Don’t—don’t—don’t—don’t—look at what’s in front of you;
Boots—boots—boots—boots—moving up and down again;
Men—men—men—men—men go mad with watching ’em.
An’ there’s no discharge in the war.
257Try—try—try—try—to think o’ something different—
Oh—my—God—keep—me from going lunatic!
Boots—boots—boots—boots—moving up and down again
An’ there’s no discharge in the war.
We—can—stick—out—’unger, thirst, an’ weariness,
But—not—not—not—not the chronic3 sight of ’em—
Boots—boots—boots—boots—moving up and down again!
An’ there’s no discharge in the war.
’Tain’t—so—bad—by—day because o’ company,
But—night—brings—long—strings o’ forty thousand million
Boots—boots—boots—boots—moving up and down again!
An’ there’s no discharge in the war.
A soldier sees enough pairs of boots in a ten-mile march to last him half a lifetime.
Yet, after all, are not these the most amiable4 things beneath the stars, the things that we treat with derision and contempt in days of calm, but for which we grope with feverish5 anxiety when the storm breaks upon us? They go on, year after year, bearing the obloquy6 of our toothless little jests; they go on, year after year, serving us none the less faithfully because we deem them almost too mundane7 for mention; and then, when they suddenly turn out to be a matter of life and death to us, they serve us still, with never a word of reproach for our past ingratitude8. If the world 258has a spark of chivalry9 left in it, it will offer a most abject10 apology to its boots.
It would do a man a world of good, before putting on his boots, to have a good look at them. Let him set them in the middle of the hearthrug, the shining toes turned carefully towards him, and then let him lean forward in his arm-chair, elbows on knees and head on hands, and let him fasten on those boots of his a contrite11 and respectful gaze. And looking at his boots thus attentively12 and carefully he will see what he has never seen before. He will see that a pair of boots is one of the master achievements of civilization. A pair of boots is one of the wonders of the world, a most cunning and ingenious contrivance. Dan Crawford, in Thinking Black, tells us that nothing about Livingstone’s equipment impressed the African mind so profoundly as the boots he wore. ‘Even to this remote day,’ Mr. Crawford says, ‘all around Lake Mweru they sing a “Livingstone” song to commemorate13 that great “path-borer,” the good Doctor being such a federal head of his race that he is known far and near as Ingeresa, or “The Englishman.” And this is his memorial song:
Ingeresa, who slept on the waves,
Welcome him, for he hath no toes!
Welcome him, for he hath no toes!
259That is to say, revelling14 in paradox15 as the negro does, he seized on the facetious16 fact that this wandering Livingstone, albeit17 he travelled so far, had no toes—that is to say, had boots, if you please!’ Later on, Mr. Crawford remarks again that the barefooted native never ceases to wonder at the white man’s boots. To him they are a marvel18 and a portent19, for, instead of thinking of the boot as merely covering the foot that wears it, his idea is that those few inches of shoe carpet the whole forest with leather. He puts on his boots, and, by doing so, he spreads a gigantic runner of linoleum20 across the whole continent of Africa. Here is a philosophical21 way of looking at a pair of boots! It has made my own boots look differently ever since I read it. Why, these boots on the hearthrug, looking so reproachfully up at me, are millions of times bigger than they seem! They look to my poor distorted vision like a few inches of leather; but as a matter of fact they represent hundreds of miles of leathern matting. They make a runner paving the path from my quiet study to the front doors of all my people’s homes; they render comfortable and attractive all the highways and byways along which duty calls me. Looked at through a pair of African eyes, these British boots assume marvellous proportions. They are touched by magic and are wondrously22 transformed. From being 260contemptible, they now appear positively23 continental24. I am surprised that the subject has never appealed to me before.
