PREM SINGH

Prem Singh had company.  When I went in the gathering¹ dusk to feed the cow I noticed, instead of the usual solitary² figure crouched³ above the little camp fire in the open, two lean forms silhouetted⁴ against the dancing flames, while a flow of guttural conversation that broke occasionally into seemingly excited treble argument mingled⁵ with the fragrant⁶ smoke from burning greasewood roots.

“He probably has a letter from India,” I told the Lady of the Castle, when I went back into the little stone house, “and has rung in a chap from the gang below to read it to him.”

“From his brother, probably,” said the Lady.  “He’ll be all excited over it.  You’ll have to do the milking.”

Her surmise⁷ as to the letter was correct, though I didn’t have to do the milking.

“Letter come China country!  My brother!” Prem Singh announced exultantly⁸, when he came for the milk pail.  “Pretty good!”  He ducked his head sideways in a delighted nod.  “I go milk now.”

We had known of this brother ever since the Hindu had become our devoted⁹ and isolated¹⁰ adherent¹¹.  He was Prem Singh’s family, the only relative he had in the world.

“My father, mammy, been die,” he had explained to me.  “Both.  My father, my mammy, p. 217two my sister, my little brother: all one time die.  Too much sick.  All my uncle, my auntie, everybody die.  Too many people.  Just me, my big brother, live.  Thass all.”  From which we gathered that a cholera¹² epidemic¹³ had left the two boys orphans¹⁴: Prem Singh, now our vassal¹⁵, and Kala Singh, half a dozen years older, at present a British policeman at Shanghai.

It was a poor life, this brother’s, but highly treasured by the younger brother, who, curiously¹⁶ enough, proved to be the stable member of the family.  Kala Singh had left a bad record behind him in India, including a year’s jail sentence for knifing a co-conspirator in a bank robbery.

“My brother pretty much been marry,” Prem Singh told me one time, his face clouding over.  “One time twelve hundred, one time fifteen hundred, dollar—my country rupee.  All go.”  He snapped his fingers to illustrate¹⁷ the disappearance¹⁸ of the marriage money into thin air.  “Too much drink.  Too much gambler.”

Evidence that the black sheep had never mended his ways was furnished abundantly in the repeated requests that came for money, which Prem Singh never refused.

“Mester,” he would usually ask me on the day succeeding the arrival of a letter from “China country,” “you two hundred dollar today bank take off, mice.”  I had never been able to teach him the use of the possessive “mine”; it was invariably mice.  “I send money China country.  My brother.”  Once or twice I remonstrated¹⁹ with him about this, to no purpose.  After all, it was his own money: the two dollars a day which, with practically no outgo, added up month by month in the p. 218bank.  A letter from India, which he told me came from one of his brother’s deserted²⁰ wives, proved equally futile²¹, though troubling him for several days.  Its only ultimate result was to prejudice his young mind still further against womankind and the institution of marriage.

“Me?  Not any been marry!” he assured me, his eyes flashing.  “Never!  All time too much trouble!  No good.”

Yet he was engaged, one of those betrothals arranged in infancy²² by Hindu parents, binding²³ till death.  It hung over Prem Singh like a sword of Damocles, exiling him forever from his native land.

“This country pretty good,” he told me often.  “Girl wait all time my country.  Twenty year old now, I guess, maybe.  I stay America!  Pretty good.  Not any go back!”  He shook his head emphatically.  “Maybe some time my brother come this country.  Thass good!”  His eyes gleamed at the pleasant vision.

It was this dream of a reunion with his beloved black sheep of a brother in the great and good land of America, far from the cloudy danger of marriage that overhung all India, that more than any other illumined his long days and lonely evenings on the California mesa.  He kept aloof²⁴ from the other Hindus, from the large camps where they congregated²⁵, twenty and thirty together, for the clearing work that in time was to transform mesa into orchard²⁶ land.  He preferred to remain alone, apart, as my man.

“You pretty good man, Mester,” he told me.  “I all time stay here, please.  I your man.  My life!”  Then he smiled.  “Maybe some time my brother come; then two your men!  Both.  Thass pretty good!”

p. 219And now the dream seemed likely to materialize.  When he returned with the full milk pail, Prem Singh had a question to ask.  He fidgeted awkwardly about it, remaining in the kitchen an unconscionable length of time, resting one foot and then the other.  It came out at last with a rush.

“Mester, how much you think cost ticket, Shanghai this country?”

“I don’t know, Prem Singh.  I’ll find out in Los Angeles, if you want.  Steerage?”

“No, Sair!”  He was indignant.  “Not any!  Maybe my brother come this country.  Second class, sure.  Thass pretty good.”

I learned the amount, and it went forward on the next boat by money order to Kala Singh, care Sikh Temple, Shanghai.  Then followed for Prem Singh a protracted²⁷ period of pleasant anticipation²⁸ that ended dismally²⁹ two months later when another letter arrived from China country, announcing that the money was gone.

