The long June twilight（黄昏） faded into night. Dublin lay enveloped（包围） in darkness but for the dim（暗淡的） light of the moon that shone through fleecy（毛茸茸的） clouds, casting（投向） a pale（苍白的） light as of approaching（接近） dawn over the streets and the dark waters of the Liffey. Around the beleaguered（围攻） Four Courts the heavy guns roared（咆哮）. Here and there through the city, machine guns（机关枪） and rifles（步枪） broke the silence of the night, spasmodically（断续性地）, like dogs barking on lone farms. Republicans（共和党） and Free Staters were waging（进行） civil war（内战）.
漫长的六月的黄昏渐渐褪去，被黑夜所取代。都柏林蜷缩的躺在黑夜里。暗淡的月光穿过云层照射下来，苍白的光投向街道和利菲河的河水。围攻四个法庭的大炮在咆哮。机关枪和步枪在城市的各处断断续续地响着，打破了宁静的夜晚，像狗在农田上叫。共和党和政府军在进行内战。

On a rooftop near O'Connell Bridge, a Republican sniper lay watching. Beside him lay his rifle and over his shoulders was slung（悬挂） a pair of field glasses（双筒望远镜）. His face was the face of a student, thin and ascetic, but his eyes had the cold gleam of the fanatic（狂热分子的）. They were deep and thoughtful, the eyes of a man who is used to looking at death.
在康奈尔澳大桥附近一栋房子的屋顶上，一个共和党的狙击手正趴着观察。在他的旁边放着他的狙击枪，在他的肩膀上挂着一副双筒望远镜。他有着一副学生的面孔，像苦修者那样瘦，但他的眼睛有狂热分子的冰冷的光芒。他的眼窝很深，好像他在深思一样。他的眼睛是一双直视死亡的男人的眼睛。

He was eating a sandwich hungrily. He had eaten nothing since morning. He had been too excited to eat. He finished the sandwich, and, taking a flask（酒瓶） of whiskey from his pocket, he took a short drought. Then he returned the flask to his pocket. He paused for a moment, considering whether he should risk a smoke. It was dangerous. The flash might be seen in the darkness, and there were enemies watching. He decided to take the risk.
他很饿，正吃着一个三明治，从那天早上开始，他就没有吃过东西了。能有食物吃，他太激动了。他结束了吃三明治，从他的口袋里掏出一个装有威士忌的酒瓶，喝了几口。他又把酒瓶装回口袋。他停顿了一下，想他要不要抽根儿烟。这很危险，火光在夜晚可以被看见，而在那里就有敌军看着他。但他决定冒这个风险。

Placing a cigarette between his lips, he struck（划） a match（火柴）, inhaled（吸入） the smoke hurriedly and put out the light. Almost immediately, a bullet flattened itself against the parapet of the roof. The sniper took another whiff and put out the cigarette. Then he swore（发誓） softly and crawled（爬） away to the left.
把一根香烟放在嘴唇上，他划了根火柴，很快的点着了烟，吸了一口然后掐了烟。几乎同时的，一颗子弹打到了屋顶的护墙上。狙击手吐出一些烟雾，放下了烟。他默默发誓这是他抽的最后一口烟，然后爬到了屋顶的左边。

Cautiously he raised himself and peered（凝视） over the parapet（栏杆）. There was a flash and a bullet whizzed（旋离了的） over his head. He dropped immediately. He had seen the flash. It came from the opposite side of the street.
慎重地他坐了起来，凝视着栏杆。有一个闪光闪过，一个子弹从他的脑袋上飞了过去。他立马爬下了。他看到了闪光，来自马路的对面。

He rolled over the roof to a chimney stack（大烟囱） in the rear（屁股）, and slowly drew（牵引） himself up behind it, until his eyes were level with（对……说实话） the top of the parapet. There was nothing to be seen--just the dim outline（轮廓） of the opposite housetop against the blue sky. His enemy was under cover.
他从楼顶滚向了一个大烟囱。他小心地坐在了烟囱的后面，直到他的眼睛看清了顶部的栏杆。那里什么都没有——只有对面屋顶在蓝天下的暗淡的轮廓。他的敌人在掩体下面。

