No Other Choice—别无选择（乔治·布莱克）（第三章~Section 7）
My new quarters were in a very old house, dating from the Middle Ages, and reached through a long dark passage and a winding stone staircase. Two sisters kept an eating house there, open only for lunch and dinner with a fixed menu and regular customers. They were good acquaintances of the colonel, who often ate there and used the premises for clandestine meetings. They had agreed to put me up in a small room at the back of the dining-room. The two sisters, one in her early forties and the other somewhat younger, were friendly, cheerful women and excellent cooks. I stayed with them for more than three weeks and extremely pleasant and interesting weeks they were. Most afternoons I spent at a small, clandestine printing shop located in a nearby cellar. There the colonel's friend, a medical student, and some other members of their group printed a weekly Gaullist newspaper, which was published under the colonel's direction. I would help them with the work. When the newspapers were printed, they had to be taken to distribution centres located in factory stores or wine cellars. This was done fairly openly. Three or four of us pushed a handcart through the streets with several thousand copies concealed under the canvas cover. This was, of course, before the Germans were in Lyon.
【我的新住处是在一座非常古老的房子里，这座房子可以追溯到中世纪，到住处去要穿过一条长长的阴暗的走廊和一段蜿蜒的石阶。两姐妹在那里开了一家餐厅，只卖午餐和晚餐，有固定的菜单和固定的顾客。她们是上校的好朋友，经常在那里吃饭，并在那里举行秘密会议。她们同意把我安排在餐室后面的一个小房间里。姐妹俩，一个四十出头，另一个稍年轻些，都是友好、开朗的女人，厨艺高超。我和她们呆了三个多星期，这是非常愉快和有趣的几个星期。大多数下午，我都呆在附近一个地窖里的一家秘密的小印刷厂里。在那里，上校的一位医学生朋友和他们组织的其他一些成员出版了一份戴高乐主义周报，这份周报是在上校的指示下出版的。我将帮助他们做这项工作。报纸印刷出来后，必须送到位于工厂商店或酒窖的配送中心。这是相当公开的。我们中有三四个人推着一辆手推车在街上走着，帆布底下藏着几千份。当然，这是在德国人进入里昂之前。】
After about three weeks, I was told by the American consulate that permission had been received from London to arrange my onward journey. I was issued with a travel document, given some money and could now report to the Vichy authorities and apply for an exit visa. A letter from the colonel to an acquaintance in the Lyon prefecture helped to smooth the process. During the period that I was waiting for my travel documents I was to live in a small inn in a village a few kilometres outside Grenoble.
【大约三周后，美国领事馆告诉我，伦敦已经允许我安排行程。我拿到了旅行证件，给了一些钱，现在可以向维希政府报告，申请出境签证。上校写给里昂地区一位熟人的一封信使得这一过程的顺利进行。在等待旅行证件期间，我住在格勒诺布尔城外几公里的一个村庄里的一家小旅馆里。】
I had been there for about a month when one day, as I entered the small restaurant in Grenoble where I usually had my frugal lunch, I at once noticed that something unusual had happened. People were talking excitedly and shouting comments from table to table. I gathered that Allied troops had landed in North Africa and as a counter-measure the Germans had entered unoccupied France and might arrive in Grenoble at any moment.
【我在那里住了大约一个月。有一天，当我走进格勒诺布尔的一家小餐馆时，我立刻注意到发生了一件不寻常的事。人们兴奋地大声评论着。我猜想，盟军已在北非登陆，作为反击，德国人已进入未占领的法国，随时可能到达格勒诺布尔。】
I realised that I had to act at once. I decided to leave my residence forcee that very day and try to reach the Spanish frontier before the German troops could start to patrol it. I quickly finished my lunch and hurried back to the inn. I picked up my few belongings and left unnoticed. At Lyon I stopped off to contact my friend the colonel. He gave me some money and the address of a friend in Toulouse who might assist me in crossing the frontier with Spain. That same evening I continued my way south.
【我意识到我必须立即行动。就在那天，我决定离开我的居留地，并试图在德国军队开始巡逻之前到达西班牙边境。我很快吃完午饭，急忙回到旅馆。我收拾了几件行李，没人注意到就走了。在里昂，我停下来和上校朋友联系。他给了我一些钱和一个在图卢兹的朋友的地址，他可以帮助我越过西班牙边境。就在那天晚上，我继续往南走。】
Coming out of the station in Toulouse the first thing I saw was a column of German armoured vehicles. I was back at square one. My onward journey, England, Christmas with my family, these hopeful visions had once more receded to a distant and uncertain future.
【从图卢兹的车站出来，我首先看到的是一队德国装甲车。我仿佛又回到了起点。我的行程，英格兰，和我的家人的圣诞节，这些充满希望的愿景再次退到遥远和不确定的未来。】
The man whose address I had been given turned out to be a local journalist. He was at once ready to help and said he would put me in touch with a passeur, as the people who smuggled refugees across the frontier were called. Meanwhile, I could stay at his flat, where he lived with his wife, his mother and a teenage sister.
