No Other Choice—别无选择（乔治·布莱克）（第三章~Section 5）
I had been staying for nearly three weeks in the hospitable house of the de Bie family, where there were lots of young people and a jolly atmosphere reigned, when my host informed me that the escape organisation could not help me. They were only prepared to accept people who were of immediate use to the Allied war effort such as RAF pilots, Dutch army and naval officers or people with special skills. I did not fall into any of these categories. What should I do now? I felt that though I had not gone very far yet and was still in Holland, I had started on my journey and there was no question of going back. I would somehow manage to get across the Dutch-Belgian border and then I would see from there.
【我在热情好客的德比家待了将近三个星期，那里有许多年轻人，气氛非常愉快。这里的主人告诉我，对于逃跑组织帮不了我的忙。他们只准备接受对盟军战争有直接用处的人，如皇家空军飞行员、荷兰陆军和海军军官或有特殊技能的人。我不属于任何一类人。我现在该怎么办?虽然我还没有走多远，还在荷兰，但我已经在路上，回去是不可能的了。我会设法越过荷兰-比利时边境，然后我就可以从那里找到机会。】
My host's two younger sisters, with whom I had become very friendly, immediately suggested that they should take me across the frontier themselves as they knew many of the footpaths used by smugglers. Once across, they would take me to their aunt in Antwerp who, they were sure, would be prepared to put me up for a few days.
【我和主人的两个妹妹相处得很好，她们立即建议让她们自己带我穿越边境，因为她们知道许多走私者使用的小路。一过河，她们就带我去安特卫普见她们的姨妈，她们确信姨妈会让我住上几天。】
We set out on a beautiful Sunday morning and were about a hundred yards from the border, which ran along the edge of a pinewood just ahead of us, when, suddenly, from behind a haystack, a German soldier stepped out and barred our route with his rifle. He was going to shout something at us when his face lit up as he recognised the two girls. 'What on earth are you doing here?' he said, half in Dutch, half in German. 'This is a forbidden zone!' The eldest girl hastily explained that we were cousins and wanted to visit an aunt who was in a nunnery just across the frontier in Belgium. The soldier smiled and nodded. 'All right, I'll let you through and pretend I have not seen you. If you return this way this evening between nine and twelve, I shall be on duty again and let you back in. Good luck.' He gave us a friendly wave as we walked on.
【我们在一个美丽的星期天早晨出发了，在距离边境大约100码处，国境线沿着我们前面的一片松林边缘延伸。突然，一个德国士兵从一个干草堆后面走出来，用他的步枪挡住了我们的去路。当他认出那两个女孩时，他的脸亮了起来。“你到底在这儿干什么?”他说，一半是荷兰语，一半是德语，“这里是禁区!”较大的女孩急忙解释说，我们是表兄弟，想去看一位阿姨，她住在边境另一边比利时的一座修道院里。士兵微笑着点点头。“好吧，我让你过去，假装没看见你。如果你今天晚上九点到十二点从这条路回来，我还会值班，让你回来。祝你好运。”我们继续走着，他友好地向我们挥手。】
I had watched this scene at first with intense apprehension and then with growing bewilderment. The explanation was simple. The girls, like most people in the southern provinces, were Roman Catholics and members of the local Catholic youth organisation. The soldier was an Austrian and also a devout Roman Catholic, the only member of the German garrison who regularly attended mass in the church and the activities of the Catholic youth organisation in Zundert. It was there that the girls had got to know him as a quiet, friendly man, homesick for his Austrian mountains. Cheered by the almost miraculous coincidence that this man should have been on duty at that point at that time, we continued our journey without further incidents. In the afternoon we reached Antwerp where the girls' aunt received us kindly and agreed to put me up.
