No Other Choice—别无选择（乔治·布莱克）（第三章~Section 6）
My new host and hostess lived not far away in a side street of the Boulevard St Germain, in a small but elegantly furnished flat. He was the owner of a private security firm which provided night-watchmen and other security measures for factories and large shops. The couple was childless and devout Roman Catholic. For several years they had been members of the third order of St Dominic. They were also fervent French patriots, supporters of General de Gaulle, with connections in the resistance movement. One of their contacts, who went under the pseudonym of 'the Belgian', was the leader of an escape organisation. It took some time to get hold of him as he was frequently away on business. At last one afternoon, when I had been in Paris about a fortnight, 'the Belgian' called. He was a tall, broad-shouldered man in his late forties who listened to my story and studied my passport. Then he explained to me that it was doubtful whether his organisation would get permission from London to organise my journey to England. I was not an airman, an important member of the resistance or a person of particular interest: in short, the same arguments I had encountered in Holland a month earlier. But he thought that even if that turned out to be the case, he might still be able to help me in some other way.
【我的房东住在离我不远的圣日耳曼大道的一条小巷里，住在一套虽小但装修高雅的公寓里。他是一家私人保安公司的老板，该公司为工厂和大商店提供夜间警卫和其他安全措施。这对夫妇没有孩子，是虔诚的罗马天主教徒。几年来，他们一直是圣多米尼克第三教团的成员。他们也是法国狂热的爱国者，戴高乐将军的支持者，与抵抗运动有联系。其中一个化名为“比利时人”的联络人是一个逃亡组织的领导人。由于他经常出差，要花些时间才能联系上他。终于有一天下午，当我在巴黎呆了大约两个星期的时候，那个“比利时人”来了。他身材高大，肩膀宽阔，年近四十，他听了我的故事，仔细观察了我的护照。然后他向我解释说，他不能保证他的组织能够得到伦敦方面的许可，组织我去往英国。我不是一名飞行员，不是抵抗运动的重要成员，也不是特别有能力的人。总之，和一个月前我在荷兰遇到的情形是一样的。但他认为，即使事实如此，他或许还能以其他方式帮助我。】
Two years later, when I was working for the British Secret Service, I discovered that he had indeed reported my case to London and had received instructions not to concern himself with me. This was entirely understandable. Nevertheless, partly out of kindness, partly out of consideration for my hosts, he managed to help me without involving his organisation. Through him, I was provided with a French identity card, in the name of a schoolboy from Amiens, and the address of a person in Salis de Beam, a small health resort in the south-west of France, just inside the occupied zone, who could arrange for me to be smuggled into unoccupied France. He also gave me an address in Lyon, then still in the unoccupied zone, to where I could turn for further assistance.
【两年后，当我在英国特勤局工作时，我发现他确实向伦敦方面报告了我的情况，并接收到了不要管我的指示。这是完全可以理解的。然而，部分出于好意，部分出于对我的担心，他设法帮助我，而没有动用到他的组织。通过他,我获得一个法国的身份证,在亚眠的男生的名字,地址在萨利·德·梁,这是一个小的疗养胜地在法国西南部。他还给了我一个里昂的地址，当时还在无人占领区，我可以在那里寻求进一步的帮助。】
Thus provided, I was ready to continue my journey. All of a sudden it looked as if most of the obstacles lay behind me. There was only one more hurdle to cross, the demarcation line. After that I would be out of reach of the Germans and the rest should be comparatively plain sailing.
【这样，我就做好了继续旅行的准备。突然间，似乎大部分的障碍都被我抛在了身后。只有一个障碍要跨越，那就是占领线。在那之后，德国人就够不着我了，其余的事情就会相对顺利了。】
One evening, at the end of August, my friends saw me off at the station as I boarded the train for Bordeaux. I had lived almost a month in their hospitable flat and had accumulated a lot of new impressions. With them as guides, I had seen a lot of Paris and they had introduced me to the austere services in the Dominican Abbey near Paris and to the beauty of Gregorian plainchant. I had done a lot of reading in their well-stocked library and we had long discussions on politics and religion. I began to take a less prejudiced and narrow-minded view of Catholicism. Although they were Gaullists and fervently prayed for an Allied victory, they, like many French people, harboured a grievance against England and thought it had not done enough in the summer of 1940 to avoid the disaster. I thought this was an unfair assessment and, naturally, our different positions sometimes gave rise to heated discussions. I was sad to leave them, but eager to continue my journey.
