见信如晤Letters Live 第36期:'桑吉夫'读信:天呐,厨子死了(3)

 　　Another thing that bothers you is “cowardice¹ in the face of the enemy”.  另一件烦扰你的事情是“面对敌人时的懦弱”。

　　Well, the point is I suffered from cowardice in the face of the enemy throughout the war — in the face of the enemy, also in the legs, the elbows, and the wrists;  重点是，战时在敌人面前表现的怯懦让我痛苦不已，不仅是在敌人“面前”，他们的腿，他们的手肘甚至手腕也会让我战战兢兢；

　　in fact, after two years in the front line a mortar² bomb exploded by my head (or was it my head exploded by a mortar bomb),  其实，在前线呆了两年后，一枚迫击炮弹击中了我的头部(或者说我的头部撞上了一枚迫击炮弹)，

　　and it so frightened me, I put on a tremendous act of stammering³, stuttering, and shivering.  这场景把我吓坏了，我当时口吃，结巴，浑身颤抖，表情十分夸张。

　　This mixed with cries of “mother” and a free flow of dysentery enabled me to be taken out of the line and down-graded to B2.  哭爹喊娘的恐惧加上身患痢疾，我终于被撤下前线并被降级为B2。

　　But for that brilliant performance, this letter would be coming to you from a grave in Italy. 要不是这一身浮夸的演技，你收到的这封信可能会从意大利的坟墓里发出来。

　　Any more questions from you and our friendship is at an end. 你若再起疑，休怪我割袍断义。

　　Sincerely, Spike Milligan 斯派克·米利甘谨上

1 cowardice   

n.胆小，怯懦

参考例句：

• His cowardice reflects on his character.他的胆怯对他的性格带来不良影响。
• His refusal to help simply pinpointed his cowardice.他拒绝帮助正显示他的胆小。

2 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

3 stammering   

v.结巴地说出( stammer的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He betrayed nervousness by stammering. 他说话结结巴巴说明他胆子小。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• \"Why,\" he said, actually stammering, \"how do you do?\" “哎呀，\"他说，真的有些结结巴巴，\"你好啊？” 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