古德明英语军事小故事：丘吉尔语录 (中英对照)

古德明《征服英语》之英语军事故事，古德明，香港英语教育作家，他开了一个《征服英语专栏》，在专栏中专门用英语写了世界近代史上的军事小故事，用英语讲述历史中那些惊心动魄的战争。

丘吉尔语录

During World WarⅡ, an aide read to Churchill an account in a tabloid: A 75-year-old man on a January day with the temperature 35o below freezing had propositioned a 19-year-old girl to have sex on the grass in Hyde Park. Churchill remarked:"Over 75! Below-zero temperature! It makes you proud to be an Englishman!"

In 1940, when the first destroyers arrived under America's Lend-Lease Program to Britain, Churchill went to inspect them. He looked at the decidedly overaged rust buckets and grumbled in a whisper,"Cheap and nasty."＊ Harry Hopkins, the American president's right-hand man, was startled by the remark, and queried,"What was that?" Churchill amended loudly,"Cheap for us, and nasty for the Germans."

第二次世界大战期间，丘吉尔一名助手读了一段小报新闻给他听：有个七十五岁男人，在一月零下三十五度的气温之中，要求一个十九岁女郎在海德公园草地上和他交欢。丘吉尔说：「七十五岁高龄！零度以下低温！英国男人能不自豪！」

一九四○年，美国按照对英国的武器租借计划，把第一批驱逐舰送到。丘吉尔前去察看，见那些战船十分残旧，咕哝说：「低贱得要命。」美国总统的得力助手哈利．霍布金斯听到，愕然问道：「先生说什么？」丘吉尔大声改口说：「对我们而言，是价格低贱；对德国人而言，是要他们的命。」

备注：

＊英文成语 cheap and nasty是「质量低劣」的意思。