Between the walls of sacks, by the breach3 hollowed out in the dyke4, we could see the Yser, its banks of mud, and its grey, tranquil5 stream. The green bank on the other side was reflected in it, surmounted6 by spikes7 lifting their sharp points towards the sky.
The raft glided8 along noiselessly. The man who was drawing the rope was crouching9 down at the water's edge and his khaki coat made him look like a big rat curled up. In the breach opposite, one or two anxious faces could be seen. The raft bunted against the edge. We were almost in the enemy's territory.
Along the little dyke was a shallow trench10 hollowed out in the thick grasses. One had to bend almost double in order to be protected by the top of the trench. The Yser, at our feet, made a bend and curved inwards towards Dixmude. The pink and white ruins of this town could be seen in the background. The trench then continued higher up and very soon we were in the little post.
[Pg 345]
It was there that Sergeant d'Ansembourg was lying. A soldier was endeavouring to staunch the blood which, flowing in long drops over the face and from the back of the wounded man's head, formed a little pool. The ball had struck him just above the right eye, near the temple. It had made a hole in the cap lying near the grenade. The wound was a mortal one; there was nothing to be done. All that remained of life was gently ebbing11 away.
As yet, the paralysis12 was not complete. Some faculties13 still remained. When the wound was dressed, the poor man remained for a few seconds, holding his head with his hands, leaning on his elbow, as though wrapt in thought. He did not recover consciousness, though, for a single minute, nor did he utter a word.
He had on his waterproof14 coat, of a greenish colour, and his brown uniform with a leather belt. The refined outline of his sympathetic face could be seen. In the little excavation15, with its steep approach, everything was the colour of the ground. The blood stains alone were a cruel contrast to the rest of the colouring.
Presently a head appeared at the edge of our burrow16. It was a soldier bringing with him a stretcher. He gave a leap and then came in on all fours. Gently we laid the wounded man on the stretcher. Bullets grazed the top of the earthen parapet, flinging rubbish and dust over us. The Germans were there, quite near, only fifty yards away probably.
The wounded man lay there unconscious, his legs already paralysed, his arm clenched17 on his breast. We pushed the stretcher a little further forward, where the digging had been deeper. We were in a[Pg 346] trench that had belonged to the enemy and had been won by our men. There were niches18 in the walls, which had served as refuge during bombardments. By crouching down, we could get right into these niches with our knees up to our chins. At the end of the passage were some sacks, used for protecting the sentinel. The sky was blue above us, but we could not look at it, as our attention was given to the man lying there before us.
"He was too daring," said a Corporal. "Yesterday, he came boldly in without stooping in the least. To-day I was here and, as I watched him coming in, I was just beginning to cry out: 'Sergeant, what are you doing?' when I saw him sink down. He fell there, against the side first, and then he rolled down."
The man who spoke19 had the thin, stern-looking face peculiar20 to those who have suffered much during the war.
"I have seen plenty wounded," he continued, "but never anyone like that whilst I was speaking to him. You cannot imagine the impression it makes."
A man who was crouching down making the trench deeper, threw some earth over the parapet. Some bullets dashed against it. The face of the wounded man grew gradually more and more lifeless and his breathing became more difficult. In order to take him away, we were obliged to wait until the blue of the sky grew fainter and the darkness came on. To attempt anything else meant certain death. Everyone tried to say something, by way of helping21 to kill time.
"He was not even on duty. He volunteered to give a hand in taking the post. 'I am better qualified22 than the others, Commandant,' he said, 'for risking[Pg 347] my life. I am not married and I am not an only son. If I happen to disappear, I shall leave no one depending on me.'"
Leaning against the parapet, we waited there. It began to get gradually colder and colder, and our heads and limbs were feeling more and more the fatigue23 of three days' consecutive24 bombardment. Our eyes were fixed25 all the time on the motionless features of the man whom we had known so gay and so full of life.
