硕大的、单薄的像一片剪纸一样的圆月，在升上高粱梢头的过程中，面积凝缩变小，并渐渐放射出光辉。
WHEN THE JAPANESE troops withdrew, the full moon, thin as a paper cutout, rose in the sky above the tips of the sorghum stalks, which had undergone such suffering.
Grain fell sporadically like glistening tears.
多灾多难的高粱们在月光中肃立不语，间或有一些高粱米坠落在黑土上，好像高粱们晶莹的泪珠。
WHEN THE JAPANESE troops withdrew, the full moon, thin as a paper cutout, rose in the sky above the tips of the sorghum stalks, which had undergone such suffering.
Grain fell sporadically like glistening tears.
空气中腥甜的气息浓烈稠密，人血把我们村南这一片黑土地都给泡透了。
A sweet odour grew heavy in the air; the dark soil of the southern edge of our village had been thoroughly soaked by human blood.
村子里的火光像狐狸尾巴一样耸动着，时不时响起木头烧焦的爆裂声，焦糊味道从村子里弥散出来，与高粱地里的血腥味掺合一起，形成一种令人窒息的怪味。
Lights from fires in the village curled like foxtails, as occasional pops, like the crackling of dry wood, momentarily filled the air with a charred odour that merged with the stifling stench of blood.
爷爷胳膊上的老伤口累发了，疮面迸裂，流了那么多乌黑的花白的腥臭脓血。
The wound on Granddad's arm had turned worse, the scabs cracking and releasing a rotting, oozing mixture of dark blood and white pus.
爷爷要父亲帮助他挤压伤口。
He told Father to squeeze the area around the wound.
父亲用冰凉的小手指，胆颤心惊地挤压着爷爷胳膊上的伤口附近青紫色的皮肤，挤一下，噗噗冒出一串虹膜般的气泡，伤口里有一股酱菜般的腐败气息。
Fearfully, Father placed his icy fingers on the discoloured skin around the suppurating wound and squeezed, forcing out a string of air bubbles that released the putrid smell of pickled vegetables.
爷爷从远处的一丘坟墓上，揭来一张用土坷垃压在坟尖上的黄表纸，他要父亲从高粱秸上刮下一些碱卤般的白色粉末放在纸上。
Granddad picked up a piece of yellow spirit currency that had been weighted down by a clod of earth at the head of a nearby gravesite and told Father to smear some of the salty white powder from the sorghum stalks on it.
爷爷用牙齿拧开一颗手枪子弹，倒出一些灰绿色的火药，与白色的高粱粉末掺合在一起，捏起一撮，要往伤口上撒，父亲小声问： “爹，不掺点黑土？”
Then he removed the head of a cartridge with his teeth and poured the greenish gunpowder onto the paper, mixed it with the white sorghum powder, and took a pinch with his fingers to daub on the open wound. 'Dad,' Father said, 'shall I mix some soil into it?'
爷爷想了一会，说：“掺吧。”
Granddad thought for a moment. 'Sure, why not?'
父亲从高粱根下挖起一块黑土，用手搓得精细，撒在黄表纸上。
Father bent down and picked up a clod of dark earth near the roots of a sorghum stalk, crumbled it in his fingers, and spread it on the paper.
爷爷把三种物质拌匀，连同那张黄表纸，拍在伤口上，父亲帮着爷爷把那根肮脏不堪的绷带扎好。
After Granddad mixed the three substances together and covered the wound with them, paper and all, Father wrapped a filthy strip of bandage cloth around it and tied it tight.
父亲问：“爹，疼得轻点了吗？”
'Does that make it feel better, Dad?'
爷爷活动了几下胳膊，说：“好多了，豆官，这样的灵丹妙药，什么样的重伤也能治好。”
Granddad moved his arm back and forth. 'Much better, Douguan.
An elixir like this will work on any wound, no matter how serious.'
“爹，俺娘那会儿要是也敷上这种药就不会死了吧？
'Dad, if we'd had something like that for Mother, she wouldn't have died, would she?'
” 父亲问。
'Dad, if we'd had something like that for Mother, she wouldn't have died, would she?'
“是，是不会死……”
'No, she wouldn't have. . . .'
爷爷面色阴沉地说。
Granddad's face clouded.
“爹，你早把这个药方告诉我就好啦，俺娘伤口里的血咕嘟咕嘟往外冒，我就用黑土堵啊堵啊，堵住一会儿，血又冲出来。
'Dad, wouldn't it've been great if you'd told me about this before?
Mother was bleeding so much I kept packing earth on the wounds, but that only stopped it for a while.
要是那会儿加上高粱白粉和枪子药就好啦……”
If I'd known to add some white sorghum powder and gunpowder, everything would have been fine. . . .'
爷爷在父亲的细声碎语中，用那只伤手往手枪里压子弹；日本人的迫击炮弹，在村子的围子上炸起了一团团焦黄的烟雾。
All the while Father was rambling, Granddad was loading his pistol.
Japanese mortar fire raised puffs of hot yellow smoke all up and down the village wall.
父亲的勃朗宁手枪压在日本洋马肚子下边了。
Since Father's Browning pistol lay under the belly of the fallen horse, during the final battle of the afternoon he used a Japanese rifle nearly as tall as he was; Granddad used his German automatic, firing it so rapidly it spent its youth and was ready for the trash heap.
在下午最后的搏斗中，父亲拖着一杆比他矮不了多少的日本马枪，爷爷还用着那支德国造“自来得”手枪。
Since Father's Browning pistol lay under the belly of the fallen horse, during the final battle of the afternoon he used a Japanese rifle nearly as tall as he was; Granddad used his German automatic, firing it so rapidly it spent its youth and was ready for the trash heap.
连续不断地射击，使本来就过了青春年华的这支“自来得”迅速奔向废铁堆。
Since Father's Browning pistol lay under the belly of the fallen horse, during the final battle of the afternoon he used a Japanese rifle nearly as tall as he was; Granddad used his German automatic, firing it so rapidly it spent its youth and was ready for the trash heap.