【8月底的一个晚上，我的朋友们到车站为我送行，我登上了开往波尔多的火车。我在他们的公寓里住了将近一个月，留下了许多深刻的印象。在他们的带领下，我参观了巴黎的许多地方，他们向我介绍了巴黎附近的多明尼加修道院的简朴仪式，以及格里高利的质朴之美。我在他们藏书丰富的图书馆里读了很多书，我们还就政治和宗教进行了长时间的讨论。我开始对天主教采取不那么偏见和狭隘的看法。尽管他们是戴高乐主义者，虔诚地祈祷着盟军的胜利，但和许多法国人一样，他们对英国仍怀有不满，认为英国在1940年夏天没有做出足够的努力来避免这场灾难。我认为这是一个不公平的评价，当然，我们的不同立场有时会引起激烈的讨论。离开他们我很难过，但我渴望继续我的旅程。】
Salis de Beam is a small town, pleasantly situated among low green hills, the waters of which are said to be especially beneficial to women. The demarcation line ran just along its outer edge. The man who would arrange the crossing owned a small boarding house. When I told him who had sent me and gave him the password, he at once agreed to take me. A small party would be crossing that very evening. Once we were safely across, we would be taken to a farm where we could spend the night. Vichy gendarmes would collect us there the next day and put us in a refugee camp. I had heard enough of the Vichy French not to relish the idea of spending the rest of the war in one of their camps. I had not come all the way for that. I talked to the boarding house owner who advised me not to go with the party to the farm, but to continue walking all night. I might succeed in getting sufficiently deep into the country and avoid patrols. This I resolved to do.
【萨利斯·德比姆是一个小镇，坐落在绿色的低山上，那里的水据说对妇女特别有益。占领线正好沿着它的外缘延伸。负责安排过境的人拥有一间小公寓。当我告诉他是谁派我来的，并告诉他暗号时，他立刻同意带我去。当晚就会有一小群人穿过。一旦我们安全过河，就会被带到一个农场，我们可以在那里过夜。第二天，维希宪兵会把我们聚集在那里，并把我们关在一个难民营里。我已经听够了维希法国人的故事，不想在他们的一个营地度过剩下的战争。我不是为了这个而来的。我和寄宿公寓的主人谈了谈，他建议我不要和别人一起去农场，而是继续走一整夜。我也许能潜入到这个国家，避开巡逻。我决心这么做。】
Just after nightfall, two young Basques, looking agile and tough in their black berets, came to the house to collect the crossing party which consisted of three Jewish ladies of various ages and myself. The two men had brought a small dog with them whose function it was, as they explained, to give timely warning by barking at the approach of German patrols who always had dogs with them.
【夜幕刚降临，两个年轻的巴斯克人，戴着黑色的贝雷帽，看上去既灵活又结实，来到这所房子里，集合了由三个不同年龄的犹太妇女和我组成的偷渡队伍。这两个人随身带了一只小狗，他们解释说，这只小狗的作用是，每当德国巡逻队靠近时，它就吠叫，及时发出警告，因为德国巡逻队总是带着狗。】
Through narrow back lanes we reached the edge of the town. The atmosphere was tense. We were now in the immediate danger zone and expecting the German dogs to set on us any moment. Thus we continued for about twenty minutes, scrambling across ditches and crawling through fields. Then we saw, not far ahead, on the top of a gentle slope, a brightly lit house. It was the farm. We had arrived safely in unoccupied France. Reaching the crest of the hill, we suddenly saw lights twinkling everywhere like a promise of peace and security, while behind us the land lay dark. It was as if an immense burden of fear and gloom was lifted from me. I was out of the hands of the enemy. But I did not have much time to indulge in these emotions. I had to go on and chance my luck. I walked on all through the night and met no one. Occasionally a dog barked as I passed a cottage or farm. A few times I sat on a stone to rest, but never for long. I had to get as far away from the frontier as possible.
【通过狭窄的后巷，我们到达了城镇的边缘。气氛很紧张。我们现在正处于危险地带，随时可能遭到德国狗的袭击。这样，我们又走了大约二十分钟，穿过沟渠，穿过田野。然后，我们看到前方不远，在一个缓坡的顶上，有一所灯火通明的房子。是农场。我们已安全抵达无人占领的维希法国。到达山顶时，我们突然看到到处闪烁的灯光，好像是和平与安全的承诺，而我们身后是一片黑暗。好像是一个巨大的恐惧和忧郁从我身上消失了。我脱离了敌人的控制。但我没有太多时间沉浸在这些情感之中。我得继续走，碰碰运气。我走了一整夜，没有遇见一个人。我经过农舍或农场时，偶尔会听到狗叫。有几次我坐在一块石头上休息，但从来没有长时间休息。我必须尽可能远离边境。】
When the first streaks of dawn began to light up the sky, there suddenly rose up before me the dark outlines of what looked like a medieval castle with battlements, towers and turrets. The road led up to a huge gateway. I had come to the old town of Argagnon. In the market square a bus was waiting to leave for Lourdes. I got in. There were only a few passengers. Just as the bus was going to leave, a gendarme came in to check identity papers. I gave him mine from Amiens. He looked at it and handed it back without saying anything. I reached Lourdes safely and that same evening boarded the train for Lyon.