Now this African way of looking at a pair of boots promises us a key to a phrase in the New Testament25 that has always seemed to me like a locked casket. John Bunyan tells us that when the sisters of the Palace Beautiful led Christian26 to the armoury he saw such a bewildering abundance of boots as surely no other man ever beheld28 before or since! They were shoes that would never wear out; and there were enough of them, he says, to harness out as many men for the service of their Lord as there be stars in the heaven for multitude. Bunyan’s prodigious29 stock of shoes is, of course, an allusion30 to Paul’s exhortation31 to the Ephesian Christians32 concerning the armour27 with which he would have them to be clad. ‘Take unto you the whole armour of God ... and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace.’
Whenever we get into difficulties concerning this heavenly panoply33, we turn to good old William Gurnall. Master Gurnall beat out these six verses of Paul’s into a ponderous34 work of fourteen hundred pages, bound in two massive volumes. One hundred and fifty of these pages deal with the footgear recommended by the apostle; and Master Gurnall gives us, among other treasures, ‘six directions for 261the helping35 on of this spiritual shoe.’ But we must not be betrayed into a digression on the matter of shoe-horns and kindred contrivances. Shoemaker, stick to thy last! Let us keep to this matter of boots. Can good Master Gurnall, with all his hundred and fifty closely printed pages on the subject, help us to understand what Paul and Bunyan meant? What is it to have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace? What are the shoes that never wear out? Now the striking thing is that Master Gurnall looks at the matter very much as the Africans do. He turns upon himself a perfect fusillade of questions. What is meant by the gospel? What is meant by peace? Why is peace attributed to the gospel? What do the feet here mentioned import? What grace is intended by that ‘preparation of the gospel of peace’ which is here compared to a shoe and fitted to these feet? And so on. And in answering his own questions, and especially this last one, good Master Gurnall comes to the conclusion that the spiritual shoe which he would fain help us to put on is ‘a gracious, heavenly, and excellent spirit.’ And his hundred and fifty crowded pages on the matter of footwear give us clearly to understand that the man who puts on this beautiful spirit will be able to walk without weariness the stoniest36 roads, and to climb without exhaustion37 the steepest hills. He shall tread upon the lion and 262adder; the young lion and the dragon shall he trample38 under feet. In slimy bogs39 and on slippery paths his foot shall never slide; and in the day when he wrestles40 with principalities and powers, and with the rulers of the darkness of this world, his foothold shall be firm and secure. ‘Thy shoes shall be iron and brass41, and as thy days so shall thy strength be.’ Master Gurnall’s teaching is therefore perfectly42 plain. He looks at this divine footwear much as the Africans looked at Livingstone’s boots. The man whose feet are shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace has carpeted for himself all the rough roads that lie before him. The man who knows how to wear this ‘gracious, heavenly, and excellent spirit’ has done for himself what Sir Walter Raleigh did for Queen Elizabeth. He has already protected his feet against all the miry places of the path ahead of him. If good Master Gurnall’s ‘six directions for the helping on of this spiritual shoe’ will really assist us to be thus securely shod, then his hundred and fifty pages will yet prove more precious than gold-leaf.
Bunyan speaks of the amazing exhibition of footgear that Christian beheld in the armoury as ‘shoes that will not wear out.’ I wish I could be quite sure that Christian was not mistaken. John Bunyan has so often been my teacher and counsellor on all the highest and weightiest matters that it is painful 263to have to doubt him at any point. The boots may have looked as though they would never wear out; but, as all mothers know, that is a way that boots have. In the shoemaker’s hands they always look as though they would stand the wear and tear of ages; but put them on a boy’s feet and see what they will look like in a month’s time! I am really afraid that Christian was deceived in this particular. Paul says nothing about the everlasting43 wear of which the shoes are capable; and the sisters of the Palace Beautiful seem to have said nothing about it. I fancy Christian jumped too hastily to this conclusion, misled by the excellent appearance and sturdy make of the boots before him. My experience is that the shoes do wear out. The most ‘gracious, heavenly, and excellent spirit’ must be kept in repair. I know of no virtue44, however attractive, and of no grace, however beautiful, that will not wear thin unless it is constantly attended to. My good friend, Master Gurnall, for all his hundred and fifty pages does not touch upon this point; but I venture to advise my readers that they will be wise to accept Christian’s so confident declaration with a certain amount of caution. The statement that ‘these shoes will not wear out’ savours rather too much of the spirit of advertisement; and we have learned from painful experience that the language of an advertisement is not always to be interpreted literally45.
