LESSON 3 The burial of Sir John Moore
第三课 约翰·摩尔爵士的葬礼
Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
没有鼓声,没有讣告
As his corpse to the ramparts we hurried;
当他的遗体被匆匆运到城堡
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
在埋葬着我们英雄的坟墓上
O'er the grave where our hero we buried.
更没有一名战士为他鸣枪送别
We buried him darkly at dead of night,
The sods with our bayonets turning;
借着雾夜里朦胧的月光,
By the struggling moonbeam's misty light,
和提灯里若隐的微光
And the lantern dimly burning.
在死寂的夜晚,我们将他偷偷下葬
No useless coffin enclosed his breast,
棺椁已装不下他的胸膛
Not in sheet nor in shroud we wound him;
更何况布单和裹尸布
But he lay like a warrior taking his rest
他躺着,犹如一名战士在休憩
With his martial cloak around him.
身旁的战袍安放
Few and short were the prayers we said,
我们的悼词简短
And we spoke not a word of sorrow
没有流露各自的悲伤
But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead,
但是,他那张已经暗淡的面孔,紧紧地锁住了我们的目光
And we bitterly thought of the morrow.
想到以后,悲痛涌上心头
We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed,
为他造好狭床
And smoothed down his lonely pillow,
铺好孤枕
That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head,
忧虑不禁泛起:当我们游离他乡
And we far away on the billow!
敌人和路人,将践踏他的遗体
Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone,
侮辱逝者英灵
And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him;
在他冰冷的遗骨上咒骂
But little he'll reck if they let him sleep on
可是,只要能让他安息,在这英国同胞下葬他的坟墓里,
In the grave where a Briton has laid him!
他又有什么好去在意的呢?
But half of our heavy task was done
然而
When the clock struck the hour for retiring;
当撤退的号角响起,当我们还未将他安然下葬
And we heard the distant and random gun
远处便传来若有若无的枪响
That the foe was sullenly firing.
那是敌人突如其来的反击
Slowly and sadly we laid him down,
我们只能,满怀悲伤地、将他缓缓放下
From the field of his fame fresh and gory:
放在这片洒下其鲜血、留下其威名的土地上
We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone—
没有墓碑,没有墓志铭
But we left him alone with his glory.
只有他的光荣永存。
—Charles Wolfe (1791-1823).
—察理·沃尔夫(1791-1823)