From the Earth to the Moon
by Jules Verne
“This is disheartening!” the worthy Tom Hunter said one evening while his wooden legs were slowly charring in front of the fireplace in the smoking room. “There’s nothing to do, nothing to hope for! What a tedious life! Where are the days when we were awakened every morning by the joyful booming of cannons?”
“这真令人沮丧！”令人尊敬的汤姆·亨特有天晚上在吸烟室内说，而他的那双木制的腿正放在室内的壁炉前慢慢烤着，就快成炭了。“什么事情都不需要做，什么希望都没有！多么单调无聊的生活！那些每天早上被悦耳的火炮爆炸声叫醒的日子哪儿去了？”
“Those days are gone,”replied the dashing Bilsby, trying to stretch his missing arms.“How wonderful they were! You could invent a howitzer and try it out on the enemy as soon as it was cast, then when you came back to camp you’d get a word of praise from Sherman or a handshake from Sherman or a handshake from McClellan. But now the generals have become shopkeepers again, and balls of yarn are the deadliest projectiles, they’re likely to deal with. The future is bleak for artillery in America!”
“那些日子回不来了，”精神百倍的倍尔斯贝边伸展他那残缺的手臂，边说，“那是多棒的日子啊！你可以发明一种榴弹炮，然后再试着对敌人发射，当你回到阵营时就会得到谢尔曼的赞誉，还能跟谢尔曼或者麦克莱伦握手。但现在将军又回去当了店主，和他们打交道的变成了毫无危险的纱线球。未来的美国对制炮人来说太黑暗了！”
“You’re right, Bilsby, it’s a cruel disappointment!” said Colonel Bloomsberry. “One day you give up your calm, peaceful life, you learn the manual of arms, you leave Baltimore and march off to battle, you fight heroically, and then, two or three years later, you have you have to lose the fruit of all your efforts and do nothing but stand around idly with your hands in your pockets.”
“你说得对，倍尔斯贝，这真是让人失望透顶！”上校布鲁姆斯伯里说，“想当初，有一天你放弃了你平静无波的生活，转而学习武器的使用，离开巴尔的摩奔赴战场，你英勇战斗，但是两三年后，你不得不看着你努力的所有成果烟消云散！而你所能做的，只有两手插在口袋里站在一旁袖手旁观。”
“And no war in sight!” said the famous J. T. Maston, scratching his rubber skull with the iron hook at the end of his arm. “There’s not even a cloud on the horizon, and yet there’s still so much to be done in the science of artillery! Only this morning I drew up a complete set of plans of a mortar that’s destined to change the laws of war!”
“没有战争了！”曼斯顿说着，一边用他那手腕上的铁钩轻挠着橡胶制的头骨。 “天上连片云都没有，还有那么多炮弹研究等着我们去做！就在今天早上，我只花了一上午，就制定出了一套完整的关于迫击炮的计划，它一定会改变战争的法则！”
“Really?” said Tom Hunter, involuntarily recalling the test firing of Maston’s last creation.
“Yes,” said Maston. “But what good did it do me to make all those studies and work out all those difficulties? I was only wasting my time. The New World seems determined to live in peace, and the belligerent New York Tribune has begun predicting catastrophes caused by the scandalous growth of population.”
“真的吗？”汤姆回到，自己却不由自主地想起曼斯顿最后一次的试射。
“是的，”曼斯顿说。“但这对所有的研究和度过这些难关又有什么帮助呢？我只是在浪费时间。新世界像是要狠下心来和平相处，那斗志昂扬的《纽约论坛报》已经开始预测由于人口的恐怖增长而带来的灾难了。”
“But there’s always a war going on in Europe to support the principle of nationality, ” said Colonel Bloomsberry.
“What of it?”
“Well, there might be something for us to do over there, and if our services were accepted…”
“What?” cried Bilsby. “Are you suggesting that we do ballistic research for foreigners?”
“It would be better than not doing any at all,” retorted the colonel.
“Yes, it would, ” said J. T. Maston, “but it’s out of the question.”
“Why?”
“Because in the Old World they have ideas about promotion that are contrary to all our American habits. They think a man can’t become a general unless he’s first been a second lieutenant, which is the much as saying that you can’t be a good gunner unless you’ve casting the gun yourself! It’s …”
“Ridiculous, that’s what it is!” said Tom Hunter, tabbing arms of his chair with his Bowie knife. “but since that’s how things are, there’s nothing left for us to do but plant tobacco or distill whale oil!”
“但欧洲，为了维护他们自己的国家独立，总归还是有战争的！”布鲁姆斯伯里上校说。
“那怎么了？”
“嗯，那儿可能有我们能做的事情，如果他们愿意接受我们的帮助……”
“你说什么？”倍尔斯贝叫到，“你是说让我们给外国人研究弹道？”
“这总比不做要好吧，”上校反驳。
“是的，是要好点，”曼斯顿说，“但这不可能。”
“为什么？”
“因为在原来的旧世界时，他们可是想扩张的！这和我们美国固有的思想是相反的。他们认为一个连少尉都不是的家伙是不可能成为将军的，也就是说，你不能成为一个好的枪手，除非你自己造的出来枪！这......”
“太可笑了，这太可笑了！”汤姆拿着他的猎刀削着椅扶手，一边说着，“那即然这样，我们只能回去种烟草或者提炼鲸油了！”