第13集 - 毛里求斯指挥（下篇）

嗯。

Yeah.

还有，关于这种让人充满活力、赋予生命的东西，你知道的，他在这里反思杰克。

And and this this thing about, you know, kind of what gives people life, what brings them to life, you know, they're, know, here he's reflecting on Jack.

后来，我们看到他反思自己。

Later we got him reflecting on himself.

我想，关于克劳福德的评论也在于他是如何做到这一点的。

And I guess a bit of the commentary about Claudeford is how he does that as well.

也就是说，我们行动的正确动机是什么？不仅是在战争中，也包括在生活中？

That, you know, what's the right motivation, not just for our actions in war, but for living as well?

我不知道帕特里克·奥布莱恩在这里是如何让我们更深入的。

I don't how Patrick O'Brien takes us deeper in here.

你知道，我们一开始是他们取得了胜利，杰克原本被海军上将派遣时，被告知如果成功将获得巨大荣誉。

You know, we kind of started here as they had had their victory and Jack went from being told essentially there's great success by the admiral originally as he sent him off.

而如果你失败了，你知道，你将一辈子待在岸上，拿半薪。

And if you fail, you know, you're a lifetime on the beach at half pay.

现在他是海军上将眼中的宠儿。

Now he's the apple of the admiral's eye.

嗯。

Mhmm.

在海角这边，生活一切美好，但传来了一些消息。

Life is all good here back on the cape, but, some news comes in.

消息传来，法国人俘获了三名印度人、一艘英国皇家海军双桅帆船‘胜利号’，以及一艘葡萄牙护卫舰‘米内尔瓦号’。

And the news comes in that the French have taken three more Indian men, a Royal Navy sloop, the victor, a Portuguese frigate, the Minerva.

好吧，你从英雄杰克和这场伟大行动，一下子变成了必须赶紧回去处理这些事——这对我、对我们都不利。

And, okay, you've gone from the hero Jack and this great action to you better get back out there and bring this stuff This is not looking good on me and it's not looking good on us.

杰克重新挂上了他的徽章，正如奥布赖恩所说，‘他自己的胸衣’。

And Jack shifts his pendant back into it what O'Brien says, quote, his own bodicee.

嗯。

Yeah.

就在我们以为他再也不关心舰船的时候。

Just when we thought that he didn't really care about ships anymore.

对。

Right.

对。

Right.

史蒂文很担心他，因为当他还用海军上将那艘大型74炮舰时，杰克根本不喜欢那艘船。

Steven's worried about him because he didn't you know, when he was using sort of the admiral's big 74 is like, he you know, Jack just didn't love that ship.

他根本没把它当回事，那只是他开会的地方而已。

Didn't really see it just seemed to be kind of like a pull you know, it's just where his meetings were held at.

对。

Yeah.

但我们知道，杰克依然热爱船只。

But we tell Jack still loves ships.

他爱的是博多西号。

He loves the Bodosea.

对。

Yeah.

船员们也利用了这一点，对吧？

And the crew had played on that as well, hadn't they?

艾略特船长一直代理博多西号的船长。

Captain Elliott had been standing in as captain of the Bodosea.

船员们说：

And oh, said the crew.

哦，指挥官总是喜欢这样。

Oh, the commander always liked it that way.

哦，指挥官总说，他的前任船长奥布里说过，我们应该把船首的黄铜炮架涂成棕色。

Oh, the commander always said his last Captain Obree said we should paint the brass bow chases brown.

否则船员们老远就能看出来。

Or else the crew can tell a mile

远。

long.

活在阴影下很难。

It's hard to live in the shadow.

对。

Right.

所以我们已经梳理了这场战役的线索，从军事角度看，这算是一次成功，可以说我们在留尼汪暂时站稳了脚跟，军事上的各种要素至少正在逐步就位。现在，我想谈谈斯蒂芬作为情报人员的角色——不仅仅是收集情报，更在于积极促进公众舆论的转向，以及将权力从法国人手中转移到英国人和帝国手中。

So we've drawn together the threads of the campaign, bit of a success from the military side of things, a foothold you might say temporarily on La Reunion and militarily the pieces are at least somewhat falling into place and now I think we're going to talk about Stephen's role as an intelligence agent, not just in gathering intelligence, but in helping to actively foster the the turning over of public opinion and the turning over of power away from the French and towards the British and towards the empire.

天啊，听起来任务真够重的。

Boy, sounds like a lot to do.

你觉得我们是不是先休息一下？

Do you think we should take a short break first?

我也觉得应该休息一下。

I think we should.

所以我不知道该喝点什么，但我想是时候来点朗姆酒了。

So I don't know what beverage should we maybe I think it's time to light along the grog.

也许先给半份口粮，剩下的留到晚餐时，视天气和敌情而定。

Maybe maybe a half ration and and the rest at supper, enemy and the day permitting.

阿门。

Amen.

好吧。

Alright.

马上回来。

Be right back.

希望你喝得开心。

Hope you enjoyed your grog.

欢迎回到《情人洞》，一个帕特里克·奥布莱恩的播客。

Welcome back to the lovers hole, a Patrick O'Brien podcast.

我们之前在谈史蒂文作为情报人员以及在这场试图夺回毛里求斯和留尼汪控制权的行动中作为政权更迭代理人所扮演的角色。

And we were talking about Steven and his role as an intelligence agent and as an agent of regime change in this campaign to try and take back control of Mauritius and Lara Union.

是的。

Yeah.

你知道，我们过去见过他，收集情报、分析情报，向高层提供这可能意味着什么的建议，并在更广泛的层面上影响加泰罗尼亚和西班牙的政治事务。

You know, we've seen him in the past, you know, gathering intelligence, analyzing intelligence, advising the higher ups as to what this might mean, and in a broad general way, influencing political affairs in Catalonia and Spain.

但现在他在这里，专门计划用金钱、宣传和培养盟友来瓦解现有的政权。

But now he's here specifically planning to undermine an existing state using money, using propaganda, developing allies.

你知道，他真的正在崭露头角，展现出一种更加高级的情报与间谍工作方式。

You know, he really is coming into his own, a much more advanced kind of intelligence and espionage work.

我认为杰克意识到这是一场重大行动的时刻之一，是当船身突然倾斜或摇晃时，杰克发现史蒂文正在捡起甲板上的一堆硬币，于是他问：‘这是什么？’

The one of the moments where I think Jack sees this for the major undertaking that it is is when there's a lurch or a wave and, Jack finds Steven picking up bunches of coins on the cabin floor and he goes, what's this?

史蒂文带着一丝讽刺的口吻回答：‘我相信这通常被称为钱。’

And Steven rather sarcastically says, I believe it's commonly known as money.

比杰克一生中见过的任何钱都多。

More money than Jack's seen in his entire life.

对。

Right.

史蒂文想强调的一点是，这些钱都是真币，不是伪造的。

One of the things that Steven wants to emphasize about this is that it's all genuine money, it's not forged.

他指责法国人曾用假币和假纸币购买服务或情报。

He calls out the French for having bought services or intelligence with false coin and false paper.

他最后那句话还带着一点微妙的幽默意味。

He even got there's a little bit of a a a wry humorous twist behind the his his final remark.

他说法国人用假币购买服务或情报，这种做法让间谍活动声名狼藉。

He says the French buying services or intelligence with false coin, that's the kind of thing that gives espionage a bad name.

没错。

Right.

正是如此。

That's right.

而且，天真的杰克会问：如果我们用真钱支付，是不是就能得到更好的情报？

Well and and I'll have Jack in his innocence says, well, if we pay real money, is it to be presumed we get better intelligence?

杰克在问史蒂文。

Jack's asking Steven.

当然，史蒂文说，老实讲，那些受雇的特工及其提供的信息并没有那么有价值。

And, of course, Steven says, to be honest, the the the paid agent and his information aren't that valuable.

但你知道，真正值得追求的是找到像史蒂文这样真正忠于事业、愿意冒生命危险推翻波拿巴的人，他说，留尼汪岛上就有好几个这样的人。

But, you know, going and finding someone who, in parenthesis, like Steven, is a true loyalist to a cause who'll risk his life to bring down Bonaparte, That's the real stuff to aim for and there are several of them, he says, on Reunion.

