丘吉爾：集齊1500個玩具士兵，人生從此轉向

周末好！

上個星期，我們通過《哈羅公學》一文的上半部分，了解了英國前首相丘吉爾年少時的求學經歷——他憑藉父親的關係進入了著名的哈羅公學，但成績卻排名倒數第一。

今天我們繼續欣賞這篇回憶文章的下半部分。

先來學習文中的重點辭彙

dipn.游泳，游水

stealthilyadv.悄悄地

overtakev. 追上，趕上

agitatedadj. 激動的

retributionn. 懲罰

convulsev.抽搐，發抖

sacrilegen. 瀆聖行為

potentaten. 有權勢的人

trepidationn. 驚恐，不安

placatev. 安撫

incongruousadj. 不相稱的

stagnatev. 不活潑，沉悶

staken.賭注

cavalryn. 騎兵

請欣賞由沈汀和羅來明為您朗讀的這篇文章。中文版本由王義國翻譯。

Harrow

I first went to Harrow in the summer term. The school possessed the biggest swimming-bath I had ever seen. It was more like the bend of a river than a bath, and it had two bridges across it. Thither we used to repair for hours at a time and bask between our dips eating enormous buns on the hot asphalt margin. Naturally it was a good joke to come up behind some naked friend, or even enemy, and push him in. I made quite a habit of this with boys of my own size or less. One day when I had been no more than a month in the school, I saw a boy standing in a meditative posture wrapped in a towel on the very brink. He was no bigger than I was; so I thought him fair game. Coming stealthily behind I pushed him in, holding on to his towel out of humanity, so that it should not get wet. I was startled to see a furious face emerge from the foam, and a being evidently of enormous strength making its way by fierce strokes to the shore. I fled, but in vain. Swift as the wind my pursuer overtook me, seized me in a ferocious grip, and hurled me into the deepest part of the pool. I soon scrambled out on the other side, and found myself surrounded by an agitated crowd of younger boys. "You"re in for it," they said. "Do you know what you have done? It"s Amery, he"s in the Sixth Form. He is head of his House; he is champion at gym; he has got his football colors." They continued to recount his many titles to fame and reverence and to dilate upon the awful retribution that would fall upon me. I was convulsed not only with terror, but with the guilt of sacrilege. How could I tell his rank when he was in a bath towel and so small? I determined to apologize immediately. I approached the potentate in lively trepidation. "I am very sorry," I said. "I mistook you for a Fourth Form boy. You are so small." He did not seem at all placated by this; so I added in a most brilliant recovery, "My father, who is a great man, is also small." At this he laughed, and after some general remarks about my "cheek" and how I had better be careful in the future, signified that the incident was closed.

I have been fortunate to see a good deal more of him, in times when three years" difference in age is not so important as it is at school. We were afterwards to be Cabinet colleagues for a good many years.

It was thought incongruous that while I apparently stagnated in the lowest form, I should gain a prize open to the whole school for reciting to the headmaster twelve hundred lines of Macaulay"s "Lays of Ancient Rome」 without making a single mistake. I also succeeded in passing the preliminary examination for the army while still almost at the bottom of the school. This examination seemed to have called forth a very special effort on my part, for many boys far above me in the school failed in it. I also had a piece of good luck. We knew that among other questions we should be asked to draw from memory a map of some country or other. The night before by way of final preparation I put the names of all the maps in the atlas into a hat and drew out New Zealand. I applied my good memory to the geography of that dominion. Sure enough, the first question in the paper was: "Draw a map of New Zealand." This was what is called at Monte Carlo an en plein, and I ought to have been paid thirty-five times my stake. However, I certainly got paid very high marks for my paper.

I was now embarked on a military career. This orientation was entirely due to my collection of soldiers. I had ultimately nearly fifteen hundred. They were all of one size, all British, and organized as an infantry division with a cavalry brigade. My brother Jack commanded the hostile army. But by a Treaty for the Limitation of Armaments he was only allowed to have colored troops, and they were not allowed to have artillery. Very important! I could muster myself only eighteen field guns – besides fortress pieces. But all the other services were complete – except one. It is what every army is always short of – transport. My father"s old friend, Sir Henry Drummond Wolff, admiring my array, noticed this deficiency and provided a fund from which it was to some extent supplied.

The day came when my father himself paid a formal visit of inspection. All the troops were arranged in the correct formation of attack. He spent twenty minutes studying the scene – which was really impressive – with a keen eye and captivating smile. At the end he asked me if I would like to go into the army. I thought it would be splendid to command an army, so I said "Yes" at once: and immediately I was taken at my word. For years I thought my father with his experience and flair had discerned in me the qualities of military genius. But I was told later that he had only come to the conclusion that I was not clever enough to go to the bar. However that may be, the toy soldiers turned the current of my life. Henceforward all my education was directed to passing into Sandhurst, and afterwards to the technical details of the profession of arms. Anything else I had to pick up for myself.