Just then an armored car（装甲车） came across the bridge and advanced slowly up the street. It stopped on the opposite side of the street, fifty yards ahead. The sniper could hear the dull（钝的） panting（气喘） of the motor. His heart beat faster. It was an enemy car. He wanted to fire, but he knew it was useless. His bullets would never pierce（穿透） the steel that covered the gray monster.
紧接着，一辆装甲车从桥上穿过，减速开上了街道。它停在街的对面，五十码远处。狙击手可以听到老反动机的轰鸣声。那是一辆敌军的车。他想开火，但他知道这没有用。它的子弹不能穿过灰色的巨大钢板。

Then round the corner of a side street came an old woman, her head covered by a tattered（破烂的） shawl（围巾）. She began to talk to the man in the turret（炮塔） of the car. She was pointing to the roof where the sniper lay. An informer.
接着在街角里来了一个老妇人，她的头被一条破烂围巾包裹着。她开始和那个人在车载炮旁边交谈。她指出在屋顶上有一个狙击手在趴着。老妇人是个告密者。

The turret opened. A man's head and shoulders appeared, looking toward the sniper. The sniper raised his rifle and fired. The head fell heavily on the turret wall. The woman darted（急冲） toward the side street. The sniper fired again. The woman whirled（急跑） round and fell with a shriek（尖叫） into the gutter（排水沟）.
炮开了。出现了一个男人的脑袋和肩膀，那个男人在看狙击手。狙击手举起他的狙击枪，开了枪。男人的脑袋从有炮的墙上重重掉了下来。老妇人吓得在街上急跑。狙击手又开抢了。急跑着的老妇人尖叫着掉进了排水沟。

Suddenly from the opposite roof a shot rang out and the sniper dropped his rifle with a curse. The rifle clattered（发出哗啦声） to the roof. The sniper thought the noise would wake the dead. He stooped（弯腰） to pick the rifle up. He couldn't lift it. His forearm（前臂） was dead. "I'm hit," he muttered.
从对面的屋顶上立刻传出一声枪响，狙击手掉下了他的枪。枪在屋顶上发出哗啦的响声。狙击手觉得噪声会把死神吸引过来。他弯着腰把枪拿起来，他不能举起它。他的前臂动不了了。“我受伤了”，他自语道。

Dropping flat onto the roof, he crawled back to the parapet. With his left hand he felt the injured right forearm. The blood was oozing through the sleeve of his coat. There was no pain--just a deadened（麻木的） sensation（感觉）, as if the arm had been cut off.
掉在公寓的房顶上，他向后爬到栏杆旁。他用左手摸了摸他受伤的右前臂。血从他的衣袖中渗出。没有一点疼痛——只有麻木的感觉，好像他的胳膊被切掉一样。

Quickly he drew his knife from his pocket, opened it on the breastwork（矮防护墙） of the parapet, and ripped（割） open the sleeve（袖子）. There was a small hole where the bullet had entered. On the other side there was no hole. The bullet had lodged（卡住） in the bone. It must have fractured（破裂） it. He bent（弯曲的） the arm below the wound. the arm bent back easily. He ground his teeth to overcome the pain.
很快他从他的口袋里掏出刀，在矮防护墙的栏杆上打开它，割开了袖子。子弹进入的地方有一个小洞，胳膊的另一边则没有洞。子弹在骨头里卡住了。子弹一定破裂了。他弯胳膊，让伤口在下面。胳膊很容易就向后弯了过去。他把牙齿贴在地上克服痛苦。

Then taking out his field dressing（野战服）, he ripped open the packet with his knife. He broke the neck of the iodine（碘酒） bottle and let the bitter（苦的） fluid（流） drip into the wound. A paroxysm（发作） of pain swept through him. He placed the cotton（棉花） wadding（塞填） over the wound and wrapped（包裹） the dressing over it. He tied the ends with his teeth.
然后他拿出他的野战服，用刀撕开了口袋。他打破了装有碘酒的瓶子的瓶口，让碘酒流入伤口。伤口的疼痛感发作了。他用棉花堵住伤口，用衣服包住。他咬着牙勒紧了用来包伤口的衣服。

