? ? ?The first few days after my return passed in a whirl. My sisters, who?were both working as nurses in London hospitals, came home for the?weekend to see me and it was one of those occasions, very rare in our?later life, when we were all home together. My sudden and unexpected arrival from the enemy-occupied continent aroused much?interest among my mother's friends and I had to tell my story many?times. When the first excitement had died down, I had plenty of time to?take a good look at England at war and begin to explore London.?What struck me at once was the tremendous sense of solidarity among?the people, their friendliness and their desire to help each other. The?'we are all in this together' spirit; the quiet discipline, which?manifested itself in such things as people forming up in orderly queues?outside shops or the strict observance by everybody of the black-out?regulations and the civil defence rules; the stern sense of duty, which?made people anxious to do their bit and inspired elderly ladies to drive?mobile canteens and ambulances or serve in hospitals for the troops,?while others, less agile, formed groups to make camouflage material;?the cheerful courage shown under enemy air attack and the stoicism?with which those who had close relatives killed bore their loss; all?these things I found most impressive. I thought the English women and?the cheerfulness and competence with which they undertook heavy?and frequently dangerous work, normally done by men, especially?admirable. Seeing them at work, often with a cigarette stuck between?their lips, I drew at first an entirely wrong conclusion. Holland before?the war was a rather puritanical country and very few women wore?lipstick or make-up and they certainly did not smoke. As far as I knew,?only women of easy virtue did these things. I was therefore surprised?when I went about London in the first days after my arrival to see so many?women apparently belonging to that profession. It was a little?while before I realised that in England even women with the highest?moral standards smoked and made-up.

【我回來后的頭幾天過得很忙。我的姐姐們都是倫敦醫(yī)院的護士，她們周末回家看我，這是我們生活中非常難得的一次，我們都在家里。我從被敵人占領(lǐng)的大陸突然且幸運地來到這里，引起了母親朋友們的極大興趣，我不得不把我的故事講了很多遍。當(dāng)最初的興奮平靜下來后，我有足夠的時間去好好看看戰(zhàn)爭中的英國，并開始探索倫敦。給我留下深刻印象的是倫敦人民之間的巨大團結(jié)感，他們之間友好且互相幫助。這是“我們同舟共濟”的精神;群眾間的紀(jì)律，表現(xiàn)在人們在商店外面有秩序地排隊，或者每個人都嚴(yán)格遵守停電條例和民防條例;強烈的責(zé)任感表現(xiàn)在人們渴望盡自己的一份力量，老年婦女開流動食堂和救護車，或到醫(yī)院為部隊服務(wù)，而其他不太靈便的人組成小組制作偽裝材料;在敵人的空襲下表現(xiàn)出的令人振奮的勇氣和那些有近親陣亡的人所表現(xiàn)出的堅忍;所有這些都讓我印象深刻。我認(rèn)為英國婦女在從事通常由男人做的繁重而危險的工作時表現(xiàn)出的發(fā)自內(nèi)心的快樂和能干，尤其令人欽佩。看到她們工作時，嘴里經(jīng)常叼著一根煙，我一開始得出了一個完全錯誤的結(jié)論。荷蘭在戰(zhàn)前是一個相當(dāng)保守的國家，很少有婦女涂口紅或化妝，當(dāng)然她們也不吸煙。據(jù)我所知，只有放蕩的女人才會做這些事。因此，當(dāng)我到倫敦的頭幾天里，看到這么多顯然屬于這一職業(yè)的女性時，我感到很驚訝。過了一段時間我才意識到，在英國，即使是道德標(biāo)準(zhǔn)最高的女人也會吸煙和化妝?！?/span>

? ? ?There seemed to be also a relative absence of black-market?activities, so marked a feature of life in Europe at that time. Most?people considered it unpatriotic, unfair and beneath their dignity to have?anything to do with it. It is true that the food situation was far?better than in the occupied territories. With bread and potatoes off the?ration, nobody need ever go hungry. On my walks, I used to enjoy?stopping for tea in one of the small tea-shops kept by two elderly?spinsters in an old cottage where one got delicious home-made scones?and jam. It was something typically English, very pleasant, that I?believe has now almost completely disappeared.

