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LESSON 3 The burial of Sir John Moore
第三課 約翰·摩爾爵士的葬禮
Not a drum was heard, not a funeral note,
沒有鼓聲，沒有訃告
As his corpse to the ramparts we hurried;
當他的遺體被匆匆運到城堡
Not a soldier discharged his farewell shot
在埋葬著我們英雄的墳墓上
O'er the grave where our hero we buried.
更沒有一名戰士為他鳴槍送別
We buried him darkly at dead of night,
我們用刺刀剝開草地，
The sods with our bayonets turning;
借著霧夜里朦朧的月光，
By the struggling moonbeam's misty light,
和提燈里若隱的微光
And the lantern dimly burning.
在死寂的夜晚，我們將他偷偷下葬
No useless coffin enclosed his breast,
棺槨已裝不下他的胸膛
Not in sheet nor in shroud we wound him;
更何況布單和裹尸布
But he lay like a warrior taking his rest
他躺著，猶如一名戰士在休憩
With his martial cloak around him.
身旁的戰袍安放
Few and short were the prayers we said,
我們的悼詞簡短
And we spoke not a word of sorrow
沒有流露各自的悲傷
But we steadfastly gazed on the face that was dead,
但是，他那張已經暗淡的面孔，緊緊地鎖住了我們的目光
And we bitterly thought of the morrow.
想到以后，悲痛涌上心頭
We thought, as we hollowed his narrow bed,
為他造好狹床
And smoothed down his lonely pillow,
鋪好孤枕
That the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head,
憂慮不禁泛起：當我們游離他鄉
And we far away on the billow!
敵人和路人，將踐踏他的遺體
Lightly they'll talk of the spirit that's gone,
侮辱逝者英靈
And o'er his cold ashes upbraid him;
在他冰冷的遺骨上咒罵
But little he'll reck if they let him sleep on
可是，只要能讓他安息，在這英國同胞下葬他的墳墓里，
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;
當撤退的號角響起，當我們還未將他安然下葬
And we heard the distant and random gun
遠處便傳來若有若無的槍響
That the foe was sullenly firing.
那是敵人突如其來的反擊
Slowly and sadly we laid him down,
我們只能，滿懷悲傷地、將他緩緩放下
From the field of his fame fresh and gory:
放在這片灑下其鮮血、留下其威名的土地上
We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone—
沒有墓碑，沒有墓志銘
But we left him alone with his glory.
只有他的光榮永存。
—Charles Wolfe (1791-1823).
—察理·沃爾夫（1791-1823）
