and the most tantalizing– Oh, no, you’re off–I wasn’t a victim. —
我告诉你，她有着最黑的眼睛，最闪亮的卷发和最诱人的——哦，不，你弄错了——我不是个受害者。 —

I might have been, but I knew better. I kept out. —
也许我本可以，但我知道更好的办法。所以我没参与进去。 —

Joe Granberry was It from the start. —
从一开始，乔·格兰伯里就是这样的人。 —

He had everybody else beat a couple of leagues and thence east to a stake and mound. —
他比其他人都强几个联赛，然后向东方的一根桩和一个土堆位置。 —

But, anyhow, Myra was a nine-pound, full-merino, fall-clip fleece, sacked and loaded on a four-horse team for San Antone.
不过，无论如何，迈拉是一个九磅重的全毛无皱绒羊，用四匹马车装载着前往圣安东尼奥。

“One night there was an ice-cream sociable at Mrs. Colonel Spraggins’, in San Augustine. —
在圣奥古斯丁的斯普拉金斯上校夫人家里，有一次冰激凌社交聚会。 —

We fellows had a big room up-stairs opened up for us to put our hats and things in, and to comb our hair and put on the clean collars we brought along inside the sweat-bands of our hats-in short, a room to fix up in just like they have everywhere at high-toned doings. —
我们这些家伙在楼上有一个大房间供我们存放帽子和物品，梳理头发，换上我们从帽子的汗带里带来的干净领带，总之，就像每个地方都有的高档聚会上调整自己的房间一样。 —

A little farther down the hall was the girls’ room, which they used to powder up in, and so forth. —
走廊的尽头是女孩们的房间，她们在里面打扮化妆等等。 —

Downstairs we–that is, the San Augustine Social Cotillion and Merrymakers’ Club–had a stretcher put down in the parlor where our dance was going on.
楼下，我们——也就是圣奥古斯丁社交华尔兹和欢乐者俱乐部——在我们开舞会的客厅里放了一张舒适椅躺椅。

“Willie Robbins and me happened to be up in our–cloak-room, I believe we called it when Myra Allison skipped through the hall on her way down-stairs from the girls’ room. —
威利·罗宾斯和我碰巧在我们的–衣帽间，我相信我们叫它那个名字，当蜜拉·艾里森从女生宿舍楼下经过时。 —

Willie was standing before the mirror, deeply interested in smoothing down the blond grass-plot on his head, which seemed to give him lots of trouble. —
威利站在镜子前，专注地整理头上的金色草坪，似乎给他带来了很多麻烦。 —

Myra was always full of life and devilment. —
蜜拉总是充满生机和顽皮。 —

She stopped and stuck her head in our door. —
她停下来，把头伸进我们的房间。 —

She certainly was good-looking. —
她确实很漂亮。 —

But I knew how Joe Granberry stood with her. —
但我知道乔·格兰贝里在她心中的位置。 —

So did Willie; —
威利也知道。 —

but he kept on ba-a-a-ing after her and following her around. —
但他继续跟在她后面，对她发出低低的羊叫声。 —

He had a system of persistence that didn’t coincide with pale hair and light eyes.
他有一套与浅发色和浅眼睛不符的坚持机制。

”‘Hello, Willie!’ says Myra. ‘What are you doing to yourself in the glass?’
“嗨，威利！”蜜拉说。“你在镜子前对自己做什么？”

“I’m trying to look fly,’ says Willie.
“我想要看起来酷一点，”威利说。

”‘Well, you never could be fly,’ says Myra, with her special laugh, which was the provokingest sound I ever heard except the rattle of an empty canteen against my saddle-horn.
“哦，你永远不可能酷，”蜜拉说，带着她独特的笑声，那是我听过的最惹人恼火的声音，除了空水囊在我的马鞍角上哗哗作响。

“I looked around at Willie after Myra had gone. —
“我看了一眼威利，此时玛伊拉已经离去。 —

He had a kind of a lily-white look on him which seemed to show that her remark had, as you might say, disrupted his soul. —
他脸色苍白，仿佛她的话已经破坏了他的灵魂，你可以说这种举动打乱了他的平衡。 —

I never noticed anything in what she said that sounded particularly destructive to a man’s ideas of self-consciousness; —
我没有注意到她说的话中有任何对一个人自我意识的破坏性， —

but he was set back to an extent you could scarcely imagine.
但他确实被打击到了一个难以想象的程度。

“After we went down-stairs with our clean collars on, Willie never went near Myra again that night. —
“当我们带着干净的衣领下楼后，威利那晚再也没靠近过玛伊拉。 —

After all, he seemed to be a diluted kind of a skim-milk sort of a chap, and I never wondered that Joe Granberry beat him out.
从某种程度上说，他似乎是一种稀释的、水牛奶般的家伙，我从不奇怪为什么乔·格兰伯利击败了他。

