鱼雷艇一○九号(英中对照)

古德明《征服英语》之英语军事故事，古德明，香港英语教育作家，他开了一个《征服英语专栏》，在专栏中专门用英语写了世界近代史上的军事小故事，用英语讲述历史中那些惊心动魄的战争。
鱼雷艇一○九号
on the night of 1 august 1943, uss pt-109 was patrolling the blackett strait in the solomon islands when a japanese destroyer crashed into the boat, splitting it in two and sending it into flames.
the crew of pt-109 clung to the wreckage of the boat. two were killed in the collision. eleven others survived, but some, including the skipper john kennedy, were injured. at dawn, they struck out for a small island three and a half miles away.
kennedy, who had chronic back problems, towed a badly burned crew member by holding the man's life jacket belt between his teeth. his back was hurting badly, and it took four hours for him to reach the destination. at a later date, when asked to explain how he had come to be a hero, he replied laconically,"it was involuntary. they sank my boat."

一九四三年八月一日晚上，美国鱼雷艇一○九号在所罗门群岛布雷赫特海峡巡逻，被一艘日本驱逐舰撞个正着，断为两截，着火焚烧。
鱼雷艇的船员紧抓着残破的船身。那一撞夺去了两名船员性命，其余十一人逃过一死，但有些受了伤，包括船长约翰．肯尼迪。到了天亮，他们朝三英里半之外的一个小岛游去。
肯尼迪有慢性背患，这时背部痛得厉害，但见一名船员受了严重灼伤，就用牙齿咬着那船员救生衣上的带子，拖着他向前游，游了四小时才到达那小岛。后来，有人问肯尼迪怎么这样英勇，他简简单单说：「那不是自愿的。他们撞沉了鱼雷艇。」