英国语文第五册(双语):围攻魁北克(2)
Great preparations were made throughout the fleet and the army for the decisive movement; but the plans were still kept secret. A wise caution was observed in this respect; for the treachery of a single deserter might have imperilled the success of the expedition had its exact object been known. At nine o'clock at night, on the 13th of September, 1759, the first division of the army, 1600 strong, silently removed into flat-bottomed boats. The soldiers were in high spirits: Wolfe led in person. About an hour before day-light, the flotilla dropt down with the ebb-tide, "Weather favourable; a star light night."
全军上下都为这一决定性时刻做好了准备；但是这个计划依然未公开。从这一点上看，伍尔夫是多么的聪明和谨慎；因为如果通知全军上下的话，只要有一个逃兵走漏了风声，就会将整个计划置于险地。1759年9月13日晚上九点，1600名第一部分官兵悄悄登上了平底船。官兵们士气高涨：因为伍尔夫亲自带队。大约天亮前一个小时，借着落潮，他们将船放入水里，“天气很好；一整晚天空都布满繁星。“
Silently and swiftly, unchallenged by the French sentries, Wolfe's flotilla dropped down the stream in the shade of the overhanging cliffs. The rowers scarcely stirred the waters with their oars; the soldiers sat motionless. Not a word was spoken, save by the young general. He, as a midshipman on board of his boat afterwards related, repeated, in a low voice, to the officers by his side, Gray's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard;" and as he concluded the beautiful verses, he said, "Now, gentlemen, I would rather be the author of that poem than take Quebec!"
他们动作迅速，但却轻盈，没有引起法军哨兵的注意，借着突出的岩石在水面上的阴影，伍尔夫率领舰队开始行进。桨手们划船时几乎没有激起一点水面的变化；官兵们坐着一动不动。伍尔夫下令谁也不许发出声音。海军军校出身的他在船上不断低声对他旁边的军官重复着格雷的“墓畔哀歌“；说到这首诗美丽的韵律时，他说”伙计们，与拿下魁北克相比，我更愿意当这首诗歌的作者！“
But while Wolfe thus in the poet's words gave vent to the intensity of his feelings, his eye was constantly bent upon the dark outline of the heights under which he was hurrying. He recognised at length the appointed spot (now called Wolfe's Cove), and leaped ashore. Some of the leading boats, conveying the light company of the 78th Highlander, had, in the meantime, been carried about two hundred yards lower down by the strength of the tide. These Highlanders, under Captain Donald MacDonald, were the first to land. Immediately over their heads hung a woody precipice, without path or track upon its rocky face. On the summit, a French sentinel marched to and fro, still unconscious of their presence.
但是正当他沉浸在诗歌中，宣泄情感时，他的眼前被岩石阴影挡住，马上变得一片漆黑。他认出来了这儿地方，这就是接头的地方（现在的伍尔夫湾），于是他跳上岸。同时，几艘载着苏格兰高地78军团士兵的船也顺着潮水上了岸。这些高地人由唐纳德·麦克唐纳队长率领，最先登陆。摆在他们眼前的是悬崖，崖壁上无路可循。在山顶处，有一个法军哨兵在来回巡逻，依然没有注意到敌人的出现。
