1. The long June twilight faded into night. In thedistance, heavy guns roared. Here and there throughthe city, machine guns and rifles broke the silence ofthe night, spasmodically, like dogs barking on lonefarms. It was war, civil war. On a rooftop nearO'Connell Bridge, a sniper lay watching. His eyeswere deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who isused to looking at death.
六月漫长的暮色渐渐消失在黑夜里。远处传来重炮的轰鸣声。在这座城市的每个角落里，机枪声、步枪声断断续续地打破着夜晚的寂静，就如同孤独的农场中犬的吠叫。这是战争，是内战。在奥康奈尔桥附近的一个屋顶上，一名狙击手正俯卧在那里伺机而动。他的目光深邃，是那种习惯于窥探死亡的深邃。
2. He was considering whether he should risk a smoke. It was dangerous. The flash might beseen in the darkness, and there were enemies watching. He decided to take the risk. Placing acigarette between his lips, he struck a match, inhaled the smoke hurriedly and put out the light.Almost immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet of the roof. The sniper tookanother whiff and put out the cigarette.
他正在考虑是否应该冒险抽根烟。这很危险。黑暗中的火光可能引起敌人的注意，而且对面的敌人正在监视着这边的一举一动。他决定冒这个险。他把一根香烟放在嘴唇间，划着了一根火柴，匆匆地吸了一口，然后熄灭了火柴。就在那一刹那，一颗子弹砸在了屋顶的护墙上。他又吸了一口，然后把香烟熄灭了。
3. Cautiously he raised himself and peered over the parapet. There was a flash and a bulletwhizzed over his head. He had seen the flash. It came from the opposite side of the street.There was nothing to be seen--just the dim outline of the opposite housetop against the bluesky. His enemy was under cover.
他小心翼翼地抬高身体，从护墙上方窥视着对面。一道闪光伴随着一颗子弹从他头上嗖的一声掠过。他看到了这道闪光是从街道对面来的。但他并没有看到街道对面的敌人——只能看到蓝色的天际边映衬着昏暗的屋顶轮廓。敌人隐藏了起来。
4. Just then, an armoured car came across the bridge and advanced slowly up the street. Itwas an enemy car. He wanted to fire, but he knew it was useless. His bullets would never piercethe steel that covered the gray monster. Then round the corner of a side street came an oldwoman. She began to talk to the man in the turret of the car. She was pointing to the roofwhere the sniper lay. An informer. The turret opened. A man's head and shoulders appeared,looking toward the sniper. The sniper raised his rifle and fired. The head fell heavily on theturret wall. The woman darted toward the side street. The sniper fired again. The womanwhirled round and fell with a shriek into the gutter.
就在这时，一辆装甲车从桥上驶过 ，慢慢地朝街道方向驶去。这是一辆敌人的装甲车。他想开枪，但他知道这没用。他的子弹绝对不可能打穿这灰色怪物的钢甲。此时，从街道旁一条小巷的拐角处走出了一位老妇人。她开始跟装甲车炮塔里的男子说话。她指向狙击手所在的屋顶——她是敌人的眼线。炮塔的舱口打开了，露出了一名男子的头和肩膀。然后，这名男子朝狙击手的方向望去。狙击手举起步枪开枪射击——那名男子的头重重地砸在炮塔壁上。那位妇人冲向小巷。狙击手再次开枪。那个妇人一个转身，尖叫着跌入水沟。
5. Suddenly from the opposite roof a shot rang out and the sniper dropped his rifle with acurse. The rifle clattered to the roof. He stooped to pick the rifle up. He couldn't lift it. Hisforearm was dead. "I'm hit," he muttered. With his left hand he felt the injured right forearm.The blood was oozing through the sleeve of his coat. There was no pain--just a deadenedsensation, as if the arm had been cut off. He lay still against the parapet, and, closing his eyes,he made an effort of will to overcome the pain.
突然从对面的屋顶上传来一声枪响，伴随着狙击手的咒骂声，步枪从他的手中脱落。步枪咔塔一声落到屋顶上。他弯腰去捡步枪，却发现根本做不到。他的这只前臂完全失去了知觉。“我中弹了，”他喃喃道。他用左手摸了摸受伤的右前臂，血液正从他外套的袖子里渗出。他没有感到疼痛——只是一种麻木的感觉，就好像手臂被砍掉了。他一动不动地靠在护墙上，闭上眼睛，努力克服痛苦。
6. The sniper lay still for a long time nursing his wounded arm and planning escape. Morningmust not find him wounded on the roof. The enemy on the opposite roof covered his escape.He must kill that enemy and he could not use his rifle. He had only a revolver to do it. Then hethought of a plan. Taking off his cap, he placed it over the muzzle of his rifle. Then he pushedthe rifle slowly upward over the parapet, until the cap was visible from the opposite side of thestreet. Almost immediately a bullet pierced the cap.
