古德明英语军事小故事：提防奸细(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。

提防奸细

During the Second World War, the British public were encouraged to be on the lookout for members of a fifth column, which in fact hardly existed. The sorts of offences which brought prosecution included a man sentenced to seven years for smashing up telephone booths, and a schoolmaster jailed for advancing"defeatist theories" to his pupils.

The idea of a fifth column in Britain sometimes made people paranoid. One British officer, billeted on a Winchester clergyman, was reported to the police by the clergyman's daughter as a suspected German spy on the grounds that he did not flush the toilet after use. And there was a Cardiff householder who accused his neighbour of tapping out Morse code signals to the Germans. It was discovered that the cause of the sounds was a leaky cistern.

第二次世界大战时，英国当局呼吁民众提防奸细，但奸细其实几乎没有。有一个男人因捣毁电话亭，被判处七年徒刑；又有一个教师因向学生发表「战败论」，被抓入狱。当局起诉的所谓奸细，犯的就是这类罪行。

「国内有奸细」的观念，有时令英国人疑神疑鬼。一个英国军官在文契斯特一名牧师家里住宿，牧师的女儿报警，说怀疑他是德国间谍，因为他上厕所后不冲马桶。加达夫有一个户主，指控邻居向德国人拍发摩尔斯信号，但所谓拍信号的声音，原来出自漏水的水箱。

【附注】西班牙内战（ 1936-1939）时，佛朗哥将军曾以四支纵队包围马德里市，并说市内还有一支秘密的第五纵队。英文于是以 fifth column（第五纵队）说战时在后方为敌人工作的奸细。