264One other thing these boots of mine seem to say to me as they look mutely up at me from the centre of the hearthrug. Have they no history, these shoes of mine? Whence came they? And at this point we suddenly invade the realm of tragedy. The voice of Abel’s blood cried to God from the ground; and the voice of blood calls to me from my very boots. Was it a seal cruelly done to death upon a northern icefloe, or a kangaroo shot down in the very flush of life as it bounded through the Australian bush, or a kid looking up at its slaughterer46 with terrified, pitiful eyes? What was it that gave up the life so dear to it that I might be softly and comfortably shod? And so every step that I take is a step that has been made possible to me by the shedding of innocent blood. All the highways and byways that I tread have been sanctified by sacrifice. The very boots on the hearthrug are whispering something about redemption. And most certainly this is true of the shoes of which the apostle wrote, the shoes that the pilgrims saw at the Palace Beautiful, the shoes that trudge47 their weary way through Master Gurnall’s hundred and fifty packed pages. These shoes could never have been placed at our disposal apart from the shedding of most sacred blood. My feet may be shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; but, if so, it is only because the sacrifice unspeakable has already been made.
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1
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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buckled
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| a. 有带扣的 | |
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chronic
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| adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的 | |
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4
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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5
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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6
obloquy
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| n.斥责，大骂 | |
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7
mundane
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| adj.平凡的；尘世的；宇宙的 | |
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8
ingratitude
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| n.忘恩负义 | |
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9
chivalry
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| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
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10
abject
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| adj.极可怜的，卑屈的 | |
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11
contrite
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| adj.悔悟了的，后悔的，痛悔的 | |
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12
attentively
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| adv.聚精会神地；周到地；谛；凝神 | |
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13
commemorate
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| vt.纪念，庆祝 | |
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14
revelling
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| v.作乐( revel的现在分词 )；狂欢；着迷；陶醉 | |
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15
paradox
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| n.似乎矛盾却正确的说法；自相矛盾的人(物) | |
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16
facetious
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| adj.轻浮的，好开玩笑的 | |
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17
albeit
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| conj.即使；纵使；虽然 | |
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18
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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19
portent
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| n.预兆；恶兆；怪事 | |
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20
linoleum
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| n.油布，油毯 | |
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21
philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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22
wondrously
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| adv.惊奇地，非常，极其 | |
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23
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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24
continental
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| adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的 | |
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25
testament
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| n.遗嘱；证明 | |
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26
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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27
armour
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| （=armor）n.盔甲；装甲部队 | |
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28
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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29
prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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30
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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31
exhortation
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| n.劝告，规劝 | |
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32
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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33
panoply
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| n.全副甲胄，礼服 | |
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34
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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35
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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36
stoniest
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| 多石头的( stony的最高级 )； 冷酷的，无情的 | |
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37
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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38
trample
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| vt.踩，践踏；无视，伤害，侵犯 | |
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39
bogs
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| n.沼泽，泥塘( bog的名词复数 )；厕所v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的第三人称单数 )；妨碍，阻碍 | |
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40
wrestles
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| v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的第三人称单数 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤 | |
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41
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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42
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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43
everlasting
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| adj.永恒的，持久的，无止境的 | |
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44
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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45
literally
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| adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实 | |
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46
slaughterer
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| 屠夫，刽子手 | |
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47
trudge
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| v.步履艰难地走；n.跋涉，费力艰难的步行 | |
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