我有充分理由相信，毛里求斯岛上还有更多这样的人。

And, I have every reason to believe that there are more on Mauritius.

嗯。

Yeah.

这不是很有趣吗？

Ain't it interesting?

我们又回到了职业与个人的问题上，又回到了动机上来，就是这样。

We're sort of back to that professional and personal again, back to motivation again, here we are.

史蒂文正在寻找机会，深入挖掘人们的真正动机，并将他们招募到自己的事业中。

Steven's seeking opportunities to to hone in on people's true motivations and recruit them to his cause.

杰克从专业角度观察他的船长们的行为，他有很好的直觉，但还没真正把握住关键。

And Jack professionally with the behavior of his captains, He's got good instincts, but he hasn't really got his finger on the pulse yet.

对。

Right.

史蒂文又快速地和杰克核对了一下概率。

Steven does another quick odds check with Jack.

杰克仍然认为双方势均力敌，但他确实担心飓风季节即将来临。

Jack still puts them as even, but he does worry that the hurricane season is coming in.

他认为，到目前为止，他们的许多成功将依赖于在法国舰队停泊时对其实施封锁。

And a lot of their success at this point, he thinks, is gonna be underpinned by being able to blockade the French while they're in port.

但法国舰队正停泊在自己的家门口，而英国舰队离自己的基地如此遥远，飓风季节可能会让他们难以维持封锁。

But with the French in port right at their home base, the British so far from their home base, hurricane season might be tough to keep them in port.

可能会吧。

It might.

现在我们有了几章内容，事情开始逐渐明朗起来。

So we've got a couple of chapters now where things are beginning to fall into place.

我们还没有准备好让下一波大规模武装力量去夺取这些岛屿中的任何一个。

We're not yet ready to have the next big feet of arms in taking control of one of these islands.

但发生了一些事情。

But a few things happen.

首先，史蒂文登陆留尼汪岛，试图利用他的资金和对人们动机的洞察力。

First of all, Steven goes ashore on La Reunion to try and make use of his money and make use of his insights into people's motivations.

他正在寻找建立联系的机会。

He's looking to make contact.

顺便说一下，他回来时不仅带来了好的情报，还带了一些非常好的咖啡和一台烘焙机。

By the way, he comes back not only with good intelligence but some really great coffee and a roasting machine.

所以，史蒂文其实是个极客。

So and Steven Steven is a hipster really.

另外，我们之前发现，但你知道，我们没时间多谈，基利克告诉他们，杰克注意到咖啡有一种特别的味道，基利克说这是因为有人在咖啡里拉屎了。

Well, and and as an aside, we we'd found out, but we, you know, we don't have time to talk about too much that Killick had, told them that, Jack noticed a particular tang in the coffee and Killick said it's had been in them crapping in the coffee.

杰克就说：哦，是吗。

And and Jack was like, oh, yeah.

这味道真熟悉。

That's that's that familiar taste.

所以史蒂文正在解决这个问题，我很喜欢这一点。

So Steven is fixing that, which I love.

所以我们现在有一台烘焙机。

So we've got a roasting machine.

我们还有一些很棒的咖啡，只是还没喝到。

We've got some great coffee as yet un Right.

未被老鼠污染。

Unadulterated by rats.

未被老鼠污染。

Un polluted by rats.

史蒂文在工作上越来越与克隆福特保持一致。

And Steven's getting more and more aligned with Clonfort in terms of the the work that he does.

因为克隆福特熟悉当地情况，还有一位本地领航员。

So because Clonfort has local knowledge and he has a local pilot.

史蒂文登上由克隆福特指挥的“尼瑞德号”，前往留尼汪，设法策反当地对法国的忠诚，转而支持英国。

Steven goes aboard the Neraid which is now under the command of Confort and heads to La Reunion to see what he can do by way of fomenting a bit of loyalty away from the French and towards the British.

是的。

Yeah.

对克隆福特的这种了解还在继续。

And this insight into Confort continues.

因此，我们既有史蒂文来分析这一点，也有他来叙述这一切。

And so we have Stephen to to both analyze that and to narrate it as well.

他注意到，在克隆福特的船上，当克隆福特下达命令时，会有很多讨论。

He notices that on Confort's ship, when Confort gives an order, there's a lot of discussion.

有很多

There's a lot

建议

of

建议。

suggestions.

斯蒂芬心想，你知道，我从未在另一艘皇家海军舰船上见过这种情况。

And Stephen's thinking, you know, I've never seen that on another Royal Navy ship.

他怀疑法国人或许会这样，因为他们活泼健谈，但在皇家海军中却不会。

He suspects that maybe the French might do that because they're lively and articulate, but not in the Royal Navy.

斯蒂芬写道，或者说，奥布莱恩写道：在某个时刻，斯蒂芬意识到，对克隆福特而言，他（即斯蒂芬）已不再是餐桌上的伙伴，而变成了一个观众。

And Stephen writes, or I guess O'Brien writes, At some point, Stephen became aware that for Clonfort, he, meaning Stephen, had ceased to be a table companion and had turned into an audience.

这与几天前他们友好的交谈截然不同，不久之后，斯蒂芬感到深深的无聊。

It was quite unlike their friendly discourse of some days before, and presently Stephen grew sadly bored.

他思索道，谎言或半真半假的话自有其价值，因为它们描绘了一个人希望展现的形象，但只需寥寥数句就足以达到这种效果。

Lies or half lies, he reflected, had a certain value in that they gave a picture of what a man would wish to seem, but a very few were enough for that.

接着，这些话又带有一种咄咄逼人、强求式的特质，仿佛听者必须被强行击打才能产生钦佩。

And then they had a striving, aggressive quality as though the listener had to be bludgeoned into admiration.

它们与对话完全相反。

They were the antithesis of conversation.

他想，这些话也可能令人尴尬。

They can also be embarrassing, he thought.

他想着，当康福没完没了地谈论骑独角兽的事时，而我们上次谈的其实是独角鲸的角。

And he's thinking that as Confert goes on and on about talking about riding the unicorn that I we talked about the narwhal horn last time.

是啊。

Yeah.

斯蒂芬还从康福的船医麦克亚当那里得知，斯蒂芬早前就曾指出，康福在焦虑时出汗异常严重，并暗示康福的问题可能更多是心理性的，而非生理性的。

And Steven also learned from Confort's ship surgeon, McAdam, that Steven had early pointed out how profusely Confort sweats in these times of anxiety and was suggesting that maybe there was more of a psychological condition to Confort than a physical condition.

麦克亚当原本更偏向心理层面的观察者，之前并未注意到这一点，但现在也意识到了，并注意到康福在谈论杰克时，出汗尤其严重。

McAdam being more of a psychological type, hadn't picked up on it, but now does, and notes that Komfred sweats really profusely, especially when he's talking about Jack.

史蒂文不禁怀疑，如果康福德能更多地采用史蒂文所说的‘更真实的认同’，即通过讲述真相而非他目前这些自我挫败的行为，他的状况可能会好得多。

And Steven kind of wonders if if Conford sought more of what Steven calls a more legitimate approval by speaking about the truth rather than his current self defeating practices, he would be in much better shape.

也许这甚至比麦克亚当和史蒂文之前讨论过的那些药剂和疗法还要有效。

And and perhaps that would be even better than all the drafts and potions that McAdam and Stephen had talked through about him.

确实如此。

Indeed.

我完全不会直接将此事与英国王室成员试图讲述或不讲述他们人生经历的真实性，以及这是否与出汗有关联系起来。

And I'm not gonna make any direct connection at all to members of the British royal family and them trying to speak the truth or not about where they've been in their lives and whether that has any connection to sweating.

如果你关注过媒体上发生的一些事情，你就知道我在说什么。

If you followed any of the stuff going on in the media you'll know what I'm talking about.

哦，天哪。

Oh no.

我们所谈论的这位王室成员也曾是女王陛下海军的一名军官。

And the member of the royal family that we're talking about is a former officer in Her Majesty's Navy as well.

是的。

Yeah.

所以你看。

So there you go.

非常悲伤。

Very sad.

