He dozed6 off, however, after a while, only to be awakened7 by a punch in the ribs8. “Listen!” Fran?ois was saying. “What’s that?”
“Thunder, of course!” Coco, irritated, rolled over again, opened his eyes after a while, and saw Fran?ois still sitting up, alert.
“That’s not thunder!” he exclaimed. “Listen! it’s cannonading!”
Coco sat up now quickly enough. Others woke up to swear at them—and then they listened, too.
“Look!” cried Fran?ois. Galloping9 down the road came a dispatch rider. He halted, was challenged by the sentry10, and turned in at the colonel’s headquarters. Then he was off again, splattering, clattering20 through the mud. Then a bugle11 call: “Fall in!” All over the field the wet men jumped up, slung12 on their belts, grabbed their rifles and formed dismally13 in the rain. As they stood waiting, word ran down the column—Fran?ois passed it to Coco—“The enemy!” An ammunition14 wagon15 drove up—boxes of cartridges16 were distributed. “Load!” ordered the captains. The ranks were fairly buzzing now, everyone asking questions, nobody answering. A whistle blew. “Forward, march!” Coco had no thought of the rain now! The guns grew louder, but still no enemy was visible. The cannonading slackened, grew faint, thundered off in another direction, died, began again far away. But the rumbling17 was always ahead—the regiment was marching nearer and nearer the fighting. And so on to Bertrix, fifteen miles from the frontier. Coco rather liked Bertrix. Bertrix rather21 more than liked Coco. The pretty little Luxemburg town welcomed him and all the other young “piou-pious” as its saviors. Nothing was too good for the French soldier boys who had come to deliver them from the Huns. What do you want—cigarettes? beer? bacon? It was quite a jolly affair, with the streets full of smiling women and young girls smiling too, bringing fruit and eggs and preserves, and good, fresh butter.
Coco was already a hero—and, after eight days without meat, that bacon was certainly good! How they all laughed and chattered18! But the old men stood apart and listened anxiously; for, through all that rejoicing there came steadily19 the distant sound of guns. Surely the Germans were coming nearer! If they ever got to Bertrix—The old men shook their heads with foreboding.
Again the whistle blew—Forward! The22 enemy was only a few miles away now; it was getting exciting. The boys, proud, patriotic20, confident, started “La Marseillaise” and the song was taken up by the whole column—“Marchons! Marchons!” they sang—but Coco was singing, he admits, to keep up his courage, as he tramped on through the mud to be shot at. He tried to keep in mind that he was marching on gloriously to fight for his country; but he couldn’t help thinking of what he had heard of those terrible machine guns at Liége and Namur.
Halt! The captain whipped out his field glasses—everybody gazed eagerly ahead. There it was, there! coming steadily nearer, flying low—a German aeroplane—a “Taube” reconnoitering. There was a quick order. As the whir of the motor grew nearer the lieutenant21 of Coco’s platoon pointed22. “Aim!” Fifteen rifles were thrown up, covering the monoplane.23 “Steady, now, men—wait till she comes near enough—now, Fire!”
Coco fired, jammed down the lever of his gun, shot again, again. Almost over their heads the flyer seemed to stop, turned, volplaned swiftly down—it was too good to be true—swept lower in a wide curve. Then men, shouting, ran for it as it swooped23 into the field beside the road. Coco ran for his first sight of a German.
Two officers in khaki, limp and pale, were strapped25 to the seats. One was unconscious, with a red hole in his neck. The other painfully unfastened his strap24, and came forward, staggering. He saluted26 the captain stiffly, a queer smile on his blond German face. Coco heard him say in perfect French:
“I am badly wounded, monsieur. This is my last trip, I’m afraid. Ah, well; you are going to beat us in the end, no doubt. With all your allies there’s little hope for us.24 But you’ll have to shed a good deal of blood before you win!” Then he suddenly collapsed27. Coco saw him fall on the ground in a faint.
“It gave me a mighty28 queer feeling,” Coco told me, “to look at that dark spot of blood gradually growing bigger and bigger over that officer’s breast. I remember that I wondered if it had been my rifle ball that had wounded him. And that other German, too—I wondered if I had already killed a man. If I had, why wasn’t it murder? What was the difference between war and murder, anyway? Of course these barbarians29 were invading my country, but—yes, it was my duty to protect France, but—well, I had to give it up. You know there are priests fighting in the ranks, too, in this war, m’sieur! They must know. It’s all right, I suppose—and yet there is always that ‘but’ when you see a thing like that. Well,25 it was too exciting then for much philosophy. You see, the cannons30 were getting louder all the time, and the whistle blew and we marched on again. But somehow we didn’t feel much like singing any more!”
Near rising ground they halted. The officers hurried forward, and with field glasses inspected the country ahead; then called the column on. Now they were actually in the danger zone—a wide expanse of fields, dotted with farms here and there, and across, a mile away, were woods, dark, sinister31. It was a sunny afternoon; the odor of the damp, warm earth was clean and pungent32. There were wide stretches of yellow stubble fields, where the wheat had been lately cut. Some sheaves were still standing33, as if the war had interrupted the harvest, half done.
As they advanced cautiously the cannonading ceased. Somehow to Coco the silence was more dreadful even than that incessant26 muffled34 reverberation35. But those woods yonder—what dangers were they hiding? Every eye was strained in that direction.
Deploying36 to the left of the road, Coco’s company made for a whitewashed37 farmhouse38 half a mile away, across the fields. The other companies fanned out to either side.
No one seemed to know just what was going to happen. Coco’s lieutenant, a jolly, talkative young fellow who had always used to keep his platoon roaring at his jokes, was now unwontedly serious and silent. Coco watched him. He marched on with his field glasses held constantly to his eyes, tripping over roots and bushes and stones and swearing as he went.
On and on toward that dark, mysterious wood through beet39 fields, across ditches, over hedges they went, till they came to a cross-road leading into the farm. Here they halted.
27
Coco, nervous, apprehensive40, jumped at hearing his name called out. “Cucurou! Bracques! Lemaitre! Go forward and reconnoiter! Careful, now, men!”
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收听单词发音
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1
invader
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| n.侵略者，侵犯者，入侵者 | |
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2
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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3
torrents
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| n.倾注；奔流( torrent的名词复数 )；急流；爆发；连续不断 | |
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4
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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5
oozed
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的过去式和过去分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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6
dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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8
ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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9
galloping
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| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
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10
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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11
bugle
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| n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集 | |
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12
slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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13
dismally
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| adv.阴暗地，沉闷地 | |
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14
ammunition
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| n.军火，弹药 | |
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15
wagon
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| n.四轮马车，手推车，面包车；无盖运货列车 | |
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16
cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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17
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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18
chattered
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| （人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤 | |
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19
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
strap
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| n.皮带，带子；v.用带扣住，束牢；用绷带包扎 | |
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25
strapped
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| adj.用皮带捆住的，用皮带装饰的；身无分文的；缺钱；手头紧v.用皮带捆扎(strap的过去式和过去分词)；用皮带抽打；包扎；给…打绷带 | |
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26
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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collapsed
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| adj.倒塌的 | |
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mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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barbarians
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| n.野蛮人( barbarian的名词复数 )；外国人；粗野的人；无教养的人 | |
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30
cannons
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| n.加农炮，大炮，火炮( cannon的名词复数 ) | |
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31
sinister
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| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
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32
pungent
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| adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的 | |
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33
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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34
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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35
reverberation
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| 反响； 回响； 反射； 反射物 | |
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36
deploying
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| （尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用 | |
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37
whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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39
beet
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| n.甜菜；甜菜根 | |
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40
apprehensive
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| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
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