【当第一缕晨曦开始照亮天空时，我突然看到一个黑色的轮廓，看起来像是一座中世纪的城堡，有城垛、塔楼和角楼。这条路通向一个巨大的大门。我来到了古老的小镇阿加农。市场广场上，一辆公共汽车正等着开往卢尔德。车上只有几个乘客。正当汽车要开走的时候，一个宪兵进来检查身份证件。我把亚眠身份证给他。他看了看，什么也没说就把它还给了我。我安全到达卢尔德，当天晚上就登上了前往里昂的火车。】
On arrival the next morning, I went straight to the address given to me by 'the Belgian'. His friend in Lyon was a French colonel with an aristocratic, Breton name which was extremely difficult to pronounce. He lived with his wife in a suite in a big, fashionable hotel. Both were active members of the French resistance movement which had its branches in the unoccupied zone. When they heard that I had been sent by 'the Belgian', they received me most kindly. The colonel appeared to be especially pleased that I could pronounce his name correctly, a feat which, apparently, few people managed the first time. He advised me to report without delay to the American consulate which was looking after British interests. He knew the young man dealing with British subjects there and would give me a note of introduction. That might be helpful. In the mean time, he would try and find somewhere for me to live.
【第二天早上一到，我就直奔“比利时人”给我的地址。他在里昂的朋友是一位法国上校，有着贵族的布列塔尼名字，这个名字很难发音。他和妻子住在一家时尚的大旅馆的套间里。两人都是法国抵抗运动的活跃成员，该运动在未占领区有分支。当他们听说我是“比利时人”派来的时候，他们非常友好地接待了我。上校似乎对我能正确地说出他的名字感到特别高兴，显然，很少有人能第一次做到这一点。他建议我立即向负责英国利益的美国领事馆报告。他认识那个在那里与英国人打交道的年轻人，他会给我写一封介绍信。那可能会有帮助。与此同时，他会设法给我找个地方住。】
At the American consulate, I was called into the office of a young man who was obviously English. Two years later I was to run into him in a corridor in Head Office in London and discover that he was, in fact, a member of the Secret Service. I showed him my passport and the colonel's note. This satisfied him. He suggested that the best way would be to issue me with a travel document instead of my passport. This would certify that I was a British subject and be true in all particulars except that my age would be given as sixteen instead of nineteen. I would thus not be of military age and the Vichy authorities would grant me an exit visa. At the same time, the American consulate would apply on my behalf for Spanish and Portuguese transit visas. Once all the permits had been obtained, I could travel to England legally. It would take about a fortnight for him to get permission from London to make these arrangements. -After that, it might take anything from two to three months to get the necessary visas. The Vichy authorities would require me to live during this period in a place designated by them, which I would not be allowed to leave without permission. This was called residence forcee.
【在美国领事馆，我被叫进一个年轻人的办公室，他显然是英国人。两年后，我在伦敦总部的走廊里遇到了他，发现他实际上是特勤局的一员。我给他看了我的护照和上校的便条。他点了点头。他建议最好的办法是给我发旅行证件，而不是护照。这将证明我是英国臣民，而且所有细节都是真实的，只是我的年龄将写成16岁，而不是19岁。这样我就不会达到服兵役的年龄，维希政府就会给我发放出境签证。同时，美国领事馆会代我申请西班牙和葡萄牙的过境签证。一旦获得了所有的许可，我就可以合法地去英国了。他得花上两个星期才能得到伦敦方面的许可才能做这些安排。在那之后，可能需要两到三个月的时间才能拿到必要的签证。维希政府会要求我在这段时间内住在他们指定的地方，没有许可我是不允许离开的。这被称为驻留。】
That afternoon I called on the colonel again and told him about the very satisfactory outcome of my visit to the American consulate. He had with him a young man who, he said, would look after me while I was in Lyon. They had found accommodation for me and the young man would take me there.
【那天下午，我再次拜访上校，告诉他我访问美国领事馆的结果非常令人满意。他身边有个年轻人，他说他会在我在里昂的时候照顾我。他们已经为我找到了住处，那个年轻人会带我去那里。】
