比利時古戰場,關於一戰的生動記憶

YPRES, Belgium — The padlocked cage beside the driveway on the Butaye family farm near this town in western Belgium is almost full of rusting bombs again. Since January, Stijn Butaye has collected 46 mortar shells on his family's 100 acres, World War I munitions he found among the sugar beet and potato fields, sometimes with the help of his metal detector.

比利時伊普爾——布塔耶家的農場坐落於比利時西部的伊普爾城外，通道旁上了鎖的籠子裏幾乎又裝滿了鏽跡斑斑的炸彈。斯汀·布塔耶(Stijn Butaye)在自家的甜菜和土豆田裏清除着第一次世界大戰遺留的炸彈，有時也會藉助金屬探測儀。自今年1月以來，他已在這片100英畝的農田裏，發現了46顆迫擊炮彈。

Mr. Butaye's father, Luc, won't even plow two of his fields for fear of what the blades might hit. Not long ago, a neighbor riding his tractor ruptured an aging shell, and the explosion sent shrapnel through his windshield, tearing off a chunk of his ear.

布塔耶的父親盧克(Luc)甚至不敢在其中兩片田裏犁地，生怕農具挖到地裏的炸彈。就在不久前，一位鄰居開着他的拖拉機引爆了地裏一顆陳年炸彈。爆炸彈出的彈片擊中了拖拉機的擋風玻璃，削掉了他耳朵上的一塊肉。

"You don't know what could happen," said Stijn Butaye, 26, who has built a small museum beside the barn with hundreds of items — including shoes and eyeglasses and razors and a perfectly preserved gas mask — that he has found on his family's property. "We just use that land for grazing the cows."

26歲的斯汀·布塔耶在穀倉旁建了一座小型博物館，用於陳列他從自家農場上挖出的大大小小几百件一戰遺物，其中包括鞋履、眼鏡、剃鬚刀等，還有一個完好無損的防毒面具。他說，“不知道會出什麼事。那片地我們只用來放牛。”

It has been 100 years since World War I erupted in these parts. The men who survived the thousands of miles of muddy trenches that surrounded this strategically important region are long gone and buried. But the earth, in its own way, has become the last witness, coughing up constant reminders of a bloody and relentless war that would demolish empires, leave at least 8.5 million soldiers and seven million civilians dead, and produce legacies that continue to play out today.

距離一戰在這裏爆發已有百年春秋。當年從這片戰略重地上綿延幾千裏的泥濘戰壕中活着出來的將士們，如今也都早已溘然長逝，白骨入土。腳下的這片土地，某種程度上便成爲了這場戰爭最後的見證者，時而呈出一兩件舊物，提醒着人們別忘記那場摧毀了多個帝國、奪去至少850萬軍人和200萬平民性命、而且至今仍然影響着世界格局的殘酷戰爭。

Around Ypres, the Allies and the Germans fought for nearly four years in a marathon slugfest that produced some of the war's most famous and deadly battles. It was here that the Germans first used chlorine and mustard gas on Allied troops. Yet neither side ever made much headway despite artillery barrages so fierce and long that they wiped away roads and villages, leaving miles in which not a building or a tree or a blade of grass was left.

伊普爾一帶，協約國與德軍曾展開近四年的拉鋸戰，許多著名戰役在此地上演，其間死傷無數。正是在這裏，德軍首次使用了氯氣和芥子氣武器對抗協約國軍隊。長時間的狂轟濫炸將這裏的道路和村莊夷爲平地，數英里內寸草不生，儘管如此，雙方仍然僵持不下，戰況停滯不前。

The area became a battlefield when German forces wheeled north after being stymied in their initial drive on Paris in the war's opening months in 1914. After that, the conflict shifted toward Belgium as the Germans tried a flanking maneuver and the Allies raced to protect their control of the vital French seaports of Calais and Boulogne. There, along a front stretching southward from the Belgian coast, the opposing armies settled in, turning fertile farmlands into nightmarish killing fields.