杰克之前也提到过，这可能会进入飓风季节，而且我们实际上会很快地经历并度过一场飓风。

Jack had also referred earlier on to the possibility that this is going to be hurricane season, and rather quickly actually we get into and out of a hurricane.

考虑到我们上一本书中在大西洋风暴中度过了那么多时间，我认为奥布莱恩会说，是的。

And considering how much time we spent in the Atlantic storm a book ago, I think O'Brien's going, yeah.

是的。

Yeah.

你们都已经读过我对船上恶劣天气下生活的描述了，所以我不会再详细描述飓风了。

You you've all read my descriptions now of life in heavy weather aboard a ship, so I'm not gonna go big on the description of the hurricane.

但毫无疑问，飓风在他们海上航行时袭击了舰队，我们确实得到了一段精彩的描述。

But for sure, a hurricane strikes the squadron while they're at sea, and we do get a great description.

奥布莱恩写道：船已经侧倾到极限了。

O'Brien writes, the ship was on her beam ends.

黑暗笼罩着他们，已知的世界在一片无处不在的巨响中消融。

The darkness was upon them, and the known world dissolved in a vast omnipresent noise.

空气与水交织在一起。

Air and water were intermingled.

海面不再存在，天空消失，上下之分也荡然无存。

There was no surface to the sea, the sky vanished, and the distinction between up and down disappeared.

对于甲板上的人而言，这种感觉只是暂时的；但对于医生来说，却更为持久。

Disappeared momentarily for those on deck, more durably for Doctor.

护士长摔下两道梯子后，发现自己躺在了船侧。

Matron, who having pitched down two ladders, found himself lying on the ship's side.

如果我没记错的话，是摔进了一堆糖浆里。

In amongst some treacle, if I remember rightly.

是的。

Yeah.

他说，你知道，他在黑暗中跌落，一脸困惑。

He said, you know, he landed in the darkness puzzled.

对吧？

Right?

我觉得我们从未感受到这艘船处于致命危险中，但它显然给船上的人员造成了损害和混乱。

I don't think we ever get the sense that the ship is in mortal danger, but it clearly causing damage and disruption aboard the ship.

所以是时候返回开普敦了。

So it's time to go back to Cape Town.

是时候进行整修了。

It's time to refit.

而且又一次，杰克面临着压力，必须再次让舰队调头，他不得不进行至少和往常一样多的腐败行为，甚至可能比往常更多，因为船坞人员都知道他手头有一些资金。

And once again, Jack's under pressure to get the fleet turned around again, and he has to engage in at least as much corruption as his customary and probably even more corruption than his customary given that the dockyard people all know that he's got some funds.

船坞人员都知道他必须尽快重返海上，因此他几乎被榨干了。

The dockyard people all know that he needs to get back out there in short order, so he's getting bled white pretty much.

斯蒂芬在开普敦还要面对另一件不愉快的事，那就是军官们纪律涣散，导致有一长串案件需要由军事法庭审理，而杰克作为舰队司令的高级船长，必须参与其中，因为他们需要足够多的军官来组成军事法庭。

There's something else unpleasant for Steven to deal with in Cape Town, and that's the discipline among the officers that has resulted in a in a long list of cases that need to be heard by a court marshal, and Jack as the senior captain of the commodore has to have a part in that because they need enough officers to convene a court martial.

军官之间相互指控，情况如此阴郁，以至于斯蒂芬和杰克不得不再次求助于音乐；而在这片阴霾中，确实发生了一件好事：当他们调试乐器时，杰克听到了消息——援军已抵达罗德里格斯岛，准备进攻留尼汪岛，因此他与基廷的计划可以付诸实施了。我提到这一点，是因为当时我们得知，连那只可怕的老豹子也到了。

There are accusations against officers by other officers and this is so gloomy that Stephen and Jack have to turn to music again and something good does happen in the context of all of this which is that while they're tuning up their instruments Jack hears the news that troops have arrived on on Rodriguez ready to attack La Reunion so his plan with Keating can take place and I'm mentioning this because we get a reference at that point to the fact that even the horrible old leopard has arrived.

还有那只可怕的老豹子，哦，对。

And the horrible old leopard Oh, right.

它在这段故事中会成为一个亮点，在未来的故事中也会频繁出现。

Is gonna be a a feature in this story a little and a feature in future stories a lot.

我想做一个非常牵强的联系，把我们最爱的电视剧《白宫风云》扯进来。

I wanna make one very tenuous connection to our favorite TV show to the West Wing.

帕特里克·奥布莱恩在细节上做得非常好，确保我们始终使用完全正确的复数形式‘courts martial’，这给了我一个机会指出，这个知识点是我们所有《白宫风云》粉丝从第二季第18集中的约西亚·巴特勒总统那里学到的。

Patrick O'Brien does a great job in pedantry and making sure that we always use the strictly correct plural courts martial and this gives me an excuse to point out that this was a lesson taught to all of us West Wing fans by president Josiah Bartlett in episode 18 of season two of the West Wing.

没人撒谎。

Nobody lied.

没人撒谎？

Nobody lied?

没人。

Nobody.

没人撒谎？

Nobody lied?

这就是你过去一年里不断对自己说的话吗？

Is that what you've been saying to yourself over and over again for a year?

那么，利奥，这是一场大规模的欺骗吗？

Well, Leo, a deception of massive proportion?

我简直无法相信，他每年在贝塞斯达都要做两次体检。

I can't even He gets a physical twice a year at Bethesda.

他的医生都是海军军官。

His doctors are naval officers.

你是说这些军官也卷入了这件事？

Are you telling me that officers are involved in this?

托比。

Toby.

这些人会被送上军事法庭。

These guys are gonna be court martialed.

没人听我的。

Nobody listen to me.

没人撒谎。

Nobody lied.

没人被要求撒谎。

Nobody was asked to lie.

胁迫。

Coercion.

没人被要求撒谎。

Nobody was asked to lie.

军官、第一夫人、外科医生，据我所知还有军医总监。

Officers, the First Lady, surgeons, surgeon generals for all I know.

军医总监的复数形式不是‘surgeon generals’，而是‘surgeons general’。

The plural of surgeon general isn't surgeon generals, it's surgeons general.

就像总检察长（attorneys general）或军事法庭（courts martial）一样。

Like attorneys general or courts marshal.

顺便说一句，如果你喜欢播客，也喜欢追读文学作品，如果你还没听过，应该去看看《西翼每周》。

And by the way, if you love podcasts and you love following along works of literature, you should check out The West Wing Weekly if you haven't already.

这是一个非常棒的播客。

It's a really great podcast.

关于军事法庭和外科总长的这个说法，在《西翼每周》中成了一个持续的笑点，你可能会喜欢。

And, this whole idea of courts martial and surgeons general became a running joke on the West Wing Weekly, so you might like that.

正是这些军事法庭案件让杰克有点发疯，因为他急着要去接部队、启程出发，却不得不一再旁听一个又一个案件。

And it's this courts martial that, it drives Jack a little bit insane because he's eager now to go pick up the troops and get moving, and he has to sit through case after case after case after case.

在他们准备启程后，晚上还举行了一场晚宴。

They have a dinner later, afterwards as they get ready to move out.

再一次，康福特似乎——正如杰克所说——说错了话，继续胡闹，惹得大家一片哗然。

And once again, Confort seems to, as Jack says, write the wrong note and continue pratting and gets everybody into a bit of an uproar.

你知道，杰克又得去核查他们一遍。

You know, Jack has to check them again.

斯蒂芬在写到康福特时，回忆起并记录下弥尔顿的一句话：没有什么比适当的自尊更能成就一个人。

And Stephen, writing about Confort recalls and writes in his journal a phrase from Milton, Nothing profits a man like proper self esteem.

是啊，‘没有什么比适当的自尊更能成就一个人’这句话让杰克想起了他之前的想法——他认为自己的海军成就更多是运气，而非自身了不起的才能。

Yeah, kind of nothing profits a man like proper self esteem brought back to mind Jack's thoughts earlier about how he sees his naval success as more luck than any great things of himself.

要知道，他只是恰巧在正确的时间出现在了正确的地方，而克隆福特却完全以不同的方式看待这一切，对自己的现状并不满足。

Know, that he was in the right place at the right time and how Clonfort just seems to see it very differently and not content with who he is.

