A SOLDIER’S LAST LETTER
[00:01.11]战士的最后一封情书
[00:02.22]July 14,1861
[00:03.62]1861年7月14日
[00:05.02]Washington, D.C.
[00:05.62]华盛顿特区
[00:06.22]My very dear Sarah,
[00:07.25]我最亲爱的莎拉：
[00:08.28]Indications are very strong that we shall move in a few days, perhaps tomorrow.
[00:10.83]任务十分紧迫，部队将在数天内开拔，也许就在明天。
[00:13.37]Lest I should not be able to write you again, I feel impelled to write a few lines that may fall under your eye when I shall be no more.
[00:17.31]我觉得有必要写给你几句话，以免今后再没机会给你写信。这样，在我离去的时候，信就会出现在你眼前。
[00:21.24]I have no misgivings about or lack of confidence in the cause in which I am engaged, and my courage does not halt or falter.
[00:25.26]对于我所投身的事业，我没有丝毫的担忧和害怕，我的勇气也丝毫没有减弱和退缩。
[00:29.28]I know how strongly American civilization now leans on the triumph of the government,
[00:31.67]我明白美国文明现在就完全寄托在政府的胜利上；
[00:34.06]and how great a debt we owe to those who went before us through the blood and suffering of the Revolution.
[00:36.96]而比起我们之前为革命抛头颅、洒热血的先烈们，我们所欠太多。
[00:39.86]And I am willing - perfectly willing - to lay down all my joys in this life to help maintain this government and to pay that debt.
[00:44.00]我希望——衷心希望——以今生我抛却的所有欢娱，来维护政府和偿还债务。
[00:48.14]Sarah, my love for you is deathless. It seems to bind me with mighty cables that nothing but Omnipotence could break.
[00:52.83]莎拉，我对你的爱永无止尽。似乎是有一种结实的锁链将我牢牢系住，只有全能的主才能摧毁它。
[00:57.52]And yet my love of country comes over me like a strong wind and bears me irresistibly, with all these chains,
[01:02.25]但对祖国的热爱似一阵强风，将我和所有这些铁链一起
[01:06.98]to the battlefield.
[01:07.70]吹向战场。
[01:08.41]The memory of all the blissful moments I have enjoyed with you come crowding over me,
[01:11.37]和你一起度过的所有欢乐时光的记忆如潮水般涌上心头，
[01:14.32]and I feel most deeply grateful to God and you that I have enjoyed them so long.
[01:16.79]我为拥有许多那样的日子而感激上帝，感激你，
[01:19.26]And how hard it is for me to give them up and burn to ashes the hopes of future years when,
[01:22.19]要让我忘掉这些记忆、让我抛却未来的希望是多么难
[01:25.13]God willing, we might still have lived and loved together and seen our sons grow up to honorable manhood around us...
[01:29.22]——如果上帝保佑，我们将来能够恩爱地生活在一起，看着咱们的儿子在身边长大成人……
[01:33.31]If I do not return, my dear Sarah, never forget how much I love you,
[01:35.66]如果我没有回来，我亲爱的莎拉，不要忘记我有多爱你；
[01:38.01]nor that when my last breath escapes me on the battlefield,
[01:39.88]战场上我即使还剩最后一口气，
[01:41.75]it will whisper your name. Forgive my many faults and the many pains I have caused you.
[01:45.09]也会低唤你的名字。原谅我的许多过错和我给你造成的许多伤害。
[01:48.43]How thoughtless, how foolish I have sometimes been.
[01:50.38]有时候我是多么的愚蠢和没头脑呀。
[01:52.33]But, oh Sarah! If the dead can come back to this earth and flit unseen around those they love,
[01:55.46]但是，呵，莎拉！如果故去的人能够重回这个星球，并无声无息、无影无踪地飞绕于他们所爱的人周围。
[01:58.60]I shall always be with you in the brightest days and in the darkest nights. Always. Always.
[02:01.65]我将在最晴朗的白天和最暗淡的黑夜时时刻刻守候在你的身旁。时时刻刻，直到永远。
[02:04.71]And when the soft breeze fans your cheeks, it shall be my breath;
[02:07.02]当轻柔的风儿拂过你的脸颊，那将是我的呼吸；
[02:09.33]and as the cool air fans your throbbing temple, it shall be my spirit passing by.
[02:12.43]当凉爽的风儿撩过你的鬓角，那将是我路过的灵魂。
[02:15.52]Sarah, do not mourn me dead:Think I am gone and wait for me, for me shall meet again.
[02:20.49]莎拉，不要为我的死而悲哀：只要想着我走了。等着我，因为我们还会再相逢。
|