詹姆斯·霍华德空战图，注意看飞机上的“DING HAO（顶好）”和被击落的德国飞机。表明是在欧洲战场。

 

《血战长空》

下部　第十七章

 

渡过最初的适应阶段，他们的行动明显增加了。圣诞节后，他们白天都在天上，不是护送他们的“大朋友”去法国，就是深入到更远，更危险的柏林，汉堡和不莱梅，返回基地已是华灯初上。厨师们极尽所能使饭菜更加丰盛，但队员还是宁愿去城里的The Red Lion Pub或‘乔治’。为此，大队颁布一项法令，所有人员必须九点半回到基地，违犯规定的将以军法处置。虽然它遭到了大多数队员的不满，但在这个非常时期，它是必要的，不得不采取的办法。

霍华德有好长时间没有去The Red Lion Pub，每天晚上，队长 马丁都要召集中队长和参谋研究和部署第二天的行动计划。这些日子， 霍华德一直指挥Pioneer Mustang Group深入德国境内的行动，身心十分疲惫，人也变得更加消瘦。 队长马丁多次让他休息，他虽口上答应，可仍依然故我。这天， 马丁实在看不下去了，动用了强制命令，这才把他留在家中。

After the initial adaptation period, their actions increased obviously. After the Christmas, they were flying all the day in the sky, escorting their“big friends”to France, or into further and more dangerous Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen. They returned to the base when the evening lights were lit. The cooks tried their best to make food more sumptuous, but the pilots still preferred to go to the Red Lion Pub or George in the town. For this reason, the group issued an edict that the personnel must come back to the base before half past nine pm, any violator would be punished according to the military rules. Although most pilots were dissatisfied with the measure, it was necessary for them to take in extraordinary times.

Howard hadn’t been to the Red Lion Pub for a long time. Every night, Captain Martin should convene squadron leaders and staff officers to discuss and arrange the plan and action of the next day. During these days, Howard had been directing the Pioneer Mustang Group deeply into German territory, so he was very tired, physically and mentally, and became more emaciated. Captain Martin told him to rest for many times, although promised verbally, he remained unchanged. One day, Martin could not stand it and laid a strict injunction on him, so he had to stay at home.

 

他像往常一样起床，帮助队员整理行装，看着他们呼啸着冲上天空，心里有一种无法名状的惆怅。直到最后一架飞机消失在天边，他才返回营房，倚在睡袋上。有一段时间，他脑中空空如也。但很快，他就想到叶梅和伯特，想起自从收到他们的信后，他还一直没有时间给他们回信。

他下了床，看了看放在抽屉里的日历(它原本摆在桌上的，因为没有空间，才被他放进抽屉里)，他计算了一下，已是一月五号了，这让他大感意外。因为在他潜意识中，圣诞节才刚刚过去。

他拿出信纸，动手写信，许多往事涌入他的脑海，使他一时无法定夺，他在心中掂量一下，每一件事都不忍舍去，于是就一一记录下来。所以尽管他几乎没有停顿，写完信，也已是午后。他把信放进抽屉里，打算吃过饭，送到军邮处把它们邮寄出去。

He got up as usual, helped teammates pack up and watched their planes roaring into the sky, his heart filled with unspeakable melancholy. He didn’t return to the barrack until the last aircraft disappeared in the sky, and leaned against a sleeping bag. For some time, his mind was empty. But soon, he thought of Ye Mei and Burt. Since he received their letters, he did not have time to write back to them.

He got out of bed, and took a look at the calendar in the drawer. The calendar was originally on the table, because there was no enough room, he put it in the drawer. He calculated the date, and to his great surprise, it was January 5, because the Christmas just went by in his subconscious.

He took out letter papers, and began to write letters, many memories crowding into his mind, which made him unable to decide what to write about temporarily. He weighed the memories in his mind, but could not bear to lay down anything, so he wrote down everything one by one. Therefore, although he almost did not pause, it was after noon when he finished writing the letters. He put the letters into a drawer, intending to send them to the Army Post Office to mail them out after his meal.

 

从食堂回来，半路上，他碰到了那个英国卫兵，他向他敬了礼，脸上带着惊讶的表情，难以置信这时候在基地见到他。打他身旁走过时， 他停住脚步，犹豫了一会，终于开口。

“长官，”他吞吞吐吐地说， “这些天， 有一个姑娘一直在找你。”

“是找我吗?”

