longwaydie

128. 第四章

Chapter 4

129. 上校的部队并不是总能听懂沿途每一个城市的语言，在这些不熟悉的地方，人们甚至没有来得及被同化就被帝国遗忘了。各地递交上去的公文，国王并不总是过目。对于那些过于遥远的地方，国王打算给他们充分的自治权，只要他们宣誓效忠帝国并按时上交粮食和税款。因此当上校率领着部下经过一座座插着帝国国旗的异族城市时，总是能听见各种奇怪的语言。人们议论纷纷，不知道为什么这群怪物又回到这里勾起他们伤心的回忆。后来关于不死者寻找死亡的说法渐渐传播开来，人们听的糊涂，以为国王实在是闲的无聊以至于想要和死神开战，不禁惊呆地注视着这个从城市匆匆穿过的不死军团。一见到他们不祥的样子，大伙远远地躲开，低低私语。如果上校和善地打听地狱的入口，人们面色苍白地纷纷逃离。上校虽然不在意自己受到的冷遇，但得出了一个经的住考验的结论：人是怕死的。

The Colonel's army did not always understand the language of every city along the way. In these unfamiliar places, people were forgotten by the empire before they could be assimilated. The king did not always look at the official documents submitted by different places. For places too far away, the king intended to give them full autonomy as long as they swore allegiance to the Empire and paid their taxes on time. So when the Colonel led his men through the alien cities with imperial flags, they could always hear all kinds of strange languages. People are talking about them. They don't know why these monsters come back again, which brings back their sad memories. Later, the saying about the undead looking for death gradually spread. People were confused. They thought that the king was so idle that he wanted to fight with the God of Death. They couldn't help staring at the undead army rushing through the city. At the sight of their ominous appearance, everyone kept away from them and whispered. If the Colonel kindly inquired about the entrance to hell, people would flee one after another with fear on their faces. Although the Colonel did not care about the cold treatment he received, he came to the conclusion that people are afraid of death.

130. 那个时候星球上人还不是很多，城市和城市之间离得很远，因此部队多数时候是在猛兽出没的草原上，在冰雪覆盖的高山上，在奔流不息的河谷里行进。因为作战指挥部根据如下逻辑制定行动：既然死和生是相反的，那么应该向背离生命存在的地方寻找死亡。结果他们远离人们居住的地方，远离文明，在天寒地冻的冰川上，在空气稀薄阳光明媚的高原上，在弥漫着热浪和幻影的沙漠里，在充斥着腐烂气息和尸骨的沼泽地里留下他们的足迹。他们遭遇过猛兽怪禽，碰见过孤魂野鬼，可是却没有找到那个地狱的入口。

At that time, there were not many people on the planet, and cities were far away from each other. Therefore, most of the time, the undead army wad marching on the grasslands where beasts were infested, on the mountains covered with ice and snow, and in the endless river valleys. It is because the operational command makes actions according to the following logic: since death and life are opposite, they should look for death in the place that deviates from the existence of life. As a result, they are far away from the places where people live, far away from civilization, leaving their footprints on the frozen glaciers, on the sunny plateau with thin air, in the desert filled with heat waves and mirages, and in the swamp filled with rotten breath and bones. They have encountered beasts, monsters and birds, and ghosts, but they have not found the entrance to hell.

131. 在那些凡人难以进入的死亡之地，上校总是命令部下仔细地记录着那里的气候条件、地貌特征、土壤的结构、生物的种类等等。当他们离开的时候，就会有一份关于该地区的粗略报告。起初也许是没有别的事可干，后来上校意识到，他们每个人身上都有一种认识事物的需要，这种需要以前没有体现过，而自从他们不再是帝国的一件兵器而开始自己思索时，经过这旅途上的慢慢积累，体内的某些东西开始苏醒了。

In places of death that are difficult for mortals to enter, the Colonel always orders his subordinates to carefully record the climatic conditions, geomorphic features, soil structure, biological species and so on. When they leave, there will be a rough report on the area. At first, it was probably because there was nothing else to do. Later, the Colonel realized that each of them had a need to know things. Since they were no longer a weapon of the Empire and began to think for themselves, some things in their bodies began to wake up after the gradual accumulation on the journey.

