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The war and its aftermath changed me.
戰爭及其后遺癥改變了我，
It gave me a respect and affection for the so-called common man that I have never lost.
使我對所謂的普通人產生了一種尊敬，多了一份感情，這種尊敬與感情我從未失去過，
As if any life were common!
因為沒有一個人的生命是普通的！
The men I knew in the 101st, most of them, had no education beyond high school.
我在101空降師認識的多數軍人只上過中學，
And they weren't stunning physical specimens either, though they could carry a pack, trench tool, rifle or carbine, machine gun, tripod or ammunition boxes, for miles at a good pace.
他們也不是特別強壯的人物，但能背起行裝、挖戰壕的工具、步槍或卡賓槍、機槍、三腳架或彈藥箱，以相當快的速度行軍數英里。
So the war gave me poetry.
就這樣，戰爭為我帶來詩歌，
I had a driving need to write...
使我產生強烈的寫作欲望……
a few lines for a poem, a paragraph of prose...anything!
幾行詩，一段散文……任何東西！
Even at the university there were very few who felt about things as I did.
即使在大學里，也很少有人與我有相同的感受。
What did that matter?
這又有什么關系呢？
What if the only thing I could do was held in contempt by others, or met with indifference?
假如我唯一能做的事情受到輕視或冷遇.那又有什么？
Most people cared nothing about the kind of writing that mattered to me more than anything else.
寫作對我來說比其他任何事情都要重要，
They were deaf to the music.
可大多數人對此卻不屑一顧，對美妙的文字置若罔聞。
So what!
這又算得了什么！
I was alive and doing what I liked.
我還活著，而且在做我喜歡做的事情。
