LESSON 70

YOUNG SOLDIERS

小战士

1．Oh, were you ne'er a schoolboy,

And did you never train,

And feel that swelling of the heart

You ne'er can feel again?

2．Did you never meet, far down the street,

With plumes and banners gay,

While the kettle, for the kettledrum^〔1〕,

Played your march, march away?

3．It seems to me but yesterday,

Nor scarce so long ago,

Since all our school their muskets^〔2〕 took,

To charge the fearful foe.

4．Our muskets were of cedar^〔3〕 wood,

With ramrods bright and new;

With bayonets^〔4〕 forever set,

And painted barrels^〔5〕, too.

5．We charged upon a flock of geese,

And put them all to flight—

Except one sturdy^〔6〕 gander

That thought to show us fight.

6．But, ah! we knew a thing or two;

Our captain wheeled the van^〔7〕;

We routed^〔8〕 him, we scouted^〔9〕 him,

Nor lost a single man!

7．Our captain was as brave a lad

As e'er commission^〔10〕 bore;

And brightly shone his new tin sword;

A paper cap he wore.

8．He led us up the steep hillside,

Against the western wind,

While the cockerel^〔11〕 plume that decked his head

Streamed bravely out behind.

9．We shouldered arms, we carried arms,

We charged^〔12〕 the bayonet;

And woe unto the mullein^〔13〕 stalk

That in our course we met!

10．At two o'clock the roll we called,

And till the close of day,

With fearless hearts, though tired limbs,

We fought the mimic fray^〔14〕,—

Till the supper bell, from out the dell,

Bade us march, march away.

【中文阅读】

1．噢，还记得你曾是个小男生吗？

还记得你曾日夜操练，

感到血脉贲张满怀豪情，

那种感觉如今已消失不见？

2．难道你不曾在街边上，

遇上挥舞鲜艳羽毛和旗帜的队伍，

当作鼓的水壶咚咚敲着进行曲，

伴随你行进的每一步？

3．似乎就在不久以前，

对我来说一切恍如昨日，

我们全都举着步枪，

向着可怕的敌人冲刺。

4．那杉木做的步枪，

带有簇新的推弹杆；

刺刀固定在枪上，

还有上了漆的枪管。

5．我们向一群鹅发起攻击，

吓得它们四处飞散。

除了一只强壮的雄鹅，

想要和我们决一死战。

6．可是，啊！我们可精于此道，

我们的首领冲在前面；

我们打得它落荒而逃，大肆嘲笑，

而我军一个人都没不见！

7．我们的队长是个勇敢的小伙子，

就像委任状上写的那样；

他头戴纸帽，

亮出新的铁剑闪闪发光。

8．他带领我们爬上陡峭的山坡，

猎猎西风迎面而来，

他头上插着的公鸡羽毛，

迎风飘扬的样子多么豪迈。

9．我们扛枪上肩，我们全副武装，

我们把刺刀都装上；

毛蕊花茎不幸遭了殃，

谁叫它挡在我们奔跑的路上！

10．两点钟我们就点名集合，

一直玩到夜幕降临，

我们投入模拟的战斗，

心无所畏惧，手脚却筋疲力尽，

直到树林外面传来晚饭的呼唤，

迫使我们踏步走出树林。

注释

〔1〕Kettledrum, a drum made of a copper vessel shaped like a kettle.

〔2〕Muskets, a kind of gun.

〔3〕Cedar, a very durable kind of wood.

〔4〕Bayonets, a sharp piece of steel on the end of a gun.

〔5〕Barrels, the long metal tube forming part of a gun.

〔6〕Sturdy, stubborn, bold.

〔7〕Van, the front.

〔8〕Routed, put to flight.

〔9〕Scouted, made fun of.

〔10〕Commission, a writing to show power.

〔11〕Cockerel, a young chicken-cock.

〔12〕Charged, made an onset.

〔13〕Mullein, a tall plant that grows in neglected fields.

〔14〕Fray, fight, contest.