132. 就在他们如同勘探员一样，坚定不移地走过帝国的每一个角落，走进一个又一个岩洞，试图找到那条死者通往冥间的大路，但每一次都落空的时候，住在城里的人们在各种彼此矛盾的传言和猜测中弄明白了国王的意图：那道命令不过像人们常说的那样，是一句恶毒的诅咒，而这些笨家伙竟然当了真。于是那些遭受过战争伤害的人们感到了某种恶意的快意，似乎他们的创伤终于从这些活该受诅的没有人性的战争机器落得了那遭遗弃的命运中得到了补偿。大家津津乐道地谈论着这一群在大地上孜孜寻觅着地狱之门的傻瓜，编出了各种关于他们的笑话来解闷。当军队穿越一座城市的时候，人们仿佛观看马戏团演出一样聚在街道的两边，彼此互相使着眼色，这时一个自认为幽默的男人勇敢地冲着他们喊了一声：“怎么样了，宝贝儿？”

Like explorers, they walked through every corner of the Empire, one cave after another, trying to find the road to the underworld. But every time they failed. The people living in the city understood the king's intention in all kinds of contradictory rumors and conjectures, the order was just like what people often say, It's a vicious curse, and these stupid guys actually took it for granted. As a result, those who have been hurt by the war feel some kind of malicious pleasure, as if their trauma has finally been compensated from this. They talked about this group of fools who are searching for the gate of hell on the earth. They made up all kinds of jokes about them to relieve their boredom. When the army passed through a city, people gathered on both sides of the street, winking at each other. At this time, a man who thought he was humorous bravely called out to them, "What's the matter, honey?"

133. 不死者并不是聋子，也并非不懂得什么叫做侮辱，但是在和平年代他们并不把这样的事放在心头，他们知道人类的脾性是难以琢磨的，他们既不厌恶也不同情更不怜悯那些贱民。他们努力完成任务，那些无聊的攻击不能伤害他们，丝毫不认为自己可悲，说到底，他们满足于忠于职守，不懂得被遗弃的意思。因此上校把那句嘲笑判断为一句不友好的废话，只是抬头看了一眼，平静地说：“一切顺利。”

The undead are not deaf, and they know what insult is, but they don't put such things in mind in peaceful times. They know that the human temperament is elusive, and they don't hate or sympathize with those people. They work hard to accomplish their tasks. Those boring language attacks can't hurt them. They don't think they are pathetic at all. After all, they are satisfied with their duty and don't know the meaning of being abandoned. So the Colonel judged it as unfriendly nonsense. He just looked up and said calmly, "Everything is going well."

134. 他们一直在向高纬的地方前进。经过推测，上校和他的作战指挥部的全体军官一致认为，假设存在着一个最有可能通往地狱的极端险恶之地的话，那一定是极地。

They've been moving up the latitudes. After speculation, the Colonel and all the soldiers agreed that if there was an extremely dangerous place most likely to lead to hell, it must be polar.

136. 他们发现自己许多有待开发的潜力。最奇特的一点：身体可以像液体一样流动，又可以象固体一样坚固，这种随意变形在国王看来仅仅是一种玩具的功能，然而在他们去往极地的旅途上却逐渐显示出非凡的实用性来。

They found themselves with a lot of potential to exploit. The most peculiar point, their bodies can flow like a liquid, but also as strong as a solid. This random deformation in the eyes of the king is only a toy function, but in their journey to the polar region, it gradually showed extraordinary practicality.

137. 在帝国的大路最南端，他们等了两天，储存了充足的能量，然后上校和他的部下们做出了一项颇具想象力的举动：他们每一个人吸进大量的空气，使身体能够在海上漂浮，然后把自己塑造成一种配有螺旋桨的动力帆船。于是，这只历史上从未有人听闻过的神奇船队下到水中，在一片茫茫的大洋上，驶向极地。

At the southernmost end of the Empire's road, they waited for two days and stored enough energy. Then the Colonel and his men made an imaginative move; each of them inhaled a lot of air to enable their bodies to float on the sea, and then shaped themselves into a powered sailing boat with propellers. As a result, this magical fleet, which has never been heard of in history, went down to the water and sailed to the polar region on the vast ocean.

138. 在上校的指挥下，他们借着流向极地的洋流和西风，一路前进。等待他们的是来自极地的冷水团和流向极地的暖水团相汇形成的涌浪。这些上下翻腾的涌浪毫无规则，高达十几米，向他们袭来，使他们在上下颠簸，在风浪中飘摇。上校当机立断，命令每一只船都伸出两支触臂，船队彼此连接，组合成了一艘坚不可摧的巨型连锁洋轮。而当洋流为他们送来那些在碧蓝的海面上因为阳光的照耀而显得晶莹剔透的一座座小冰山的时候，他们彼此又还原成一只只小船，借着强劲的风力灵活地在浮冰间穿过。

Under the command of the Colonel, they advanced all the way by means of the current flowing to the polar region and the westerly wind. Waiting for them is the swell formed by the confluence of cold water mass from the polar region and warm water mass flowing to the polar region. These up and down waves are irregular, making them bumpy up and down and swaying in the wind and waves. The Colonel made a quick decision and ordered each ship to extend two contact arms. The fleet connected with each other and formed an indestructible giant chain ocean liner. When the ocean current brought them small icebergs on the blue sea, which were crystal clear because of the sunshine, they turned each other into a small boat, passing through the ice floes flexibly with the strong wind.