“是的，那天我值勤，她向我问起你。嗨，对了，她今天也来了。 你看，就在那边，”他指着前方一个地方。穿过机场，他能清楚地看到一个人影正扶着栅栏向里张望。

On the half way back from the canteen, he met the British guard, who saluted him, with a surprised expression on his face, as it was unbelievable for him to see him at this time in the base. When he passed by Howard, he stopped, hesitated for a moment, and finally said.

“Sir,” he stammered, “A girl has been looking for you these days.”

“For me?”

“Yes, she asked me about you when I was on duty that day. Oh, yes. She came here today. Look, she is just over there,” he pointed to a place in the distance. Across the airport, he could clearly see a figure looking inside while holding the fence.

 

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“谢谢你，”霍华德向他点点头，他犹豫了一下，然后迈步向英国卫兵指的方向走去， 在科尔切斯特，他只认识尤妮娅一位年轻姑娘，虽然他们自从舞会就没再见面，可昨晚他们还通过话，她并没有向他提到这件事。

离栅栏还有一段距离，他就看到她，她的自行车放在一边，正扶着栅栏向里面眺望。很显然，她也发现了他，大张着嘴巴，样子尴尬，不知道是站在原地还是转身离开。

“Thank you,” Howard nodded to him, hesitated for a moment, and then walked in the direction the British guard had pointed to. In Colchester, he only knew a young girl Eugenia. Although they hadn’t met each other again since the ball, they talked on the telephone last night, but she did not mention it to him.

At a distance away from the fence, he saw her. Her bike was on the side, and she was holding the fence overlooking inside. Obviously, she found him as well, her mouth wide open, her look awkward, not knowing whether she should stand still or turn away.

 

“嗨， 尤妮娅，”他喊道。

“嗨，”

“你在这里做什么?”

她的脸上飞起一片红晕，但她掩饰得很好。“我……啊，帕德里克先生说， Glenn Miller和他的乐队要到Boxted Airdrome演出。他可是我最崇拜的歌手。”

“这个帕德里克，”霍华德说，”倒是有这码子事，但具体他何时来，现在还没有定夺。”

“嗨， 你就让老朋友这样站在外面吗?”

“对不起，我现在就去告诉卫兵。”

“算了吧!你今天休假。对了，你不是要我为你做向导吗?”

“这大冷天的，到哪儿去呢?”

“是呀!”她托着腮，沉思着，”如果天暖和些，我们可以去打网球。”

“天暖和的话，我们可以做许多事。”

“你冷吗？”

“不。”

“那我们去海边走走吧?”

“不必了。”

“Good，要我开车吗？”

“Hey, Eugenia,” he shouted.

“Hi,”

“What are you doing here?”

Her face flushed red with shyness, but she hid it well. “I ... ah, Mr. Patrick said that Glenn Miller and his band would come to Boxted Airdrome to give performances. He is the singer I admire most.”

“What Patrick,” Howard said, “What he said is true, but the specific time when he will come has not been decided yet.”

 “Hey, will you keep an old friend standing outside like this?”

“Sorry, now I’ll go and tell the guard.”

 “Forget it! You have a day off today. Oh, yes, didn’t you tell me you wanted me to be your guide?”

“It's so cold a day. Where to go?”

 “Yes,” Her hands holding her chin, she was in deep thought. “If the weather were warmer, we could play tennis.”

 “If the weather were warmer, we could do many things.”

“Are you feeling cold?”

“No.”

 “Shall we go to the beach for a walk?”

“Good, need I drive a car?”

“No.”

 

他扶着栅栏，纵身一跃，跳了出去，像只小鸟落到她身边。他这一举动似乎吓着了她。 她呆呆地站了几秒钟，然后格格地笑了起来。

“你这样子真像威尔金斯。”她喘着气说， 威尔金斯是他的弟弟。

“哎，如果可能的话，我真希望回到威尔金斯那个年龄。”

“男人真是难以捉摸， 威尔金斯就想快快长大，他恨不能一夜醒来，发现自己像你一样大了。”

“他以后会明白的。”

Holding the fence, he leaped it over, and fell to her side like a bird. His move seemed to have scared her. She stood still for a few seconds, and then chuckled.

“What you did is really like Wilkins,” she said breathlessly. Wilkins was her younger brother.

 “Hey, if possible, I really want to go back to the age of Wilkins.”