我认为杰克在某种程度上是喜欢自己的，他想继续前进，有一些自己想做的事情。

I think Jack in some ways likes himself for who he is, wants to move on, has some things that he wants to do.

嗯。

Yeah.

他当然希望有一天能升旗扬威，但他依然喜欢真实的自己，并不渴望成为男爵之类的东西。

Certainly wants to go up and raise his flag one day, but still likes himself and doesn't aspire to other things like being a baronet.

我们又有了奥布莱恩可以引用的另一位作者。

And we have another author for O'Brien to quote from.

前几期我们提到过德莱顿，现在又回到了弥尔顿。

We had Dryden a book or two ago, and now we've got Milton again.

嗯。

Yeah.

嗯。

Yeah.

弥尔顿的《失乐园》。

Milton from Paradise Lost.

有时候这有点不祥。

That's a little ominous sometimes.

对吧？

Right?

嗯。

Yeah.

史蒂文稍微调整了一下。

Steven did bangle it a little bit.

原话是：‘没有什么比建立在公正、正当且平衡基础上的自尊更能带来收益了。’

Original quote was off times, nothing profits more than self esteem grounded on just and right well balanced.

很棒的内容，弥尔顿。

Good stuff, Milton.

就是这样。

There you go.

嗯。

Yeah.

所以，again，各个部分正在逐步到位。

So, again, the pieces are coming into place.

部队已经准备就绪，可以行动了。

The troops are ready to move.

船只在飓风过后正在重新整备。

The ships are being refitted after the hurricane.

是时候采取行动了，迈出战役的第一步，让英军登陆留尼汪，然后前往罗德里格斯接应部队，幸运的是基廷仍担任指挥。我们在罗德里格斯附近遇到了谁？——我们的老朋友托马斯·普林斯。

It's time to go and take the first active step in the campaign and put british boots on the ground on La Reunion so they head off to Rodriguez to pick up the troops fortunately with Keating still in command And who do we encounter, roundabout Rodriguez than our old friend Thomas Pullings?

嗯。

Yeah.

太棒了。

This is great.

太棒了。

This is great.

史蒂文正努力穿过人群。

Steven, trying to sort of get through the crowd of people.

这是他的名字。

Here's his name.

医生。

Doctor.

医生。

Doctor.

他继续走着，低着头，原来是托马斯·普林斯。

Keeps walking, puts his head down, and it's Thomas Pullings.

我们真高兴看到这群兄弟在这里重聚。

We love to have the band of brothers reforming here.

我不会试图引用原文，但奥布莱恩仍然让普林斯说着他的东盎格利亚口音，读起来非常棒，显然普林斯依然是那个朴实接地气的角色。

And I'm I'm not gonna try and quote any of it, but O'Brien is still giving Pullings his East Anglian dialect speech which is really nice to read about and obviously Pullings is still there as a very down to earth salt of the earth type of character.

真是个好人。

Such a such a good guy.

所以资源都已就位，但形势开始对杰克的利益以及英国指挥层的利益不利。

So the resources are all in place but the elements are starting to pick up against Jack's interests and against the interests of the British command.

因此，他们在计划进攻留尼汪的海滩上遭遇了越来越大的海浪，损失了几艘船。

So the surf building on the beach where they're planning to attack La Reunion, and they lose several boats.

普林斯有效地牺牲了他的运输船，通过抛锚使其在浪中打转，从而形成了一道防波堤，确实起到了作用，但最终船只还是被海浪击得粉碎。

Pullings effectively sacrifices his transport by anchoring it and letting it kinda slew around in the surf so that it provides a bit of breakwater, which it does and eventually is is beaten to pieces in the waves.

尽管克隆福特站在土丘上挥手激励士兵，但登陆的部队火药受潮，无法开枪，只能临时应变；基廷对杰克在现场指导应变、做出决策感到欣慰，因为这次登陆原本正有些失控。

The troops that do land, though Clonfort is standing on a mound and waving and exhorting them, they've got wet powder and they can't shoot and they have to improvise and Keating is pleased that Jack's there to direct the improvisation and to give some decisions on what is otherwise a landing that's going a little bit wrong.

对，对。

Right, right.

他们原本制定了一个详尽的计划，打算分头行动再汇合，但现在发现根本无法进入这里。

They've had this really well developed plan about sitting down in different parts and then joining up and realize now we can't get in here.

于是他们不得不转移到岛屿的另一侧，那里有一部分部队正要登陆，他们认为如果这里无法登陆，不如去那里增援。

So they have to move to the other side of the island where part of the force was being dropped and thought better if we can't land here to go reinforce them there.

所以

So

他们做了个小小的佯动，现在我们的部队在两个地方登陆了。

they do this little faint maneuver and now we've got troops landing in two places.

他们终于集结了足够多的兵力准备开战，基廷期待着这成为他的高光时刻。

They do finally get enough troops for sure to be ready for battle, and Keating is ready for this to be his big moment.

他看到，是的。

He sees that Yes.

他说，哦，法国人的防御非常传统。

There's a he said, oh, the French have got very conventional defense.

嗯。

Yeah.

有意思。

Interesting.

我们这里正进行一场对预设防御阵地的常规进攻，而他花了数月时间在岛上打几内亚鸡，训练士兵，他的部队已经准备好迎接他的关键时刻。

We're we've got a regular, you know, regular attack on a prepared defensive position here, and he's you know, he spent months and months on island shooting guinea fowl, training his men, and his force is ready for him to have his his critical moment.

而按照帕特里克·奥布莱恩的风格，这个时刻却被剥夺了。

And in true Patrick O'Brien style, it's taken away from him.

是啊，是啊，真讨厌。

Yeah, yeah, hate that.

他正准备下令进攻，而他地面的指挥官汇报说：不行，因为我刚派斯蒂芬·马特隆去和法国军方及文职领导人进行谈判。

He's ready to push go and, you know, his commander on the ground, you know, that reports up to him says, well, I can't because I just sent Stephen Matron ahead for a parley with the French military and civilian leaders.

所以这就像是：等等，等等，等等，我们现在正处于停战旗帜之下。

So it's like, Woah, woah, woah, we're under a flag of truce for the moment.

我们不能向任何人开火。

We shoot anybody.

然后，当基廷焦躁不安、知道这注定无果时，斯蒂芬最终回来了。

And then, you know, Stephen comes back eventually as Keating is gnawing at the bit, knowing that this will come to nothing.

而且啊，我真的很喜欢这一点：基廷向杰克通报了斯蒂芬谈判的结果。

And and I I love you you should probably take this that Keating notifies Jack of the result of of Steven's discussions.

是啊。

Yeah.

他发了一封信。

He he sends a note.

我们看到了信的内容，几乎能听到那略带古雅的语气。

We get the content of the note, you can almost hear the slightly arch tone.

亲爱的准将，您的朋友让我们失望了。

My dear Commodore, your friend has disappointed us.

他让我们错失了一场战斗，一场您所能想象的最完美的战斗。

He's done us out of our battle, as neat a battle as you could wish to see.

我们已经将他们的前哨逼至右翼边缘，正当敌军阵型大乱之际，对方却提出投降，以避免无谓的流血牺牲。

We had driven in their pickets out flat near right wing, and then quite out of order, a capitulation is proposed to avert the effusion of human blood for sooth.

通常的条款：战争荣誉、随身武器、行李和个人物品等等，诸如此类——他本可以这么说——如果您满意，请上岸签署文件。您忠诚谦卑的仆人，H·基廷，少校。这是一种相当正式的署名方式。

Usual terms honors of war sidearms baggage personal effects and so on blah blah blah he might have said if you are satisfied please come ashore to sign together with your obliged humble servant h Keating, a lieutenant colonel, which is a fairly formal sign off.

是的。

Yes.

当然。

For sure.

于是，老派的基廷满腔的军事热情，被史蒂文的政治手腕成功地、体面地但彻底地挫败了。

So good old Keating gets his all his warlike professional enthusiasm undercut successfully, honorably, but undercut by Steven's political maneuverings.

典型的帕特里克·奥布莱恩。

So typical Patrick O'Brien.

我喜欢这个。

I love that.