這裏之所以淪爲戰場，是因爲1914年戰爭爆發的頭幾個月，德軍企圖速取巴黎而不得，遂轉而北上。此後，德軍又欲側面包夾法國的重要海港加來和布倫，協約國軍隊拼力阻擊。於是，雙方軍隊在此安營紮寨，從比利時海岸一路向南，將昔日豐饒的農田變成了噩夢般的殺戮戰場。

Experts say that in one particularly intense three-month campaign in 1917, known as the Third Battle of Ypres, or the Battle of Passchendaele, the British alone fired more than four million shells. In the end, more than 500,000 men had been killed or wounded, and the constant shelling had turned the landscape into a lifeless swamp. Up to 30 percent of the artillery shells fired never went off, experts say. Some were duds, but many simply slid deep into the mud without exploding.

專家稱，在1917年曆時三個月的惡戰“第三次伊普爾戰役”（又稱“帕斯尚爾戰役”）中，僅英方發射的炮彈就超過了400萬枚。戰役中死傷人數逾50萬，連續不斷的炮轟將這片土地變成死寂的廢墟。據專家估計，多達30%的炮彈在發射後沒有爆炸。其中有一些是啞彈，但還有很多是因爲淤陷泥中而未能正常引爆。

Over the years, many of those shells have begun to rise, some appearing even in fields that have been plowed many times before. Most years, there are two or three injuries from World War I munitions in Ypres and the surrounding villages. In March, two workers were killed and a third seriously wounded while handling a shell at a construction site.

多年來，不少這樣的炮彈開始冒出來，有些甚至出現在曾經多次耕犁過的田地裏。在伊普爾及周邊的村莊，每年都基本會有兩三起一戰殘餘炮彈炸傷人的事件。今年3月間，建築工人在處理工地上的炮彈時發生爆炸事故，造成兩死一重傷。

The land here still holds so many explosives that almost every construction project poses a danger. Every turned spade has the potential to unearth not just munitions but bones, some carefully laid to rest in full uniform, others blown apart. A local highway stands half finished; work ended abruptly because the bulldozers began uncovering graves, and the British government quickly objected to the project.

這裏埋藏着太多的遺留炸彈，任何一個建築工程都存在着安全風險。每次揮動鐵鍬，都有可能驚動地下的彈藥，或是一堆白骨——有的軍裝齊整，有的殘肢斷臂。當地一處高速公路的修築工程被戛然叫停，因爲推土機翻出墳墓，英國政府隨即對工程發出抗議。

It is impossible to live around Ypres without feeling the weight of living atop a former battlefield where young men from Germany, France, Britain, Belgium, Australia, Canada and North Africa died, some as young as 15.

居住在舊時戰場上的伊普爾人，難以逃離歷史沉重的記憶。在這裏，來自德、法、英、比、澳、加和北非的年輕人，將生命遺失在槍林彈雨中，有的年僅15歲。

Cemeteries are everywhere. Some are just small clusters of graves surrounded by stone fences beside country roads. Others are carefully laid out rows of crosses that seem to extend forever, crowned by huge monuments. In a German cemetery in the nearby village of Langemark, a patch of grass holds the bones of about 25,000 men, many of them unidentified.

公墓隨處可見。有的只是鄉間路邊石牆圍起的幾處青冢，也有的高碑聳立，十字架錯落成行，綿延無邊。附近的朗厄馬克村有一處德軍墓地，一小塊草地下，埋葬着2.5萬名德國將士，其中大部分的身份無從考證。

And yet more bodies always seem to be found. In recent years, as the city decided to develop an industrial zone along the Yser Canal, a local team of amateur archaeologists, calling themselves "the Diggers," have followed the bulldozers and uncovered the bones of 200 soldiers, only one of whom could be identified.

儘管如此，還是不斷有更多的遺體被發現。近年，伊普爾市政府決定沿伊瑟運河開發一個工業區。一個自稱“挖掘者”的業餘考古隊順着推土機找到了200名軍人的屍骨，其中只有一人的身份得以確認。

The archaeologists also unearthed a stretch of trench that has been partly restored for tourists. Aurel Sercu, one of the Diggers, walked the site recently, explaining how tunnels had led away from the trenches to an underground pump room, a changing area, a workroom and a stock of ammunition, all underwater now. If warm weather ever dries out the area, he said, the ground above might collapse, as has happened elsewhere.