“Too much gambler, my brother,” Prem Singh confided³⁰ to me sadly.  “I guess ticket more better.”

It was a good idea; and the next registered letter carried no additional money order, but instead a one-way ticket, second class, from Shanghai.

This was efficacious; and when, six weeks later, another letter arrived from Shanghai, Prem Singh came to the house in a tremble of excitement.

“Mester, you know Salina Cruz?  This country?  Canada?  I guess not.  Meeseeco?  I guess maybe!  My brother come Salina Cruz.  English read.”  He always used the word “read” indiscriminately for read or write, reading or writing.

Inclosed with the sheet covered with Indian script was a small slip bearing a message in p. 220English.  “Arrive Salina Cruz November 29,” it read.  “Send money.”

“I guess my brother read maybe, himself,” announced Prem Singh, scanning it closely.  “Pretty smart man, my brother.  English pretty good speak.  My country read easy, English read little.  Me not any.  Not smart, me.”  Then he shook his head.  “I guess this not any my brother read.”

I guessed not either.  It was a very fair handwriting indeed.

“You think all right send money Salina Cruz, Mester?”

I did not think so, emphatically not.  Prem Singh was in doubt.  His natural caution warned him against such a move.  On the other hand his affection for his brother, his instinctive³¹ generosity³², his desire to hasten in any way possible his brother’s approach to the land of promise, urged him on.  In the end he decided³³ to wait for a more definite request.

It was not long in coming, arriving in the form of a telegram almost on the heels of the letter.  “Send seventy dollars, Kala Singh, care British Consul³⁴, Salina Cruz, Mexico,” the message ran.  Evidently this brother was no fool.

Prem Singh immediately dispatched a hundred by registered mail, bemoaning³⁵ only the fact that the telegraph company would not transmit money to that point.

Followed another period of waiting—anxious this time, for why should there be so much delay?—and then the end.

It is no easy matter for Hindus to enter this country, though there is as yet no definite Hindu exclusion³⁶ act.  The immigration laws already in p. 221existence can be so construed³⁷, in accordance with the desires of a certain rabid element of whites on the Pacific Coast, that it is almost impossible for a turbaned citizen of Great Britain to enter the United States.  For the most part those that now drift into this country of ours land in Canada or Mexico, and straggle across the international line, running the gauntlet to escape detection.

This Kala Singh attempted.  It was at Christmas time, we learned through a Hindu who had made the voyage from Shanghai with him.  Landed at Salina Cruz, they had taken boat again for Ensenada; thence, working overland, had come to the American border in the vicinity of Yuma.  The pair had been detected by the border patrol, pursued, captured, and locked up for the night in a small jail.  Participating, before daylight, with men held for greater offenses³⁸, in a general jail break, they had been ordered to halt, and fired upon in the darkness.  Kala Singh had been found by a chance bullet, and killed instantly.

“Isn’t there anything we can do?” the Lady of the Castle asked me when I told her about it.  “Isn’t there anything?”

I went out to where Prem Singh crouched alone over his little fire of greasewood roots under the great vault³⁹ of heaven.

“Hello, Mester!” he called listlessly, as I approached awkwardly.

“Hello, Prem Singh!” I answered.

There was a pause.  “I make my country bread,” he announced at length, clearing his throat, obviously manufacturing conversation in order to put me at my ease; and then, after a little: “I think maybe go back my country pretty soon.”

p. 222“Go back to India, Prem Singh?” I was genuinely surprised.

He nodded affirmation.  “Next month, maybe, I go,” he said wearily.  “America not very good.  My country more better.  Maybe bime-by been marry.”

John Amid.

1 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

2 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

3 crouched   

v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He crouched down beside her. 他在她的旁边蹲了下来。
• The lion crouched ready to pounce. 狮子蹲下身，准备猛扑。

4 silhouetted   

显出轮廓的，显示影像的

参考例句：

• We could see a church silhouetted against the skyline. 我们可以看到一座教堂凸现在天际。
• The stark jagged rocks were silhouetted against the sky. 光秃嶙峋的岩石衬托着天空的背景矗立在那里。

5 mingled   

混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]

参考例句：

• The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
• The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

6 fragrant   

adj.芬香的，馥郁的，愉快的

参考例句：

• The Fragrant Hills are exceptionally beautiful in late autumn.深秋的香山格外美丽。
• The air was fragrant with lavender.空气中弥漫薰衣草香。

7 surmise   

v./n.猜想，推测

参考例句：

• It turned out that my surmise was correct.结果表明我的推测没有错。
• I surmise that he will take the job.我推测他会接受这份工作。

8 exultantly   

adv.狂欢地，欢欣鼓舞地

参考例句：

• They listened exultantly to the sounds from outside. 她们欢欣鼓舞地倾听着外面的声音。 来自辞典例句
• He rose exultantly from their profane surprise. 他得意非凡地站起身来，也不管众人怎样惊奇诅咒。 来自辞典例句