好吧，史蒂文如愿以偿了，他在岛上显然干得非常出色。

Well, Steven got his way, and what a what a fabulous job he's obviously done on the island.

他们一出现，岛屿就投降了，几乎是瞬间的事。

It fell as soon as they showed up, essentially.

是的。

Yeah.

这可是相当不错的一步。

That's a pretty good step.

如果你统计胜利次数，计算法国军队投降的次数，以及联合军种行动、史蒂文·马特拉和情报努力取得胜利的时刻，那么我们可以说在留尼汪这一战中，我们赢了一局。

You could almost say odds beginning to turn in our favor if we're counting numbers of victories, occasions when the French military have conceded occasions when the combined arms efforts and the Steven Matra and intelligence effort have prevailed, then we score one in the win column, I think, for La Reunion.

而且几乎立刻，杰克就想掉头进攻毛里求斯。

And pretty much straight away, Jack wants to turn and attack Mauritius.

而使节法夸尔，如今已成为总督法夸尔——因为他获得了一座岛屿来治理——表示同意，并召开军事会议，他说：‘我赞同舰长的话，各位先生，我恳请：一刻也不要耽搁！敌方在舰船、运输工具和兵力上占据优势，已掌握岛上防御的情报，士气占优，且无任何撤回命令。这里预示着：任何不了解当地确切状况的权威机构，不得干预熟悉情况者的作战指挥；新的参谋团队此刻不可能从孟买、威廉堡或白厅带着成熟的作战计划抵达。这种局面不可能持续下去。'

And envoy Farquhar, who is now governor Farquhar because he got an island to govern, agrees and there's a council of war and he says, I echo the Commodore's words, gentlemen, and I cry, lose not a minute they have superiority in ships transports and troops at the ready captured information on the island's defenses a morale advantage and no countermanding orders and there's a foreshadow here that says no orders from any authority unacquainted with the exact state of local conditions can take the guidance of operations from those who are acquainted with them no new set of staff officers can for the moment arrive with a plan of campaign matured in Bombay or Fort William or Whitehall This is a state of affairs that cannot last.

这是一场由总督发表的精彩演说，我们很少能听到高级官员如此振奋人心的讲话。

This is a great speech by a governor and we don't often get great speeches and great motivation from senior officials.

是的，也许你可以说，从这时起，局势开始有点不太顺利了。

Yeah so maybe you could say this is a moment when it starts to go a little bit not quite so well.

我们已经遭遇了飓风，法国人也夺走了更多舰船，但此前局势一直在积累势头；而此刻，他们却未能获得进攻许可。

We've already had the hurricane and we've already had the French taking more ships but things have been building momentum but at this point they don't get the go ahead orders.

有些人希望等待并制定周密计划，有些人则想向总部请示确认，因此杰克不得不自行拟定替代方案来推动行动。

There are people who want to wait and plan, people who want to check things out with headquarters, so Jack has to come up with his own alternate plan to get things started.

他们没有进攻路易港，而是选择了毛里求斯东南部的帕斯岛。

And rather than attacking Port Louis, they'll take the Ile De Pass in the Southeast of Mauritius.

那是第二好的港口，他们打算将其作为登陆基地。

It's the second best port and Use it as a base for the landing.

这看起来是个不错的战略。

And that seems like good strategy.

这基本上是对东南部港口实施一种次级封锁，杰克决定派皮姆和克隆福特去执行对帕斯岛的进攻。

It it's basically allowing a sort of secondary blockade of, of Port Southeast, and Jack decides to send Pym and Clonfort to go and take care of this attack on the Ile De Pass.

史蒂文问杰克：克隆福特真的是最佳人选吗？

Steven asked the question to Jack, is Clonfort really the best choice?

杰克显然既想相信克隆福特的表现，又想化解他们之间曾经的尴尬，于是说：实际上，克隆福特确实是最佳人选。

And Jack, who I'm sure is both trying to take Confort's performance at face value and also trying to get past this awkwardness that he's had with with Confort says, actually, you know, Confort's the best choice.

他熟悉当地情况，这件事就这样定下了。

He's got the local knowledge, and that all seems to be settled.

史蒂文将前往毛里求斯收集情报、分发宣传材料并招募盟友，同时试图让杰克谈谈成为男爵的可能性。

Steven's gonna go to Mauritius to gather some intelligence to distribute some literature and recruit allies and tries to get Jack talking about the prospect of becoming a baronet.

我很喜欢这里再次回到动机的主题，杰克告诉史蒂文，他对头衔不感兴趣，他热爱自己的海军军衔，作为后舰船长，他像尼布甲尼撒一样自豪，但他也注意到海军上将多么渴望一个头衔。

And I love it we get back to the theme of motivation again and Jack tells Stephen that he's not interested in a title he loves his navy rank he's as as proud as Nebuchadnezzar about being a post captain, but he notes how much the admiral really craves a title.

天啊，”他大笑着说道。

Lord, he says laughing heartily.

想到一个年过六十的老人，还要在圣詹姆斯宫里为一条绶带卑躬屈膝。

To think of crawling about Saint James's for a ribbon when you're an ancient man past 60.

嘿，迈克，这种‘古稀’是指什么？

Hey Mike, what kind of ancient is that?

天啊，六十多岁可真是老了，谁能想象呢？

Boy that is ancient past 60, oh who can imagine?

所以毛里求斯是个更难啃的硬骨头，对吧？

So Mauritius is a bit of a tougher nut isn't it?

斯蒂芬在登上海军‘涅瑞伊得斯号’时出了事故，我认为这部分是由于船长们之间的竞争，他们都急于出发、急于抢先到达。

Stephen has an accident getting on board HMS Nerid caused in part I think by the competition between the captains and their eagerness to get away and their eagerness to get there first.

斯蒂芬受了伤，在‘涅瑞伊得斯号’前往毛里求斯的途中休养时，得以有更多时间观察克隆福特。

Stephen picks up an injury and gets the chance to spend more time observing Clonfort whilst even aboard the Nereid recuperating as Nereid makes the passage down to Mauritius.

所以，进攻毛里求斯计划的第一步是夺取堡垒，这座小岛上的堡垒确实被攻下了，但出了个问题。

So step one of this plan to descend upon Mauritius is to take the fort, And the fort on this little island is taken, but there's a snag.

确实出了个问题，而且这个问题不是军事或战术上的，而是再次涉及动机和个性。

There there is a snag, and the snag not being of military or tactical matters, but again, motivations and personalities.

说得对，伊恩。

Quite right, Ian.

结果发现，派姆进展得非常顺利。

Pym, it turns out, is making great time.

康福特稍微落后了一些，然后不得不加速前进。

Confort was a little behind and then had to beat up.

因此，派姆率先抵达，抢在康福特到达并参与之前占领了堡垒。

And consequently, Pym arrived, took the fort before Confort could arrive and participate.

康福特对此非常不满，并在船长们的首次会议上提出了抗议。

And Codford is pretty upset with him and takes it up at the first meeting of captains.

派姆只是像我们之前说的那样回应了他，说这些事情讲究先到先得。

Pym just checks him, as we said earlier, and says, you know, these matters, it's first come first serve.

没错，这确实是个明显的打脸。

Yeah, a definite burn.

但派姆随后将康福特留在堡垒指挥，自己返回了。

But Pym then leaves Comfort in command of the fort and heads back.

现在我们再次看到斯蒂芬，他继续观察康福特，而康福特开始从堡垒和舰船上派出小队，进行各种突袭，有些是像样的行动，有些则似乎毫无意义。

And now we see Stephen again continuing to watch Comfort and Comfort starts ranging out from the fort and from his ship going on all these little raids, some decent raids, some seemingly of no consequence.

每天晚上，康福都会举办盛大的晚宴来庆祝胜利，接受手下们的赞誉。

And every evening Confort has his great big dinners to celebrate the victories, looks to all of his offices to praise him.

史蒂芬注意到，人们将康福与科克伦相比，将他与杰克舰长甚至准将相比，有时人们看向史蒂芬时带着警惕的神情。

And Stephen notes they compare Confort to Cochrane, they compare Confort to Jack to the Commodore, sometimes they said with a wary look towards Steven.

