十字架的寓意(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。
十字架的寓意
Death was always in the minds of the soldiers in the First World War, as the following excerpt from Paul Maze's A Frenchman in Khaki shows:"I rode slowly along the marching battalions. I heard the regular sound of an engine from a house on the road. A steamsaw was cutting rhythmically through wood. Seeing the yard in front of the house piled high with wooden crosses and thinking to spare the men, I hurried in to have them removed. The Belgians engaged in the work threw up their hands in despair, and pointed through the window to the back of the house and an even bigger pile. Nothing could be done. I watched the men as they passed by. Some smiled, others passed a joke, some wouldn't look. But I knew that they all saw and understood."
「死亡」二字，在第一次世界大战将士心中，抹之不去。保罗．马泽《穿土黄色军服的法国人》书中以下一段，可以说明这一点：「行伍迈步向前，我骑马在侧，缓缓随行，路上一栋房子传来机器呆板的声音。一把蒸气锯正反反复覆，把木头锯开。我看见屋前院子里高高堆着很多十字架，不想将士触景伤情，连忙走进去，想叫屋里人把十字架移开。正在锯木的几个比利时人两手一摊，表示爱莫能助，并指指后窗：屋后原来堆着更多十字架。没法子了。我望着将士走过。有些微微一哂，有些说说笑话，有些则掉头不看。但我知道人人都看到了，也都明白是什么一回事。」