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Kyle Mullen always had the natural drive and talent that made success look easy. Until he tried out for the Navy SEALs.
凯尔·马伦总是有种天生的冲劲和才能，似乎轻而易举就能获得成功。直到他参加了美国海军海豹突击队的选拔。
The 24-year-old arrived on the California coast in January for the SEALs' punishing selection course in the best shape of his life -- even better than when he was a state champion defensive end in high school or the captain of the football team at Yale.
24岁的他今年1月来到加州海岸，参加海豹突击队严酷的选拔课程，这是他人生中身体最壮硕的时候--甚至比他在高中时作为州防守边锋冠军或耶鲁大学橄榄球队队长时还要好。
But by the middle of the course's third week -- a continual gut punch of physical and mental hardship, sleep deprivation and hypothermia that the SEALs call Hell Week -- the 6-foot-4-inch athlete from Manalapan, New Jersey, was dead-eyed with exhaustion, riddled with infection and coughing up blood from lungs that were so full of fluid that others who were there said later that he sounded like he was gargling.
但是到了该课程第三周的中期----这个过程伴随着持续不断的身心痛苦、睡眠不足和体温过低，海豹突击队称之为地狱周----这位身高6英尺4英寸、来自新泽西州马纳拉潘的体育健将双目无光、疲惫不堪，满身感染、咳血不止，肺部积满液体，在场的其他人后来说，他咳嗽的声音听起来像是在漱口。
The course began with 210 men. By the middle of Hell Week, 189 had quit or been brought down by injury.
该课程开始时有210名男性。到地狱周中期，189人退出或因伤倒下。
But Seaman Mullen kept on slogging for days, spitting blood all the while. The instructors and medics conducting the course, perhaps out of admiration for his grit, did not stop him. And he made it.
但是士兵马伦咬牙坚持了好几天，期间一直在吐血。也许是出于对他坚毅品质的赞赏，带领该课程的教练和卫生员并没有阻止他。他也坚持了下来。
When he struggled out of the cold ocean at the end of Hell Week, SEAL leaders shook his hand, gave him a pizza and told him to get some rest. Then he went back to his barracks and lay down on the floor. A few hours later, his heart stopped beating and he died.
在地狱周结束时，他挣扎着从冰冷的海水中爬出来，海豹突击队的领导们和他握了手，给了他一份披萨，并让他休息一下。然后他回到营房，躺在地上。几个小时后，他的心脏停止跳动，他死了。
That same afternoon, another man who survived Hell Week had to be intubated. Two more were hospitalized that evening.
就在当天下午，另一个从地狱周幸存下来的人不得不插管治疗。当晚又有两人入院就医。
The SEAL teams have faced criticism for decades, both from outsiders and their own Navy leadership, that their selection course, known as Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training or BUD/S, is too difficult, too brutal, and too often causes concussions, broken bones, dangerous infections and near-drownings. Since 1953, at least 11 men have died.
几十年来，海豹突击队一直面临着来自外界和海军领导层的批评，称他们的选拔课程，即基本水中爆破/海豹突击队训练（BUD/S），难度过高、过于残酷，而且经常导致脑震荡、骨折、感染危险以及接近溺水。自1953年以来，至少有11人身亡。
For just as long, the SEAL teams, who perform some of the military's most difficult missions, including lightning-fast hostage rescues and the killing of high-level terrorists like Osama Bin Laden, have insisted that having a bare-knuckle rite of passage is vital for producing the kind of unflinching fighters the teams need. Without BUD/S, they argue, there could be no SEALs.
海豹突击队执行着军方一些最艰巨的任务，包括闪电般快速解救人质，以及击毙奥萨马·本·拉登等高级恐怖分子。长时间以来，海豹突击队一直坚持认为，要培养出他们所需要的那种不屈不挠的战士，举行一场严酷的通过仪式至关重要。他们认为，如果没有基本水中爆破训练，就不会有海豹突击队。