“The next day the battleship Maine was blown up, and then pretty soon somebody-I reckon it was Joe Bailey, or Ben Tillman, or maybe the Government-declared war against Spain.
“第二天，战舰“缅因号”被炸毁，很快有人——我想那可能是乔·贝利，或者本·蒂尔曼，或者可能是政府——对西班牙宣战。

“Well, everybody south of Mason & Hamlin’s line knew that the North by itself couldn’t whip a whole country the size of Spain. So the Yankees commenced to holler for help, and the Johnny Rebs answered the call. —
“嗯，南方的每个人都知道，北方单靠自己是打不过一个像西班牙这样大国的。所以北方开始呼喊援助，南方人响应了呼声。 —

‘We’re coming, Father William, a hundred thousand strong–and then some,’ was the way they sang it. —
“我们来了，威廉父亲，有十万之众，甚至更多，” 他们就这样唱着。 —

And the old party lines drawn by Sherman’s march and the Kuklux and nine-cent cotton and the Jim Crow street-car ordinances faded away. —
由于谢尔曼的进军、库克斯计划、九分钱棉花和吉姆·克劳犯律例，曾经划定的旧政党界限已经消失。 —

We became one undivided. country, with no North, very little East, a good-sized chunk of West, and a South that loomed up as big as the first foreign label on a new eight-dollar suit-case.
我们成为一个统一的国家，没有北方，几乎没有东方，有一块相当大的西部地区，南方则庞大得像一个全新的八美元手提箱上的第一个外国标签。

“Of course the dogs of war weren’t a complete pack without a yelp from the San Augustine Rifles, Company D, of the Fourteenth Texas Regiment. —
“当然，如果没有弗尔斯德州第14步兵团圣奥古斯丁步枪兵D连的一阵咆哮，战争的狗群就不算完整。 —

Our company was among the first to land in Cuba and strike terror into the hearts of the foe. —
我们的部队是最早登陆古巴并让敌人心生恐惧的。 —

I’m not going to give you a history of the war, I’m just dragging it in to fill out my story about Willie Robbins, just as the Republican party dragged it in to help out the election in 1898.
我不打算给你讲诉关于战争的历史，我只是把它揉进我关于威利·罗宾斯的故事中，正如共和党在1898年的选举中搬弄是非一样。

“If anybody ever had heroitis, it was that Willie Robbins. —
“如果说有人患过英雄病，那一定是威利·罗宾斯。 —

From the minute he set foot on the soil of the tyrants of Castile he seemed to engulf danger as a cat laps up cream. —
从他踏上卡斯蒂利亚暴君的土地的那一刻起，他就像猫舔起奶油一样吞噬着危险。 —

He certainly astonished every man in our company, from the captain up. —
他绝对让我们部队的每个人都惊讶不已，从上至下。 —

You’d have expected him to gravitate naturally to the job of an orderly to the colonel, or typewriter in the commissary–but not any. —
你本来期望他会自然而然地选择成为上校的便衣兵或者写字员，但他却没有。 —

He created the part of the flaxen-haired boy hero who lives and gets back home with the goods, instead of dying with an important despatch in his hands at his colonel’s feet.
他创造了那个金发少年英雄角色，成功地带回了战利品，而不是带着重要的信件在上校脚下丧生。

“Our company got into a section of Cuban scenery where one of the messiest and most unsung portions of the campaign occurred. —
“我们的部队进入到了古巴的一个地区，发生了一场最混乱且鲜为人知的战役。 —

We were out every day capering around in the bushes, and having little skirmishes with the Spanish troops that looked more like kind of tired-out feuds than anything else. —
我们每天都在灌木丛中穿行，与西班牙军队发生一些看起来更像疲惫不堪的小规模战斗，而不是实质性的战斗。” —

The war was a joke to us, and of no interest to them. —
对于我们来说，战争是一个笑话， —

We never could see it any other way than as a howling farce-comedy that the San Augustine Rifles were actually fighting to uphold the Stars and Stripes. —
对他们来说毫无兴趣。我们从来没有将其视为圣奥古斯丁步枪队为维护星条旗而战斗的方式。 —

And the blamed little senors didn’t get enough pay to make them care whether they were patriots or traitors. —
这些该死的小先生们没得到足够的报酬，以至于他们无所谓是爱国者还是叛徒。 —

Now and then somebody would get killed. —
偶尔会有人丧命。 —

It seemed like a waste of life to me. —
对我来说，这似乎是一种浪费生命。 —

I was at Coney Island when I went to New York once, and one of them down-hill skidding apparatuses they call ‘roller-coasters’ flew the track and killed a man in a brown sack-suit. —
有一次我去纽约的时候，在康尼岛上，有一辆叫做“过山车”的滑雪器从轨道上飞出来，砸死了一个穿着棕色袋状西装的人。 —

Whenever the Spaniards shot one of our men, it struck me as just about as unnecessary and regrettable as that was.
每当西班牙人开枪杀死我们的人时，我觉得那样做就像那次事故一样不必要和可悲。