而史蒂芬观察到，我们完全看不到任何关于培养人员、发展局势或制定战略的迹象。

And what we don't get, as Steven's observing, you know, we don't get any of this sense of developing the people, developing the situation, having a strategy in mind.

因此，他们从不进行火炮训练。

So there's no gunnery practice.

也没有人说：‘好了，我们现在占领了这座堡垒。’

There's no saying, okay, now we've got this fort.

这些火炮阵地我们到底该怎么用？

What do we really do with the batteries?

以至于没有任何操练、没有火炮训练、没有常规秩序、没有培训，也没有像杰克那样把驻扎在这里的陆军和海军人员统一起来进行指挥。

To the point where no drills, no gunnery practice, no regular order, no training, no bringing the military and the naval folks who are kind of housed there together now under some sort of command as Jack would do.

这就让他们变得脆弱不堪。

And that leaves them vulnerable.

确实如此。

It does.

我们感觉，某种事情即将发生，将扭转克劳福德和派姆的运势。

We get the sense that we're being set up for something to happen that's gonna reverse the fortunes of Crawford and Pym.

这真遗憾。

It's a shame here.

我想我们一开始预期会喜欢派姆，认为他是一位稳重、普通而称职的军官。

I think we started out being expected to like Pim and to think that he's a steady, regular, competent officer.

早些时候，杰克曾说过，真希望我有一打像派姆这样的军官，但派姆却试图在自己的游戏中模仿康福德，带着这种竞争心态，他并没有做出明智的决定——比如把康福德留在堡垒里负责指挥，结果事情并不顺利。

At some point earlier on, Jack had said, you know, I wish I had a dozen Pims, but Pim's trying to play comfort at his own game a little bit with this competitiveness, and he's not making great decisions about leaving comfort back there in the fort in command and things are not going so well.

‘尼雷德’号上的情况也不太妙，因为史蒂文虽然已从伤势中恢复，却与麦克亚当发生了些许分歧。

Things are not going so well aboard the Neraid either because Steven, although he's now recovering from his injury, has has a bit of a disagreement with McAdam.

到目前为止，他们作为同事，加上爱尔兰的联系，关系一直相当融洽。

They've been fairly friendly so far as colleagues and with the connection of Ireland.

有趣的是，我们开始讨论起史蒂芬·洛德纳姆·哈比特。

And it's funny, we get into a conversation about Stephen Lordnham Habit.

我觉得我根本想不起来在原著的哪里第一次了解到斯蒂芬用的是劳德纳姆，而且他还吸毒。

I'm like, I can't figure out whereabouts in the canon I was first introduced to the fact that Stephen uses Lordnham but Stephen's a drug user.

我确信这并不是第一次提到，但我觉得之前只是顺带一提，而这次是第一次明确指出斯蒂芬必须正视这个问题，而且他确实依赖它。

I'm sure this isn't quite the first time but I think I think it's been in passing and but it's this is the first time that it's being called out as something that Steven has to own up to and that he depends on.

没错，这有点像夏洛克·福尔摩斯的7%解决方案，尤其是在这种情况下，斯蒂芬一向不是个好病人，他对麦克亚当恶语相向，指责他是个酒鬼。

Yeah, you've got a little bit of Sherlock Holmes 7% solution, especially in this situation where Steven being the not great patient that he always is, has harsh words for McAdam and calls him out for being a drunk.

而麦克亚当则指出斯蒂芬有鸦片瘾，这让斯蒂芬惊讶不已，他根本不知道对方知道这件事。

And McAdam calls Steven out for his laudan habit, which Steven had no idea he knew about.

他有点防御性。

And he's a bit defensive.

他自我反思道，典型的依赖型自我辩护就是：这并没有伤害我，我还能掌控，随时都能戒掉。

It reflects to himself that the classic dependence self defense is this isn't harming me, I'm under control, I could stop it anytime I like.

他说了什么？

What does he say?

他说：我很少一次服用一千滴，这比起真正的鸦片吸食者或我当年在戴安娜时代服用的剂量来说，简直不值一提。

Says I rarely take a thousand drops a trifle compared to what your true opium eaters dose is or what I used to take in Diana's day.

所以我们事后才知道，当史蒂文深陷与黛安娜关系破裂的绝望时，他早已深深依赖鸦片来调节情绪。

So we're learning after the event that he was pretty deeply into managing his mood with with opium when he was in the depths of his despair over the relationship with Diana.

我随时都可以戒掉。

I can refrain whenever I choose.

我只在厌恶感强烈到威胁到我的工作时才服用。

I take it only when my disgust is so great that it threatens to impede my work.

这对他自己来说是一个相当大的坦白。

That's a fairly big admission to himself.

然后他试图把这一点投射到麦卡达姆身上。

And he then tries to reflect that back on McCadham.

他说：我要问一问，是的。

He says, I'm gonna ask whether Yes.

对自身或他人的厌恶在贝尔法斯特的人们中很常见。

Disgust for oneself or one's fellows is common among people in Belfast.

他想问麦卡达姆，那些病人是否觉得这种厌恶感令人瘫痪。

Wants to ask McCadam whether those patients found it incapacitating.

然后斯蒂芬开始对此进行深刻的反思。

And then Stephen really starts some deep reflection here about this discuss.

你知道，正如你所说，这种对自身、对他人、对生活过程的厌恶。

Know, this disgust, as you just said, for himself, for fellow human beings, for the process of living.

是的，这真的变得越来越黑暗了。

Yeah, This really is getting dark.

斯蒂芬接着说，他自己的这种厌恶，所有这些不同形式的厌恶，都在不断加剧。

Know, Steven kind of goes on to say that his own disgust, all of this disgust, these different kinds keep growing.

甚至那个在他从两艘船之间掉下去时救了他性命的人。

Even the guy that saved him when he got sort of dropped in between the boats saved his life.

他说，你知道，我向他道了谢，但我其实没有任何感觉。

He says, you know, I thanked him, but I didn't really feel anything.

他开始怀疑，自己内心的人性是否正被这种不断增长的厌恶感逐渐耗尽，而支撑他继续下去的，正是对波拿巴的憎恶——这种憎恶对他而言就像一种兴奋剂。

And starts to wonder if his own humanity is being drained away by this feeling disgust that he keeps growing and and that the thing that keeps him going is this loathing for Bonaparte, that that's kind of like a stimulant for him.

但我想，我们在这里可能是在平衡这样一个事实：斯蒂芬才是那个拥有纯粹动机的人，他对波拿巴怀有真正正义而愤怒的憎恨，渴望彻底摧毁波拿巴腐败的体系。

But I guess maybe what we're doing here is balancing out the fact that Steven was was the one with the pure motivation, with the real righteous indignant anger against Bonaparte and the desire to tear Bonaparte's corrupt structures to pieces.

但即使这种动机也不是纯粹的，因为它背后另有原因。

But even that motivation isn't really pure because it's got behind it.

这种厌恶的主题，或许部分源于史蒂文对自我的看法，部分则与他作为情报人员的身份有关。

This this theme of disgust maybe part of that's personal to Steven and his view of himself and part of it's I think to do with his identity as somebody involved in intelligence.

就在此时，水手们喊道：‘医生，医生，快上甲板，有美人鱼！’，史蒂文终于得到了一丝喘息。

At this moment we get some relief for Steven as the sailors all say Doctor Doctor come on deck there's a mermaid.

当然，那根本不是美人鱼。

And of course he's not a mermaid.

没错，接下来发生了一件特别滑稽的事。

Right and there's this hilarious thing.

尼克·亚当斯让史蒂文注意到两个水手即将为争论海牛和儒艮而大打出手——他们说，海牛分布在非洲东部，儒艮分布在非洲西部，都在印度洋，略有不同。

Nick Adams points Stephen to a conversation where a couple sailors are about to come to blows about whether or not the manatee or dugong, they said, you know, manatees are East Of Africa and dugongs are West Of Africa in the Indian Ocean there and slightly different.

史蒂文借此为他们上了一堂自然哲学课，也给麦卡德上了一课。

Stephen gives us a little natural philosophy lesson there and gives McAdam one.

但他们却准备为她手里是拿着梳子还是玻璃杯而大打出手。

But they're ready to fight on whether she had a comb or a glass in her hand.