9 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

10 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

11 adherent   

n.信徒，追随者，拥护者

参考例句：

• He was most liberal where money would bring him a powerful or necessary political adherent.在金钱能够收买一个干练的或者必需的政治拥护者的地方，他是最不惜花钱的。
• He's a pious adherent of Buddhism.他是一位虔诚的佛教徒。

12 cholera   

n.霍乱

参考例句：

• The cholera outbreak has been contained.霍乱的发生已被控制住了。
• Cholera spread like wildfire through the camps.霍乱在营地里迅速传播。

13 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

14 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

15 vassal   

n.附庸的；属下；adj.奴仆的

参考例句：

• Wales was a vassal kingdom at that time.那时威尔士是个附庸国。
• The vassal swore that he would be loyal to the king forever.这位封臣宣誓他将永远忠诚于国王。

16 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

17 illustrate   

v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图

参考例句：

• The company's bank statements illustrate its success.这家公司的银行报表说明了它的成功。
• This diagram will illustrate what I mean.这个图表可说明我的意思。

18 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。

19 remonstrated   

v.抗议( remonstrate的过去式和过去分词 )；告诫

参考例句：

• They remonstrated with the official about the decision. 他们就这一决定向这位官员提出了抗议。
• We remonstrated against the ill-treatment of prisoners of war. 我们对虐待战俘之事提出抗议。 来自辞典例句

20 deserted   

adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的

参考例句：

• The deserted village was filled with a deathly silence.这个荒废的村庄死一般的寂静。
• The enemy chieftain was opposed and deserted by his followers.敌人头目众叛亲离。

21 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

22 infancy   

n.婴儿期；幼年期；初期

参考例句：

• He came to England in his infancy.他幼年时期来到英国。
• Their research is only in its infancy.他们的研究处于初级阶段。

23 binding   

有约束力的，有效的，应遵守的

参考例句：

• The contract was not signed and has no binding force. 合同没有签署因而没有约束力。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding. 双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

24 aloof   

adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的

参考例句：

• Never stand aloof from the masses.千万不可脱离群众。
• On the evening the girl kept herself timidly aloof from the crowd.这小女孩在晚会上一直胆怯地远离人群。

25 congregated   

（使）集合，聚集( congregate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The crowds congregated in the town square to hear the mayor speak. 人群聚集到市镇广场上来听市长讲话。
• People quickly congregated round the speaker. 人们迅速围拢在演说者的周围。

26 orchard   

n.果园，果园里的全部果树，(美俚)棒球场

参考例句：

• My orchard is bearing well this year.今年我的果园果实累累。
• Each bamboo house was surrounded by a thriving orchard.每座竹楼周围都是茂密的果园。

27 protracted   

adj.拖延的；延长的v.拖延“protract”的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The war was protracted for four years. 战争拖延了四年。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We won victory through protracted struggle. 经过长期的斗争，我们取得了胜利。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

29 dismally   

adv.阴暗地，沉闷地

参考例句：

• Fei Little Beard assented dismally. 费小胡子哭丧着脸回答。 来自子夜部分
• He began to howl dismally. 它就凄凉地吠叫起来。 来自辞典例句

30 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

31 instinctive   

adj.(出于)本能的；直觉的；(出于)天性的

参考例句：

• He tried to conceal his instinctive revulsion at the idea.他试图饰盖自己对这一想法本能的厌恶。
• Animals have an instinctive fear of fire.动物本能地怕火。

32 generosity   

n.大度，慷慨，慷慨的行为

参考例句：

• We should match their generosity with our own.我们应该像他们一样慷慨大方。
• We adore them for their generosity.我们钦佩他们的慷慨。

33 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

34 consul   

n.领事；执政官

参考例句：

• A consul's duty is to help his own nationals.领事的职责是帮助自己的同胞。
• He'll hold the post of consul general for the United States at Shanghai.他将就任美国驻上海总领事(的职务)。

35 bemoaning   

v.为（某人或某事）抱怨( bemoan的现在分词 )；悲悼；为…恸哭；哀叹

参考例句：

• They sat bemoaning the fact that no one would give them a chance. 他们坐着埋怨别人不肯给他们一个机会。
• The rest were disappointed, miserable creatures in unwarm beds, tearfully bemoaning their fate. 剩下那些不幸的人，失望的人在不温暖的被窝里悲泣自己的命运。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）

36 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

37 construed   

v.解释（陈述、行为等）( construe的过去式和过去分词 )；翻译，作句法分析

参考例句：

• He considered how the remark was to be construed. 他考虑这话该如何理解。
• They construed her silence as meaning that she agreed. 他们把她的沉默解释为表示赞同。 来自《简明英汉词典》

38 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

39 vault   

n.拱形圆顶，地窖，地下室

参考例句：

• The vault of this cathedral is very high.这座天主教堂的拱顶非常高。
• The old patrician was buried in the family vault.这位老贵族埋在家族的墓地里。