“But I’m dropping Willie Robbins out of the conversation.
“但我要把威利·罗宾斯排除在谈话之外。”

“He was out for bloodshed, laurels, ambition, medals, recommendations, and all other forms of military glory. —
“他追求的是杀戮、荣誉、野心、勋章、推荐信和所有其他形式的军事荣耀。 —

And he didn’t seem to be afraid of any of the recognized forms of military danger, such as Spaniards, cannon-balls, canned beef, gunpowder, or nepotism. —
而他似乎并不害怕任何被广为接受的军事危险形式，比如西班牙人、炮弹、罐装牛肉、火药或者裙带关系。 —

He went forth with his pallid hair and china-blue eyes and ate up Spaniards like you would sardines a la canopy. —
他走出去，拥有苍白的头发和瓷蓝色的眼睛，就像你吃掉沙丁鱼一样吃掉了西班牙人。 —

Wars and rumbles of wars never flustered him. —
战争和战争的喧哗从不使他慌乱。 —

He would stand guard-duty, mosquitoes, hardtack, treat, and fire with equally perfect unanimity. —
他会以完全一致的态度守卫，无论是蚊子、硬饼干、待遇还是火焰。 —

No blondes in history ever come in comparison distance of him except the Jack of Diamonds and Queen Catherine of Russia.
除了方块J和俄国的叶卡捷琳娜女王之外，史上没有任何金发女郎可以与他相提并论。

“I remember, one time, a little caballard of Spanish men sauntered out from behind a patch of sugar-cane and shot Bob Turner, the first sergeant of our company, while we were eating dinner. —
“我记得有一次，一群西班牙男人从一块甘蔗地后面走出来，在我们吃午饭的时候射杀了我们连队的第一排长鲍勃·特纳。” —

As required by the army regulations, we fellows went through the usual tactics of falling into line, saluting the enemy, and loading and firing, kneeling.
根据军事法规的要求，我们这些家伙按照惯例站成队列，向敌人敬礼，装填并开火，跪在地上。

“That wasn’t the Texas way of scrapping; but, being a very important addendum and annex to the regular army, the San Augustine Rifles had to conform to the red-tape system of getting even.
“这并不是德克萨斯人的打架方式；但作为常规军队的一个非常重要的附录，圣奥古斯丁步枪队必须遵守繁文缛节的手续来报仇。”

“By the time we had got out our ‘Upton’s Tactics,’ turned to page fifty-seven, said ‘one–two–three–one–two–three’ a couple of times, and got blank cartridges into our Springfields, the Spanish outfit had smiled repeatedly, rolled and lit cigarettes by squads, and walked away contemptuously.
“在我们找到《厄普顿战术》并翻到第57页的时候，几次说着’一，二，三，一，二，三’，把空白弹放进我们的斯普林菲尔德枪里时，西班牙这伙人已经多次嘲笑，鄙夷地走开了。”

“I went straight to Captain Floyd, and says to him: ‘Sam, I don’t think this war is a straight game. —
“我直接去找弗洛伊德队长，对他说道：’山姆，我觉得这场战争不是一场公平的比赛。” —

You know as well as I do that Bob Turner was one of the whitest fellows that ever threw a leg over a saddle, and now these wirepullers in Washington have fixed his clock. —
“你和我都知道鲍勃·特纳是个十分友善的人，他骑马时总是表现得非常得体，可是现在这些在华盛顿操纵的人却捣乱了他的生活。” —

He’s politically and ostensibly dead. It ain’t fair. —
“他在政治上和表面上都已经完蛋了。这不公平。 —

Why should they keep this thing up? —
他们为什么要继续这件事呢？” —

If they want Spain licked, why don’t they turn the San Augustine Rifles and Joe Seely’s ranger company and a car-load of West Texas deputy-sheriffs onto these Spaniards, and let us exonerate them from the face of the earth? —
如果他们想要西班牙获胜，为什么不让圣奥古斯丁步枪队、乔·西利的游骑兵连队和一车西德州副警长对付这些西班牙人，让我们彻底消灭他们？ —

I never did,’ says I, ‘care much about fighting by the Lord Chesterfield ring rules. —
我从来就不太在乎遵守彻斯特菲尔德领的规则战斗。 —

I’m going to hand in my resignation and go home if anybody else I am personally acquainted with gets hurt in this war. —
如果我认识的其他任何人在这场战争中受伤，我就要递交辞呈回家。 —

If you can get somebody in my place, Sam,’ says I, ‘I’ll quit the first of next week. —
如果你能找到我位置上的人，萨姆，那我下周就辞职。 —

I don’t want to work in an army that don’t give its help a chance. —
我不想在一个不给予员工机会的军队里工作。 —