哈羅公學

我是在夏季學期在哈羅公學入學的。學校有我所曾見到最大的公共游泳池。它更像一條河流的彎曲處，而不是游泳池，上面還橫跨著兩座橋。我們經常到那裡去，一呆就是幾個小時，在游水的間隔坐在瀝青池邊上曬太陽，把小圓甜餅大吃上一通。來到某個赤身裸體的朋友的身後，甚至一個敵人的身後，把他推到池子里去，自然是一個不錯的玩笑。對個頭和我一樣或者小一點的男孩子們，這樣做已經成了我的一個習慣。一天，我只不過在學校里有一個月的時間，我看見有一個男孩，裹著一條毛巾，就站在池子邊緣上，一副沉思的樣子。他個子不比我大，因而我認為他是合適的獵物。我悄悄地來到他的身後，把他推了進去，出於人道而抓住他的毛巾，這樣它就不會濕掉。我驚嚇地看到，一張狂怒的臉從池水的泡沫中露了出來，一個顯然力氣巨大的人雙臂兇猛地劃著水，朝岸邊游來。我逃跑了，但無濟於事。我的追逐者就像風一樣迅速追上我，兇猛地一把抓住我，把我扔進游泳池的最深的地方。我很快就在另外一邊爬了出來，發現自己被一群激動的小一些的男孩子們圍著。「你肯定要倒霉了，」他們說道。「你知道你做了什麼？那是埃默里：他是六年級的。他是他的宿舍的頭，是體操冠軍，還入選了足球隊。」他們繼續講述他的許多聲名顯赫的頭銜，詳述那些將會落在我身上的可怕的懲罰。我抽搐起來，這不僅是因為害怕，而且也是為褻瀆神聖而感到內疚。他裹著浴巾而且個子又這麼小，我又怎麼能知道他的顯赫的地位？我決定立即道歉。我緊張而又惴惴不安地靠近這位有權勢的人。「非常對不起，」我說道。「我把你當成四年級生了。你個子太小了。」這似乎根本就沒有使他息怒；因而我技藝高超地恢復了常態，又說，「我父親，是一個偉人，他也是小個子。」聽到這話他大笑了起來，他說了一些籠統的話，說我「臉皮厚」，我將來最好還是小心點，然後示意這件事情結束了。

我很幸運，以後又多次見到他，那時在年齡上的三年的差距就不像在學校時那麼重要了。後來我們又多年是內閣的同事。

雖然我明顯是在最低的年級里過著死氣沉沉的日子，但我居然贏得了一個面向全校的獎，我為校長背誦了麥考利的1200行的長詩《古羅馬之歌》，而又沒有出一個錯，這個事情被認為是實在不相稱。我還在仍然幾乎是全校倒數第一的時候成功地通過了陸軍預考。這個考試似乎讓我作出了一種非常特殊的努力，因為學校里的許多排名遠在我之上的男孩子們在這次考試中不及格。我還非常走運。我們知道，其中的一道題就是憑記憶畫出某個國家的地圖。在考試前的那天晚上，在作最後的準備的時候，我把地圖冊里的所有地圖的名字放進一頂帽子裡面，在裡面抽出了紐西蘭。我把我的善於記憶用在記那個英聯邦自治領的地理上了。果然試卷上的第一道題就是：「畫出一幅紐西蘭地圖。」在賭城蒙特卡洛這被稱之為「把賭注押在一個數上而不是幾個連續的數上」，應該賠付我的賭注的35倍才是。然而，我自然是因為我的卷子而得了非常高的分數。

我現在開始軍事生涯了。這個方向完全是我收集玩具士兵模型的結果。我最終收集了幾乎1500個。他們全都是同樣大小，全都是英國兵，組織成了一個步兵師，外帶一個騎兵旅。我弟弟傑克指揮著敵軍。不過根據限制軍備條約，只允許他擁有黑人組成的部隊，而且那些黑人也不許擁有大炮。非常重要！除了要塞大炮之外，我本人只能聚集起18門野戰炮。但別的軍種一應俱全——只有一種除外。那是每一支軍隊都始終短缺的——運輸部隊。我父親的老朋友亨利.德拉蒙德.沃爾夫爵士讚賞我的編隊，他注意到了這個欠缺，於是提供了一筆專款，那個欠缺由此就在某種程度上得到了滿足。

我父親親自前來正式視察的日子到了。所有的部隊都安排成正確的編隊準備進攻。他花了20分鐘的時間研究這個場面——那確實是令人難忘的——他目光敏銳，露出了迷人的笑容。結束的時候他問我，我是不是想入伍參加陸軍。我想如果能夠指揮一支陸軍部隊，那會是極佳的，因而我立即說「是的」：我的話立即被當真了。多年以來我以為，我父親由於具有經驗和眼光，而在我的身上看出了軍事天才的品質。但後來我被告知，他之所以得出這個結論，只是因為我不夠聰明，當不了律師。儘管可能是如此，但那些玩具士兵卻改變了我的生活方向。從那以後，我的一切教育都是為了能夠考進桑德赫斯特皇家陸軍學院，繼而學習戰爭的技術細節。別的任何東西我都得自己去學會。

在這篇文章的結尾，丘吉爾還非常幽默地自黑了一把：一直以為親爹看出了我是個軍事天才，沒想到他只是覺得我不夠聰明……這樣的反轉讓人忍俊不禁。

考試交白卷，被其他同學指指點點，就連他的父親也不看好他的前途。大概誰也不會想到，這位差生後來會逆襲成為英國首相，不僅成為舉世聞名的政治家、軍事家，也是傑出的演說家、作家。

通過丘吉爾自己的回憶散文，你找到他成功的秘密了嗎？

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