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. —
下一个花园的炮兵在清晨吵醒了我，我看着阳光透过窗户，从床上起来了。 —

I went to the window and looked out. The gravel paths were moist and the grass was wet with dew. —
我走到窗前往外看，碎石路湿漉漉的，草地上露珠盈盈。 —

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. —
炮兵发射两次，每次空气都像一记重击，震动着窗户，使我睡衣的前襟拍打起来。 —

I could not see the guns but they were evidently firing directly over us. —
我看不见大炮，但它们显然是直接对着我们开火的。 —

It was a nuisance to have them there but it was a comfort that they were no bigger. —
它们在那里确实很烦人，但好在它们并不是很大。 —

As I looked out at the garden I heard a motor truck starting on the road. —
当我朝花园望去时，听见一辆卡车在路上发动了引擎。 —

I dressed, went downstairs, had some coffee in the kitchen and went out to the garage.
我穿好衣服，下楼到厨房喝了点咖啡，然后出去车库。

Ten cars were lined up side by side under the long shed. —
十辆车一字排开，停在长长的棚下。 —

They were top-heavy, blunt-nosed ambulances, painted gray and built like moving-vans. —
它们是顶天踩地、钝头尖鼻的救护车，喷漆成灰色，建造得像搬家卡车。 —

The mechanics were working on one out in the yard. —
修理工正在院子里修理一辆车。 —

Three others were up in the mountains at dressing stations.
另外三辆在山上的救护站。

“Do they ever shell that battery?” Tasked one of the mechanics.
“他们会炮击那个炮兵吗？” 一个修理工问。

“No, Signor Tenente. It is protected by the little hill.”
“不会，Tenente 先生。它被小山挡着呢。”

“How’s everything?”
“一切都还好吗？”

“Not so bad. This machine is no good but the others march.” —
“还行。这台机器不行，但其他都还行。” —

He stopped working and smiled. “Were you on permission?”
他停止工作，微笑着说道：“你有假条吗？”

“Yes.”
“有的。”

He wiped his hands on his jumper and grinned. “You have a good time?” The others all grinned too.
他用毛巾擦了擦手，笑着说：“玩得开心吗？”其他人也都笑了。

“Fine,” I said. “What’s the matter with this machine?”
“还好”，我说。“这台机器怎么了？”

“It’s no good. One thing after another.”
“坏了。一个接着一个。”

“What’s the matter now?”
“现在怎么了？”

“New rings.”
“新的活塞环。”

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. —
我离开他们在工作，车看起来很难堪和空荡荡的，引擎开着，零部件摊在工作台上，走进车棚，看了看每辆车。 —

They were moderately clean, a few freshly washed, the others dusty. —
它们都比较干净，有几辆是刚刚洗过的，其他的有点灰尘。 —

I looked at the tires carefully, looking for cuts or stone bruises. —
我仔细查看了轮胎，寻找裂口或石头磨损。 —

Everything seemed in good condition. It evidently made no difference whether I was there to look after things or not. —
一切看起来都很好。显然我在不在那里看管事物并没有太大差别。 —

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. —
我曾经以为汽车的状况，能否获取到零部件，顺利进行从救护站往返山上将受伤和病人送回集结点，然后分发给他们身份证上标明的医院，很大程度上取决于我自己。 —

Evidently it did not matter whether I was there or not.
显然，我在不在那里并不重要。

“Has there been any trouble getting parts?” I asked the sergeant mechanic.
“获取零部件有困难吗？”我问修理班长。

“No, Signor Tenente.”
“没有，少尉先生。”

“Where is the gasoline park now?”
“汽油停车场现在在哪里？”

“At the same place.”
“还是在同一个地方。”

“Good,” I said and went back to the house and drank another bowl of coffee at the mess table. —
“好的，”我说着回到房子里，在杂物桌上又喝了一碗咖啡。 —

The coffee was a pale gray and sweet with condensed milk. —
那咖啡呈浅灰色，加了炼乳很甜。 —

Outside the window it was a lovely spring morning. —
窗外是一个可爱的春日早晨。 —

There was that beginning of a feeling of dryness in the nose that meant the day would be hot later on. —
鼻子里有一丝干燥的感觉，意味着今天晚些时候会很热。 —