Never mind my wages,’ says I; —
不要管我的工资， —

‘let the Secretary of the Treasury keep ‘em.’
我说的是，让财政部长来管。

”‘Well, Ben,’ says the captain to me, ‘your allegations and estimations of the tactics of war, government, patriotism, guard- mounting, and democracy are all right. —
“嗯，本，”队长对我说，“你对战争、政府、爱国主义、卫兵换岗和民主的看法和估计都没错。 —

But I’ve looked into the system of international arbitration and the ethics of justifiable slaughter a little closer, maybe, than you have. —
但是关于国际仲裁制度和正义屠杀的伦理道德，或许我比你更深入研究了一些。 —

Now, you can hand in your resignation the first of next week if you are so minded. —
如果你这么想的话，你可以在下周初交辞呈。 —

But if you do,’ says Sam, ‘I’ll order a corporal’s guard to take you over by that limestone bluff on the creek and shoot enough lead into you to ballast a submarine air-ship. —
但是如果你这样做，’ Sam说道，’我会下令一个下士的卫队带你到溪边的那个石灰岩峭壁上，放够足够多的子弹击穿你，让一艘潜艇飞船沉一下。 —

I’m captain of this company, and I’ve swore allegiance to the Amalgamated States regardless of sectional, secessional, and Congressional differences. —
我是这个连队的队长，我已经宣誓效忠合众国，不管是区域、分离或国会的分歧。 —

Have you got any smoking- tobacco?’ winds up Sam. ‘Mine got wet when I swum the creek this morning.’
你有烟草吗?’ Sam问道，’ 我的在我今早游过溪时淋湿了。

“The reason I drag all this non ex parte evidence in is because Willie Robbins was standing there listening to us. —
我之所以援引这些非附件的证据，是因为威利·罗宾斯站在那里听我们说话。 —

I was a second sergeant and he was a private then, but among us Texans and Westerners there never was as much tactics and subordination as there was in the regular army. —
我是一个副队长，他当时是个士兵，但在我们德克萨斯人和西部人中，从来没有那么多的战术和服从，就像正规军中那样。 —

We never called our captain anything but ‘Sam’ except when there was a lot of major-generals and admirals around, so as to preserve the discipline.
除了有很多少将和上将在场时，我们从来都不称我们的队长为“山姆”，以保持纪律。

“And says Willie Robbins to me, in a sharp construction of voice much unbecoming to his light hair and previous record:
“威利·罗宾斯以他尚未沾染的金发和过去的经历，用一种锐利的说话方式跟我说道：”

”‘You ought to be shot, Ben, for emitting any such sentiments. —
“‘本，你应该被枪毙，因为发表任何这样的言论是不应该的。 —

A man that won’t fight for his country is worse than a, horse-thief. —
一个不为自己的国家而战的人比马贼还要坏。’” —

If I was the cap, I’d put you in the guard-house for thirty days on round steak and tamales. —
“如果我是队长，我会把你关进卫兵室，吃上三十天的肉排和玉米卷。” —

War,’ says Willie, ‘is great and glorious. —
“‘战争，’威利说，‘是伟大而光荣的。 —

I didn’t know you were a coward.’
我不知道你是个懦夫。’”

”‘I’m not,’ says I. ‘If I was, I’d knock some of the pallidness off of your marble brow. —
“‘我不是，’我说。‘如果我是的话，我会给你的大理石额头去掉一些苍白。’” —

I’m lenient with you,’ I says, ‘just as I am with the Spaniards, because you have always reminded me of something with mushrooms on the side. —
“我对你很宽容，’我说，‘就像对西班牙人一样，因为你总是让我想起带有蘑菇的东西。’” —

Why, you little Lady of Shalott,’ says I, ‘you underdone leader of cotillions, you glassy fashion and moulded form, you white-pine soldier made in the Cisalpine Alps in Germany for the late New-Year trade, do you know of whom you are talking to? —
“喂，你这个小吕秀才，’我说，‘你这个败坏的舞会领导者，你这个虚无而千篇一律的时尚和模特般的外形，你这个在德国的Cisalpine阿尔卑斯山制造的白松树士兵，专为新年时代而生产，你知道你在跟谁说话吗？” —

We’ve been in the same social circle,’ says I, ‘and I’ve put up with you because you seemed so meek and self-un-satisfying. —
“我们一直在同一个社交圈里，”我说道，“我忍受了你，因为你似乎如此温顺和自我不满足。” —

I don’t understand why you have so sudden taken a personal interest in chivalrousness and murder. —
“我不明白为什么你突然对骑士精神和谋杀产生了个人兴趣。” —

Your nature’s undergone a complete revelation. —
“你的本性发生了彻底的变化。现在， —

Now, how is it?’
怎么样？”

”‘Well, you wouldn’t understand, Ben,’ says Willie, giving one of his refined smiles and turning away.
“‘嗯，你是不会理解的，本，”威利说着，露出他那种优雅的微笑，并转身离开。

”‘Come back here!’ says I, catching him by the tail of his khaki coat. —
“‘回来！’我说着，抓住了他卡其色外套的尾巴。 —

