Knot 8 De Omnibus Rebus

This little pig went to market.

This Little pig staid at home.

“By Her Radiancy’s express command,” said the Governor, as he conducted

the travelers, for the last time, from the Imperial presence, “I shall now

have the ecstasy¹ of escorting you as far as the outer gate of the Military

Quarter, where the agony of parting — if indeed Nature can survive the shock

— must be endured! From that gate grurmstipths start every quarter of an

hour, both ways — ”

“Would you mind repeating that word?” said Norman. “Grurm —?”

“Grurmstipths,” the Governor repeated. “You call them omnibuses in

England. They run both ways, and you can travel by one of them all the way

down to the harbour. ”

The old man breathed a sigh of relief; four hours of courtly ceremony had

wearied him, and he had been in constant terror lest something should call

into use the ten thousand additional bamboos.

In another minute they were crossing a large quadrangle, paved with marble,

and tastefully decorated with a pigsty² in each corner. Soldiers marching in

all directions: and in the middle stood a gigantic officer giving orders in a

voice of thunder, which made itself heard above all the uproar³ of the pigs.

“It is the Commander-in-Chief!” the Governor hurriedly whispered to his

companions, who at once followed his example in prostrating⁴ themselves before

the great man. The Commander gravely bowed in return. He was Covered with

gold lace from head to foot: his face wore an expression Of deep misery⁵: and

he had a little black pig under each arm. Still the gallant⁶ fellow did his

best, in the midst of the orders he was every moment issuing to his men, to

bid a courteous⁷ farewell to the departing guests.

“Farewell, O old one! — carry these three to the South corner — and

farewell to thee, thou young one — put this fat one on the top of the others

in the Western sty — may your shadows never be less — woe⁸ is me, it is

wrongly done! Empty out all the sties, and begin again!” And the soldier

leant upon his sword, and wiped away a tear.

“He is in distress,” the Governor explained as they left the court. “Her

Radiancy has commanded him to place twenty-four pigs in those four sties, so

that, as she goes round the court, she may always find the number in each sty

nearer to ten than the number in the last.”

“Does she call ten nearer to ten than nine is?” said Norman.

“Surely,” said the Governor. “Her Radiancy would admit that ten is nearer

to ten than nine is — and also nearer than eleven is.”

“Then I think it can be done,” said Norman.

The Governor shook his head. “The Commander has been transferring them in

vain for four months,” he said, “What hope remains⁹? And Her Radiancy has

ordered up ten thousand additional — ”

“The pigs don’t seem to enjoy being transferred,” the old man hastily

interrupted. He did not like the subject of bamboos.

“They are only provisionally transferred, you know,” said the Governor.

“In most cases they are immediately carried back again: so they need not

mind it. And all is done with the greatest care, under the personal

superintendence of the Commander-in-Chief,”

“Of course she would only go once round!” said Norman.

“Alas, no!” sighed their conductor. “Round and round. Round and round.

These are Her Radiancy’s own words. But oh, agony! Here is the outer gate,

and we must part!”

He sobbed¹⁰ as he shook hands with them, and the next moment was briskly

walking away.

“He might have waited to see us off!” said the old man piteously.

“And he needn’t have begun whistling the very moment he left us!” said the

young one severely¹¹. “But look sharp — here are two what’s-his-names in the

act of starting!”

Unluckily, the sea-bound omnibus was full. “Never mind!” said Norman

cheerily. “We’ll walk on till the next one overtakes us.”

They trudged¹² on in silence, both thinking over the military problem, till

they met an omnibus coming from the sea. The elder traveler took out his

watch. “Just twelve minutes and a half since we started,” he remarked in an

absent manner. Suddenly the vacant face brightened; the old man had an idea.

“My boy” he shouted, bringing his hand down upon Norman’s shoulder so

suddenly as for a moment to transfer his centre of gravity beyond the base of

support.

Thus taken off his guard, the young man wildly staggered forwards, and seemed

about to plunge¹³ into space: but in another moment he had gracefully¹⁴ recovered

himself. “Problem in Precession and Nutation,” he remarked — in tones

where filial respect only just managed to conceal¹⁵ a shade of annoyance¹⁶.

“What is it!” he hastily added, fearing his father might have been taken

ill. “Will you have some brandy?”

“When will the next omnibus overtake us? When? When?” the old man cried,

growing more excited every moment.

Norman looked gloomy. “Give me time,” he said. “I must think it over.”

And once more the travelers passed on in silence — a silence only broken by

the distant squeals¹⁷ of the unfortunate little pigs, who were still being

provisionally transferred from sty to sty, under the personal superintendence

of the Commander-in-Chief.

1 ecstasy   

n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷

参考例句：

• He listened to the music with ecstasy.他听音乐听得入了神。
• Speechless with ecstasy,the little boys gazed at the toys.小孩注视着那些玩具，高兴得说不出话来。

2 pigsty   

n.猪圈，脏房间

参考例句：

• How can you live in this pigsty?你怎能这住在这样肮脏的屋里呢？
• We need to build a new pigsty for the pigs.我们需修建一个新猪圈。

3 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

4 prostrating   

v.使俯伏，使拜倒( prostrate的现在分词 )；（指疾病、天气等）使某人无能为力

参考例句：

• The pain associated with pancreatitis has been described as prostrating. 胰腺炎的疼痛曾被描述为衰竭性的。 来自辞典例句

5 misery   

n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦

参考例句：

• Business depression usually causes misery among the working class.商业不景气常使工薪阶层受苦。
• He has rescued me from the mire of misery.他把我从苦海里救了出来。

6 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

7 courteous   

adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的

参考例句：

• Although she often disagreed with me,she was always courteous.尽管她常常和我意见不一，但她总是很谦恭有礼。
• He was a kind and courteous man.他为人友善，而且彬彬有礼。

8 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 sobbed   

哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说

参考例句：

• She sobbed out the story of her son's death. 她哭诉着她儿子的死。
• She sobbed out the sad story of her son's death. 她哽咽着诉说她儿子死去的悲惨经过。

11 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

12 trudged   

vt.& vi.跋涉，吃力地走（trudge的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He trudged the last two miles to the town. 他步履艰难地走完最后两英里到了城里。
• He trudged wearily along the path. 他沿着小路疲惫地走去。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 plunge   

v.跳入，(使)投入，(使)陷入；猛冲

参考例句：

• Test pool's water temperature before you plunge in.在你跳入之前你应该测试水温。
• That would plunge them in the broil of the two countries.那将会使他们陷入这两国的争斗之中。

14 gracefully   

ad.大大方方地；优美地

参考例句：

• She sank gracefully down onto a cushion at his feet. 她优雅地坐到他脚旁的垫子上。
• The new coats blouse gracefully above the hip line. 新外套在臀围线上优美地打着褶皱。

15 conceal   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽

参考例句：

• He had to conceal his identity to escape the police.为了躲避警方，他只好隐瞒身份。
• He could hardly conceal his joy at his departure.他几乎掩饰不住临行时的喜悦。

16 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

17 squeals   

n.长而尖锐的叫声( squeal的名词复数 )v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• There was an outburst of squeals from the cage. 铁笼子里传来一阵吱吱的叫声。 来自英汉文学
• There were squeals of excitement from the children. 孩子们兴奋得大声尖叫。 来自辞典例句