At noon we were stuck in a muddy road about, as nearly as we could figure, ten kilometres from Udine. The rain had stopped during the forenoon and three times we had heard planes coming, seen them pass overhead, watched them go far to the left and heard them bombing on the main highroad.
We had worked through a network of secondary roads and had taken many roads that were blind, but had always, by backing up and finding another road, gotten closer to Udine.
Now, Aymo’s car, in backing so that we might get out of a blind road, had gotten into the soft earth at the side and the wheels, spinning, had dug deeper and deeper until the car rested on its differential.
The thing to do now was to dig out in front of the wheels, put in brush so that the chains could grip, and then push until the car was on the road. We were all down on the road around the car. The two sergeants looked at the car and examined the wheels. Then they started off down the road without a word. I went after them.
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5
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“来,”我说。“去砍些树枝。”
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5
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"Come on," I said. "Cut some brush."
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6
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“我们得走了,”其中一个说。
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6
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"We have to go," one said.
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7
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“赶快去砍些树枝来,”我说。
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7
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"Get busy," I said, "and cut brush."
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8
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“我们得走了,”一个上士说。另一个一声不响。他们急于走开。他们俩不愿对我看。
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8
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"We have to go," one said. The other said nothing. They were in a hurry to start. They would not look at me.
"I order you to come back to the car and cut brush," I said. The one sergeant turned. "We have to go on. In a little while you will be cut off. You can’t order us. You’re not our officer."
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10
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“我命令你们去砍树枝,”我说。他们掉转身就上路。
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10
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"I order you to cut brush," I said. They turned and started down the road.
"Halt," I said. They kept on down the muddy road, the hedge on either side. "I order you to halt," I called. They went a little faster. I opened up my holster, took the pistol, aimed at the one who had talked the most, and fired. I missed and they both started to run. I shot three times and dropped one.
The other went through the hedge and was out of sight. I fired at him through the hedge as he ran across the field. The pistol clicked empty and I put in another clip. I saw it was too far to shoot at the second sergeant. He was far across the field, running, his head held low. I commenced to reload the empty clip. Bonello came up.
"Let me go finish him," he said. I handed him the pistol and he walked down to where the sergeant of engineers lay face down across the road. Bonello leaned over, put the pistol against the man’s head and pulled the trigger. The pistol did not fire.
"You have to cock it," I said. He cocked it and fired twice. He took hold of the sergeant’s legs and pulled him to the side of the road so he lay beside the hedge. He came back and handed me the pistol.
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15
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“龟儿子,”他说。他望望那上士。“你看见我打死他的吧,中尉?”
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15
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"The son of a bitch," he said. He looked toward the sergeant. "You see me shoot him, Tenente?"
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16
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“我们得赶快砍树枝,”我说。“那一个我完全没有打中吗?”
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"We’ve got to get the brush quickly," I said. "Did I hit the other one at all?"
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17
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“大概没有吧,”艾莫说。 “他已经跑得太远,手枪打不到。”
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"I don’t think so," Aymo said. "He was too far away to hit with a pistol."
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18
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“王八蛋,”皮安尼说。我们大家都在砍枝条和树枝。车里所有的东西都搬了出来。博内罗在车轮前挖泥土。
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18
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"The dirty scum," Piani said. We were all cutting twigs and branches. Everything had been taken out of the car. Bonello was digging out in front of the wheels.
When we were ready Aymo started the car and put it into gear. The wheels spun round throwing brush and mud. Bonello and I pushed until we could feel our joints crack. The car would not move.
He drove the engine in reverse, then forward. The wheels only dug in deeper. Then the car was resting on the differential again, and the wheels spun freely in the holes they had dug. I straightened up.
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“拿根绳子来拖拖看吧,”我说。
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22
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"We’ll try her with a rope," I said.
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23
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“那不见得有用处,中尉。你没法笔直地拖。”
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23
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"I don’t think it’s any use, Tenente. You can’t get a straight pull."
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“我们只好试一试,”我说。“旁的办法都不能叫它动弹。”皮安尼和
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24
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"We have to try it," I said. "She won’t come out any other way."
Piani’s and Bonello’s cars could only move straight ahead down the narrow road. We roped both cars together and pulled. The wheels only pulled sideways against the ruts.
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26
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“没有用,”我喊道。“停手吧。”
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"It’s no good," I shouted. "Stop it."
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皮安尼和博内罗跳下他们的车子,走回来。艾莫也下了车。女郎们坐在四十码外路边的一堵石墙上。
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Piani and Bonello got down from their cars and came back. Aymo got down. The girls were up the road about forty yards sitting on a stone wall.
"We’ll dig out and try once more with the brush," I said. I looked down the road. It was my fault. I had led them up here. The sun was almost out from behind the clouds and the body of the sergeant lay beside the hedge.
I cut the cape, then ripped it in two, and laid it under the wheel in the mud, then piled brush for the wheels to catch. We were ready to start and Aymo got up on the seat and started the car. The wheels spun and we pushed and pushed. But it wasn’t any use.
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32
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“他妈的,”我说。“巴托,你车子上还有什么东西要拿没有?”
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"It’s --ed," I said. "Is there anything you want in the car, Barto?"
Aymo climbed up with Bonello, carrying the cheese and two bottles of wine and his cape. Bonello, sitting behind the wheel, was looking through the pockets of the sergeant’s coat.
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34
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“还是把军装丢掉吧,”我说。“巴托那两位处女怎么办?”
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34
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"Better throw the coat away," I said. "What about Barto’s virgins?"
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35
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“她们可以坐在车子的后部,”皮安尼说。“依我看,我们也是走不远的。”
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"They can get in the back," Piani said. "I don’t think we are going far."
"Come on," I said. "Get in." The two girls climbed in and sat in the corner. They seemed to have taken no notice of the shooting. I looked back up the road. The sergeant lay in his dirty long-sleeved underwear. I got up with Piani and we started. We were going to try to cross the field.
When the road entered the field I got down and walked ahead. If we could get across, there was a road on the other side. We could not get across. It was too soft and muddy for the cars. When they were finally and completely stalled, the wheels dug in to the hubs, we left them in the field and started on foot for Udine.
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39
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我们走上那条往后通到原来的公路的小道,我指给两个女孩子看。
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When we came to the road which led back toward the main highway I pointed down it to the two girls.
"Go down there," I said. "You’ll meet people." They looked at me. I took out my pocket-book and gave them each a ten-lira note. "Go down there," I said, pointing. "Friends! Family!"