‘You’ve made me kind of mad, in spite of the aloofness in which I have heretofore held you. —
“‘不管你以前如何的冷漠，你已经让我有点生气了。 —

You are out for making a success in this hero business, and I believe I know what for. —
你只想在这个英雄事业中取得成功，我相信我知道你为什么这样做。 —

You are doing it either because you are crazy or because you expect to catch some girl by it. —
你这样做要么是因为你疯了，要么是因为你期望通过这样做来抓住某个女孩。 —

Now, if it’s a girl, I’ve got something here to show you.’
现在，如果是为了女孩，我这里有东西要给你看。”

“I wouldn’t have done it, but I was plumb mad. —
“我本不会这样做的，但我非常生气。 —

I pulled a San Augustine paper out of my hip-pocket, and showed him an item. —
我从臀部兜里拿出一张圣奥古斯丁的报纸，向他展示了一则新闻。” —

It was a half a column about the marriage of Myra Allison and Joe Granberry.
这是一个关于Myra Allison和Joe Granberry婚姻的半篇文章。

“Willie laughed, and I saw I hadn’t touched him.
“Willie笑了，我看到我没有触动他。

”‘Oh,’ says he, ‘everybody knew that was going to happen. —
“噢，”他说， “每个人都知道那件事会发生。 —

I heard about that a week ago.’ And then he gave me the laugh again.
我一周前就听说了。” 然后他又笑了。

”‘All right,’ says I. ‘Then why do you so recklessly chase the bright rainbow of fame? —
“好吧，”我说。 “那你为什么如此鲁莽地追逐那明亮的名利之虹呢？ —

Do you expect to be elected President, or do you belong to a suicide club ?’
你期待当选总统吗？还是你属于一个自杀俱乐部？

“And then Captain Sam interferes.
“然后Sam队长插话了。

”‘You gentlemen quit jawing and go back to your quarters,’ says he, ‘or I’ll have you escorted to the guard-house. —
“你们俩停止争吵，回到宿舍去，”他说， “否则我就会让你们被押送到警备所。现在，滚，你们俩！在你们走之前，你们俩有谁有嚼烟草吗？” —

Now, scat, both of you! Before you go, which one of you has got any chewing-tobacco?’
“我们走吧，Sam，”我说。 “反正现在也是吃晚饭的时候了。但你对我们刚才谈论的事情有什么看法？

”‘We’re off, Sam,’ says I. ‘It’s supper-time, anyhow. —
你扔出了很多名为名利的气球钩子——抱有什么期望呢？ —

But what do you think of what we was talking about? —
雄心到底是什么？ —

I’ve noticed you throwing out a good many grappling-hooks for this here balloon called fame– What’s ambition, anyhow? —
我注意到你对这个名为名利的气球扔出了不少钩子——雄心到底是什么？ —

What does a man risk his life day after day for? —
一个人每天冒生命危险的目的是为了什么？ —

Do you know of anything he gets in the end that can pay him for the trouble? —
你知道他最终会得到什么来补偿他付出的麻烦吗？ —

I want to go back home,’ says I. ‘I don’t care whether Cuba sinks or swims, and I don’t give a pipeful of rabbit tobacco whether Queen Sophia Christina or Charlie Culberson rules these fairy isles; —
我想回家，’我说道。‘我不在乎古巴沉浮如海，我才不关心是索菲亚·克里斯蒂娜女王还是查理·卡尔伯森统治这些仙境般的群岛； —

and I don’t want my name on any list except the list of survivors. —
我只想确保我的名字只出现在幸存者名单上。 —

But I’ve noticed you, Sam,’ says I, ‘seeking the bubble notoriety in the cannon’s larynx a number of times. —
我注意到你，山姆，’我说道，‘你已经多次在枪炮的舌尖中寻求瞬间的出名。 —

Now, what do you do it for? Is it ambition, business, or some freckle-faced Pheebe at home that you are heroing for ?’
现在，请问你这样做的目的是什么？是为了追求抱负、生意，还是为了家里的某个小脸斑点的菲比而著称？

”‘Well, Ben,’ says Sam, kind of hefting his sword out from between his knees, ‘as your superior officer I could court-martial you for attempted cowardice and desertion. —
‘好吧，本，’山姆说道，一边从膝间拿起剑，“作为你的上级军官，我有权对你进行军事法庭审判，指控你企图胆怯和逃跑。” —

But I won’t. And I’ll tell you why I’m trying for promotion and the usual honors of war and conquest. —
‘但我不会这样做。我告诉你我为什么在争取晋升和战争征服中寻求荣誉。 —

A major gets more pay than a captain, and I need the money.’
少校比上尉的工资更高，我需要钱。”

”‘Correct for you!’ says I. ‘I can understand that. —
“’对你来说是正确的！”我说。“我能理解。 —

Your system of fame-seeking is rooted in the deepest soil of patriotism. —
你追求名利的系统扎根于最深处的爱国主义土壤中。 —

