四签名 98琼诺赞·斯茂的奇异故事（8）

It was a fight of the millions against the hundreds;

这是几百万人对几百人的战争。

and the cruellest part of it was that these men that we fought against,

最使人伤心的是：我们的敌人

foot, horse, and gunners, were our own picked troops,

不论是步兵、骑兵还是炮兵，

whom we had taught and trained, handling our own weapons and blowing our own bugle-calls.

都是当初经我们训练过的精锐战士，他们使用的是我们的武器，军号的调子也和我们吹得一样。

At Agra there were the Third Bengal Fusiliers, some Sikhs, two troops of horse, and a battery of artillery¹.

在阿格拉驻有孟加拉第三火枪团，其中有些印度兵，两队马队和一连炮兵。

A volunteer corps² of clerks and merchants had been formed, and this I joined, wooden leg and all.

另外还新成立了一队义勇队，是由商人和政府工作人员组成的。我虽然装着木腿，也还是参加了。

We went out to meet the rebels at Shahgunge early in July, and we beat them back for a time,

七月初我们到沙根吉去迎击叛军，也将他们打退了一个时期，

but our powder gave out, and we had to fall back upon the city.

后来因为弹药缺乏又退回城内。

Nothing but the worst news came to us from every side

四面八方传来的只是最最糟糕的消息

which is not to be wondered at, for if you look at the map you will see that we were right in the heart of it.

这本是不足为奇的，因为只要你看一看地图就可以知道，我们正处在变乱的中心。

Lucknow is rather better than a hundred miles to the east, and Cawnpore about as far to the south.

拉克瑙就在东方，相距一百多英里；康普城在南方，距离也差不多一样远。

From every point on the compass there was nothing but torture and murder and outrage³.

四面八方，无处不是痛苦、残杀和暴行。

The city of Agra is a great place, swarming⁴ with fanatics⁵ and fierce devil-worshippers of all sorts.

阿格拉是个很大的城，聚居着各种各样稀奇古怪而又可怕的魔鬼信徒。

Our handful of men were lost among the narrow, winding⁶ streets.

在狭窄弯曲的街道里，我们少数的英国人是无法布防的。

Our leader moved across the river, therefore, and took up his position in the old fort of Agra.

因此，我们的长官就调动了军队，在河对岸的一个阿格拉古堡里建立了阵地。

I don't know if any of you gentlemen have ever read or heard anything of that old fort.

不知你们几位当中有人听说过这个古堡或是读过有关这个古堡的记载没有？

It is a very queer place--the queerest that ever I was in, and I have been in some rum corners, too.

这古堡是个很奇怪的地方--我虽然到过不少稀奇古怪的地方，可是这是我生平所见的一个最奇怪的地方。

1 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

2 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

3 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

4 swarming   

密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去

参考例句：

• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。
• The beach is swarming with bathers. 海滩满是海水浴的人。

5 fanatics   

狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The heathen temple was torn down by a crowd of religions fanatics. 异教徒的神殿被一群宗教狂热分子拆除了。
• Placing nukes in the hands of baby-faced fanatics? 把核弹交给一些宗教狂热者手里？

6 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。