圣诞休战 The Christmas Truce

Hello, I’m Rob. Welcome to 6 Minute English. I’m joined today by Finn.
大家好，我是Rob。欢迎来到6分钟英语，我今天的搭档是Finn。
Hi Rob! Merry Christmas everyone!
你好Rob。大家圣诞快乐！
Yes. Merry Christmas! Today we’re talking about this celebration. It’s a Christian festival but its message of peace among people is universal.
是啊，圣诞快乐！今天我们就来讲讲圣诞这个节日。它虽然是个基督教节日，但它所包含的和平意义却是普遍存在的。
It’s a pity that today we are far from that - from a moment of absolute peace and goodwill. Now, goodwill means a cooperative attitude.
可惜如今的我们远没有达到绝对的和平和友好。如今，友好意味着一种合作的态度。
But there was once a brief moment in history when the human spirit rose above wars.
历史上曾出现过人类的精神超越战争的情况。
Ah, you must be talking about the Christmas Truce which happened in World War One, in 1914!
啊，你说的一定是发生于1914年第一次世界大战期间的圣诞休战。
It’s the perfect occasion to talk about it, because this year marks the centenary - the 100 year anniversary - of the start of Britain’s involvement in this European conflict. And we’ll look at some related vocabulary during the programme. But, before we go into this extraordinary event, a question about the First World War, Finn.
现在谈起它再恰当不过了，今年刚好是英国开始卷入欧洲战争的百年纪念。让我们在节目里看看相关词汇。但在了解这个特别事件之前，Finn，先问你一个关于第一次世界大战的问题吧。
For me... well... I’m not an expert on the First World War so... we’ll let’s see how I do...
问我……好吧，我对一战不是很了解。让我看看要如何回答……
I’m sure you’ll know the answer to this one. It’s about letters. People didn’t have email in the early 20th century so they wrote lots of letters. But do you know how many letters were delivered to the front - the place where the fighting happened - every week? Were there:a) one millionb) five million orc) an incredible twelve million letters?
我想你一定知道答案。是关于信的。在20世纪早期，人们没有电子邮件只能写信。你知道每周送到战争前线的信件有多少吗？是…… 一百万五百万甚至是一千二百万？
Right. Well, I know there were a lot of people at the front but I’m going to say a) one million.
呃，我知道前线有很多人，所以我认为是a)一百万
OK. Well, as usual, you’ll have the answer to that question at the end of the programme. Right, now, let’s talk about this unofficial truce which happened 100 years ago in the Western Front of the First World War.
好的，按照惯例，在节目的最后会揭晓答案。现在，让我们说说这场发生于100年前的一战西线的非官方休战。
Yes, so a truce is an agreement between people to stop fighting, with no winner or loser. Now, it’s unofficial - which means it’s not authorised by people in a position of authority, in this case, the governments involved in the war. So the soldiers just decided to simply stop fighting. How was this possible, Rob? How did this happen?
是的，休战协定是指没有输赢，人们同意停战。现在它是非官方的，也就是说在非官方授意的情况下，政府也卷入到战争之中。于是士兵就那样停止了战争。 这怎么可能呢Rob？它是如何发生的？
Well, soldiers from both trenches, all of a sudden, started to fraternise - which means they began to meet each other socially.
是的，双方战壕的士兵们忽然间变得友好起来，他们开始往来。
And the trenches were big holes dug by soldiers from which they attacked the enemy.Living conditions were terrible in these holes.
战壕是指士兵用于攻击敌人而挖的大洞。 这些洞里的生存环境相当差。
This truce might have had something to do with the bad conditions in these trenches. Let’s hear what German historian Michael Jurgs has to say about the event.Which expression does he use to describe how the soldiers felt about the war?
这场休战也许和战壕当中的恶劣环境有关系。让我们听听德国历史学家Michael Jurgs是如何形容士兵对这场战争的感受。
I think it happened because they were all fed up with the war. They were promised they would be at home again, Christmas 1914 and after five months of the World War One, there were already a million dead young people, eighteen, nineteen, twenty years old.And at Christmas night the muddy weather became frosty and cold and then from the German trenches, from the German trenches - that sounds unbelievable because always Germans started wars, or joined wars - began the song, ’Silent Night, Holy Night’. That was the beginning.
