读者文摘:自学号角向老兵致敬(1)

The commuters in Excelsior, Minnesota, are too busy rushing to work to notice the lone¹ figure climbing up to old Oak Hill Cemetery².

明尼苏达州的上班族们正赶着去上班，根本没有注意到一个长长的身影正爬上老橡树山的墓地。

He is a tanned, gray-haired man in -khakis and a golf shirt, and he is walking deliberately³.

他皮肤黝黑、头发花白，穿着卡其裤和高尔夫球衫，走路很从容。

Gary -Marquardt spots a grave with an American flag on it, raises his trumpet⁴, and plays.

加里·马夸特发现坟墓上有一面美国国旗，他举起小号，开始演奏。

"I love to hear taps echo through the cemetery," he says. "I'm doing something for these guys. It's kind of like being among friends."

“我喜欢听到葬礼的安息号，”他说。“我在为这些家伙做点什么，就像和朋友在一起。”

Gary will repeat the routine a dozen times over the next 45 minutes: finding a veteran, saying his name, and then playing taps.

在接下来的45分钟里，加里会重复这个动作十几次：找一个老兵，说出他的名字，然后吹着葬礼的安息号。

"I always think about the funeral, the people standing⁵ around here, so sad at the loss of their loved one,

“我总是想起葬礼，站在这里的人们，为失去所爱而悲伤，

and then it's over and you're left with this," Gary says, looking down at a grave.

一切结束了，剩下的就只有这些。”加里低头看着坟墓说。

The cemetery visits started three years ago, after Gary attended the military funeral of a friend's father, who had served during World War II.

第一次参加葬礼是在三年前，加里参加一个朋友父亲的军事葬礼，这位父亲曾在二战中服役。

It bothered Gary that a recording⁶ was being used for taps and not a live bugler⁸.

加里担心的是，葬礼的安息号是录音录进去的而不是现场演奏的。

"It just seemed that after what they've given, an actual person playing taps wasn't much to ask for," he says.

他表示：“这些人付出了这么多，似乎真人现场演奏的要求并不过分。”

There was only one problem: Gary had never played a bugle⁷.

只有一个问题：加里从未吹过号角。

He called Bugles⁹ Across America (BAA), an organization that provides buglers for military funerals.

他给全美军号打电话，这是一个为军事葬礼吹号角的组织。

They told him he would need to audition¹⁰. So he walked into a music store and bought a horn. Then he started to practice.

他被通知需要试音，于是他走进一家音像店，买了一只号角，然后开始练习。

1 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

2 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

3 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

4 trumpet   

n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘

参考例句：

• He plays the violin, but I play the trumpet.他拉提琴，我吹喇叭。
• The trumpet sounded for battle.战斗的号角吹响了。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

7 bugle   

n.军号，号角，喇叭；v.吹号，吹号召集

参考例句：

• When he heard the bugle call, he caught up his gun and dashed out.他一听到军号声就抓起枪冲了出去。
• As the bugle sounded we ran to the sports ground and fell in.军号一响，我们就跑到运动场集合站队。

8 bugler   

喇叭手； 号兵； 吹鼓手； 司号员

参考例句：

• The general ordered the bugler to sound the retreat. 将军命令号手吹号收兵。
• There was nothing faded about the bugler under the cap. 帽子下面那个号手可一点也不是褪色的。

9 bugles   

妙脆角，一种类似薯片但做成尖角或喇叭状的零食； 号角( bugle的名词复数 )； 喇叭； 匍匐筋骨草； （装饰女服用的）柱状玻璃（或塑料）小珠

参考例句：

• Blow, bugles, blow, set the wild echoes flying. "响起来，号角，响起来，让激昂的回声在空中震荡"。
• We hear the silver voices of heroic bugles. 我们听到了那清亮的号角。

10 audition   

n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)

参考例句：

• I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音，可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
• At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初，他们说他太小，但后来他们叫他去试听。