The First Jet第一架噴氣
1.It was just noon on that 25th day of April 1945. I had gone through my first minutes of combat. The 456th Bomber Group, based in Italy, had gone into Austria. They had hit the railroad yards at Linz along the Danube River.
1、事情發(fā)生在1945年4月25日的中午。我正在執(zhí)行我的第一次戰(zhàn)斗任務(wù)�；卦谝獯罄牡�456轟炸機組剛剛飛進奧地利。他們要轟炸多瑙河沿岸位于林滋的鐵路工廠。
2.My job was to drop chaff. They were the little bundles of tin that confused enemy radar. Through the 3-inch-square chaff chute, I could see the enemy shells exploding just below us.
2、我的工作是拋撒干擾片。它們是錫制的很小的捆，能夠干擾敵人的雷達。透過3平方英寸（拋撒）干擾片斜道，我能看到敵人的炮彈就在我們（飛機肚子）底下爆炸。
3.Just after "bombs away," a sharp blow rocked our plane. An enemy shell had ripped a hole in the floor of the airplane. It was about a yard from the engineer's feet.
3、剛剛執(zhí)行“投彈完畢”命令，一下急速的打擊使我們的飛機搖晃起來。敵人的一顆炮彈已經(jīng)在飛機的地板上撕破一個大洞。它距離工程師的腳不過一碼。
4."Engineer to pilot," his voice said, "we’ve been hit."
4、“工程師呼叫機長，”（耳機中）他的聲音說道，“我們被擊中了�！�
5."Bad?"
5、“很嚴(yán)重嗎？”
6."Don't think so. It missed the control cables-went out through the top."
6、“不太嚴(yán)重。它沒有擊中控制纜，穿過頂棚出去了�！�
7.No more talk. It was over. But it left a shaky feeling. We knew that the war was almost over. A guy’s chances of getting home were good.
7、沒有更多的交談。這件事過去了。但是它留下令人震撼的感覺。我們都知道戰(zhàn)爭幾乎結(jié)束了。一個軍人戰(zhàn)后回家的機會很高。
8.Each of us was thinking the same thing. If that shell had hit us half a second sooner, it might have hit the pilot. Three inches to the left and it would have cut some cables. A tiny instant later, and it would have hit one of us.
8、我們中的每個人都在想同樣的事。如果那顆炮彈早半秒擊中我們，它可能擊中機長。只要偏左3英寸，它將會割斷某些控制纜。稍微遲后瞬間，它將擊中我們中的一個。
9.The bomb run ended. The bomb bay doors slid shut. Suddenly we were in the clear open sky.
9、一連串的轟炸結(jié)束了。彈艙門關(guān)上了。剎那間我們沖入晴朗的廣闊天空。
10.We let ourselves feel a bit safer now. We had the three-hour flight home. It was across part of Yugoslavia. Then came the voice of our nose gunner.
10、現(xiàn)在我們使自己感到多了一點安全。我們要用3個小時飛回家。正在橫穿南斯拉夫某地。這時傳來我們的前機槍手的聲音。
11."Fighter. Eleven o'clock low. Coming in fast."
11、“戰(zhàn)斗機。11點方向下。逼近得非�？��！�
12."Whose?" somebody said.
12、“誰的？”有人問。
13."Not ours," came the answer, forward. "Never saw anything like it. it's closing in now……fast……fast……never saw anything so fast."
13、“不是我們的，”從前方傳來回答，“從來沒有見過像這樣的東西�，F(xiàn)在它正在接近，太快了，太快了，從來沒有見過任何東西這么快。” 轉(zhuǎn)貼于：職稱英語考試_考試大「責(zé)編:lq 糾錯」
14."I see him!" the left waist gunner said.“ It’s a jet-one of those new Me 262’s!"
14、“我看到它了！”左腰部機槍手說。“它是架噴氣機，是新型ME262中的一架！”
15."Can’t even hold him in the sight," the gunner said.
15、“簡直不能'盯'住它，”機槍手說。
16.If one of their new jets hits you, just start shooting and hope that you hit him. You won't get a chance to aim. That's what we had been told. The enemy had a fighter so fast we couldn't even hold a sight on it. It was something we had never heard of. Something they called a "jet."
16、我們曾被告知：如果他們的新型噴氣機沖向你，立即掃射，但愿你打中它，你沒有瞄準(zhǔn)它的機會。敵人有一種戰(zhàn)斗機太快，我們甚至不能'看'住它。這是我們從沒聽說過的東西，敵人稱之為“噴氣機”。
17.And now the jet came at us! Our nose turret turned wildly to follow it. The electric motors of the turret hummed. The gunner tried to bring his guns around.
17、現(xiàn)在噴氣機沖向我們！我們的前炮塔發(fā)瘋似地旋轉(zhuǎn)著跟隨它。炮塔的電動機嗡嗡叫。機槍手試圖帶著他的槍轉(zhuǎn)動。
18.Looking over the other waist gunner’s shoulder, I saw the enemy jet. Saw its shining green nose and its high rudder. It knifed through the spring air toward our plane.
18、從另外一個腰部機槍手的肩上看去，我看到了敵人的噴氣機。看到了它的閃亮的綠色鼻子和高高的方向舵。它刀劈般穿過春天的天空接近我們的飛機。
19.In seconds the jet's cannon would fire. In seconds it would all be over. Our bomber would fold. It would streak down to smash in the mountains below.
19、幾秒中內(nèi)噴氣機的大炮將開火，幾秒鐘內(nèi)一切將結(jié)束。我們的轟炸機將折疊成團。它將瞬間下墜粉碎在下面的山上。
20.In seconds……Then I noticed that it had not yet fired a single shot. All of us stared. We were ready for the blow. But no one fired!
20、幾秒鐘內(nèi)……突然，我注意到它沒有發(fā)射一發(fā)子彈。我們所有人都凝視著。我們已經(jīng)準(zhǔn)備著爆炸。但是沒有人開火。
21.The jet was in range. Its shining nose was on us as it closed in for the kill.
21、噴氣機確實在射程以內(nèi)。它閃亮的鼻子對著我們，似乎它要靠近來進行屠殺。
22.Then the unbelievable: the enemy jet leveled off. It flashed below us and was gone.
22、這時令人難以置信的事情發(fā)生了，敵人的噴氣機與我們的飛機拉成水平。它閃向我們的下面，然后離去。
23."Close!" somebody said. “Too close!"
23、“太近了！”有人說�！疤耍 �
24.Then we went back to the business of getting home. I guess most of the crew forgot about that jet that had us in its sights. But I have never forgotten it.
24、之后，大家重新回到飛回家的事情里。我猜想機組的大多數(shù)人現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)忘掉那架置我們于其視距的噴氣機。但是，我從來沒有忘掉它。
25.Was the German pilot out of ammunition? Did his guns jam at the last second? Or was it more than that? Was he tired of killing?
25、是德國飛行員沒有彈藥？是最后一秒他的機槍卡殼？或者還有更多隱情？或者是他已經(jīng)厭倦于殺戮？
26.I'll never be sure. I don't know what held the fire of our own gunners. But the sky changed from a rain of hate to a blue sky of hope.
26、我可能永遠不會弄清。我也不知道為什么我們的機槍手沒有開火。但是天變了，從一個討厭的雨天變成我們所希望的藍天。