這些考古者還掘出了一段舊時戰壕，現已部分修復，向遊人開放。“挖掘者”成員奧萊爾·塞爾居(Aurel Sercu)最近來到戰壕，向大家解釋了這條溝渠如何把戰壕與地下泵房、更衣區、工作間和軍火庫連通起來，而這些空間如今均已被水淹沒。他說，如果有一天這片土地隨暖熱的天氣而乾涸，那覆蓋在上面的土壤可能會坍塌，類似的事在其它地方已有發生。

Much of what the Diggers found was either reburied with the soldiers or went to museums. But Mr. Sercu, a retired language teacher, has kept some of what was not wanted, including a broken crucifix, a harmonica and a pair of almost perfectly preserved wool socks found in the mud at the bottom of one of the tunnels.

“挖掘者”發現的許多東西又隨士兵屍骨一起重新入土，而另一些，則被請進博物館。不過，身爲退休語言教師的塞爾居也自己保留了一些沒有去處的物件，其中包括一個破損了的十字架、一支口琴，以及在溝渠底部的泥土中挖出的一雙完好無損的羊毛襪子。

When an item, like a straight razor, had a name and number scratched on its side, Mr. Sercu tried to track down the soldier's family. Once, he actually succeeded, but the soldier's last living relative had just died. The woman's husband sent Mr. Sercu a picture of the soldier and said he should keep the razor. Mr. Sercu handles the photograph with care.

每當挖到鐫刻了名字和數字的物件，比如摺疊式剃刀，塞爾居便會試圖尋找物件主人的家屬。有一次他居然成功找到了，但是這名士兵的最後一位親人正好也剛剛過世了。她的丈夫將士兵的一張舊照寄給他，並請他保管這把剃刀。塞爾居異常小心地收藏着這張相片。

"This man died here, and he must know we are looking at his photo," Mr. Sercu said. "There is so much history here. You can't help but become obsessed."

塞爾居說，“他在這裏犧牲，他一定知道我們正在瞻仰他的照片。這裏面有太多的歷史，叫人如何能不着迷呢。”

Officials in Ypres say there is more interest in the war today than there was 20 years ago. Tens of thousands of British schoolchildren come here every year, as do thousands of the soldiers' family members and history buffs, contributing about 40 million euros a year to the local economy. Joseph Verschoore, the deputy mayor of Ypres, said that even Germans were beginning to show interest.

伊普爾的官員稱，比起20年前，人們對一戰的關注度提高了。每年都有上萬的英國中小學生前來參觀，另外還有數千名一戰老兵家屬和歷史愛好者來訪，爲當地經濟帶來4000萬歐元（約合3.1億元人民幣）的年收入。伊普爾副市長約瑟夫·維訶舒赫(Joseph Verschoore)說，就連德國人也開始關注這裏。

"I think before they were not always at ease," Mr. Verschoore said. "They were maybe afraid that the people here were still angry. But now there is more understanding that there was a regime there, and it was not very good for their people, either. Many of the German soldiers had no idea why they were here."

維訶舒赫說，“我想，以前他們心裏多少有些不自在吧，擔心這裏的人們仍然對歷史滿懷憤恨。但是現在大家更加能夠諒解了，知道當年德國是受控於某個政權之下，德國人本身也深受其害。很多德國士兵也矇在鼓裏，並不明白自己來到這裏出生入死是爲了什麼。”

But some bitterness lingers. Stijn Butaye's grandfather, who bought the farm in 1960, was eager to rid it of any signs that the Germans had once camped there. He tried to blow up a bunker near the house, and objected to his grandson's hobby.

儘管如此，戰爭的傷痕並未完全癒合。斯汀·布塔耶的祖父在上世紀60年代買置了這片地，他恨不能把所有德軍的痕跡統統清理乾淨。他曾試圖炸除房子附近的一個地堡，對孫子的一戰情結也堅決反對。

"Whenever he takes a picture of the house, he cuts the bunker out," Mr. Butaye said. "He hates that it was a German bunker."

布塔耶說，“爺爺每次照房子的相片，都會避開這個地堡。他對這個德軍地堡深惡痛絕。”