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But on the following day, the conflict having begun again, the Italians were overpowered by the overwhelming numbers of the Austrians, in spite of a valorous resistance, and on the morning of the 27th they sadly retreated towards the Mincio.
次日再戰，我軍雖勇敢對抗，終以眾寡不敵，于二十七日早晨，退守混契阿河。
The captain, although wounded, made the march on foot with his soldiers, weary and silent, and, arrived at the close of the day at Goito, on the Mincio, he immediately sought out his lieutenant, who had been picked up with his arm shattered, by our ambulance corps, and who must have arrived before him. He was directed to a church, where the field hospital had been installed in haste. Thither he betook himself. The church was full of wounded men, ranged in two lines of beds, and on mattresses spread on the floor; two doctors and numerous assistants were going and coming, busily occupied; and suppressed cries and groans were audible.
大尉負了傷，仍率領部下的兵士徒步行進。兵士困憊疲勞，卻沒有一個不服從的。日暮，到了泯契阿河岸的哥伊托地方，找尋副官。那副官傷了手腕，被救護隊所救，比大尉先到這里。大尉走進一所設著臨時野戰病院的寺院，其中滿住著傷兵。病床分作兩列，床的上面還設著床。兩個醫師和許多助手應接不暇地奔走，觸耳都是幽泣聲與呻吟聲。
No sooner had the captain entered than he halted and cast a glance around, in search of his officer.
大尉一到寺里，就到處尋找副官，
At that moment he heard himself called in a weak voice,--"Signor Captain!" He turned round. It was his drummer-boy. He was lying on a cot bed, covered to the breast with a coarse window curtain, in red and white squares, with his arms on the outside, pale and thin, but with eyes which still sparkled like black gems.
聽得有人用低弱的聲音在叫“大尉”。大尉近身去看，見是少年鼓手。他臥在吊床上，腦以下覆蓋著粗的窗簾布，蒼白而細的兩碗露出在布外面，眼睛仍像寶石一樣地發著光。
"Are you here?" asked the captain, amazed, but still sharply. "Bravo! You did your duty."
大尉一驚，對他喊道：“你在這里？真了不得！你盡了你的本分了！”
"I did all that I could," replied the drummer-boy.
“我已盡了我的全力。”少年答。
"Were you wounded?" said the captain, seeking with his eyes for his officer in the neighboring beds.
“你受了什么傷？”大尉再問，一邊看附近各床，尋覓副官。
"What could one expect?" said the lad, who gained courage by speaking, expressing the lofty satisfaction of having been wounded for the first time, without which he would not have dared to open his mouth in the presence of this captain; "I had a fine run, all bent over, but suddenly they caught sight of me. I should have arrived twenty minutes earlier if they had not hit me. Luckily, I soon came across a captain of the staff, to whom I gave the note. But it was hard work to get down after that caress! I was dying of thirst. I was afraid that I should not get there at all. I wept with rage at the thought that at every moment of delay another man was setting out yonder for the other world. But enough! I did what I could. I am content. But, with your permission, captain, you should look to yourself: you are losing blood."
“完全沒料到。”少年回答說。他的元氣恢復過來了，開始覺得負傷在他是榮譽。如果沒有這滿足的快感，他在大影前恐將無開口的氣力了。“我拼命地跑，原是恐被看見，屈著上身，不料竟被敵人看見了。如果不被射中，還可再快二十分鐘的。幸而逢著參謀大尉，把紙條交付了他。可是在被打傷以后，一點也走不動，口也干渴，好像就要死去。要再走上去是無論如何不能的了。愈遲，戰死的人將愈多。我一想到此，幾乎要哭起來。還好！我總算拼了命達到了我的目的。不要替我擔心。大尉！你要留心你自己，你流著血呢！”
Several drops of blood had in fact trickled down on the captain's fingers from his imperfectly bandaged palm.
的確如他所說，滴滴的血，正從大尉臂下的繃帶里順著手指流下來。