他们拥有上帝。

That they had God.

在存在主义危机中，史蒂文大喊：你们到底怎么了？

Steven, in the midst of his existential crisis, hollers down, you know, what's the matter with all of you?

她手里拿着一把梳子。

She had a hairbrush in her hand.

我们更深入地探索了克洛姆福德和史蒂文那备受折磨的心理。

We've delved deeper into the tortured psyche of both Clomford and of Stephen.

我们见到了那其实是一只海牛的美人鱼。

We've met the mermaid that's really a manatee.

我认为，这场战役中现实世界的行动，以及早已存在的基础不稳定性，将开始显现，因为法国人已经出现在地平线上。

I think the real world of the the action in this campaign and some of the instability in the foundations that's already been present is going to start to show itself because the French appear on the horizon.

我注意到，每次法国人出现在地平线上时，都是由瞭望员发现并直接报告给杰克，而杰克则立刻顺着桅杆爬上去，手里拿着望远镜。

I really noticed that every other time the French have hoe interview on the horizon they've been seen by a lookout and reported directly to Jack and Jack's been straight up the rigging with a glass in his hand.

这就是遭遇法国人的模式。

That's the pattern of encountering the French.

每次都是。

Every time.

在杰克缺席的情况下收到这样的报告，真的让人不安。

It's really unnerving that we're getting this reported in Jack's absence.

从身处这场与纳里德和克隆福特同场行动的视角来看，真的让我感到非常不安——法国人突然出现，带着这三艘船：贝隆号、梅内尔夫号、维克托号，还有两艘印度商船，而杰克却踪影全无。在整个描述这场对堡垒的战斗过程中，我一直在想：天啊，杰克去哪儿了？但没有任何一个角色在任何时候提到‘要是指挥官在这里就好了’，而作为读者，我读到这场明显进行得不顺利的战斗时，感到极度不安。

This is a point of view of being in this action with the Nareid and Clonfort on the scene and it's really unnerving that for me anyway the the French appear with these three ships the Belon, the Menerve, the Victor and also the two Indiamen and Jack's nowhere and all the way through the description of this action against the fort I'm thinking oh gosh where's Jack and nobody none of the characters at any point say if only the commodore were here but as a reader I feel really unnerved reading this account of of action action that's clearly not going well.

我深深感受到杰克·奥布里缺席所带来的遗憾——他的洞察力、战术决策、机智和才华。

And I really feel the absence of Jack Aubrey and his insight and his tactical decision making and his cunning and his flair.

当然。

For sure.

这种对比太鲜明了。

And the contrast is so stark.

我们现在的代理指挥官在哪里？

Where's our acting commander here?

克隆福特在哪里？

Where's Confort?

他带着一支突击队出去了。

And he's off with one of his raiding parties.

没人太在意这件事。

Nobody's kind of paying any attention.

所有人都在岸上乱成一团。

Everybody's awful on shore.

他有没有集结兵力，制定一个计划？

Does he marshal his forces and put a plan together?

没有，他说。

No, he said.

这是我的高光时刻，他跳上小船，却没意识到你仍然有大量部队——或者说许多至关重要的士兵——还留在岸上。

It's moment of glory for me, jumps in his boat, not realizing you still have all your troops that are, you know, or many of them, the vitally important ones back on shore.

把他们集合起来——但没有，没有。

Get them together every- But no, no.

只要我在，奇迹就会发生。

As long as I'm there, miraculous things are gonna happen.

我们要杀死独角兽。

We're gonna slay the unicorn.

所有这些都不重要。

It doesn't matter about all

你可以感觉到，那一刻充满了傲慢，而这种傲慢注定会被打碎，因为当英国舰队终于集结并准备进攻时，康福德转向史蒂文说：‘马图林医生，我想让您看看一些能与您在阿勒里上校那里所见相媲美的东西。’那一刻我简直想拍脑门——‘伙计，你这下有麻烦了。’几句话之后，就像其他情况一样，当行动出错时，总有人会搁浅：又过了几句话，我们听到一个极其大胆的声明——‘天狼星号全速逼近，试图缩小距离，却判断失误，猛烈撞上岩石边缘，搁浅了。’

And you can tell there's there's a there's a moment of hubris that is bound to be overturned because as the British forces finally gather themselves and prepare to attack, comfort turns to steven and says doctor maturin I believe we may show you something to be compared to what you have seen with commodore albury and I'm almost face palming at that moment thinking okay mate you're you're in for it now and a few sentences like the other characteristic thing what happens when an action goes awry from one side or another somebody runs aground so a few sentences later if we get this really bold statement to Sirius hurrying to close the gap and misjudging her swing struck hard and grounded on the rocky edge.

就在同一时刻，法国护卫舰和岸上炮台开火了。

At the same moment the French frigates and the shore batteries open fire.

到了这个地步，局势已无可挽回，故事将继续下去——克隆福特和其他船只展开了一场漫长而痛苦、半仓促应变的防御与反击：船只均已搁浅，最终被焚毁，以免被法国人俘获——这真是一场惨不忍睹的境地。

And like at that point the game is up and the story's gonna go on and there's this really drawn out agonizing partial defense partially re improvised set of counter attacks between Clonfort and the other boats the boats have gone aground they end up getting burned so that the french can't capture them It's just a miserable, miserable situation.

这甚至不是一场迅速逆转的失败。

It's not even a rapid reversal of a defeat.

这是一场漫长、痛苦且代价高昂的失败，任何时刻他们本可以试图挽回，但一切努力都徒劳无功。

It's a defeat that's drawn out and painful and costly and at any point they might have tried to snatch it back but it's all futile.

这不过是这些船长们自作自受的一连串错误罢了。

Well, it's just a series of self inflicted wounds by these captains.

如果我们不知道奥布莱恩实际上是从历史中取材的，这一切简直会显得太过夸张。

It would almost be too much if we didn't know that in fact O'Brien had picked this right up from history.

是的。

Yeah.

我简直无法想象，如果亲历当时的情景，看到本可从胜利的爪牙中夺回的失败，会是怎样的感受。

And I just can't imagine watching this in real time to see what could have been, you know, to see defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, if you will.

由于杰克不在场，显然杰克需要付出相当大的努力才能维持他那乐观的态度，因为一艘载着马图林的信使船前往留尼汪，向奥布雷传达损失和进攻失败的消息。

With Jack not present, and it clearly takes a bit of an effort for Jack to keep up his optimistic air because there's a messenger vessel that with Maturin aboard goes to La Reunion to pass the message to Aubrey about the losses and about the failed attack.

令人不安的是，法国人新设了一座炮台，成功部署并瞄准了‘伊菲革涅亚号’和‘天狼星号’进行炮击。

And it's really unnerving that the French had a new battery that they managed to arm and equip and they managed to turn their fire on the Iphigenia and the Sirius.

他们当时正忙于将普姆的护卫舰从礁石上拖离，船长们之间还发生了不愉快的冲突。

They were busy trying to heave Pym's frigate off the reef and there were some ugly scenes between the captains themselves.

普姆意识到‘天狼星号’已无法挽救，于是将其点燃；就连这艘‘伊菲革涅亚号’，在派斯蒂芬和她的见习军官去向杰克报信后，也最终失陷了。

Pym realized that the Sirius couldn't be saved so therefore the Sirius was set on fire and even this ship, the Epigenia, is lost after she sends Stephen and her midshipman to take the news to Jack.

杰克依然强作镇定。

Jack manages to keep a brave face on it.

为什么，斯蒂芬？

Why, Stephen?

你在这儿啊，”斯蒂芬走进船舱时，他说道。

There you are, he says as Stephen walks into the cabin.

见到你我真高兴，再过几个小时我就要和基廷和他的手下一起去弗拉特岛了，但怎么能错过呢？

How happy I am to see you another couple of hours and I should have been off to Flat Island with Keating and his men but what to miss?

斯蒂芬得深吸一口气，坐下来。

And Steven has to take a breath and sit down.

是啊。

Yeah.

在讲述这个故事之前，他先说东南港的进攻失败了。

Before he tells the story, the attack on Port Southeast has failed.

