最開始是漢化視頻的時候看到里面引用資料的描寫場面感覺有點意思于是就去翻了一下小說，順便今天去漢化了一小部分，漢化的很隨意

A BOER JOURNAL OF THE BOER WAR

By DENEYS REITZ

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Chapter7:AN AFFAIR AT SURPRISE HILL

第七章：驚喜山上的婚外初夜

Two other corporalships went on duty at the same time.One,under Corporal Tossel,a former police detective,was posted at the foot of Surprise Hill and the other a long way to our left.My brother and myself and Samuel van Zijl were the only members of our tent who were present,the other four being absent with the carry-ing party.As we walked along in the dark behind Isaac Malherbe we discussed the previous night's attack on the Lombaardskop gun,and I remember poor Samuel saying he hoped our turn would not come next.But our turn did come next.When we reached the usual halting-place two men were sent forward according to custom,and the rest of us turned in.My time to go on duty was 1 a.m.At about half past twelve I woke,and not thinking it worth while to fall asleep again I lay on my blanket watching the stars.

哪怕這個時間也仍然有兩個下士在為我們值班放哨，一位是前警探，他由托塞爾下士指揮，部署在驚喜山腳下，另一位在我們左翼很遠的地方?，F(xiàn)在我的帳篷里面現(xiàn)在只有我哥哥、我和塞繆爾·范·齊吉，其他四個人不在因為他們在后方運輸物資。在黑暗中，我們跟在艾薩克·馬爾赫布后面走著，我們討論了前一天晚上對倫巴第斯科普槍的襲擊，我還記得可憐的塞繆爾說，他希望下次不要輪到我們遭英國人的罪受。但馬上就輪到我們了。當我們到達日常的集結(jié)點時，我們按慣例派了兩個人放哨，而其余的人都回去了。我值班的時間是凌晨1點。大約十二點半，我醒了，因為覺得再也睡不著了，于是我躺在毯子上看星星。

After awhile I distinctly heard the muffled sound of many footsteps in the direction of Surprise Hill,so I got up and walked forward to the two sentries to consult them.I found that they had also heard the noise,and the three of us listened for a few seconds to what were certainly men climbing the hill.We thought Corporal Tossel's men had taken fright at something,and were withdrawing up the slope towards the howitzer emplacement.This belief was rudely dispelled,for suddenly there broke from the sum-mit of Surprise Hill a crash of musketry followed by wild bursts of cheering,and we realized that English troops were at the gun.As we stood undecidedly watching the hundreds of rifle flashes lighting up the hill-top,a vivid sheet of flame stabbed the darkness,followed by a tre-mendous roar,and we knew that our howitzer had been blown into the air.The two sentries and I rushed back to where our party were already on their feet.Isaac Mal-herbe now showed the stuff he was made of.Without a moment's hesitation he went straight for the danger-point,the continued cheering of the English soldiery and the volley-firing serving as a guide.His intention was to join hands with Tossel's corporalship if he could find them,and then to prevent or delay the troops from returning to Ladysmith,until the whole of the Pretoria commando could come from camp,and so destroy or capture the intruders.

過了一會兒，我清楚地聽到從驚喜山腳下傳來許多低沉的腳步聲，我站起來，向前走到那兩個哨兵面前，向他們示意。他們也聽到了聲音，我們?nèi)齻€人聽了幾秒鐘十分肯定有一群人在爬山。開始我們以為是托塞爾下士的人被什么東西嚇到了，正沿著斜坡向榴彈炮陣地撤退。但這種想法被粗暴地否決了，因為突然間從驚喜山的山頂傳來了一陣火槍聲，緊接著是一陣瘋狂的歡呼，我們意識到這是英國軍隊正在開火。當我們依然猶豫不決地站在那里，突然成百上千支步槍的火光照亮了山頂，一團鮮艷的火焰刺破黑暗，接著是一聲巨大的轟鳴聲，我們知道我們的榴彈炮被炸飛了。我和兩個哨兵急忙跑回我們一行駐扎的地方。艾薩克·馬爾-赫比現(xiàn)在展示了他的堅強品質(zhì)（Isaac Mal-herbe now showed the stuff he was made of）。他一刻也沒有猶豫，在英國士兵的歡呼聲和齊射聲的指引下，徑直向著最危險的地方?jīng)_去。他的意圖是，如果他能找到托塞爾的下士，就與他們一起聯(lián)手，一同阻止或拖延英國部隊退回萊迪史密斯，直到比勒陀利亞的突擊隊員們都能從營地趕來增援，這樣就可以一舉摧毀或俘虜這些入侵者。