【我看到这一幕时，起初非常害怕，后来越来越感到困惑。其实解释起来很简单。这些女孩和大多数南方省份的人一样，都是罗马天主教徒，也是当地天主教青年组织的成员。这名士兵是奥地利人，同时也是一位虔诚的罗马天主教徒，是德国驻军中唯一一个定期参加教堂弥撒和津德尔特天主教青年组织活动的成员。正是在那里，姑娘们认识了他，认为他是个安静、友好的人，他的内心放着奥地利的群山。这个人当时应该在值班，这不可思议的巧合使我们感到庆幸，于是我们继续我们的旅程，没有再发生别的事情。下午，我们到达安特卫普，女孩们的姨妈亲切地接待了我们，并同意让我住在那里。】
Once more I had to say goodbye that day and for the first time I experienced a feeling which was often to recur in later life - a feeling of the inadequacy of words to express gratitude and admiration to people who, by assuming very considerable risks, had ensured my safety and freedom.
【那天我不得不再次说再见，我第一次经历了一种在以后的生活中经常会体会到的感觉 -- 一种无法用语言表达的感觉。】
The next day my new hostess gave me a letter of introduction to a Dominican monk at the University of Louvain, whom she thought might be able to help. When I went to see him he told me that there wasn't anything he could do himself, but that he would give me an introduction to a very good friend of his in Paris, also a Dominican, who might be able to put me in touch with people who could help.
【第二天，这位女主人给我写了一封介绍信，介绍给鲁汶大学的一位多米尼加教士，她认为他也许能帮上忙。我去看这位教士时,他告诉我,他并不能帮我什么，但是他会给我介绍他的一个在巴黎的很好的朋友，这个朋友可以让我接触到那些可以帮助我的人。】
There was a regular train service between Antwerp and Paris. At the frontier, so I was told, because Belgium and occupied France formed one German military district, there was only a luggage check by French and Belgian customs officers. I left for Paris the next day. The train was so crowded that I had to stand in the corridor. As we approached Mons, the last Belgian town before the French frontier, I saw at the end of the corridor two German Feld Gendarmes (a particularly awesome brand of German soldiery, who wore steel breastplates on a heavy chain and a fierce-looking German eagle on their helmets) advancing slowly but surely towards me, checking identity papers. All I had was my British passport, concealed in a loaf of bread. As they were approaching, the train began to slow down as it entered Mons station. I jumped out, ran down the platform and reached the exit before it had come fully to a halt. Outside the station, I disappeared into the narrow streets behind it. I entered an old church and sat down to recover from the emotion and think out what to do next. I decided to try and cross the frontier, which I knew could not be very far, on foot. I left the church and began to walk in a southerly direction. I must have gone the right way for presently I came upon a signpost pointing to Lille. A small steam tram passed along the road and I decided to board it. Eventually the tram stopped in a village square and everyone got out. It was the terminus. I continued walking in a southerly direction. After a while I found myself in a small hamlet, a few houses grouped along a quiet country road which was closed by a striped barrier. Two Belgian customs officers stood chatting near a sentry box at the side of the road. This was the frontier post. A German airman with a bicycle was leaning against the barrier smoking. He threw away his cigarette, got on his bicycle and muttered something that sounded like a salutation. The two Belgian officials appeared not to have heard this for they did not reply. When he had gone one of them made a remark which, though I could not hear it, must have been something disparaging to judge by the expression on his face. The other gave a contemptuous chuckle. I had lived long enough in occupied territory to know instinctively from the reaction I had just witnessed that these two men did not like the Germans. I decided to risk it.