 “Men are really elusive. Wilkins wants to grow up quickly, and he wishes he could grow up like you when he woke up overnight.”

“He will understand later.”

 

他跨上她的车子，让她坐到后座上，慢慢地向前骑着。道路弯弯曲曲，被冻得硬梆梆的。尤妮娅把手伸到他的腰间，紧紧地搂着他，以免从车上掉下来。他们路过村中的教堂，几个买杂货的商店，一些风车矗立在田野上，被风吹得呜呜地嚎叫。在一些农户院落里挂着编织的渔网，他们经过a Roman villa，抵达bank of the River Stour。前边的浅滩处漂浮着许多球形浮子，几条渔船被拴在岸边的木桩上。他们把车子支在一桩渔民小屋木板墙上， 肩并肩眺望着前面灰色的河面。

He mounted her bike, letting her sit on the back seat, and rode slowly forward. The winding road was frozen hard. Eugenia reached her hands around his waist, and hugged him tightly so as not to fall from the bike. They passed by the village church and several groceries, some of the windmills standing in the field were howling for the wind blowing heavily. There were woven nets hanging in several farmers’ courtyards. They passed by a Roman villa, and arrived at the bank of the River Stour. Some spherical floats were floating on the shoals, and a few fishing boats were tied to the stakes on the shore. They leaned the bike on the wood wall of a fisherman's cottage, and overlooked the gray river in the distance side by side.

 

“春天到来以后，这里会非常美。” 尤妮娅说。

“我能看得出来，”霍华德说，他望着那些球形浮子，”那些东西做什么用呀?

“养殖牡蛎的，牡蛎就吊在那些浮子下，它们几个几个长在一起，一串就有几十磅重，自从罗马人在科尔切斯特时，当地人就开始种植它。”

“看来这是一种非常古老的职业。”

“对，”她停顿一下，“你听说过John Constable吗？”

霍华德点点头，他是从格林先生那里知道这个人的，他的客厅里挂着一张他的油画，他曾经给他讲起它的主人。

“这里就是他创作的源泉和取之不尽的素材，像On the River Stour ，The Cornfield和Dedham Vale等。”

“看来你对绘画很了解。”

“不，我只是了解John Constable，因为他是科尔切斯特人。”

“When spring comes, it will be very beautiful here.” Eugenia said.

“I can tell it,” Howard said, looking at those spherical floats, “What are they used for?”

“Raising oysters. Oysters are hanging beneath those floats. Several of them are growing together in groups, a bunch of them weights dozens of pounds. Since the Romans were in Colchester, the local people began to plant them.”

 “It seems that it is a very old profession.”

 “Yes,” she paused, “Have you ever heard of John Constable?”

Howard nodded. He knew about this person from Mr. Green, in whose living room one of his paintings was hanging, and he once talked about its master to him.

 “Here it is the source of his creation and the inexhaustible supply of his materials, like On the River Stour, The Cornfield and Dedham Vale and so on.”

“It seems that you know about painting very well.”

“No, I only know about John Constable, because he is a native of Colchester.”

 

他们站了一会，欣赏着四周灰蒙蒙的，略有些荒寂的风景。在霍华德眼里，它们并没有什么特别之处， 甚至连Tonopah。 Nevada荒漠也不比它逊色， 但他知道，几个月后，它将会是另一番景象。

她们回来时，挑选了另一条路。在一块空地上，有几个渔民正把渔网挂在树上织补，他们手中的梭子上下翻舞，他看得眼花缭乱。一个小酒店敞着大门，他拉着尤妮娅走进去，在一张空桌子旁坐下。

“老板，你有什么酒呐?”

“有天下最好的葡萄酒， 它们是用vines of Carter's Vineyards酿造的，你知道Carter's Vineyards?”

“Yankee，想来点什么?”酒店老板走过来，冲着霍华德说，又装做无意地瞟了尤妮娅一眼。

“不知道。” 霍华德如实地说。

They stood for a while, enjoying the surrounding gray, slightly desolate landscape. In the eyes of Howard, there was nothing special, and even Tonopah Nevada desert was not worse than it, but he knew, in a few months it would be an entirely different scenery.

When they came back, they selected another way. At an open space, a few fishermen were darning the fishing nets which were hanged on the trees, and the shuttles in their hands were moving up and down, which made him feel dazzled. A small pub’s door was wide open, so he took Eugenia by hand and entered, then sat down at an empty table.