As it turned out,Tossel's corporalship had bolted when they heard the English coming.They had not only given them a clear field but had fired no warning shot to alarm the unfortunate gunners up above,who were taken un-awares and all bayoneted.And as for the remainder of our commando in camp,they stood to arms all night,but Field-Cornet Zeederberg refused to risk the confusion,that he perhaps justly thought would ensue,if he tried to march his men in the dark to an unknown situation.So the twelve of us were left to our own devices.

但事實是，當托塞爾的下士們聽到英國人來了后，他們頭都不回的逃跑了。他們不僅給了英國人讓出了一塊空地，而且沒有做鳴槍示警，也沒有提醒上面那些不幸的炮手，他們在夢中就毫無知覺地被刺刀刺死了。至于營地里其余的突擊隊員，他們整夜都全副武裝，但是齊德伯格將軍拒絕冒混亂的風險，他認為，如果他在黑暗中帶領(lǐng)他的部隊去一個未知的地方，混亂可能會發(fā)生?，F(xiàn)在我們十二個人只能靠自己了。

As we approached we could hear by the firing and shouting that the main body of the attackers were still on the hill,but they had posted a string of pickets at the foot to secure their line of withdrawal back to the town,and before we had gone very far we ran into one of these.Isaac and I were a few yards in advance when a ‘Halt!Who goes there?' was shouted at us from a few paces away.We simultaneously fired a shot apiece and ran forward.We came on a dead soldier,a sergeant,as I saw next morning from his badge,but the rest of the picket had run off into the night.?

我們走的越來越近，從槍聲和喊叫聲中我們可以聽到，英軍進攻主力還在山上，但他們在山腳下布置了一排哨兵，以確保他們撤退回城里的防線。我們還沒走多遠，就碰上了其中一個哨兵。我和艾薩克走在前面幾碼的地方，突然有人喊了一聲“站住!”你們是誰?離我們幾步遠的地方有人對我們喊道。我們同時朝聲源那里甩了一槍（大地球槍法），然后向前跑去。第二天早上我們在那里發(fā)現(xiàn)了一個死去的士兵，我從他的徽章上看到這是一個中士，但是其他英軍哨兵已經(jīng)跑進了夜色中。

We went forward cautiously and soon we collided once more with another and stronger rearguard party.We were again challenged from close quarters,and,a heavy fire being aimed at us,we took shelter in a dry spruit bed? that runs along the base of Surprise Hill.From here we returned the fire,until this outpost too gave us right of way,and we now began to file along the bed in order to seek out a convenient point from which to make a stand against the troops on the hill when they descended.?

我們繼續(xù)小心翼翼地前進，不久之后我們與一支更龐大的英軍后衛(wèi)部隊接觸。受到了猛烈的火力壓制，我們被迫躲在驚喜山脈底部的一個干燥河床里。我們便在這里開始還擊，直到一個前哨幫我們探查了退路，我們沿著山床排成縱隊，以便找到一個方便的地方阻擊正在下山的英國部隊。

As we were going,a soldier,lying concealed in the grass on the bank above us,thrust over the muzzle of his rifle, and fired point-blank into us.My tent-mate,Samuel van? Zijl,was walking immediately in front of me and I had? my hand on his shoulder to steady myself on the uneven path.The bullet struck him full in the throat,and so near? was the range that the discharge scorched his face,and set fire to his beard,which flared up for a moment like a fusee.He staggered,and then dropped.He was still alive, but I could hear from his laboured breathing that he was badly wounded,so I made him as comfortable as I could by placing his blanket under his head,before hurrying up the spruit to rejoin the others.By now the troops were descending Surprise Hill,and we could hear them clatter-ing down the slope towards us.Their officers were blow-ing whistles,and calling out:‘A Company here!'This way B Company!' and so on,to collect their men.They seemed unaware that the road was to be disputed,for they made no attempt to conceal their progress,and there was laughter and repeated cries of ‘Good old Rifle Bri-gade',and here and there we caught the gleam of matches being struck and the glow of cigarettes,to show how little they expected opposition.?