【安特卫普和巴黎之间有定期列车。我被通知，在边境，因为比利时和被占领的法国组成了德国的一个军区，法国和比利时的海关官员只会进行行李检查。我第二天动身去巴黎了。火车上太挤了，我只好站在过道里。当我们接近隆起,之前的最后一个比利时小镇法国边境,我看到走廊尽头的两名德国菲尔德宪兵(一个特别可怕的德国军队,穿钢铁甲和头盔上有只德国鹰)缓慢而平稳地走向我,准备检查身份证。我只有藏在一条面包里的英国护照。当他们走近时，火车进了蒙斯站后开始减速。我从车里跳了出来，跑下站台，在车完全停稳之前跑到了出口。出了车站，我消失在车站后面狭窄的街道上。我走进一座古老的教堂，坐下来让自己从激动的情绪中恢复过来，思考下一步该怎么办。我决定试着穿越边境，我知道那里不会太远，步行就可以了。我离开教堂，开始向南走去。我准是走对了，因为不久我发现了一个指向里尔的路标。一辆小型蒸汽电车沿路驶过，我决定登上它。电车终于停在了一个村庄广场上，大家都下了车。这是终点站。我继续往南走。过了一会儿，我发现自己来到了一个小村庄，几所房子沿着一条安静的乡间小路排列着，小路被一道条纹栅栏隔开。两个比利时海关官员站在路边的哨所旁聊天。这是边防哨所。一名骑自行车的德国飞行员斜靠在护栏上抽烟。他扔掉香烟，骑上自行车，咕哝了几句听起来像是致敬的话。这两名比利时官员似乎没有听到，因为他们没有回答。他走后，其中一个说了一句话，虽然我听不见，但从他脸上的表情判断，这句话一定是贬损他的话。另一个人轻蔑地笑了笑。我在占领区住了很长时间，从我刚才看到的反应，我本能地知道这两个男人不喜欢德国人。我决定冒一下险。】
I walked up to the barrier as if I expected to be let through. One of them wanted to see what I had in my briefcase. That was all right. Could he see my identity card? 'I haven't got one,' I said. 'I am an Englishman on my way to France.' The reaction was remarkable. They both looked at me and smiled. 'Why didn't you say so at once. Come with us into the office and we'll see what we can do.' They took me into a small office on the side of the road and offered me a chair. I took the loaf of bread out of my briefcase, removed the passport and handed it to them. They studied it carefully. It was quite an impressive passport as it happened. In the five years I had had it, I had travelled a great deal and it was full of visas and stamps. It satisfied them completely. They discussed what should be done. It was decided that one of them would take me home for a meal while the other would try to find me accommodation for the night. To this day I remember the homely scene round the table with the customs officer's two little girls and his plump friendly wife. At the end of the meal my host produced a bottle of brandy which he kept for a special occasion. We drank to Allied victory. I spent the night on a nearby farm and early the next morning one of the customs officers came to fetch me to take me himself into France. After about an hour's walk, we arrived in the small town of Maubeuge. There we went straight to the house of the local chief of customs. He had evidently been warned and was waiting for us with breakfast. An hour later, I walked with the French customs chief, now in full uniform, to the market square where the bus for Lille was waiting.
【我向那道屏障走去，好像我料到会被放行似的。其中一个想看看我的公文包里有什么。他说，能看一下我的身份证吗?“我没有，”我说，“我是一个去法国的英国人。”他们都看着我笑了。“你为什么不马上说呢?跟我们到办公室去，我们看看能做些什么。”他们把我带到路边的一间小办公室里，让我坐了下来。我从公文包里拿出面包，取下护照递给他们。他们仔细研究了它。这是一本令人印象深刻的护照。在我用它的五年里，我去过很多地方，里面塞满了签证和邮票。这使他们完全满意。他们讨论应该做什么。他们决定一个人带我回家吃饭，另一个人帮我找个住处过夜。直到今天，我还记得海关官员的两个小女孩和他胖胖的、友好的妻子围坐在桌子旁的情景。宴会结束时，海关官员拿来一瓶白兰地，那是他为一个特殊场合留的。我们为盟军的胜利干杯。我在附近的一个农场过了一夜，第二天一早，一位海关官员来接我，要亲自带我去法国。走了大约一个小时的路，我们到达了莫布日小镇。在那里，我们直接去了当地海关长的家。他显然已经被告知过了，正拿着早餐等着我们。一个小时后，我和身着制服的法国海关官员一起来到市场广场，去里尔的公共汽车正在那里等着我。】
At six o'clock that evening, I stood outside the Gare du Nord, thrilled to be in Paris for the first time in my life. In those days of petrol shortage, there were no taxis in Paris and some enterprising people had started a taxiped service - a small carriage with seating for two, drawn by a man on a bicycle. I took one of these and gave the driver the address on the letter the Dominican monk in Louvain had given me.