【那个给我地址的人曾经是一名当地记者。他立刻准备提供帮助，并说他会帮我联系一个过路人，过境的人被称为偷渡难民。与此同时，我可以住在他的公寓里，他和妻子、母亲以及一个十几岁的妹妹住在那里。】
Two days later, this charming girl, with whom I had become good friends, took me to the passeur. The room in which he lived was mainly remarkable for an enormous bed which filled it almost entirely. A dark, elegantly dressed young man, who said his name was Fernandez, and an attractive young woman, a trifle too heavily made up, whom he introduced as his 'assistant' were sitting on it when we entered.
【两天以后，这位和我成了好朋友的迷人的姑娘带我去见那位过路人。他住的房间之所以引人注目，主要是因为有一张巨大的床，几乎把整个房间都占满了。一个皮肤黝黑、衣着优雅的年轻男子说他叫费尔南德斯，还有一个迷人的年轻女子，他说她是他的“助手”，她化了浓妆，我们进去时她正坐在上面。】
The young man was rather self-important and garrulous which did not inspire much confidence. He told me that I was to be at the station that evening in time to catch the train for Pau. He would be on the platform, but I was to pretend not to know him and travel separately. In Pau he would join me outside the station.
【这个年轻人很自负，话又多，这使人对他不大放心。他告诉我那天晚上要及时赶到车站，赶上开往波乌的火车。他将在月台上，但我要假装不认识他，分开旅行。在保罗，他会在车站外和我会合。】
I acted as instructed and on arrival in Pau I was joined before long by the couple under whose, what seemed to me, dubious auspices I was now travelling. They were accompanied by another person who must have been on the same train. He was middle-aged, fat and flabby and obviously Jewish. Later that evening, when I had to share a bed with him in a shabby hotel, I learned that he was a Portuguese Jew who had been on a business trip to unoccupied France where he had been caught by the German invasion. He was now trying to get back to his wife and children in Portugal. To be taken across the Spanish frontier, he had had to pay Fernandez a large sum of money. In the course of the journey, it turned out that this was not all for it was he who had to pay for the lavish dinners which Fernandez ordered whenever we stopped on our way. Through his contacts in the hotel trade he ensured, however, that we did not have to register in any of the hotels where we stayed.
【我按照指示去做，一到波乌，不久我就见到了那对男女，我现在是在他们的赞助下旅行的，在我看来，这是靠不住的赞助。陪同他们的还有另一个人，此人一定是同一班火车上的人。他是个中年，肥胖，肌肉松弛，显然是犹太人。那天晚上，当我不得不和他在一家破旧的旅馆里同睡一张床时，我得知他是一个葡萄牙籍的犹太人，他出差到无人居住的法国，在那里被德国人抓获。他现在正试图回到他在葡萄牙的妻子和孩子身边。为了被带过西班牙边境，他不得不付给费尔南德斯一大笔钱。在旅途中，事实证明这并不是全部。每次我们在路上停下来，他都要为费尔南德斯订的豪华晚餐买单。同时，通过他在酒店行业的联系，他确保我们不必在我们住过的任何一家酒店登记。】
The next morning, the four of us boarded a bus which took us further south. I had seen no evidence of any Germans in Pau or on the road. It looked as if the only opponents we had to outwit were the French frontier guards. So we moved on from place to place, a rather ill-assorted company, with my Portuguese friend getting more and more sore at what he considered Fernandez's extravagant spending but afraid to say anything for fear of being left stranded in France. I also disliked the way in which Fernandez exploited my travel companion and I would have certainly taken him for a swindler, had he not been introduced to me by my friend in the resistance movement and not asked me for more than the normal travelling expenses.
【第二天早上，我们四人登上一辆公共汽车，继续向南行驶。我在波乌或路上没有看到任何德国人的迹象。看来我们唯一需要智胜的对手就是法国的边防卫兵了。于是我们从一个地方搬到另一个地方，我的葡萄牙朋友对费尔南德斯的奢侈消费越来越恼火，但他害怕被困在法国，不敢说任何话。我也不喜欢费尔南德斯利用我旅友的方式，如果他不是我在抵抗运动中的朋友介绍给我的，也没有向我索要比正常行程费用更多的钱，我肯定会把他当成一个骗子。】
At the end of the third day, after another bus journey, we reached a villages high up in the mountains, dominated by the ruins of a castle. From here we would continue on foot.
【第三天结束时，我们又乘了一趟巴士，到达了一个高山上的村庄，周围是一座城堡的废墟。从这里我们继续步行。】
When darkness had fallen, Fernandez took us to a house on the edge of the village. Here he handed us over to two young men who would actually take us across into Spain. The journey would take two days. We set out straightaway and started climbing the slope which rose steeply above the village. Soon we were panting and sweating. It was not so bad for me. I was young and used to plenty of exercise, but my middle-aged companion was having a difficult time. All I could do to help him was to carry his bag for him. Our guides kept urging us on. This was a dangerous stretch as it was important to get away from the village unnoticed. Once we had reached the crest the going would be easier. Towards dawn we reached a mountain hut where we had something to eat and slept a few hours. The roasted meat and fresh bread, which the guides had brought with them, tasted delicious.