Then he lay still against the parapet, and, closing his eyes, he made an effort of will to overcome the pain.In the street beneath（在……之下） all was still. The armored car had retired speedily over the bridge, with the machine gunner's head hanging lifeless over the turret. The woman's corpse（尸体） lay still in the gutter.
接着他靠着栏杆坐了下来，闭上眼睛。他这样做可以克服痛苦。在下面的马路上一切都很安静。装甲车快速从桥上离开了，机枪手的脑袋挂在炮塔上。老妇人的尸体还躺在排水沟中。

The sniper lay still for a long time nursing his wounded arm and planning escape. Morning must not find him wounded on the roof. The enemy on the opposite roof coverd his escape. He must kill that enemy and he could not use his rifle. He had only a revolver（左轮手枪） to do it. Then he thought of a plan.
狙击手坐了很长一段时间治疗他受伤的胳膊并缓解疼痛。早晨一定没有发现他受伤的坐在屋顶。在另一个屋顶上的敌军阻碍了他离开。他一定得杀了敌人，但他不能用他的狙击枪，只能用他的左轮手枪。接下来他想了一个计划。

Taking off his cap（帽子）, he placed it over the muzzle（枪口） of his rifle. Then he pushed the rifle slowly upward over the parapet, until the cap was visible（可见的） from the opposite side of the street. Almost immediately there was a report, and a bullet pierced the center of the cap. The sniper slanted（倾斜） the rifle forward. The cap clipped down into the street. Then catching the rifle in the middle, the sniper dropped his left hand over the roof and let it hang, lifelessly. After a few moments he let the rifle drop to the street. Then he sank（沉陷） to the roof, dragging his hand with him.
摘掉他的帽子，他把帽子放到了狙击枪的枪口。接着他慢慢地把狙击枪推过栏杆，直到帽子可以从街的对面看到。几乎同时街的对面有了响应，一颗子弹打在帽子的中间。狙击手把狙击枪向前倾斜。帽子掉到了街上。然后抓着狙击枪的中间，狙击手让它的左手滑下去，在空中没命的悬挂。一小会儿后他让狙击枪掉在地上。接着他拖着一只手，倒在屋顶上。

Crawling（爬） quickly to his feet, he peered（凝视） up at the corner of the roof. His ruse（策略） had succeeded. The other sniper, seeing the cap and rifle fall, thought that he had killed his man. He was now standing before a row of chimney pots, looking across, with his head clearly silhouetted（轮廓） against the western sky.
迅速爬起来，他凝视房顶的角落。他的计谋成功了。另一个狙击手，看到帽子和狙击枪掉下去，觉得自己把他杀掉了。那个狙击手现在站在一排烟从前向对面看。他的脑袋在西边的天空下显得十分清楚。

The Republican sniper smiled and lifted his revolver above the edge of the parapet. The distance was about fifty yards--a hard shot in the dim light, and his right arm was paining him like a thousand devils（魔鬼）. He took a steady（稳定的） aim. His hand trembled（震颤） with eagerness. Pressing his lips together, he took a deep breath through his nostrils（鼻孔） and fired. He was almost deafened（变聋的） with the report and his arm shook with the recoil.
共和党的狙击手笑了，举起他的左轮手枪。距离大概是五十码——在昏暗的灯光下很难打到，并且他的右胳膊像被一千个魔鬼缠着一样疼。他瞄准了目标。他的手因渴望而颤抖着。咬住嘴唇，他用鼻子深吸了一口气，开了火。他差点变聋，他的胳膊因为后坐力被弹了回来。

Then when the smoke cleared, he peered across and uttered（彻底的） a cry of joy. His enemy had been hit. He was reeling（蹒跚的） over the parapet in his death agony（临死时地痛苦）. He struggled（努力） to keep his feet, but he was slowly falling forward as if in a dream. The rifle fell from his grasp（抓住）, hit the parapet, fell over, bounded off the pole of a barber's shop beneath and then clattered（哗啦响） on the pavement（人行道）.
当烟雾褪去后，他凝视着对面，高兴地叫了一声。他的敌人被击中了。他的敌人在临死前挣扎的爬过栏杆。他挣扎着站稳脚步，但却像在梦中一样慢慢地向前跌倒。步枪从他手里掉了下来，打在栏杆上，掉了下来，从下面一家理发店的柱子上跳了下来，然后在人行道上啪嗒啪嗒地响着。

