介绍:
留言：本文其实是一篇APH黑塔利亚的独普同人《半醒》，是我非常喜欢的一篇文，总让我想起一个德国电视剧《我们的父辈》。闲下来的时候我得到作者授权把这个中篇翻译成了英文。又闲下来的时候我自己就读了一段… 译文如下：
01.
Right at the bonfire, Gilbert asked “ What are you thinking about, West?”
"Nothing, Hauptmann." Ludwig answered.
02.
New recruits has been continuously transported to the front along with military supplies since the battle with the Russian extended.
They look very young and were conscripted into the army without filter. You can recognize them easily by their clean and innocent faces, so different from the experienced guys who survived the battles over the past year.
Gilbert noticed several new recruits walked towards him when he was fighting for a bite on the hard bread. Without any surprises, they introduced themselves after saluted to their new boss one after another, as a routine.
"Good." Gilbert replied shortly "Now go and get to know the old fellows." He gave the first command with a piercing glance, as serious as a Hauptmann should be.
The new recruits answered and saluted in order, as an organized response to Gilbert.
After they've been dismissed, Gilbert tried to concentrate on his lunch though he felt like he should think about something.
Eventually, the bread won.
He can't remember how many bunches of new recruits he has received. These fresh young men, been murdered by the cruel war, just like the tender lamb been sacrificed to the monsters. Days passed by, the way Gilbert looked at them was extremely same like he looked at some non-durable weapons. No emotion, no mercy, but numb.
He was used to have some useless fellows in his troop, failed to shoot, failed to attack, failed to even retreat, no wonder it's always them who failed to survive. It has been already exhausted to keep calm in this endless, desperate war. Gilbert has no bandwidth to supply his feelings. These lives vanished too fast to remember, too fast to be respected as lives.
Gilbert stood up and walked to the woods behind the camp, lighted a cigarette. The sky in Russia looked rather vast and mysterious. Large trees spreading barely in the forest, connected the sky and the earth. You rarely can hear the birds. Solitude. Solitude ruled everything here, in every season. Gilbert was once enchanted by such amazing open view when he first arrived here, though it turned out to be the scene in his nightmare in the end.
Gilbert intended to go back when the cigarette burned its half way out, an unfamiliar figure suddenly broke into his horizon. Well, it was not exactly unfamiliar to Gilbert - he got to know him at least 5 minutes ago in the new recruits.
"Heil Hilter!" The "unfamiliar" figure stopped himself immediately and saluted to Gilbert.
"Heil Hilter." Gilbert greeted back by nodding his head slightly "Alright, Soldat. What do you want from me?"
The response he received was silence. A tolerate silence.
"I am TALKING to you, Soldat." Gilbert said irritatingly "Have you ever been taught how to talk with your superior?"
"I... just want to find a place to... release myself, Hauptmann." Young man confessed.
Gilbert hesitated for one second and laughed out. "What's your name again?" He asked aggressively.
"Ludwig Beilschmidt." Young man answered, and tried to explain "I introduced myself when..."
"I didn't listen." Gilbert interrupted him, stubbed out his cigarette, stared at the young man "So Ludwig, tell me, did you get a nickname or something like that? I don't think they gonna give up the tradition."
"They call me WEST, Hauptmann." Ludwig was honest.
"Aha so this time are the orientations. Alright Fraulein, I'll call you WEST from now on." Gilbert patted on Ludwig's shoulder "enjoy peeing, West. Guess you don't need me to witness here."
"Ja wohl, Hauptmann."
With this unexpected serious salute to the joke, Gilbert shook his head and left.