That day I visited the posts in the mountains and was back in town late in the afternoon.
那天我去了山上的哨所，下午晚些时候回到了城里。

The whole thing seemed to run better while I was away. —
整个事情似乎在我离开的时候更顺利。 —

The offensive was going to start again I heard. —
我听说进攻将会再次开始。 —

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. —
我们的师团要在河上游某处发动攻势，少校告诉我要在进攻期间看好哨所。 —

The attack would cross the river up above the narrow gorge and spread up the hillside. —
攻击将从狭窄峡谷上游过河，然后蔓延至山坡。 —

The posts for the cars would have to be as near the river as they could get and keep covered. —
汽车的哨所必须尽可能靠近河边，并保持掩护。 —

They would, of course, be selected by the infantry but we were supposed to work it out. —
当然，这些地点将由步兵来选择，但我们需要研究出计划。 —

It was one of those things that gave you a false feeling of soldiering.
这事让你产生一种虚假的军事感。

I was very dusty and dirty and went up to my room to wash. —
我身上沾满了灰尘，脏兮兮的，走到我的房间去洗漱。 —

Rinaldi was sitting on the bed with a copy of Hugo’s English grammar. —
Rinaldi坐在床上，手里拿着一本雨果的英语语法书。 —

He was dressed, wore his black boots, and his hair shone.
他穿着衣服，穿着黑靴子，头发闪闪发光。

“Splendid,” he said when he saw me. “You will come with me to see Miss Barkley.”
“太棒了，”他看到我时说道。 “你会跟我一起去看巴克莱小姐。”

“No.
“不会的。”

“Yes. You will please come and make me a good impression on her.”
“会的。你请过去给她留下一个好印象。”

“All right. Wait till I get cleaned up.”
“好吧。等我整理一下。”

“Wash up and come as you are.”
“洗下脸，就这样过来。”

I washed, brushed my hair and we started.
我洗了脸，梳了头，我们就出发了。

“Wait a minute,” Rinaldi said. “Perhaps we should have a drink.” —
“等等，”Rinaldi说。 “也许我们应该喝一杯。” —

He opened his trunk and took out a bottle.
他打开箱子拿出一瓶酒。

“Not Strega,” I said.
“不要Strega，”我说。

“No. Grappa.”
“不，Grappa。”

“All right.”
“好吧。”

He poured two glasses and we touched them, first fingers extended. The grappa was very strong.
他给两杯倒了酒，我们碰杯，伸出大拇指。Grappa很烈。

“Another?”
“再来一杯吗？”

“All right,” I said. We drank the second grappa, Rinaldi put away the bottle and we went down the stairs. —
“好吧，”我说。我们喝完了第二杯格拉帕，Rinaldi收起瓶子，然后我们走下楼梯。 —

It was hot walking through the town but the sun was starting to go down and it was very pleasant. —
走在镇上很热，但太阳开始下山，感觉非常宜人。 —

The British hospital was a big villa built by Germans before the war. —
英国医院是一座德国人在战前建造的大别墅。 —

Miss Barkley was in the garden. Another nurse was with her. —
巴克利小姐在花园里。另一个护士和她在一起。 —

We saw their white uniforms through the trees and walked toward them. —
我们透过树看到他们穿着白色制服，朝他们走去。 —

Rinaldi saluted. I saluted too but more moderately.
Rinaldi行礼。我也行了个礼，但比较谨慎。

“How do you do?” Miss Barkley said. “You’re not an Italian, are you?”
“你好吗？”巴克利小姐说。“你不是意大利人，对吧？”

“Oh, no.”
“哦，不。”

Rinaldi was talking with the other nurse. They were laughing. —
Rinaldi正在和另一个护士交谈。他们在笑。 —

“What an odd thing–to be in the Italian army.”
“多么奇怪–竟然在意大利军队。”

“It’s not really the army. It’s only the ambulance.”
“这其实不算军队。只是救护队。”

“It’s very odd though. Why did you do it?”
“虽然如此，还是很奇怪。你为什么这样做？”

“I don’t know,” I said. “There isn’t always an explanation for everything.”
“我不知道，”我说。“并不是一切都有解释。”

“Oh, isn’t there? I was brought up to think there was.”
“哦，真的吗？我向来觉得一切都有解释。”

“That’s awfully nice.”
“那太好了。”