Then the dying man on the roof crumpled up（打垮） and fell forward. The body turned over（把……翻过来） and over in space and hit the ground with a dull thud（砰地一声）. Then it lay still.
接着屋顶的私人瘫倒在地，向前跌到。这具尸体在空中翻来翻去，然后砰地一声砸在了地上。它不动了。

The sniper looked at his enemy falling and he shuddered（颤抖）. The lust（欲望） of battle died in him. He became bitten by remorse（同情）. The sweat stood out in beads（玻璃粉） on his forehead. Weakened（变弱） by his wound and the long summer day of fasting（空腹的） and watching on the roof, he revolted from the sight of the shattered（破碎的） mass of his dead enemy. His teeth chattered（打颤）, he began to gibber（喋喋不休） to himself, cursing the war, cursing himself, cursing everybody.
狙击手颤抖地看着他的敌人向下掉。斗争地欲望在他体内消失了。他感到同情。汗水从他的脑门上滴了下来。因为他的伤口而变弱，在漫长的夏日空腹的在楼顶上看着，他看到他死去的敌人支离破碎的身躯，感到恶心。他的牙齿在打颤，他开始自言自语，导致了战争，导致了他自己，导致了所有人。

He looked at the smoking revolver in his hand, and with an oath（誓言） he hurled（丢下） it to the roof at his feet. The revolver went off with a concussion（冲击） and the bullet whizzed（旋离了的） past the sniper's head. He was frightened back to his senses by the shock. His nerves（神经） steadied（稳定的）. The cloud of fear scattered（分散的） from his mind and he laughed.
他看着他手中左轮手枪冒出的烟，咒骂着把它扔到他脚边的屋顶上。左轮手枪受了冲击，打出了子弹，子弹从狙击手的脑袋顶上飞过。他被震动的感觉吓到了。过了一会儿，他的神经才放松下来。恐惧消散了，他爆发出笑声。

Taking the whiskey flask（酒瓶） from his pocket, he emptied it a drought（缺乏）. He felt reckless（鲁莽的） under the influence of the spirit. He decided to leave the roof now and look for his company commander（指挥官）, to report. Everywhere around was quiet. There was not much danger in going through the streets. He picked up his revolver and put it in his pocket. Then he crawled down through the skylight to the house underneath.
从他的口袋里把装有威士忌的酒瓶拿出来，狙击手把他喝干了。他在精神上感到自己鲁莽。他决定现在离开屋顶，回营地去看看他的指挥官，向他报告。附近的一切都很安静，没有什么危险。他拿起他的左轮手枪，放回了口袋。接着他从房顶爬了下来。

When the sniper reached the laneway（巷道） on the street level, he felt a sudden curiosity as to the identity of the enemy sniper whom he had killed. He decided that he was a good shot, whoever he was. He wondered did he know him. Perhaps he had been in his own company before the split in the army. He decided to risk going over to have a look at him. He peered around the corner into O'Connell Street. In the upper part of the street there was heavy firing, but around here all was quiet.
当狙击手到路上时，他忽然很想知道他杀掉的敌军的身份。他觉得不管他是谁，那个人打得很好。他想知道他认不认识他。或许他在部队分裂之前就在自己的连队里。他决定冒险去看一看他。他环顾着康奈尔澳街的角落。在街的上方正在激烈的交火，但他这里非常安静。

The sniper darted（急冲） across the street. A machine gun tore up（撕碎） the ground around him with a hail（冰雹） of bullets, but he escaped. He threw himself face downward（向下的） beside the corpse（尸体）. The machine gun stopped.
狙击手急冲过街道。一个机关枪扫射着周围的地面，像下冰雹一样猛烈，但是他逃脱了。他脸朝下看着那具尸体。机关枪停下了。

Then the sniper turned over the dead body and looked into his brother's face.
接着狙击手把尸体转了过来，看到他哥哥的脸。