COME to look closely at the vehicle, it was an old stage-coach all of the olden time, upholstered in faded deep blue cloth, with those enormous rough woollen balls which, after a few hours’ journey, finally establish a raw spot in the small of your back.
Tartarin of Tarascon had a corner of the inside, where he installed himself most free-and-easily: and, preliminarily to inspiring the rank emanations of the great African felines1, the hero had to content himself with that homely2 old odour of the stage-coach, oddly composed of a thousand smells, of man and woman, horses and harness, eatables and mildewed3 straw.
There was a little of everything inside — a Trappist monk4, some Jew merchants, two fast ladies going to join their regiment5, the Third Hussars, a photographic artist from Orleansville, and so on. But, however charming and varied6 was the company, the Tarasconian was not in the mood for chatting; he remained quite thoughtful, with an arm in the arm-rest sling7-strap and his guns between his knees. All churned up his wits — the precipitate8 departure, Baya’s eyes of jet, the terrible chase he was about to undertake, to say nothing of this European coach; with its Noah’s Ark aspect, rediscovered in the heart of Africa, vaguely9 recalling the Tarascon of his youth, with its races in the suburbs, jolly dinners on the river-side — a throng10 of memories, in short.
Gradually night came on. The guard lit up the lamps. The rusty11 diligence danced creakingly on its old springs; the horses trotted12 and their bells jangled. From time to time in the boot arose a dreadful clank of iron: that was the war material.
Tartarin of Tarascon, nearly overcome, dwelt a moment scanning the fellow-passengers, comically shaken by the jolts13, and dancing before him like the shadows in galanty-shows, till his eyes grew cloudy and his mind befogged, and only vaguely he heard the wheels grind and the sides of the conveyance14 squeak15 complainingly.
Suddenly a voice called Tartarin by his name, the voice of an old fairy godmother, hoarse16, broken, and cracked.
“Monsieur Tartarin!” three times.
“Who’s calling me?”
“It’s I, Monsieur Tartarin. Don’t you recognise me? I am the old stage-coach who used to do the road betwixt Nimes and Tarascon twenty year agone. How many times I have carried you and your friends when you went to shoot at caps over Joncquieres or Bellegarde way! I did not know you again at the first, on account of your Turk’s cap and the flesh you have accumulated; but as soon as you began snoring — what a rascal17 is good-luck! — I twigged18 you straight away.”
“All right, that’s all right enough!” observed the Tarasconian, a shade vexed19; but softening20, he added, “But to the point, my poor old girl; whatever did you come out here for?”
“Pooh! my good Monsieur Tartarin, I assure you I never came of my own free will. As soon as the Beaucaire railway was finished I was considered good for nought21, and shipped away into Algeria. And I am not the only one either! Bless you, next to all the old stage-coaches of France have been packed off like me. We were regarded as too much the conservative —‘the slow-coaches’— d’ye see, and now we are here leading the life of a dog. This is what you in France call the Algerian railways.”
Here the ancient vehicle heaved a long-drawn sigh before proceeding22. “My wheels and linchpin! Monsieur Tartarin, how I regret my lovely Tarascon! That was the good time for me, when I was young! — You ought to have seen me starting off in the morning, washed with no stint23 of water and all a-shine, with my wheels freshly varnished24, my lamps blazing like a brace25 of suns, and my boot always rubbed up with oil! It was indeed lovely when the postillion cracked his whip to the tune26 of ‘Lagadigadeou, the Tarasque! the Tarasque!’ and the guard, his horn in its sling and laced cap cocked well over one ear, chucking his little dog, always in a fury, upon the top, climbed up himself with a shout: ‘Right-away!’
“Then would my four horses dash off to the medley27 of bells, barks, and horn-blasts, and the windows fly open for all Tarascon to look with pride upon the royal mail coach dart28 over the king’s highway.
“What a splendid road that was, Monsieur Tartarin, broad and well kept, with its mile-stones, its little heaps of road-metal at regular distances, and its pretty clumps29 of vines and olive-trees on either hand! Then, again, the roadside inns so close together, and the changes of horses every five minutes! And what jolly, honest chaps my patrons were! — village mayors and parish priests going up to Nimes to see their prefect or bishop30, taffety-weavers returning openly from the Mazet, collegians out on holiday leave, peasants in worked smock-frocks, all fresh shaven for the occasion that morning; and up above, on the top, you gentlemen-sportsmen, always in high spirits, and singing each your own family ballad31 to the stars as you came back in the dark.
