and you would have a whole morning of marching.
你会有一上午的时间练行军
And you would learn all commands,
你会学习所有的指令
such as "About turn," and all that sort of thing.
比如向后转之类的
Having been in the Boy Scouts, it was dead easy to me.
我当过童子军 这对我来说太容易了
When you get the order, "Right dress!"
当你得到向右看齐的指令时
you turn your head only to the right.
你只能向右转头
Some of them managed to turn left,
有的人向左转
which didn't exactly please the drill sergeant.
这让军士长感到不是很满意
We were all youngsters.
我们都是年轻人
We'd come from fairly sheltered lives and so forth.
我们以前都生活在庇护中
This sergeant of ours was the loudmouth shouting-type.
我们的中士是那种大喊大叫型的
Coming up against military discipline was a shock,
违反军事纪律的结果令人震惊
being chased around from pillar to post by disciplinarian NCOs.
纪律士官们会追得你走投无路
Some of the sergeants were shockers.
有的中士很可怕
They would cause a lot of trouble if you were out of step,
如果你手脚不协调 不抓紧时间
or if you didn't keep time, or if you didn't
或者是步枪拿得不好
handle your rifle properly.
他就会找你麻烦
They were always having a go at you.
他们总是挑你的刺
Most of them were all right,
他们大多数都很好
their shouting meant nothing,
大喊大叫并没有用
but some of them never lost it.
但有的人总是在大声喊叫
One night I'd gone to bed and
有天晚上我已经睡了
this pot was brought round to my bed
一个尿壶被拿到我床边
and they said, "Oh, you want to do a piss,"
他们问 你想撒尿吗
so I did the business in the pot.
我就尿在壶里了
They'd rested this big, huge pot
他们把装了尿的大尿壶
which contained gallons on the door
放在了门上面
and when this sergeant came along
然后当这个中士过来
to see that everybody was in bed,
确认大家都上床了的时候
this thing turned up and he was drenched
尿壶打翻了 淋得他
from top to bottom in fluid.
全身上下都是尿
First of all, I was full of enthusiasm
一开始 我充满了热情
but, after about the first week, I wished I hadn't done it
但是 第一周过后 我就后悔了
because the discipline was so strict
因为纪律太严格了
and I was beginning to get a bit nervous
并且我开始对必将发生的事
as to what was in store.
感到有点儿紧张
We weren't out dancing, anything like that.
我们不是出去跳舞什么的
We were getting ready for a war.
我们是在准备一场战争
The thing was you were in the army,
问题是 你在军队
you had to do as you were told,
就必须遵从指挥
you had one master, or dozens,
你有一个或者十几个师傅
but you just had to get on with it and that was it.
但你必须继续下去 就这样
I did find that right through the army.
我的确在军队中学会了一个道理
If you behaved yourself, you'd nothing much to fear.
就是如果你表现得好 就没什么好怕的
This was quite a new world to us, I mean, you can imagine,
军队对我们来说是个新世界 你可以想象
I came out of civilian life like all the others did
我和其他人一样来自平民生活
and we weren't in a position to argue or object.
我们无法争论或者反驳
It was just a matter of doing what we were told.
我们要做的就是听从指挥
I liked it. I liked to be told what I had to do,
我喜欢别人告诉我该做什么
because there was a reason for doing it.
因为做这件事是有理由的
Later on, I realised that was the best training you could have.
后来我意识到那就是你能得到最好的训练
The first week, our route march would be ten miles.
第一周 我们的行军路程是10英里
The second week, it would be 12, and so on and so on.
第二周就是12英里 以此类推
It intensified because it's of the utmost importance
逐渐强化 因为最重要的就是
that the infantry soldier could march with the full kit.
步兵可以带着全套装备前进
What you had to carry was 109 pounds.
你要带的东西有99斤重
Marching was easy for me,
行军对我来说很容易
but quite a lot of chaps who were
但对那些久坐工作的人
in sedentary jobs found it pretty hard.
是十分困难的
It numbed and cramped the muscles on my thighs and calves
行军使我大腿和小腿的肌肉麻痹抽筋
until they hurt very much indeed.
然后就会非常痛
Oh, those army boots! I could've cried.
那些军靴 能让我哭出来
My feet and ankles with those heavy army boots,
穿过便鞋后再穿那些笨重的军靴
after civilian shoes...
我的脚和脚踝
So, to get your boots made pliable,
所以 为了让你的靴子变得柔软
you used to urinate in them and leave it overnight.
你得经常尿尿在里面泡上一夜
Quite a lot of men were clerks or they worked in shops
很多人之前是职员或者商店员工
and the very nature of their calling didn't make for fitness.
他们都适应不了行军生活
Well, they sent me to hospital and
他们把我送到医院
they gave me the cure for hookworm
给我治钩虫的药
and I found that I could stand the drill after that.
在那之后我发现我能忍受训练了
They used to march us all round the West End.
他们经常让我们在西区行军
Crowds used to foregather.
人们常常聚在一起
And some of the poor, deluded ones fell for the con trick
一些被骗的可怜人迷上了这个骗局
and lined up behind us and we used to march 'em
加入了行军队伍 我们通常是
all down to Chelsea Barracks where they got signed up.
把他们带到切尔西营让他们签字入伍
Lunch would consist of inevitable stew.
午餐是永远不变的炖菜
Now, we must remember that
我们要记得
the chaps in the cookhouse were by no means experienced cooks,
厨房里的伙计们绝对不是经验丰富的厨师
but anybody can make a stew and that's what they did.
但任何人都会做炖菜 他们就是这样做的
Sometimes, we got a bit of plum duff
有时候我们会吃梅子糕点
and milk puddings and tapioca rice.
牛奶布丁和木薯粉
It was good, old-fashioned, plain stuff that I was brought up on.
这是我从小就吃的 老式的 简单的东西
I had no complaint about it.
我没什么好抱怨的
In the afternoon, it could be a lecture on Vickers machine guns.
下午 可能会有关于维氏机枪的讲座
You used to strip the machine gun
你经常要把机枪拆了
right down and put it together again
然后再组重新组装
and, luckily, I seemed to cotton on to that quite quickly.
幸运的是 我似乎很快就弄懂了
We were always told
我们总是被告知
that man's best friend is his rifle,
人最好的朋友就是他的步枪
Our rifle was a short Lee-Enfield.
我们的步枪是一把短的李-恩菲尔德步枪
A very good rifle indeed. A real sturdy rifle.
那确实是一支非常结实的好枪
You had your ammunition pouches on both sides of the chest
在你胸部的两侧都有弹药袋
to counterbalance the weight of the pack
用来平衡背包的重量
and those pouches carried 150 rounds of .303 ammunition.
这些弹药袋可携带150发.303子弹
We were supposed to hold a rifle with one hand,
我们应该一只手拿步枪
but I could never hold a rifle properly.
但我永远拿不好枪
my right wrist wouldn't hold it up.
我的右手腕撑不住
I'd never fired a rifle in my life but, on the first day,
我这辈子从未开过枪 但第一天