當我們行進的時候，一個英軍士兵藏在我們上方河岸上的草地上，他舉起槍口朝我們開了一槍。我的同伴，薩繆爾·范·濟吉爾，當時他正走在我的前面，我把手搭在他的肩膀上，使自己在不平的小路上穩(wěn)住。子彈擊中了他的喉嚨，距離如此之近以至于子彈灼傷了他的臉，并且點燃了他的胡子，他的胡子像引信一樣一下子亮了起來。他搖晃著倒下了。雖然他還暫時活著，但從他吃力的呼吸聲中我能聽出他受了重傷，所以我把毯子蓋在他的頭下，盡量讓他舒服些，然后自己才匆匆爬上船桅，和其他人匯合。這時，英軍部隊正從驚喜山往山下走來，我們都可以聽到他們沿著斜坡朝我們走來。他們的軍官們吹著哨子，大聲喊道:“A連在這兒! B連朝這邊走!”等等，他們正在召集部眾。但他們似乎沒有意識到這條路有埋伏，因為他們完全就是大大方方的行進著的，他們的笑聲和反復的“好老步槍旅”的歌聲傳的很遠，我們不時能看到他們擦火柴的閃光還有香煙的火光，看來他們并不覺得會有什么意外發(fā)生。

In the meanwhile Isaac had selected a suitable spot on the bank,our faces towards Surprise Hill,our backs to-wards Ladysmith,and here we crouched,silently waiting for the oncoming troops. From the sounds that reached us we judged them to be about three hundred strong and,with no sign of Tossel's men or of help from the commando,it dawned on us that we were in a pretty tight corner.

與此同時，以撒在河岸上選了一個合適的地點，我們面朝著驚喜山，背對著萊迪史密斯，在這里蹲下，靜靜地等待著英軍部隊走來。根據(jù)聽到的聲音，我們判斷他們有大約三百人，由于沒有找到托塞爾的人，也沒有看到突擊隊的影子，我們意識到自己已經(jīng)進退兩難。

While the soldiers were still some distance away I ran down to see how Samuel van Ziil was faring.He was only just alive,and he asked me in a faint voice to turn him on his side to ease the pain,but as I did so I felt his body stiffen,and then go limp in my arms,and when I laid him down he was dead.I hurried back,for the laughter and talking were drawing very near.As I made up the course,a huge soldier,or he looked so in the dark, loomed up suddenly on the bank above.He lunged at me with his bayonet,but his insecure footing deflected the thrust and brought him stumbling against me.The man was at my mercy now,for I had my carbine against his side,but there came over me an aversion to shooting him down like a dog,so I ordered him to put up his hands instead,which he did at once,dropping his bayoneted rifle at my feet.I told him to sit down until I called him, a command which he so implicitly obeyed that I found him patiently waiting there next morning with a bullet through his leg from the cross-firing during the subse- quent proceedings.This soldier must have come on ahead, for when I reached my companions,the main force was just reaching the foot of the hill and approaching us in a body.

當士兵們離我還有一段距離時，我跑下去看看薩繆爾·范·齊爾的情況如何。他剛剛從昏迷里醒過來，他用微弱的聲音讓我把他側(cè)過身來減輕疼痛，但我這么做的時候，我卻已經(jīng)感到他的身體正變的僵硬，很快他在我懷里癱軟了，當我把他放下來時，他已經(jīng)犧牲了。我急忙往回走，因為英國人的笑聲和說話聲越來越近。當我行進時，一個高大的士兵突然出現(xiàn)在河岸上，在黑暗中看起來確實是這樣的。他拿著刺刀向我刺來，但是他腳步不穩(wěn)，他刺偏了，然后他被我絆倒了?，F(xiàn)在這個人任憑我處置，我用我的卡賓槍頂著他的腰，但我不愿把他像狗一樣打死，所以我命令他舉起手來，他立刻舉起手來，把帶刺刀的步槍扔在我腳邊。我叫他坐下，等我叫他，他完全服從了我的命令。即使之后沒管他，但第二天早上我發(fā)現(xiàn)這個俘虜還是靜靜地等在那里，在隨后的審訊中我們才知道他的腿在更早之前被子彈打穿了所以沒法泡。這個士兵一定是走在前面的散兵，因為當我到達我的同伴身邊時，英軍的主力部隊才剛剛到達山腳下，他們正成群結(jié)隊地向我們逼近。