But I can’t comprehend,’ says I, ‘why Willie Robbins, whose folks at home are well off, and who used to be as meek and undesirous of notice as a cat with cream on his whiskers, should all at once develop into a warrior bold with the most fire-eating kind of proclivities. —
“但是我无法理解，”我说，“威利·罗宾斯的家境殷实，过去也像两手空空的猫一样温顺，不渴望引人注意，为什么突然之间变成了一个具有最具侵略性倾向的勇士。 —

And the girl in his case seems to have been eliminated by marriage to another fellow. —
“而且，在他的情况下，这个女孩似乎已经因嫁给另一个人而被淘汰了。 —

I reckon,’ says I, ‘it’s a plain case of just common ambition. —
“我想，”我说，“这简直就是一种普通的野心。 —

He wants his name, maybe, to go thundering down the coroners of time. —
“也许他想要自己的名字在时间的长河中响彻云霄。 —

It must be that.’
一定是那样的。

“Well, without itemizing his deeds, Willie sure made good as a hero. —
“好吧，不详细列举他的事迹，威利确实成为了一个英雄。 —

He simply spent most of his time on his knees begging our captain to send him on forlorn hopes and dangerous scouting expeditions. —
“他简直把大部分时间都花在了跪在地上乞求我们的队长派遣他去执行绝望的希望和危险的侦察任务上。 —

In every fight he was the first man to mix it at close quarters with the Don Alfonsos. —
“在每次战斗中，他都是第一个与唐·阿方索的人近身战斗的人。 —

He got three or four bullets planted in various parts of his autonomy. —
他身上的几颗子弹分别埋在他身体的不同部位。 —

Once he went off with a detail of eight men and captured a whole company of Spanish. —
他带着八个人的队伍出发，俘获了一整个西班牙军。 —

He kept Captain Floyd busy writing out recommendations of his bravery to send in to head- quarters; —
他让弗洛伊德上尉忙着写推荐信，以表彰他的勇气，寄到总部去； —

and he began to accumulate medals for all kinds of things- heroism and target-shooting and valor and tactics and uninsubordination, and all the little accomplishments that look good to the third assistant secretaries of the War Department.
他开始为各种事情积累奖章-英勇、射击、勇猛、战术和不服从等小成就，这些在战争部三助秘书看起来很好。

“Finally, Cap Floyd got promoted to be a major-general, or a knight commander of the main herd, or something like that. —
“最后，弗洛伊德上尉晋升为少将，或者说是总指挥的骑士指挥官之类的。 —

He pounded around on a white horse, all desecrated up with gold-leaf and hen-feathers and a Good Templar’s hat, and wasn’t allowed by the regulations to speak to us. —
他骑着一匹镀金和鸡毛装饰的白马，戴着一个好行者的帽子，按照规定他不准和我们说话。 —

And Willie Robbins was made captain of our company.
随后，威利·罗宾斯被任命为我们连队的上尉。

“And maybe he didn’t go after the wreath of fame then! —
“也许他当时追求的就是名声的桂冠！ —

As far as I could see it was him that ended the war. —
在我看来，是他结束了战争。 —

He got eighteen of us boys– friends of his, too–killed in battles that he stirred up himself, and that didn’t seem to me necessary at all. —
他激起了战斗，导致了他自己和我们这18个男孩的朋友丧生，我觉得这根本没有必要。 —

One night he took twelve of us and waded through a little nil about a hundred and ninety yards wide, and climbed a couple of mountains, and sneaked through a mile of neglected shrubbery and a couple of rock-quarries and into a rye-straw village, and captured a Spanish general named, as they said, Benny Veedus. —
有一天晚上，他带着我们12个人，在一片约190码宽的小河中涉水，爬过了几座山，悄悄经过了一英里的荒芜灌木丛和几个采石场，进入了一个用麦秸编成的村庄，俘虏了一位叫作本尼·维杜斯的西班牙将军。 —

Benny seemed to me hardly worth the trouble, being a blackish man without shoes or cuffs, and anxious to surrender and throw himself on the commissary of his foe.
对我来说，本尼似乎不值得去费心，他是一个黑皮肤的人，没有鞋子或者袖口，渴望投降并投靠他的敌人的军需官。

“But that job gave Willie the big boost he wanted. —
“但是这个任务让威利得到了他想要的大提升。 —

The San Augustine News and the Galveston, St. Louis, New York, and Kansas City papers printed his picture and columns of stuff about him. —
圣奥古斯丁新闻报和加尔维斯顿、圣路易斯、纽约和堪萨斯城的报纸都刊登了他的照片和大段关于他的报道。” —

Old San Augustine simply went crazy over its ‘gallant son.’ The News had an editorial tearfully begging the Government to call off the regular army and the national guard, and let Willie carry on the rest of the war single- handed. —
老圣奥古斯丁对其“勇敢的儿子”简直疯了。新闻社发表了一篇泪眼婆娑的社论，恳求政府停止调动正规军和国民警卫队，让威利独自完成剩余的战斗。 —