“Deary me! it’s a change of times now! Lord knows what rubbish I am carting here, come from nobody guesses where! They fill me with small deer, these negroes, Bedouin Arabs, swashbucklers, adventurers from every land, and ragged32 settlers who poison me with their pipes, and all jabbering33 a language that the Tower of Babel itself could make nothing of! And, furthermore, you should see how they treat me — I mean, how they never treat me: never a brush or a wash. They begrudge34 me grease for my axles. Instead of my good fat quiet horses of other days, little Arab ponies35, with the devil in their frames, who fight and bite, caper36 as they run like so many goats, and break my splatterboard all to smithereens with their lashing37 out behind. Ouch! ouch! there they are at it again!
“And such roads! Just here it is bearable, because we are near the governmental headquarters; but out a bit there’s nothing, Monsieur — not the ghost of a road at all. We get along as best we can over hill and dale, over dwarf38 palms and mastic-trees. Ne’er a fixed39 change of horses, the stopping being at the whim40 of the guard, now at one farm, again at another.
“Somewhiles this rogue41 goes a couple of leagues out of the way to have a glass of absinthe or champoreau with a chum. After which, ‘Crack on, postillion!’ to make up for the lost time. Though the sun be broiling42 and the dust scorching43, we whip on! We catch in the scrub and spill over, but whip on! We swim rivers, we catch cold, we get swamped, we drown, but whip! whip! whip! Then in the evening, streaming — a nice thing for my age, with my rheumatics — I have to sleep in the open air of some caravanseral yard, open to all the winds. In the dead o’ night jackals and hyaenas come sniffing44 of my body; and the marauders who don’t like dews get into my compartment45 to keep warm.
“Such is the life I lead, my poor Monsieur Tartarin, and that I shall lead to the day when — burnt up by the sun and rotted by the damp nights until unable to do anything else, I shall fall in some spot of bad road, where the Arabs will boil their kouskous with the bones of my old carcass”—
“Blidah! Blidah!” called out the guard as he opened the door.
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1
felines
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| n.猫科动物( feline的名词复数 ) | |
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2
homely
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| adj.家常的，简朴的；不漂亮的 | |
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3
mildewed
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| adj.发了霉的，陈腐的，长了霉花的v.（使）发霉，（使）长霉( mildew的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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7
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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8
precipitate
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| adj.突如其来的；vt.使突然发生；n.沉淀物 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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10
throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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12
trotted
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| 小跑，急走( trot的过去分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走 | |
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13
jolts
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| （使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的名词复数 ) | |
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14
conveyance
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| n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具 | |
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15
squeak
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| n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密 | |
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16
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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17
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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18
twigged
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| 有细枝的，有嫩枝的 | |
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19
vexed
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| adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论 | |
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20
softening
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| 变软，软化 | |
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nought
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| n.／adj.无，零 | |
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22
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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23
stint
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| v.节省，限制，停止；n.舍不得化，节约，限制；连续不断的一段时间从事某件事 | |
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24
varnished
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| 浸渍过的，涂漆的 | |
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25
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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26
tune
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| n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整 | |
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27
medley
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| n.混合 | |
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28
dart
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| v.猛冲，投掷；n.飞镖，猛冲 | |
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29
clumps
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| n.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的名词复数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声v.（树、灌木、植物等的）丛、簇( clump的第三人称单数 )；（土、泥等）团；块；笨重的脚步声 | |
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30
bishop
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| n.主教，（国际象棋）象 | |
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ballad
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| n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲 | |
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32
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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33
jabbering
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| v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的现在分词 )；急促兴奋地说话；结结巴巴 | |
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34
begrudge
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| vt.吝啬，羡慕 | |
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35
ponies
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| 矮种马，小型马( pony的名词复数 )； ￡25 25 英镑 | |
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36
caper
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| v.雀跃，欢蹦；n.雀跃，跳跃；续随子，刺山柑花蕾；嬉戏 | |
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37
lashing
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| n.鞭打；痛斥；大量；许多v.鞭打( lash的现在分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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38
dwarf
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| n.矮子，侏儒，矮小的动植物；vt.使…矮小 | |
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39
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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40
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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41
rogue
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| n.流氓；v.游手好闲 | |
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42
broiling
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| adj.酷热的，炽热的，似烧的v.（用火）烤（焙、炙等）( broil的现在分词 )；使卷入争吵；使混乱；被烤（或炙） | |
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43
scorching
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| adj. 灼热的 | |
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44
sniffing
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| n.探查法v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的现在分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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45
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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