Isaac whispered to us to hold our fire and each man peered into the darkness until,about fifteen yards away, we saw a black mass dimly outlined and then,at his word of command,we poured volley after volley into their closely packed ranks,shooting as fast as we could work the bolts of our rifles.When the blast struck them they thought they were being fired at by their own rearguard pickets,for there were cries of ‘Rifle Brigade!Rifle Bri-gade,don't fire!’ but,discovering their error,a command-ing voice called out ‘Bayonets, bayonets', and they came at us like a wall.In spite of our small number we delivered such a volume of fire that the head of the column swerved to the left and slanted across our front to make the spruit lower down,and,although we continued our volleys,we could not prevent their going by.

Several times,however,parties of soldiers who had lost their way in the dark walked in among us,and of these we shot some and took others prisoners.

艾薩克低聲告訴我們不要提前開火，每個人都向黑暗中張望，直到英軍走到大約15碼遠的地方，我們看到一個黑乎乎的東西模模糊實實地出現(xiàn)了。然后艾薩克一聲命下，我們用步槍飛快地向他們密集的隊伍射擊。一開始槍聲響起時，他們還以為是自己的后衛(wèi)在向自己射擊，他們高喊道 “步槍旅!別開槍，是友軍!’但是他們很快發(fā)現(xiàn)了不對勁，一個命令的聲音喊道‘刺刀，刺刀’，隨后英軍就像堵墻一樣向我們撲來。盡管我們?nèi)藬?shù)不多，但我們的火力卻很猛烈，以至于縱隊的頭部都轉(zhuǎn)向了左邊，斜靠在我們的前方，這使我們不得不把槍頭壓低，盡管我們繼續(xù)射擊，我們還是無法阻止他們的進攻。在黑夜中，好幾次有一伙一伙在迷路的士兵走到我們中間，我們射殺了他們中的一些人，然后俘虜了另一些人。

A Captain named Geo.Paley came up to where my brother and I knelt,firing over the edge of the bank,and as he failed to halt when called upon,we both loosed a round and brought him toppling between us.Another time one of our men,Jan Luttig,was seized by some soldiers within a few yards of us,and there was a hand-to- hand scuffle in which he was stabbed with a bayonet and clubbed on the head with a rifle-butt.In the dark we could not make out what was happening,but when we heard his cry for help and ran up,his assailants were gone. Amoment later I made out three soldiers in the bed of the spruit behind me and slipped down towards them.One nearly spitted me with a vicious jab of his bayonet,which passed between my arm and body,but before he could repeat the thrust I had him covered and they surrendered. One was an army doctor with a bullet-wound in his foot, and the other two said they were helping him along.I ordered them to remain in the bed of the spruit,where I found them in the morning.

一個叫吉奧佩利的指揮官甚至走到了我和我哥躲著的地方，我們越過河岸向他射擊，隨后在我們警告他時他也沒有停下逃跑的腳步，于是我們倆向他一人開了一槍，把他打倒了。還有一次，我們的一名士兵，賈恩陸廷，他在離我們幾碼遠的地方被一些英軍士兵抓住，雙方發(fā)生了肉搏戰(zhàn)，有人用刺刀刺他，有人用來福槍托敲他的頭。在黑暗中，我們看不清發(fā)生了什么事，但當我們聽到他的呼救聲并跑上去時，攻擊他的人已經(jīng)逃走了。過了一會兒，我發(fā)現(xiàn)身后的井口上躺著三個士兵，便向他們摸了去。有一個人用刺刀惡毒地刺了我一下，刺刀從我的胳膊和身體之間穿過，差點兒把我捅到了，但他沒有第二次機會，我把他壓住，他們就全部投降了。俘虜?shù)钠渲幸粋€人是腳上有槍傷的軍醫(yī)，另外兩個說他們會幫助他。我告訴他們乖乖呆在旁邊的螺桿床邊，而早晨我也在那里發(fā)現(xiàn)了他們。

About this time we heard four or five shots in rapid succession,followed by groans,from the direction where the troops were still crossing the spruit twenty or thirty yards off.We did not know the meaning of this,and only at daybreak did we find that we had listened to the death- cry of some of our men who had come from the camp to our assistance.