“Do we have to go on and talk this way?”
“我们还要继续这样谈下去吗？”

“No,” I said.
“不用了，”我说。

“That’s a relief. Isn’t it?”
“这样挺不错，对吧？”

“What is the stick?” I asked. Miss Barkley was quite tall. —
“那根棍子是什么？”我问。巴克莱小姐个子相当高。 —

She wore what seemed to me to be a nurse’s uniform, was blonde and had a tawny skin and gray eyes. —
她穿着我觉得是护士的制服，金发，皮肤泛着棕褐色，灰色的眼睛。 —

I thought she was very beautiful. She was carrying a thin rattan stick like a toy riding-crop, bound in leather.
我觉得她非常漂亮。她拿着一根细细的藤条棍，看起来像玩具骑术鞭，用皮革包裹着。

“It belonged to a boy who was killed last year.”
“它是去年一个男孩的。”

“I’m awfully sorry.”
“我非常抱歉。”

“He was a very nice boy. He was going to marry me and he was killed in the Somme.”
“他是一个非常好的男孩。他要娶我，后来在索姆被杀了。”

“It was a ghastly show.”
“那场战争太可怕了。”

“Were you there?”
“你在那里吗？”

“No.”
“不，在那。”

“I’ve heard about it,” she said. “There’s not really any war of that sort down here. —
“我听说过，这里实际上没有那种战争。” —

They sent me the little stick. His mother sent it to me. —
“他们寄给我这根小棍子。他的母亲把它寄给我。 —

They returned it with his things.”
他们把他的物品连同这根棍子一起寄回来了。”

“Had you been engaged long?”
“你们订婚多久了？”

“Eight years. We grew up together.”
“八年。我们一起长大。”

“And why didn’t you marry?”
“那为什么你们没结婚？”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I was a fool not to. —
“我不知道，”她说。“我当时真是愚蠢。” —

I could have given him that anyway. But I thought it would be bad for him.”
“我本来可以给他那个的。但我觉得那样对他不好。”

“I see.”
“我明白了。”

“Have you ever loved any one?”
“你有没有爱过任何人？”

“No,” I said.
“没有，”我说。

We sat down on a bench and I looked at her.
我们坐在长凳上，我看着她。

“You have beautiful hair,” I said.
“你的头发真漂亮，”我说。

“Do you like it?”
“你喜欢吗？”

“Very much.”
“非常喜欢。”

“I was going to cut it all off when he died.”
“他去世的时候我本来想把它全部剪掉。”

“No.”
“不要。”

“I wanted to do something for him. You see I didn’t care about the other thing and he could have had it all. —
“我想为他做点什么。你知道吗，我并不在乎其他事情，而他本来可以得到一切。” —

He could have had anything he wanted if I would have known. I would have married him or anything. —
如果我当时知道的话，他想要什么我都会给他。我会嫁给他或者做任何事情。 —

I know all about it now. But then he wanted to go to war and I didn’t know.”
现在我都了解了。但当时他想去打仗，我并不知道。

I did not say anything.
我什么也没说。

“I didn’t know about anything then. I thought it would be worse for him. —
那时候我什么都不知道。我以为对他来说会更糟糕。 —

I thought perhaps he couldn’t stand it and then of course he was killed and that was the end of it.”
我以为也许他受不了，然后当然他被打死了，就是结束了。

“I don’t know.”
我不知道。

“Oh, yes,” she said. “That’s the end of it.”
“哦，是的，”她说。“这就是结束了。”

We looked at Rinaldi talking with the other nurse.
我们看着里纳尔迪和另一位护士交谈。

“What is her name?”
“她叫什么名字？”

“Ferguson. Helen Ferguson. Your friend is a doctor, isn’t he?”
“弗格森。海伦·弗格森。你的朋友是医生，对吧？”

“Yes. He’s very good.”
“是的。他非常好。”

“That’s splendid. You rarely find any one any good this close to the front. —
“太棒了。在前线附近很少会遇到有真本事的人。” —

This is close to the front, isn’t it?”
这离前线很近，对吧？”

“Quite.”
“完全是。”

“It’s a silly front,” she said. “But it’s very beautiful. Are they going to have an offensive?”
“这是一个愚蠢的前线，”她说。“但是非常美丽。他们会发起进攻吗？”