狙击手静静地卧在那里，为自己受伤的手臂包扎，同时计划着如何逃离这里。敌人不可能知道他受伤了；对面屋顶上的敌人封锁了他的逃跑路线；他必须击毙那个敌人，但是他用不了他的步枪；现在他能用的只有自己的那把左轮手枪——他终于想到了一个计划。他脱下帽子，把它放在步枪的枪口上。然后，他把步枪慢慢地向上举过护墙，直到他确认敌人可以从街道的对面看到这顶帽子。就在那一刹那，一颗子弹穿透了帽子。
7. His ruse had succeeded. The other sniper, seeing the cap and rifle fall, thought that he hadkilled his man. He was now standing before a row of chimney pots, looking across, with hishead clearly silhouetted against the western sky. The sniper smiled and lifted his revolver abovethe edge of the parapet. The distance was about fifty yards--a hard shot in the dim light, andhis right arm was paining him like a thousand devils. He took a steady aim. His hand trembledwith eagerness. Pressing his lips together, he took a deep breath through his nostrils and fired.Then when the smoke cleared, he peered across and uttered a cry of joy. His enemy had beenhit.
他的计划成功了。对面的狙击手看到帽子和步枪一起落下，认为自己已经击毙了他的“猎物”。此时，他正站在一排烟囱顶帽前，望着对面的屋顶，他的头在西侧的天空下映衬出清晰的轮廓。而他对面的那位狙击手正微笑着从护墙边缘举起了左轮手枪。距离大约五十码——在昏暗的光线下，这无疑是一个极大的挑战，而且他还忍受着右臂的剧烈疼痛，这感觉犹如一千个恶魔正在折磨着他。他瞄准目标。他的手急速地颤抖着。他用力抿住嘴唇，用鼻孔深深地吸了一口气，然后开了一枪。枪口的烟雾消散后，他凝视着对面，发出了一声欢呼。他的敌人被击中了。
8. The dying man on the roof crumpled up and fell forward. The body turned over and over inspace and hit the ground with a dull thud. Then it lay still. The sniper looked at his enemyfalling and he shuddered. The lust of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse.Weakened by his wound and the long summer day of fasting and watching on the roof, herevolted from the sight of the shattered mass of his dead enemy.
对面屋顶上那个垂死的人向前瘫倒，摔了下来。他的身体向下翻滚着，最后伴随着一个低沉的轰响砸到地上，一动不动了。看到他的敌人跌落的场景，狙击手浑身颤抖着。他完全没有了战斗的欲望。他的内心中充满了懊悔。他的伤口，以及在这漫长的夏日里，长时间隐藏在这屋顶上，饿着肚子窥视着对面的敌情，让他的身体非常虚弱。这令他看到敌人死后残缺的尸体时，感到非常恶心。
9. Taking a whiskey flask from his pocket, he emptied it a drought. He felt reckless under theinfluence of the spirit. He decided to leave the roof now and look for his company commander,to report. Everywhere around was quiet. There was not much danger in going through thestreets. He picked up his revolver and put it in his pocket. Then he crawled down through theskylight to the house underneath.
他从衣袋里掏出一瓶威士忌，然后一饮而尽。在酒精的刺激下，他开始变得鲁莽。他决定现在就离开屋顶，去寻找他的连长，汇报敌情。四周一片寂静。穿过街道的危险不算太大。他拿起那把左轮手枪，放入衣袋。然后，他穿过天窗向下面的房子爬去。
10. When the sniper reached the laneway on the street level, he felt a sudden curiosity as tothe identity of the enemy sniper whom he had killed. He decided that he was a good shot,whoever he was. He wondered did he know him. Perhaps he had been in his own companybefore the split in the army. He decided to risk going over to have a look at him. The sniperdarted across the street. A machine gun tore up the ground around him with a hail of bullets,but he escaped. He threw himself face downward beside the corpse. The machine gun stopped.Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face.
当到达街道旁的小巷时，他突然对自己刚刚击毙的敌方狙击手的身份感到好奇。无论他是谁，他都觉得他是一位优秀的射手。他想知道自己是否认识他。也许在他所在的部队分裂之前，他们曾在一个连队里服役。他决定冒险过去看他一眼。他飞奔地穿过街道。与此同时，机枪子弹像冰雹一样砸落下来，掀起他身边的地面，但他都幸运地躲开了。他脸朝下扑倒在尸体旁边。机枪停了下来。他把尸体翻转过来，看到了哥哥的脸。 |