139. 很快，洋面上的浮冰变得越来越多，汇集成了密集的浮冰群，船队被这一片辉煌的白色冰障包围了，但是这也难不到这些生来注定完成最辉煌伟业的战士们：他们把自己化为一摊薄薄的液体，像油一样贴着冰面有条不紊地静静流过。这样子的变形，加上寒冷造成的粘性增加以及冰面的摩擦，耗费了他们许多能量，但是只要太阳还会出现，他们有足够的时间来积攒动力。

Soon, the ice became more and more, gathered into a dense group of ice floes, the fleet was surrounded by this brilliant white ice barrier, but it couldn't stop these soldiers who were born to accomplish the most brilliant feat. They turned themselves into a thin pool of liquid, flowing like oil against the ice in an orderly and quiet way. This deformation, coupled with the increased viscosity caused by the cold and the friction of the ice, consumes a lot of energy, but as long as the sun still appears, they have enough time to accumulate power.

140. 即使面对这样艰巨的考验，他们依旧保持着军人的荣誉，发扬着令人肃然起敬的坚毅作风，在这巨浪滔天的世界里努力保持着队形，永远不会丢下任何一个人不管。如果有谁感到自己的体能不够用了，周围的人就会靠过来和他对接，彼此共享着能量，直到太阳再次给他们足够的温暖。虽然不能说是兄弟般的情谊，但是这么多年来，他们一直懂得要彼此帮助，因为他们是战友，是伙伴。

Even in the face of such an arduous test, they still maintain the honor of soldiers, carry forward the awe inspiring style of perseverance, and strive to maintain the formation in this huge wave world, never leaving anyone behind. If someone feels that his physical strength is not enough, people around him will lean over and dock with him, sharing energy with each other, until the sun gives them enough warmth again. Although it can't be said to be brotherly friendship, they have always known to help each other for so many years, because they are partners.

141. 他们就这样永不停歇。他们是坚强的勇敢的无畏的，从没有也许永远都不会有任何人和任何事物能战胜他们。他们在浓雾弥漫的海洋上同舟共济乘风破浪风雨无阻。就这样，在上校的带领下，经过几十天的航行，他们看到远方现出一片陆地。

They never stop. They are strong, brave and fearless. No one or anything can defeat them. They worked together in the thick fog of the sea, riding through the wind and waves, rain or shine. In this way, under the leadership of the Colonel, after decades of sailing, they saw a piece of land in the distance.

142. 他们在一片裸岩上登陆，看见一个冰雪覆盖的世界。面对这个从未有人到达过的土地，上校想到的第一件事是，国王一定乐于知道自己的帝国还有这样一片不为人知的神秘大陆。上校知道自己有权利为它命名，于是叫它：冰陆。

They landed on a bare rock and saw a world of ice and snow. The first thing that the Colonel thought of was that the king must be happy to know that his empire still had such an unknown mysterious continent. Knowing that he had the right to name it, the Colonel called it Iceland.

143. 根据对这里气候的初步了解，上校判断冰陆极不适合生命的发展，也就是说，他们找对了地方。考虑到这片陌生的大陆可能有的难以预料的情况，他们建造了一个简单的基地，以便发生意外的时候在这里汇合。然后部队稍作修整，就毫不迟疑地出发了。这一回，上校决定放弃以往那种地毯式的搜寻思路，逻辑不排出合理的猜测，如果指挥部的假设不过分的话，寻找地狱的最佳地方就是这个世界的尽头：冰陆的极点。

According to the preliminary understanding of the climate here, the Colonel judged that Iceland was not suitable for the development of life, that is to say, they found the right place. In view of the unpredictable situation that this strange continent may have, they built a simple base to meet here in case of an accident. After a little trimming, the troops set off without hesitation. This time, the Colonel decided to give up the carpet like search idea. Logic did not produce reasonable speculation. If the assumption of the headquarters is right, the best place to find hell is the end of the world, the pole of Iceland.

144. 于是这一群不生不死的人，这一群幽灵，闯进了那一片未知的冰冷雪原去寻找地狱，这片千百万年来都在安静沉睡的冰雪世界，迎来了它的第一批客人。

So this group of immortal people, this group of ghosts, broke into the unknown cold snow to find hell. This ice and snow world, which has been sleeping quietly for millions of years, welcomed its first group of guests.