【黑市活動似乎也相對較少，這是當(dāng)時歐洲生活的一個特征。大多數(shù)人認(rèn)為這樣做是不愛國的，不公平的，有失尊嚴(yán)的。的確，英國的糧食狀況比被占領(lǐng)土要好得多。不會有面包和土豆供應(yīng)不足，沒有人會挨餓。在我散步的時候，我常常喜歡在一個小茶館里停下來喝茶，這個茶館是兩個老太太開的，住在一幢老房子里，在這里可以吃到美味的自制烤餅和果醬。這是典型的英國風(fēng)格，我現(xiàn)在的異鄉(xiāng)感幾乎完全消失了?！?/span>

? ? ?I confidently expected that I would be called up very soon. But the?weeks passed and still I did not receive the expected notification. I?began to miss the excitement and tension to which two years of illegal?existence had accustomed me and my thoughts began to turn?increasingly to the possibility of returning.

【我滿懷信心地認(rèn)為我很快就會被征召入伍。但幾周過去了，我仍然沒有收到預(yù)期的通知。我開始懷念兩年的逃亡生活使我習(xí)慣的那種興奮和緊張，我開始越來越多地思考回去的可能性?！?/span>

? ? ?Tired of waiting for the call-up which did not come, I decided to?volunteer for the Navy. In those days there was a recruiting office for?the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve in Trafalgar Square and it was?there that I applied for the necessary forms. Two weeks later I was?summoned for an interview. Together with several other young men I?was first given a written examination, consisting of a mathematics?paper, a general knowledge paper and an intelligence test. This was?followed by an interview. A few weeks later I received a letter,?informing me that I had been accepted and would in due course?receive instructions where and when to join.

【我厭倦了繼續(xù)等待征召，決定志愿參加海軍。在那些日子里，在特拉法加廣場有一個皇家海軍志愿預(yù)備役的征兵辦公室，我就是在那里申請必要的表格。兩個星期后，我被叫去面試。和其他幾個年輕人一起，我第一次參加了筆試，包括數(shù)學(xué)試卷、常識試卷和智力測驗。接著是一次會談。幾周后，我收到一封信，通知我已被錄取，并將在適當(dāng)?shù)臅r候我會收到通知，告訴我何時何地加入海軍?！?/span>

? ? ?Meanwhile time began to drag and I felt that I could not go on sitting?at home doing nothing. A friend of ours in the Dutch?government was quite prepared to help and arranged for me to get a?temporary job in the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs. It had its?offices in Arlington House, St James's, and for nearly five months?throughout that summer of 1943 I commuted every day like a civil?servant between Northwood and the West End. It taught me?something I had already suspected; I was not made for a nine-to-five?office job.

【與此同時，時間開始過得很慢，我覺得我不能再呆在家里無所事事了。我們在荷蘭政府的一位朋友很樂意幫忙，為我安排了一份在荷蘭經(jīng)濟部的臨時工作。它的辦公室設(shè)在圣詹姆斯的阿靈頓宮，1943年夏天的近五個月里，我每天都像公務(wù)員一樣往返于諾斯伍德和倫敦西區(qū)之間。它使我明白了一些我已經(jīng)懷疑過的東西：我不是朝九晚五坐辦公室工作的料。】

? ? ?My call-up finally came in October. I was to report for my initial?naval training to HMS Collingwood, a -large camp not far from?Portsmouth. I was there for ten interesting but exhausting weeks. We?were kept going all the time and at the end I was a great deal fitter than?at the beginning. Those of us who had volunteered for the Naval?Reserve and had been earmarked for a commission received special?attention; we had to remain constantly on the mark.

