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"We aimed at the mastery of the whole Caribbean," he said, "and don't think that because we are a little country we could not have succeeded. War is no longer a matter of armies; it depends on the intelligence of scientists. And we had a scientist who, as I have since seen proved, had no rival west of the Atlantic."
“我們的目標是控制整個加勒比海地區，”他說道，“你可不要認為我們是個小國家，就不能成功實現這一點。戰爭不再是軍隊的比拼：它的勝負取決于科學家的智慧。而我們就有一個已被我證實在大西洋西岸都找不到敵手的頂尖科學家。”
"You proved it?" I could not help saying.
“你證實的？”我不禁問道。
"Yes," he said. "You shall hear."
“是的，”他說道，“你好好聽著。”
I had another bottle of wine set before him, and I did hear.
我又給他叫了一瓶酒，聽他講故事。
"You may not have thought it," he said, "but I was in our Ministry of Warfare."
“你可能想不到，”他說，“我以前在國防部干過。”
And I had not thought it, for he was not at all what one would regard as the figure of a soldier.
我確實沒有想到這個，因為他與一個戰士的形象相差甚遠。
But warfare, as he explained to me, has altered.
但是戰爭如他所說那樣，已經發生了變化。
"Our Minister," he said, "was a cavalry officer and could not adapt his ideas to modern science. He thought of war simply as an opportunity for cavalry charges and fine uniforms and glory. We had to get rid of him in order to fulfill our just aspirations."
“我們的部長，”他說，“是個騎兵隊指揮官，思想適應不了現代科學。他把戰爭簡單地看成是騎兵們的沖鋒陷陣、身穿精美制服和博得榮譽。我們不得不讓他下臺，以實現我們正義的抱負。”
"And what are they?" I asked.
“什么抱負呢？”我問他。
"Why, the domination of the whole Caribbean," he said. "And it is just that we should have it. We are the people who have been born to it."
“就是對整個加勒比海地區的統治權，”他答道，“這是正義的事業，是我們民族的天職。”
"Of course," I said soothingly, though I did not know for which country he spoke.
“當然，”我安慰道，雖然我并不知道他是代表哪個國家在說話。
