猫头鹰溪大桥事件

一

I

在亚拉巴马州北部的一座铁路桥上，站着一名男子，正俯视着脚下二十英尺处湍急的流水。男子的双手背在身后，手腕用绳索紧紧绑着。一根绳子紧勒着他的颈项。

A man stood upon a railroad bridge in northern Alabama, looking down into the swift water twenty feet below. The man’s hands were behind his back, the wrists bound with a cord. A rope closely encircled his neck.

绳子系在他头顶一根粗大的横梁上，垂下的余绳一直落到他的膝盖高处。

It was attached to a stout cross-timber above his head and the slack fell to the level of his knees.

几块松散地搁在承托铁轨的枕木上的木板，为他和行刑者提供了立足之地——那是两名联邦军队的列兵，由一名在平民生活中也许当过副治安官的军士指挥。

Some loose boards laid upon the ties supporting the rails of the railway supplied a footing for him and his executioners—two private soldiers of the Federal army, directed by a sergeant who in civil life may have been a deputy sheriff.

在同一座临时站台不远处，站着一名身着与其军阶相符的制服、佩带武器的军官。他是一名上尉。

At a short remove upon the same temporary platform was an officer in the uniform of his rank, armed. He was a captain.

桥的两端各有一名哨兵，手持步枪处于所谓“持枪”姿势，也就是说，步枪垂直立于左肩前，击锤搁在横跨胸前的下臂上——这是一种刻板而不自然的姿势，迫使身体保持挺拔姿态。

A sentinel at each end of the bridge stood with his rifle in the position known as “support,” that is to say, vertical in front of the left shoulder, the hammer resting on the forearm thrown straight across the chest—a formal and unnatural position, enforcing an erect carriage of the body.

弄清桥中央发生的事情似乎并非这两人的职责；他们只是封锁了横贯桥身的人行木板走道的两端。

It did not appear to be the duty of these two men to know what was occurring at the center of the bridge; they merely blockaded the two ends of the foot planking that traversed it.

其中一名哨兵的视野之外杳无人迹；铁路线笔直穿入一片森林延伸了一百码，随后弯曲，从视线中消失。远处无疑设有前哨哨所。

Beyond one of the sentinels nobody was in sight; the railroad ran straight away into a forest for a hundred yards, then, curving, was lost to view. Doubtless there was an outpost farther along.

溪流的另一岸是一片开阔地——一道平缓的斜坡，顶上筑有垂直树干做成的栅栏，留有供步枪射击的枪眼，并设有一个单一炮眼，从中伸出一尊扼守大桥的黄铜大炮的炮口。

The other bank of the stream was open ground—a gentle slope topped with a stockade of vertical tree trunks, loopholed for rifles, with a single embrasure through which protruded the muzzle of a brass cannon commanding the bridge.

在桥梁与要塞之间的半坡上站着围观者——整整一个连的步兵列队站立，处于“稍息”姿势，枪托着地，枪管略微向后倾斜靠在右肩上，双手交叠在枪托上。

Midway up the slope between the bridge and fort were the spectators—a single company of infantry in line, at “parade rest,” the butts of their rifles on the ground, the barrels inclining slightly backward against the right shoulder, the hands crossed upon the stock.

一名中尉站在队伍右侧，剑尖抵地，左手搭在右手上。除了桥中央的那四人小组外，没有一个人动弹。

A lieutenant stood at the right of the line, the point of his sword upon the ground, his left hand resting upon his right. Excepting the group of four at the center of the bridge, not a man moved.

全连士兵面朝大桥，凝神冷视，纹丝不动。面朝溪岸的哨兵，宛如装点桥梁的雕像。

The company faced the bridge, staring stonily, motionless. The sentinels, facing the banks of the stream, might have been statues to adorn the bridge.

上尉双臂交叠站立，沉默不语，注视着下属的举动，未做任何手势。死亡是一位显贵，当他预先通告莅临时，即便是与他最熟稔的人，也要以合乎礼仪的敬意来迎接他。

The captain stood with folded arms, silent, observing the work of his subordinates, but making no sign. Death is a dignitary who when he comes announced is to be received with formal manifestations of respect, even by those most familiar with him.

在军礼规范中，静默与静止皆是肃敬的表现。

In the code of military etiquette silence and fixity are forms of deference.