這個時候，我們聽到了四五聲槍響，緊接著是呻吟聲，槍聲從二三十碼開外的地方傳來，那里的部隊正在渡水。最開始我們不知道發(fā)生了什么，直到天亮時，我們才聽到一些從營里來援助我們的人發(fā)出的慘叫。

It was now towards three in the morning,and we had nearly exhausted our ammunition,so we sat quietly watching the tail of the column vanish into the darkness beyond,on its way to Ladysmith.

When daylight came at last,a grim scene met our eyes. Before us,within a radius of less than twenty-five yards, lay over sixty dead and wounded English soldiers,and as we walked forward among them we came on the bodies of three of our men who had not been with us originally. Two were dead and dreadfully hacked with bayonets and the third was at his last gasp.

現(xiàn)在快到凌晨三點了，我們幾乎耗盡了彈藥，所以我們靜靜地坐著，看著縱隊的尾巴消失在遠處的黑暗中，向萊迪史密斯進發(fā)。天亮了，一幅可怕的景象映入我們的眼簾。在我們面前，半徑不到二十五碼的地方，躺著六十多名陣亡或受傷的英國士兵。當我們在他們中間往前走的時候，我們發(fā)現(xiàn)了另外三個沒有和我們一起行動的同伴。其中兩個已經(jīng)死了，被刺刀砍的很慘，而第三個人奄奄一息。

These had been away to the railway depot with the fatigue party,and on their return had gallantly attempted to make their way to us when they heard the firing.They nearly reached us,but ran into the withdrawing soldiers, and were bayoneted before they could fire more than a few shots.Behind us in the spruit bed lay poor Samuel van Zijl,and close by sat our prisoners,some twenty in number.

最開始他們和疲憊的大隊伍去了火車站，但回來的時候，他們聽到了槍聲，可他們還是勇敢地向我們這走來。他們幾乎快找到我們了，但他們撞上了撤退的士兵，他們還沒開幾槍就被刺刀刺死了?，F(xiàn)在在我們后面，可憐的薩繆爾·范·齊杰躺在床上，他的旁邊坐著我們的俘虜，大約有二十人。

Dead,wounded,and prisoners,elevenof us had ac- counted for more than eighty opponents,an average of seven apiece. Our work was now done,and shortly after sunrise Mr. Zeederberg and a large escort of men came scouting through the bush to see what was left of us,and they were surprised to find so many of us still alive.

死的、傷的、被俘的，我們總共只有十一人，而對方有八十多人，平均下來是1V7。我們的工作完成了，太陽升起后不久，齊德伯格先生和一大群人穿過灌木叢，想看看能不能幫我們收個尸，但他們卻驚訝地發(fā)現(xiàn)我們還有那么多人還活著。

We stood among the dead and wounded soldiers,the centre of an admiring crowd,and from now onwards Isaac Malherbe's corporalship was spoken of as the best in the commando.

我們站在陣亡和受傷的士兵中間，站在羨慕的人群的中心，之后艾薩克·馬爾赫貝的下士們被大伙稱為突擊隊中最好的槍手部隊。

‘Disregarding the misleading orders shouted by the Boers,the men charged in grim silence.The gallant Pretorians emptied their magazines in a vain endeavour to stem the rush,and then the riflemen? surged over them,killing or wounding severai as they passed.The British casualties were fourteen killed and fifty wounded,not an? excessive price to pay for so successful a feat.'

“這些英雄不顧我們發(fā)出的錯誤命令，一聲不響地沖上了前線。這些英勇的比勒陀利亞人打光了自己的彈藥以阻止英國人的進攻，最后英軍成群的步槍手向他們撲來，可他們幾個人卻仍舊打死或打傷了對方好幾個人。最后他們擊斃英軍14人，擊傷50人，對于如此成功的戰(zhàn)功來說，這場戰(zhàn)斗的犧牲真不算太高”

英語原版小說

https://pan.baidu.com/s/1lRGxEkggyY2EqnRdPYxpLQ? 提取碼：1145

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