【我終于在10月份接到了征召。我要去科林伍德號進行初步的海軍訓(xùn)練，那是一個離樸次茅斯不遠(yuǎn)的大型營地。我在那里待了10個星期，很有趣，但也很累。我們一直在進步，到最后我比開始的時候好多了。我們當(dāng)中那些自愿加入海軍預(yù)備役并被指定擔(dān)任一項任務(wù)的人受到了特別的關(guān)注；我們必須時刻保持自己不被刷掉?！?/span>

? ? ?I passed out with high marks, getting a so-called Commodore's?recommendation to the next part of the course, a spell on a training?cruiser based at Rosyth. I can only explain this recommendation by?the fact that my final interview went well.

【測試我考了高分，得到了所謂的準(zhǔn)將對下一部分課程的推薦，在羅賽斯的一艘訓(xùn)練巡洋艦上上了一段時間。對于這件事我只能用我的最后一次面試很順利來解釋。】

? ? ?Late one evening in early January, our draft arrived in Rosyth and?we were taken by tender to the cruiser Diomede, at anchor in the?middle of the Firth of Forth. It was pitch dark and bitterly cold and?we had difficulty in climbing the ice-covered rope ladder. This?introduction to life at sea was in keeping with the whole period that we?served afloat. If the initial training course had been hectic, this part?was not only hectic but uncomfortable to a degree bordering on?hardship. I believe that the guiding idea behind this part of the?training was to create as close an imitation of life at sea in the eighteenth?century as it was possible to achieve in the twentieth, and?thus to recapture and instil in us the 'Nelson spirit'.

【一月初的一個傍晚，我們的船抵達(dá)羅賽斯，我們被送到停泊在福斯灣中央的巡洋艦狄俄米德號上。天又黑又冷，我們艱難爬上被冰覆蓋的繩梯。這種對海上生活的介紹與我們在海上服務(wù)的整個時期是一致的。如果說最初的培訓(xùn)課程是繁忙的，那么這部分不僅是繁忙的，而且是不舒服的，幾乎到了困難的程度。我相信這部分訓(xùn)練背后的指導(dǎo)思想是盡可能地模仿18世紀(jì)的海上生活，就像在20世紀(jì)那樣，從而重新獲得并灌輸給我們“納爾遜精神”?！?/span>

? ? ?Six weeks on the cruiser were followed by two months at Lancing?College, the well-known public school, with its cathedral-like chapel?rising high on the downs. It had been taken over by the Navy as an officers' training establishment. The accent on the training at Lancing?was on polish, to make sure that we would not only be officers but also?gentlemen. Although we were still ordinary seamen and dressed as?such, we now had our meals together with the officers on the staff in?the high, wainscoted hall and were served by Royal Marines. Once a?week there was a guest-night dinner at which the traditional protocol?reserved for this occasion was meticulously observed. Usually these?guest nights were preceded by a talk or lecture, given by the guest of?honour.

【在巡洋艦上待了六個星期之后，又在著名的公立學(xué)校蘭斯學(xué)院待了兩個月，那里的小教堂聳立在高地上。它被海軍接管，成為軍官訓(xùn)練的場所。在蘭開斯訓(xùn)練的重點在于禮儀，以確保我們不僅是軍官，而且是紳士。雖然我們?nèi)匀皇瞧胀ǖ暮T，也穿得像普通的水手，但現(xiàn)在我們和參謀部的軍官們一起在裝有護壁板的高廳里吃飯，由皇家海軍陸戰(zhàn)隊供應(yīng)。每周都有一次賓客晚宴，宴會上嚴(yán)格遵守為這一場合保留的傳統(tǒng)禮儀。通常這些來賓之夜之前會有貴賓的演講或演講。】

? ? ?The commander-in-charge of our training had somehow heard?about my journey from occupied Europe. One day he called me to his?office and asked me to give a talk about it on one of the guest nights. I?had had no previous experience of speaking in public and the prospect?frightened me.

【我們訓(xùn)練的指揮官不知怎么聽說了我從被占領(lǐng)的歐洲來的旅行。有一天，他把我叫到他的辦公室，讓我在一個招待客人的晚上做一個關(guān)于它的演講。我以前沒有在公眾面前演講的經(jīng)驗，這個演講使我感到緊張?！?/span>