纳里德号被俘了。

The Nareed is taken.

天狼星号和魔法号被烧毁了。

The Sirius and the Magiciana burned.

到目前为止，伊尔德帕斯堡垒本身肯定已经投降了。

And by now the and the Ildepass Fort itself will certainly have surrendered.

但杰克现在是个成年人了。

But Jack's a grown up these days.

杰克已经把一切都打理好了。

Jack's got his stuff together.

他说，敏尔夫、贝隆、阿斯特拉、维努斯、蒙日，加上俘获的纳里德号和伊菲革涅亚号，一共是七艘对一艘。

Well, he says, Minerv, Belon, Astra, Venous, Monge, together with the captured Nareed and they captured Iphigenia, that makes seven to one.

但我们见过更悬殊的兵力对比。

But we have seen longer odds.

我相信。

I believe.

所以我们又回到了计算兵力对比的老路，一切都不利于我们。

So we're back to odds counting and everything's gone against us.

现在，天平已明显向法国人倾斜。

The tables are tilted dramatically in the favor of the French now.

鸡皮疙瘩起来了，我能听到背景音乐逐渐增强。

The goosebumps go up and I could hear the music swelling in the background.

就好像杰克又回来了。

It's like Jack's coming back here.

是的。

Yeah.

当我重新阅读时，它真的深深触动了我。

Really comes back to me as I've read it again.

这几乎是一个关于战争的故事，而这场战役并不是一场充满浪漫色彩、以重大高潮和欢庆胜利告终的战役；相反，它是一场漫长而拖沓的准备，几次误判，随后是一场漫长、血腥、痛苦、无能且充满不确定性与糟糕决策的失败。我认为这或许才是真实的生活，我敢打赌，帕特里克·奥布莱恩在思考其他经典的军事叙事方式，因此我要再岔开话题，回到我们熟知的文学世界——我们知道，维吉尔的《埃涅阿斯纪》是帕特里克·奥布莱恩最常引用的古典文本之一，如果《船长》和《惊喜号》是奥布莱恩追随简·奥斯汀的脚步，那么在这部对战争的徒劳与结局如此冷峻的叙述中，他或许正是在继承《埃涅阿斯纪》的血脉。

This is almost a story about war and the campaign didn't wasn't a romantic campaign with a big climactic conflict and then rejoicing triumphant victory there was a long drawn out preparation and a couple of false steps and then a defeat that was drawn out and bloody and anguishing and incompetent and marked by uncertainty and bad decision making all the way and I think that's probably real life and I I bet that Patrick O'Brien's thinking of the other classic bits of military storytelling so I'm I'm going to indulge in one more tangent back into the rest of the world of literature we know that the Innade by Virgil is one of the most alluded to classical texts that Patrick O'Brien likes to go back to and if post captain and HMS surprise were O'Brien following in the footsteps of Jane Austen maybe in this really quite hard nosed telling of the futility and the outcome of war he's picking up on DNAed.

所以，我不会自诩为古典学者，但我查阅了维吉尔《埃涅阿斯纪》的情节概要和火花笔记摘要，发现它与我们在毛里求斯战役中所经历的故事有一些相似之处。

So I'm not going to claim to be a great classical scholar, but I dug into the plot summary, the spark note summary of Virgil's Anaid, and there are some parallels with the story that we've had so far in the Mauritius command.

我们曾有女性作为干扰，阻碍了进程。

We've had women as a distraction getting in the way.

我们曾遭遇不祥之兆。

We've had bad omens.

我们遇到了友好的同胞，然后是敌对的同胞。

We've had friendly and then unfriendly countrymen.

我们经历了燃烧的船只和恶劣的天气。

We've had burning ships and we've had weather.

所以这是我在从《埃涅阿斯纪》中段的简明摘要中提取的内容。

So this is me extracting from the Spartan summary of the middle passage of the Innate.

在神明的保佑下，得知意大利将有辉煌的未来，埃涅阿斯率领一支舰队，载着特洛伊的幸存者启航。

Assured by the Gods that a glorious future awaited him in Italy, Aeneas set sail with a fleet containing the surviving citizens of Troy.

他们两次试图建立新城市，却都因不祥之兆和瘟疫而被迫离开。

Twice they attempted to build a new city only to be driven away by bad omens and plagues.

哈耳庇厄——半人半鸟的生物——诅咒了他们，但他们也意外地遇到了友好的同胞。

Harpies, creatures that are part women and part bird, cursed them, but they also encountered friendly countrymen unexpectedly.

最终，在安喀塞斯去世、遭遇恶劣天气之后，他们抵达了迦太基。

Finally, after the loss of Ankisis, I hope I'm pronouncing it correctly and about a terrible weather they made their way to Carthage.

被埃涅阿斯的功绩所打动，又同情他的苦难，狄多——名字听起来有点像黛安娜——一位腓尼基公主，爱上了埃涅阿斯。

Impressed by Aeneas's exploits and sympathetic to his suffering, Dido, sounds a bit like Diana, a Phoenician princess falls in love with Aeneas.

他们作为恋人共同生活了一段时间，直到神提醒埃涅阿斯他肩负着建立新城市的使命。

They live together as lovers for a while until God reminds Aeneas of his duty to found a new city.

他决定再次启航。

He determines to set sail once again.

顺便说一句，狄多自杀了，在珀塞尔的歌剧中，她唱了一首动人的歌曲，但暂且不提这个。

By the way, Dino kills herself and in the Purcell Opera, she sings a stunning song but never mind.

当特洛伊人前往意大利时，恶劣的天气将他们吹到了西西里岛，他们在那儿为已故的安喀塞斯举行了葬礼竞技。

As the Trojans make for Italy, bad weather blows them to Sicily where they hold funeral games for the dead Ankisis.

妇女们厌倦了航行，开始焚烧船只，但倾盆大雨浇灭了火焰。

The women tired of the voyage begin to burn the ships and the downpour puts the fires out.

我不禁想，古典学者奥布莱恩是否在现实生活中读过毛里求斯战役的记载，并心想：嘿，这真是个精彩绝伦的军事叙事。

And I wonder if O'Brien, the classical scholar, read this account of the Mauritius campaign in real life and thought, hey, there's some really great military storytelling here.

我不禁想，这种重合是否促使他以这种方式讲述这个故事。

And I wonder if that that overlap drove him to tell the story in the way that he has told it.

所以，我们现在可能正处在小说最黑暗的时刻。

So we're probably at the darkest point of the novel now.

尽管史蒂文表面上装得很坚强，但他内心仍有疑虑。

Even though Steven's putting a brave face on it, Steven has his doubts.

史蒂文看着杰克，觉得他的脸色比以往任何时候都更阴沉，史蒂文从塔法勒尔望着他说道。

Steven, looking at Jack, thinks his face is darker than I've ever seen it, observed Steven, looking at him from the Tafarale.

到目前为止，他以远超我预期的宽宏大量承受了这些挫折。

Up until now, he has borne these reversals with a singular magnanimity greater by far than I had looked for.

他对克隆福特的灾难性愚蠢一字未提，只有对他的伤势表示同情，并希望法国医院能让他康复。

Not a word about Clonfort's disastrous folly, nothing but sympathy for his wounds, and a hope that the French hospital may set him up.

他对皮姆的固执愚蠢毫无怨言，但再伟大的胸怀也有其限度。

No reflection upon Pim's dogged stupidity, yet there is no greatness of mind without its limits.

这会是崩溃的临界点吗？

Is this the breaking point?

真的吗？

Is it indeed?

我想只有一种方法能弄清楚，迈克。

I think there's only one way to find out, Mike.

好吧，我得问你一下，伊恩。

Well, I have to ask you, Ian.

你觉得下周再读一点帕特里克·奥布莱恩怎么样？

What do you say to a little bit more Patrick O'Brien next week?

迈克，我全心全意同意。

Mike, with all my heart.

那根本没发生过。

That didn't really happen.

那也不会让他们笑得那么厉害。

That wouldn't really crack them up that much.

没人会傻到那种地步。

Nobody's that dumb.

没人会蠢到那种地步，对吧？

Nobody's that stupid, right?

而且还对自己的愚蠢如此津津乐道。

And so amused by their own idiocy.