【夜幕降临时，费尔南德斯把我们带到村子边缘的一所房子里。在这里，他把我们交给了两个年轻人，他们会带我们穿越到西班牙。这段旅程需要两天时间。我们马上出发，开始爬村子上方陡峭的斜坡。很快我们就气喘吁吁，汗流浃背了。对我来说还不算太糟。我很年轻，习惯了大量的锻炼，但我的中年同伴却遇到了困难。我所能做的就是帮他提包。我们的导游不断催促我们前进。这是一段危险的时期，因为要在不引起注意的情况下离开村子是很重要的。我们一到山顶，路就容易走了。天快亮时，我们到达一座山上的小屋，在那里吃了点东西，睡了几个小时。向导带来的烤肉和新鲜面包味道很好。】
The sun was already high in the sky when we continued our march, climbing on and on towards the snow-clad peaks which we had to cross before reaching the frontier on the other side. I was now carrying two briefcases all the time for my companion was getting more and more short-winded as we climbed higher. Our two guides, though friendly, kept rather aloof as if to underline that they had been paid only to show us the way and that it was our business to keep up with them.
【当我们继续行进时，太阳已经高高地挂在天空，我们不断地爬向白雪覆盖的山峰，我们必须越过这些山峰才能到达另一边的边境。我现在一直带着两个公文包，因为随着我们爬得越来越高，我的同伴越来越气喘吁吁。我们的两个导游，虽然很友好，却保持着相当远的距离，好像在强调他们只是为了给我们指路而得到报酬，我们的职责就是跟上他们的步伐。】
We spent the night in another mountain hut, well above the snow-line. We lay huddled together to keep warm as we could not make a fire for fear of attracting the attention of mountain patrols. As soon as it was daylight, we set out again. The snow got deeper as we climbed and we made slow progress towards the Pic du Midi, the highest point on our route. I remember it as a narrow track from which the mountain fell away sharply on either side so that I had the feeling of walking on a knife's edge. Then we started to descend and the going got easier.
【我们在离雪线很远的山上另一间小屋里过夜。我们挤成一团躺着取暖，因为我们怕引起山间巡逻队的注意而不能生火。天一亮，我们就又出发了。随着我们的攀登，雪越来越深，我们缓慢地向南奥索峰前进，这是我们路线上的最高点。在我的记忆中，这是一条狭窄的小路，从这条小路的两边，山势陡然倾斜，使我有走在刀刃上的感觉。然后我们开始往下走，走起来就容易多了。】
It was about three o'clock when we came to a meadow which sloped down to a mule track running along a gorge at the bottom of which gurgled a mountain stream. Here our guides stopped and informed us that we were now in Spain and this was as far as they would take us. If we followed the mule track, we would get to a farmhouse where we could spend the night. Tired though we were, we felt elated at the thought that we had reached safety at last. In celebration, we all took a deep draught of wine out of the goatskin. Then our guides shook hands and soon disappeared among the trees of the oakwood out of which we had just come.
【三点钟左右，我们来到一片草地上。草地向下倾斜，通向一条骡子道，沿着一条峡谷蜿蜒而下，谷底有一条山涧汩汩流淌。我们的导游在这里停下来，告诉我们现在是在西班牙，他们只能把我们带到这里了。如果我们沿着骡道走，就能到达一间农舍，可以在那里过夜。虽然我们很累，但一想到终于安全了，我们就感到很高兴。为了庆祝，我们都从山羊皮袋里倒了一大口酒。然后我们的向导握了握手，很快就消失在我们刚刚走出的橡树林中。】
We got down to the track and began to follow it in the direction our guides had indicated. We walked on for about two hours, but saw no sign of a farmhouse. My companion, exhausted from the strain of the last two days, began to express strong doubts that we were moving in the right direction. He now became convinced that we had lost our way and insisted that we should retrace our steps. I myself had no doubt that we were going the right way. My companion was not to be persuaded and insisted on going back. This was a matter of life and death for both of us. The one who was wrong would be returning to German-occupied France. There could be no compromise, therefore, and with the sun already setting behind the mountain tops we parted, each going the way he thought was right.
【我们下到小路上，开始顺着向导指示的方向走。我们继续走了大约两个小时，但没有看到有农舍的迹象。我的同伴由于前两天的劳累而疲惫不堪，他开始强烈怀疑我们是否在朝着正确的方向前进。他现在确信我们迷路了，坚持要我们按原路折回。我自己毫不怀疑我们走的路是对的。我的同伴不听劝，坚持要回去。这对我们俩来说都是生死攸关的事。错的人会回到德国占领的法国。因此，这是不可能的妥协，太阳已经落在山顶后面，我们分开了，各自走自己认为正确的路。】