我想之所以会发生这场休战是因为他们受够了战争。他们发誓一定要在1914年圣诞回到家乡。而一战开始5个月后，就已经死了一百万年轻人了，他们才18,19,20岁。圣诞节晚上大雾弥漫，寒冷非常，忽然从德军的战壕里传出了一种不可思议的声音，一种通常表示德军开战或参战的声音：’Silent Night, Holy Night’.
The German historian said the soldiers were fed up with the war - which is an informal way of saying they were bored, or annoyed with it.
德国历史学家说士兵受够了战争，用这种非正式的方式表达了他们厌倦战争。
The war was continuing and they wished they were home with their families. One night, it was cold and the German soldiers started to sing a song... a carol...
战争还在继续，但他们希望能和家人团聚。在一个寒冷的晚上，德军唱起了一首歌……圣诞颂歌……
Yes. A carol is a happy song with a religious element - usually a Christmas song. And the carol they sang was
是的，颂歌是带有宗教色彩的欢快歌曲，通常是圣诞歌。他们唱的颂歌是……
Yes. That’s the carol ’Silent Night, Holy Night’ and it broke the ice between the soldiers. That means it made these men, who didn’t know each other personally, more relaxed.
没错，就是这首颂歌 ’Silent Night, Holy Night’ ，它缓和了士兵之间的关系。它让这些彼此不认识的人放松了不少。
And you know Rob? I really find it fascinating how spontaneous all of this was!
你知道吗Rob，我觉得好神奇啊，一切就这样自然而然的发生了。
It was indeed.
没错。
So how did the authorities respond to this?
那么官方是如何回应此事的
They didn’t like it at all. They banned this sort of fraternising and it didn’t happen again.But not before the soldiers from opposing armies played some football together.
他们不喜欢这样的行为。他们禁止了此类友好往来，此后再也没发生过。但在此之前敌对双方的士兵还曾一起踢足球。
Football?!
足球？！
Yes. They played a match in no-man’s-land! That’s a strip of land between enemy sides over which nobody has control. It was the area between the English trench and the German trench.
是的，他们在无人区踢了一场比赛。那里并不属于战争双方控制的范围。既不属于英军战壕也不属于德军战壕。
You know, it’s a really nice story, isn’t it? It’s quite a touching story, Rob.
你知道，这真是个美丽的故事，不是吗？相当感人的故事，Rob。
Yes, and very inspiring. Well, our time is almost up so let’s get the right answer to the quiz question. I asked you how many letters were delivered to the front every week. The options were: one million, five million or twelve million.
是啊，很震撼人心。好了，时间差不多了，让我们揭晓正确答案吧。 我的问题是每周送到前线的信有多少？选项是：一百万，五百万和一千二百万。
And I said one million, Rob.
我的答案是一百万，Rob。
And you were a long way off.
你还差得远呢。
Oh, really?
真的吗？
Yes. The correct answer is (c) twelve million letters.
没错。正确答案是（c）一千二百万封信。
Twelve million a week?!
一周一千二百万？
Yes, a week. By the end of the war, two billion letters and 114 million parcels had been delivered to the front.According to statistics, 65 million people around the world fought in this war, which ended in 1918.
是的，每周。战争结束的时候，有二十亿封信和一亿一千四百万个包裹送到了前线。据数据统计，全世界有六千五百万人参加了这场结束于1918年的战争。
That’s really quite incredible Rob!
真令人难以置信Rob！
Some incredible figures there. OK. Let’s remember some of the words we explained today.
是难以置信的数字。好的，让我们回顾一下今天解释过的单词。
They were： goodwill centenary truce unofficial trenches fraternise fed up with carol broke the ice no-man’s-land
他们是 友好，好意 百年纪念 休战，停战 非官方的 战壕，防御工事 友好往来，深交 受够了，厌倦…… 耶诞颂歌 打破僵局，破冰 无人区，三不管地带
Thank you, Finn. That’s it for today. Do log on to bbclearningenglish.com to find more 6 Minute English programmes. And we wish you all a Merry, and peaceful, Christmas!
谢谢Finn。今天就到这里了。请登录bbclearningenglish.com浏览更多6分钟英语节目。祝大家圣诞快乐、平安。
That’s right.Merry Christmas to all!Bye!
没错，祝大家圣诞快乐！再见！
Bye!
再见！