【那天晚上6点，我站在北站外，为有生以来第一次来到巴黎而激动不已。在汽油短缺的日子里，巴黎没有出租车，一些有远见的人开始提供出租车服务——一辆双人座的小马车，由一个骑自行车的人拉着。我把多米尼加教士给我的信上的地址告诉了司机。】
I was deposited in front of a typical Parisian apartment house. It turned out that the monk to whom I had an introduction was a member of a small religious community engaged in social studies and housed in two adjoining flats. An elderly housekeeper showed me into a book-lined study. A tall, slender monk of about thirty-five rose from behind a desk. His face was pale and finely chiselled and had something very engaging. In his intelligent, grey eyes I noticed that slightly mocking expression one frequently encounters in well-educated Frenchmen. I showed him my letter and told him who I was. Could he help me in any way? A worried look crossed his face as I told him my story. He explained that he was in a difficult position. Not long ago, the Abbot of the Dominicans in Paris had issued strict instructions that no shelter should be given by his monks to anyone hiding from the Germans as this might seriously endanger the work of the whole Order in France. He was, of course, bound to obey his Abbot's orders. I said that I fully understood the situation and would go away immediately. He begged me, however, to stay while he looked for a solution. He had to give a lecture that evening, but would be back in two hours. He hoped to have hit on something by then. Meanwhile I was not to leave the room.
【我被放置在一座典型的巴黎公寓前。原来，我介绍认识的那个教士是一个从事社会研究的小型宗教团体的成员，住在两套毗邻的公寓里。一位上了年纪的管家把我领进一间摆满书的书房。一位三十五岁左右的修士从桌子后面站了起来。他脸色苍白，轮廓分明，有一种迷人的气质。在他那双聪明的灰色眼睛里，我注意到一种受过良好教育的法国人常有的略带嘲弄的表情。我把信给他看，并告诉他我是谁。他能帮我什么忙吗?当我告诉他我的经历时，他脸上露出忧虑的神色。他解释说他的处境很困难。不久前，巴黎的道明会修道院长发出了严格的命令，他的修道会修士不得向任何躲避德国人的人提供庇护，因为这可能严重危及整个修道会在法国的工作。当然，他必须服从艾博特的命令。我说我完全理解目前的情况，我将立即离开。然而，他让我留下来，他去寻找解决办法。他那天晚上有个演讲，但两个小时后就会回来。他希望那时能找到点什么。在此期间，我不能离开房间。】
When he had gone, I looked at the books on the shelves and then saw a monk's white habit hanging on a hook on the door. Knowing that I would not be disturbed I could not withstand the temptation to try it on. I looked at myself in the mirror and thought it suited me rather well. It might be a good disguise for my journey through France.
【他走后，我看了看书架上的书，看见门上的钩子上挂着一件教士的白衣服。我知道自己不会被打扰，所以禁不住想试穿一下。我看着镜子里的自己，觉得它很适合我。这也许是我去法国行程的好伪装。】
When the monk returned, he was not alone. With him was a middle-aged couple whom he introduced as very good friends. They had attended his lecture and afterwards he had told them about his predicament. They had at once offered to put me up until I could continue my journey.
【当教士回来的时候，他并不是孤身一人。和他在一起的是一对中年夫妇，他介绍他们是非常要好的朋友。这对夫妇听了他的演讲，之后他把自己的窘境告诉了他们。他们立刻提出在我继续行程之前给我提供住宿。】