It said that a refusal to do so would be regarded as a proof that the Northern jealousy of the South was still as rampant as ever.
社论说，如果拒绝这样做，将被视为北方对南方的嫉妒仍然猖獗。

“If the war hadn’t ended pretty soon, I don’t know to what heights of gold braid and encomiums Willie would have climbed; —
“如果战争没有很快结束，威利将会爬到什么程度，受到多少的金带和赞美，我不知道；但事实上，战争确实很快结束了。 —

but it did. —
—

There was a secession of hostilities just three days after he was appointed a colonel, and got in three more medals by registered mail, and shot two Spaniards while they were drinking lemonade in an ambuscade.
就在他被任命为上校后的三天，敌对行动中止了，他用挂号信收到了另外三枚勋章，并在一次偷袭中射杀了两个西班牙人，当时他们正在喝柠檬汽水。

“Our company went back to San Augustine when the war was over. —
“战争结束后，我们的连队回到了老圣奥古斯丁。 —

There wasn’t anywhere else for it to go. —
那里没有其他地方可去。 —

And what do you think? —
你猜怎么着？ —

The old town notified us in print, by wire cable, special delivery, and a nigger named Saul sent on a gray mule to San Antone, that they was going to give us the biggest blow-out, complimentary, alimentary, and elementary, that ever disturbed the kildees on the sand-flats outside of the immediate contiguity of the city.
老城通知我们，通过印刷品、电线电报、特快邮件和一个名叫索尔的黑人骑着一匹灰色的骡子送到圣安东尼奥，他们将给予我们一次最大规模的盛宴，免费提供食物，并且居然还是基础教育的盛宴，这完全扰乱了城外沙滩上的杜鵑鸟。

“I say ‘we,’ but it was all meant for ex-Private, Captain de facto, and Colonel-elect Willie Robbins. —
“我说‘我们’，但实际上这一切都是为了前士兵、实际上的上校和被选举的上校威利·罗宾斯准备的。 —

The town was crazy about him. —
整个城市为他疯狂。 —

They notified us that the reception they were going to put up would make the Mardi Gras in New Orleans look like an afternoon tea in Bury St. Edmunds with a curate’s aunt.
他们通知我们，他们将举办的迎接会将使新奥尔良的狂欢节看起来像伯里圣埃德蒙兹的午后茶会一样，而那场茶会上只有一个牧师的姑姑。

“Well, the San Augustine Rifles got back home on schedule time. —
“好吧，圣奥古斯丁步枪队按时回到了家。 —

Everybody was at the depot giving forth Roosevelt-Democrat–they used to be called Rebel–yells. —
每个人都在车站高呼罗斯福特-民主党——他们过去被称为Rebel——的口号。 —

There was two brass-bands, and the mayor, and schoolgirls in white frightening the street-car horses by throwing Cherokee roses in the streets, and-well, maybe you’ve seen a celebration by a town that was inland and out of water.
有两支铜管乐队，市长，和穿着白色制服的学生女孩们在街上扔切诺基玫瑰， 吓坏了马车马匹 - 嗯，也许你见过内陆乡村的庆祝活动吧。

“They wanted Brevet-Colonel Willie to get into a carriage and be drawn by prominent citizens and some of the city aldermen to the armory, but he stuck to his company and marched at the head of it up Sam Houston Avenue. —
他们希望陆军准校长威利坐进一辆马车，由杰出的市民和一些市议员拖到军械库，但他坚守在自己的团队中，在塞姆休斯顿大街上带头行进。 —

The buildings on both sides was covered with flags and audiences, and everybody hollered ‘Robbins!’ or ‘Hello, Willie!’ as we marched up in files of fours. —
两旁的建筑物上挂满了旗帜，观众们纷纷欢呼着“罗宾斯！”或者“嗨，威利！”当我们成群结队行进时， —

I never saw a illustriouser-looking human in my life than Willie was. —
我从未见过比威利更威风的人啦。 —

He had at least seven or eight medals and diplomas and decorations on the breast of his khaki coat; —
他的卡其外套胸前至少别着七八个奖章，文凭和装饰品； —

he was sunburnt the color of a saddle, and he certainly done himself proud.
他晒得像马鞍一样的黝黑，可真是给自己争光。

“They told us at the depot that the courthouse was to be illuminated at half-past seven, and there would be speeches and chili-con-came at the Palace Hotel. Miss Delphine Thompson was to read an original poem by James Whitcomb Ryan, and Constable Hooker had promised us a salute of nine guns from Chicago that he had arrested that day.
“他们在车站告诉我们法院将在七点半点亮，并且会有演讲和宫殿酒店的辣肉豆饭。Delphine Thompson小姐将朗读詹姆斯·惠特科姆·赖恩的一首原创诗歌，还有荷克尔警长答应为我们表演他当天从芝加哥逮捕的九支枪。”