In the distance a mine exploded, giving a sudden shock to the ground. A part of the trench had blown up, it was a piece of the "Death Trench" that had disappeared in the air. An a?roplane then came and shooting followed it. The cannon26 now made its voice heard. The time seems long when one is waiting and watching and, as the wounded man's face changed, our hearts grew fuller and fuller, and we suffered acutely as we watched this life passing slowly away. Under the slight moustache, the white teeth could now be seen, the uninjured eye had lost its expression and brilliancy, and only one of the slender, sun-burnt hands moved.
The sky over our heads began to get paler and paler. The white clouds then turned grey and mauve. The hour was approaching for us to leave and, creeping along, we went to see how the land lay, in order to decide which way to go.
The green ground was all pierced with shell holes newly made in the dark earth. Spikes were to be seen everywhere, ours made of wood, and the others of iron, protected by barbed wire. Rubbish of all kinds strewed27 the soil. On the other side of the winding28 Yser, the green and brown dyke looked like a cliff[Pg 348] rising above the water, that wonderful dyke against which the barbarous wave of invaders29 had lashed30 in fury and then died away.
It was just the moment when the blazing light fades and every different colour stands out clearly.
One of us pushing and the other pulling, we brought the stretcher to the little trench. The man who had been crouching like a rat at the riverside was to be seen again. He gave a low whistle and the raft came gliding33 along the water. On returning, weighed down by us, it dipped in front, thus breaking the wavelets.
The entrance was very narrow. We had to carry the wounded man through labyrinths34 of passages with their walls of sacks of earth. This dyke, which, from the other side, looks so beautiful in all its greenery under the blue sky, showed up its ugliness and misery35 on our side. The whole trench had been devastated36 by the bombardment and behind it was nothing but a chaos37 of torn-up earth amidst pools of water.
In the distance could be seen the plain, finishing in the horizon by a thin band of trees and houses, outlined in black against the sunset. The bushes nearer to us were of a dense38, green colour and the sky gradually became livid and heavy, with a few streaks39 of bluish green.
Darkness was coming over us and had already swooped40 down on the passages, with their medley41 of rubbish. The wounded man was now lying quite motionless, unconscious, with his eye swollen42 and his face rigid43. He was wrapped round in a blanket.
Caps in hand, officers and soldiers watched him pass away. With their earth-coloured coats, they[Pg 349] looked like so many shadows. They listened in silence to the last prayers.
In the growing darkness, he was carried away along the path under the willow-trees. A mist was stretching over the plain and a fog was rising from among the reeds. For another moment we could see the dark outline of the stretcher-bearers.
How many we had known who had come amongst us young and joyous44! And how many of them had we seen carried away in the darkness, along the path under the willow-trees!...
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1
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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3
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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dyke
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| n.堤，水坝，排水沟 | |
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5
tranquil
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| adj. 安静的, 宁静的, 稳定的, 不变的 | |
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6
surmounted
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| 战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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7
spikes
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| n.穗( spike的名词复数 )；跑鞋；（防滑）鞋钉；尖状物v.加烈酒于( spike的第三人称单数 )；偷偷地给某人的饮料加入（更多）酒精（ 或药物）；把尖状物钉入；打乱某人的计划 | |
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8
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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9
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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10
trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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11
ebbing
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| （指潮水）退( ebb的现在分词 )； 落； 减少； 衰落 | |
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12
paralysis
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| n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症) | |
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13
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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14
waterproof
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| n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水 | |
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excavation
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| n.挖掘，发掘；被挖掘之地 | |
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burrow
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| vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞 | |
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17
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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18
niches
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| 壁龛( niche的名词复数 )； 合适的位置[工作等]； （产品的）商机； 生态位（一个生物所占据的生境的最小单位） | |
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19
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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20
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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qualified
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| adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的 | |
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23
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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24
consecutive
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| adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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26
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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27
strewed
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| v.撒在…上( strew的过去式和过去分词 )；散落于；点缀；撒满 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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31
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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32
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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34
labyrinths
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| 迷宫( labyrinth的名词复数 )； （文字，建筑）错综复杂的 | |
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35
misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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36
devastated
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| v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的 | |
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37
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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38
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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39
streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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40
swooped
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
medley
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| n.混合 | |
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42
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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43
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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44
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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