CHAPTER XVIII NAT LANGHAM AND TOM SAYERS

Tom Sayers was the last of the great champions of England under the old dispensation. And, as champions go, he was a little man, standing¹ 5 feet 8 inches and usually weighing about 11 stone. He was born at Brighton in 1826, and as a lad was apprenticed² to a bricklayer there. At the age of twenty-two he came to London to work on the London and North-Western Railway. He was known from a lad as being fairly handy with the gloves, and in more than one pot-house brawl³ he had shown more than that he could take care of himself. In all his fights, with one exception, he gave away weight. His first battle was in 1849, with Abe Crouch⁴, who was two stone the heavier and whom Sayers decisively thrashed. He fought for two and a half hours with Jack⁵ Grant of Southwark, and just beat him after an extraordinary display of pluck.

Sayers’s only defeat was at the hands of Nat Langham, in October of 1853. And this beating was certainly due to over-confidence, not during, but before the fight. The men were nearly equal in weight and Langham was six years older. As he had been used to giving other opponents as many stone as he was giving Langham pounds, he took very little trouble with his training, and entered the ring somewhat soft. Langham, on the other hand, had got into excellent condition in the hands of Ben Caunt.

Bell’s Life tells us quite frankly⁶ in its issue just before this battle that the “Blues” were to be outwitted, that the rendezvous⁷ for the combat was being kept a strict secret, but that information as to the place and time could be obtained at Ben Caunt’s or Alec Keene’s. In the event a train left Bishopsgate Street Station for 100 an unknown destination, when, while the day was still young, a ring was formed and the men set to.

For once in a way youth was not served. As soon as he stripped it was seen that Sayers was flabby and fat about both body and face, and as time went, not only was his wind affected⁸, but his eyes swelled⁹ much more easily than if he had been in hard condition. Langham had the advantage in height and reach, and he was a better boxer¹⁰ than Sayers in those days. The first round ended in a knock-down to Sayers, but the ground was slippery and Langham was none the worse. A few rounds later Langham improved, using the blow that was known as his “pickaxe,” a chopping left designed to blind his opponents by hitting them just below the eyes in such a way that they swelled and blinded them. Also he began in the fifth round to put in many straight blows over his man’s guard. Sayers grinned good-humouredly, though his face was covered with blood. In the next round he flung himself at Langham and hit him thrice on the jaw¹¹, finally sending him down hard. But how he regretted the slackness of his training! Throughout the seventh and eighth rounds Sayers followed up his advantage and gave his antagonist¹² a terrible time. How long would he be able to last at this pace? He knew that Langham was said to be delicate, but he was thoroughly¹³ game. Had Sayers been in perfect training now he could have won, and won quickly—he was sure of it. As it was his wind was already touched, and the prolonged effort of attack gave him a sickish feeling which was worse than his opponent’s hardest blows.

Langham saw how it was with Tom Sayers, and, smiling to himself, he went for him, leading with his left again and again on the mouth and eyes. The tenth round was overwhelmingly in Langham’s favour. In the twelfth both were winded and for several rounds they took things easy. In the twenty-first Sayers in a close threw his man and fell on him, and he kept up a general improvement. He said to himself that he would win yet, Langham was getting weak. But he must hurry. His own blows seemed wretchedly poor—seemed, but were not. He 101 was still hitting hard. A spent boxer often believes that his blows are mere¹⁴ taps when they are really powerful. The betting had risen in Sayers’s favour again—5-4. By the twenty-eighth round an hour had gone by, and both men, though weary, seemed to have settled down to a jog-trot method of fighting which, with what is known as a “second wind,” seems to last almost indefinitely.

Nat Langham had a beautiful straight left, only equalled by Sayers a few years later, when the little man was at his best, and he made full use of it now, plugging his man in the eye whenever he came near, and thus keeping him from getting too near. By the thirty-second round Sayers’s left eye was nearly closed, by the forty-seventh he was almost blind of the right eye too. The rounds were short and he was getting much the worst of it now. With splendid gameness he kept on leading, but Langham propped¹⁵ him off and countered on every occasion. At about this point in the battle, Sayers’s seconds had recourse to a desperate remedy to prevent their man from becoming totally blind, and they lanced the swellings beneath each of his eyes. This caused only temporary relief, and Sayers, of course, lost a lot of blood when Langham hit him on the wounded places again. Between the fiftieth and sixtieth rounds all hope for Sayers had gone. His eyes were so swollen¹⁶ that he could hardly see at all. And yet, despite his lack of training, he was now stronger than Langham, and the fight resolved itself into a race with blindness. The sixty-first round was the last. Sayers was now very groggy¹⁷, and practically sightless. His hits were wasted on the air. His friends called out to have him taken away. Finally Nat Langham with a weak left and right completely closed Sayers’s eyes and knocked him down. Thereupon Alec Keene threw up the sponge from Tom’s corner. The fight, which was Langham’s last, had occupied two hours and two minutes.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 apprenticed   

学徒，徒弟( apprentice的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I was apprenticed to a builder when I was fourteen. 14岁时，我拜一个建筑工人为师当学徒。
• Lucius got apprenticed to a stonemason. 卢修斯成了石匠的学徒。

3 brawl   

n.大声争吵，喧嚷；v.吵架，对骂

参考例句：

• They had nothing better to do than brawl in the street.他们除了在街上斗殴做不出什么好事。
• I don't want to see our two neighbours engaged in a brawl.我不希望我们两家吵架吵得不可开交。

4 crouch   

v.蹲伏，蜷缩，低头弯腰；n.蹲伏

参考例句：

• I crouched on the ground.我蹲在地上。
• He crouched down beside him.他在他的旁边蹲下来。

5 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

6 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

7 rendezvous   

n.约会，约会地点，汇合点；vi.汇合，集合；vt.使汇合，使在汇合地点相遇

参考例句：

• She made the rendezvous with only minutes to spare.她还差几分钟时才来赴约。
• I have a rendezvous with Peter at a restaurant on the harbour.我和彼得在海港的一个餐馆有个约会。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 swelled   

增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情）

参考例句：

• The infection swelled his hand. 由于感染，他的手肿了起来。
• After the heavy rain the river swelled. 大雨过后，河水猛涨。

10 boxer   

n.制箱者，拳击手

参考例句：

• The boxer gave his opponent a punch on the nose.这个拳击手朝他对手的鼻子上猛击一拳。
• He moved lightly on his toes like a boxer.他像拳击手一样踮着脚轻盈移动。

11 jaw   

n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训

参考例句：

• He delivered a right hook to his opponent's jaw.他给了对方下巴一记右钩拳。
• A strong square jaw is a sign of firm character.强健的方下巴是刚毅性格的标志。

12 antagonist   

n.敌人，对抗者，对手

参考例句：

• His antagonist in the debate was quicker than he.在辩论中他的对手比他反应快。
• The thing is to know the nature of your antagonist.要紧的是要了解你的对手的特性。

13 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

14 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

15 propped   

支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sat propped up in the bed by pillows. 他靠着枕头坐在床上。
• This fence should be propped up. 这栅栏该用东西支一支。

16 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

17 groggy   

adj.体弱的；不稳的

参考例句：

• The attack of flu left her feeling very groggy.她患流感后非常虚弱。
• She was groggy from surgery.她手术后的的情况依然很不稳定。