“After we had disbanded in the armory, Willie says to me:
“在我们在军械库解散之后，Willie对我说：

”‘Want to walk out a piece with me?’
“‘想和我一起走走吗？’

”‘Why, yes,’ says I, ‘if it ain’t so far that we can’t hear the tumult and the shouting die away. —
“‘为什么不呢，’我说‘除非走得远到听不到喧嚣和欢呼声慢慢消失的地方。 —

I’m hungry myself,’ says I, ‘and I’m pining for some home grub, but I’ll go with you.’
我自己也饿了，’我说，‘我渴望吃些家乡的食物，但我会和你一起去的。’

“Willie steered me down some side streets till we came to a little white cottage in a new lot with a twenty-by-thirty-foot lawn decorated with brickbats and old barrel-staves.
“Willie带我走过一些小巷，直到我们来到一个小白屋，周围有一个二十乘三十英尺的草坪，铺满了砖头和旧木桶。

”‘Halt and give the countersign,’ says I to Willie. ‘Don’t you know this dugout? —
“‘停下来，报上暗号，’我对Willie说。‘难道你不认识这个地方吗？ —

It’s the bird’s-nest that Joe Granberry built before he married Myra Allison. —
这是乔·格兰伯瑞在娶迈拉·艾莉森之前建造的鸟巢。 —

What you going there for?’
你去那里干什么？’

“But Willie already had the gate open. —
“但是威利已经把大门打开了。 —

He walked up the brick walk to the steps, and I went with him. —
他沿着砖路走到楼梯前，我跟着他走。” —

Myra was sitting in a rocking-chair on the porch, sewing. —
“迈拉坐在走廊上的摇椅上缝纫。 —

Her hair was smoothed back kind of hasty and tied in a knot. —
她的头发匆忙地梳理过后绑成一个发髻。” —

I never noticed till then that she had freckles. —
“直到那时我才注意到她有雀斑。 —

Joe was at one side of the porch, in his shirtsleeves, with no collar on, and no signs of a shave, trying to scrape out a hole among the brickbats and tin cans to plant a little fruit-tree in. —
乔站在走廊一边，穿着衬衫的袖口，没有领子，没有剃须的迹象，试图在砖头和锡罐之间挖一个小果树的坑。” —

He looked up but never said a word, and neither did Myra.
“他抬起头，但没有说一句话，迈拉也没有。”

“Willie was sure dandy-looking in his uniform, with medals strung on his breast and his new gold-handled sword. —
“威利穿着制服，胸前挂着勋章，手持新的镶金剑，看起来真漂亮。” —

You’d never have taken him for the little white-headed snipe that the girls used to order about and make fun of. —
“你从来不会想到他是那个女孩们命令并取笑的那个白头小个子。” —

He just stood there for a minute, looking at Myra with a peculiar little smile on his face; —
“他只是站在那里，看着迈拉，脸上带着一种奇特的微笑。” —

and then he says to her, slow, and kind of holding on to his words with his teeth:
“然后他慢慢地对她说，有点用牙齿紧咬住话语的语气：

”‘Oh, I don’t know! Maybe I could if I tried!’
“‘哦，我不知道！也许我试试能行！’”

“That was all that was said. —
“那就是说的全部。 —

Willie raised his hat, and we walked away.
威利举起了他的帽子，我们走开了。”

“And, somehow, when he said that, I remembered, all of a sudden, the night of that dance and Willie brushing his hair before the looking- glass, and Myra sticking her head in the door to guy him.
“而且，不知怎么的，当他说那句话时，我突然记起了舞会之夜，威利站在镜子前梳理他的头发，而玛伊拉从门口探头取笑他。”

“When we got back to Sam Houston Avenue, Willie says:
“当我们回到山休斯敦大街时，威利说道：

”‘Well, so long, Ben. I’m going down home and get off my shoes and take a rest.’
“‘好了，再见，本。我要回家脱下鞋子休息一下。’

”‘You?’ says I. ‘What’s the matter with you? —
“‘你？’我说道‘你怎么了？ —

Ain’t the court-house jammed with everybody in town waiting to honor the hero? —
法院里挤满了全镇的人等着向英雄致敬的。’” —

And two brass-bands, and recitations and flags and jags and grub to follow waiting for you?’
“还有两个铜管乐队，朗诵节目、旗帜，以及酒和食物等着你？’

“Willie sighs.
“威利叹了口气。”

”‘All right, Ben,’ says he. —
“‘好吧，本，’他说。 —

‘Darned if I didn’t forget all about that.’
‘可恶的是我完全忘了那件事。’”

“And that’s why I say,” concluded Ben Granger, “that you can’t tell where ambition begins any more than you can where it is going to wind up.”
本·格兰杰总结道：“这就是为什么我说，你无法判断野心从何而起，就像你无法预测它会到达何种程度一样。”