“Yes.”
“是的。”

“Then we’ll have to work. There’s no work now.”
“那我们就得工作了。现在没有工作。”

“Have you done nursing long?”
“你做护士做了多久了？”

“Since the end of ‘fifteen. I started when he did. —
“从15年末开始。我是在他开始的时候开始的。” —

I remember having a silly idea he might come to the hospital where I was. —
“我记得有一个傻傻的想法，他可能会来我所在的医院。” —

With a sabre cut, I suppose, and a bandage around his head. —
“我想可能是刀伤，头上裹着绷带。” —

Or shot through the shoulder. Something picturesque.”
“又或者是肩膀中弹。有点风景如画的意思。”

“This is the picturesque front,” I said.
“这里是风景如画的前线，”我说。

“Yes,” she said. “People can’t realize what France is like. —
“是的，”她说。”人们无法意识到法国是什么样子的。” —

If they did, it couldn’t all go on. He didn’t have a sabre cut. —
“如果他们了解，这一切都不可能继续下去。他并没有刀伤。” —

They blew him all to bits.”
“他们把他炸成碎片了。”

I didn’t say anything.
我什么都没说。

“Do you suppose it will always go on?”
“你认为这会一直持续下去吗？”

“No.”
“不会。”

“What’s to stop it?”
“有什么能阻止它吗？”

“It will crack somewhere.”
“它会在某个地方破裂。”

“We’ll crack. We’ll crack in France. They can’t go on doing things like the Somme and not crack.”
“我们会崩溃的。我们会在法国崩溃的。他们不能一直做像是索姆战役那样的事情而不崩溃。”

“They won’t crack here,” I said.
“这里不会裂开，”我说。

“You think not?”
“你觉得不是吗？”

“No. They did very well last summer.”
“不。他们上个夏天做得很好。”

“They may crack,” she said. “Anybody may crack.”
“他们可能崩溃，”她说。”任何人都可能崩溃。”

“The Germans too.”
“德国人也是。”

“No,” she said. “I think not.”
“不,“她说。”我想不是。”

We went over toward Rinaldi and Miss Ferguson.
我们朝着Rinaldi和Ferguson小姐走去。

“You love Italy?” Rinaldi asked Miss Ferguson in English.
“你喜欢意大利吗？” Rinaldi 用英语问费格森小姐。

“Quite well.”
“相当好。”

“No understand,” Rinaldi shook his head.
“不理解,” 瑞纳尔迪摇了摇头。

“Abbastanza bene,” I translated.
“Abbastanza bene,” 我翻译。

He shook his head.
他摇了摇头。

“That is not good. You love England?”
“那不好。你喜欢英格兰吗？”

“Not too well. I’m Scotch, you see.”
“我不太好。你知道，我是苏格兰人。”

Rinaldi looked at me blankly.
Rinaldi looked at me blankly. 1, Rinaldi茫然地看着我。

“She’s Scotch, so she loves Scotland better than England,” I said in Italian.
“她是苏格兰人，所以她更喜欢苏格兰胜过英格兰，”我用意大利语说。

“But Scotland is England.”
“但苏格兰是英格兰。”

I translated this for Miss Ferguson.
I translated this for Miss Ferguson. 1，我为费格森小姐翻译了这句话。

“Pas encore,” said Miss Ferguson.
“还没有，”弗格森小姐说。

“Not really?”
“真的吗？”

“Never. We do not like the English.”
“从来不。我们不喜欢英国人。”

“Not like the English? Not like Miss Barkley?”
“不喜欢英国人？不喜欢巴克利小姐？”

“Oh, that’s different. You mustn’t take everything so literally.”
“哦，那是不同的。你不能太字面理解一切。”

After a while we said good-night and left. —
过了一会儿，我们说晚安离开了。 —

Walking home Rinaldi said, “Miss Barkley prefers you to me. —
走回家的路上，里纳尔迪说，“巴克利小姐更喜欢你而不是我。这是非常清楚的。但小苏格兰人很好。” —

That is very clear. But the little Scotch one is very nice.”
“很好，”我说。我没有注意过她。“你喜欢她吗？”

“Very,” I said. I had not noticed her. “You like her?”
“不，”里纳尔迪说。

“No,” said Rinaldi.
“对，这是很清楚的。但是小苏格兰人很好。”