考研试题居然源自拿破仑战争

今年考研英语一的翻译试题竟然涉及到了拿破仑时代的密码战，可以说把许多人打了个措手不及，code这个词的多个词义甚至让不少人一开始误以为这是在讲拿破仑法典。 其实这段话源自马克·厄本（mark urban）的著作《破译拿破仑密码的人》（the man who broke napoleons codes）序言。虽然笔者这辈子都没看过考研材料，不过这段文字倒是值得一译。英语原文和对应译文如下所示： between 1807 and 1814 the iberian peninsula (comprising spain and portugal) was the scene of a titanic and merciless struggle. it took place on many different planes: between napoleon’s french army and the angry inhabitants; between the british, ever keen to exacerbate the emperor’s difficulties, and the marshals sent from paris to try to keep them in check; between new forces of science and meritocracy and old ones of conservatism and birth. it was also, and this is unknown even to many people well read about the period, a battle between those who made codes and those who broke them. 从1807年到1814年，伊比利亚半岛（包括西班牙和葡萄牙）上演了一场规模庞大的无情斗争。斗争发生在诸多不同层面，它发生在拿破仑的法军与愤怒的居民之间，发生在始终致力于给皇帝添堵的英国人和从巴黎派过去阻挡英国人的元帅之间，发生在科学、贤能统治的新力量和保守、讲究出身的旧力量之间。而且，它还是一场密码的制造者和破译者之间的战争，甚至有许多对这个时代涉猎广泛的人也对此一无所知。 i first discovered the napoleonic cryptographic battle a few years ago when i was reading sir charles oman’s epic history of the peninsular war. in volume v he had attached an appendix, “the scovell ciphers.” it listed many documents in code that had been captured from the french army of spain, and whose secrets had been revealed by the work of one george scovell, an officer in british headquarters. oman rated scovell’s significance highly, but at the same time, the general nature of his history meant that he could not analyze carefully what this obscure officer may or may not have contributed to that great struggle between nations or indeed tell us anything much about the man himself. i was keen to read more, but was surprised to

find that oman’s appendix, published in 1914, was the only considered thing that had been written about this secret war. 几年前，我在阅读查尔斯·奥曼爵士那部宏大的《半岛战争史》时头一次发现了拿破仑时代的密码战。他在第五卷里添加了名为“斯科韦尔密码”的附录。其中列出了许多从法国的西班牙驻军里缴获的加密文件，而文件的秘密正是被英军总部里的一位名叫乔治·斯科韦尔的军官解开。奥曼高度评价了斯科韦尔的重要性，不过，这本《半岛战争史》的全史特点也意味着他不可能细致分析这位鲜为人知的军官是否对国家之间的大规模斗争有过贡献，甚至也不能告诉我们太多和这个人相关的信息。我决心继续读下去，可还是惊讶地发现奥曼出版于1914年的附录就是关于这场秘密战的唯一书面研究。 i became convinced that this story was every bit as exciting and significant as that of enigma and the breaking of german codes in the second world war. the question was, could it be told? 我开始确信这个故事就和二战中恩尼格玛以及破译德国密码的故事一样重要，一样激动人心。问题在于，能够有人把这个故事讲出来吗？ studying scovell’s papers at the public record office (in kew, west london) i found that he had left an extensive journal and copious notes about his work in the peninsula. what was more, many original

french dispatches had been preserved in this collection. i realized at once that this was priceless. there may have been many spies and intelligence officers during the napoleonic wars, but it is usually extremely difficult to find the material they actually provided or worked on. furthermore, scovell’s story involved much more than just intelligence work. his status in lord wellington’s headquarters and the recognition given to him for his work were all bound up with the class politics of the army at the time. his tale of self-improvement and hard work would make a fascinating biography in its own right, but represents something more than that. just as the code breaking has its wider relevance in the struggle for spain, so his attempts to make his way up the promotion ladder speak volumes about british society. 我在（设于西伦敦基尤的）档案局里研究斯科韦尔的文件，发现他留下了一本内容广博的日志和与自己在半岛的工作相关的详尽笔记。此外，藏品里还有许多法军公函的原件。我立刻意识到这是无价之宝。拿破仑战争中可能的确有过许多间谍和情报军官，但一般来说都很难找到他们提供的材料或工作资料。此外，斯科韦尔的故事涉及到的远不仅是情报工作。他在威灵顿勋爵总部里的地位和凭借工作赢得的认可都与当时陆军中的阶层政治密切相关。他自我提高、努力工作的故事本身就足够变成一本有趣的传记，可这代表的还不仅于此。就像破译密码对西班牙之争有着更广泛的意义一样，他攀爬晋升阶梯的尝试也充分说明了英国社会的情况。 the story of wellington himself also gripped me. half a century ago his campaigns were considered a central part of the british historical mythology and spoon-fed to schoolboys. more recently this has not been the case, which is a great shame. a generation has grown up without learning about his battles or indeed his mesmerizing and complex historical character. i therefore felt quite unashamed about giving him a central part in this narrative. one cannot think of a person less in tune with the emotional openness and social inclusiveness of our own time, but his results were spectacular: a paradox that fascinates me. he was certainly one of britain’s greatest military leaders, but without doubt one of the most difficult men one could ever have had to work for. 威灵顿本人的故事也吸引了我的注意。半个世纪前，他的历次战役被认为是英国历史神话的核心部分，还被灌输给学生们。近来的情况并非如此，这是一个巨大的耻辱。一代人在成长过程中既没有了解到他的会战，甚至不知晓他令人着迷的复杂历史个性。因此，我一点都不难为情地这个叙事中给予他一个核心角色。人们难以想象一个与我们这个时代的情感开放和社会包容不那么合拍的人，不过他的成果却相当壮观：这是一个令我着迷的悖论。威灵顿当然是英国最伟大的军队领袖之一，可他也无疑是人们不得不为之工作时最棘手的上司之一。