“Yankee, what would you like?” the owner came over, said to Howard, and pretended no intention to cast a glance at Eugenia.

 “Boss, which wine do you have?”

“The best wine in the world, brewed from the vines of Carter's Vineyards. Do you know about Carter’s Vineyards?”

“I don’t know,” Howard said truthfully.

 

酒店老板耸耸肩，好象无法相信他的回答似的。

“姑娘来点什么?”他转过脸，问尤妮娅。

“有茶吗?”

“有，真正的大吉岭。”

“好，给我来一杯吧!”

不久，他就端来了酒和茶，霍华德喝了一口酒，确实有一股与众不同的味道。尤妮娅轻轻呡了一口茶，她显得心事重重。

“假期快结束了吧?” 霍华德问道。

“是的，过几天我就要回University of Oxford。”

“如果有时间，我会去为你送行。”霍华德说，他知道自己只是说说而已，很难兑现这个诺言。

“谢谢。”她端起酒杯，送到嘴边，但没有喝，她好像在心里激烈地斗争着，想做些什么和干些什么。

“你知道这些天我一直去Boxted Airdrome找你吗?”

霍华德没想到她会这样问，一时语塞。

The owner shrugged, as if he was unable to believe his answer.

“What do you want, madam?” He turned to ask Eugenia.

“Is there tea?”

“Yes, real Darjeeling.”

 “Well, a cup of tea for me!”

Soon the wine and tea were served by him. Howard sipped the wine, which had an unusual flavor indeed. Eugenia gently sipped the tea, as if she was preoccupied.

“Is the holiday coming to an end?” Howard asked.

“Yes, in a few days I will go back to the University of Oxford.”

“If I had free time, I would see you off.” Howard said, and he knew he was just talking about it, because it was difficult for him to deliver on his promise.

“Thank you.” She put the glass to her mouth, but did not drink. It seemed that she was struggling with herself in her mind fiercely, planning to do something and trying to do something.

 “Do you know these days I have been to Boxted Airdrome looking for you?”

Howard hadn’t expected she would ask like this and didn’t know what to say.

 

“别装蒜了，我清楚你知道。”

“是的，我刚刚听说，我这些天……”

“你知道我的想法吗?少校，”她自顾自地说，“我一直希望找一个飞行员做丈夫。德国人轰炸伦敦时，那些RAF的小伙子，他们是所有英国姑娘的偶像。”

“他们的确干得不赖。”

“但我太年轻了，是不是?”

“一点不错。”

“我母亲说，两年后，我就可以谈婚论嫁了。”尤妮娅又端起酒杯， “那时候……如果到那时候，我去找你，你会见我吗?”

“你扯得太远了，”他不想说丧气的话，不想说两年后也许他已不在这个世上了。

“Don’t pretend not to have known it. I am clear you have known it.”

“Yes, I just heard about it. These days I...”

“Do you know my mind, Major?” she proceeded, “I have always been longing to find a pilot to be my husband. While the Germans were bombing London, the lads of RAF were the idols of all the English girls.”

“They really did pretty well.”

“But I am too young, isn’t it?”

“Exactly.”

“My mother told me in two years I could think about my marriage.” Eugenia lifted the glass again, “At that time ... if I went to look for you at that time, would you meet me?”

“Too far away,” he didn’t want to say discouraging words, especially that perhaps in two years he would not live in this world.

 

“我只是问你， 两年后， 我去找你，你见我吗?”

“我们该回去了，喂，”他向酒店老板挥了一下手。

“回答我，Mr。 霍华德，”她恳求道。

“不要再胡言乱语了，尤妮娅。 两年后，你长大了，就会明白一切，你就知道那些飞行员是很普通的人，他们就像你的同学，你的那些追求中的一个。”

他们出了酒店，就分了手。直到尤妮娅离开科尔切斯特，两人再没有见面。

“I just ask you a question. In two years, if I went to look for you, would you meet me?”

“We should go back. Hey…” he waved his hand to the owner.

“Answer me, Mr. Howard,” she pleaded.

“Don’t talk foolishly, Eugenia. In two years you’ll grow up, and you’ll understand everything. You’ll know those pilots are very ordinary people, just like your classmates, some of who are your wooers.”

After they went out of the pub, they said good bye. They didn’t meet again until Eugenia left Colchester.