CHAPTER XXIV DECORATIONS

To sneer¹ at decorations is often much easier than to earn them.

It is true that more decorations, from the Victoria Cross down, have been awarded in this war than in the hundred years before it. It may be stated that for each of these distinctions given a man, ten others should now be wearing the bit of ribbon which signifies the award, if justice could only be done. Many a high-minded chap is lying out there, with only a small wooden cross to mark his last resting place, who, if the truth were but known, earned the finest that we had to give. And thousands of gallant² others there are with naught³ but their khaki to distinguish them as soldiers of liberty, who have, with a smile on their lips and with no thought of awards or rewards in their minds performed feats⁴ of the noblest courage and self-sacrifice.

It was an inspiration of genius that made Napoleon institute the Legion of Honor. By that act he proved himself a student of human nature, as well as the greatest military leader of perhaps any age. For most men who are normally constituted would rather receive a decoration honestly earned for gallantry on the field, than accept a reward in money for the same deed. While it is true that:

Ambition has but one reward for all:
A little power, a little transient fame,
A grave to rest in, and a fading name;

a large proportion of humankind are so constituted that for "a little transient fame" they are willing, aye, even anxious, to risk getting only "a grave to rest in."

The difficulty lies in deciding who is most worthy⁵ of these coveted⁶ awards, for in the excitement of battle courageous⁷ acts are common, and often unobserved. For the occasional man who has unjustly received an award, there are thousands whose bravery should be rewarded, but who, for one reason or another, are overlooked. All who show courage and resource cannot be chosen for the bit of ribbon, so the attempt is made to choose the most conspicuous⁸ examples. And in this choosing it is inevitable⁹ that fallible human nature must often err¹⁰, but the erring¹¹ rarely goes to the extent of recommending someone who is wholly unworthy.

Someone has sneeringly¹² remarked that the surest way to a decoration is to court the favor of one's commanding officer who usually puts in the recommendations for award; but there must be few officers commanding units who would be so unwise as to alienate¹³ the loyalty¹⁴ of their men by picking favorites in this manner. And men are not so depraved that there are many who would desire the recognition of the multitude without at least fair grounds for that recognition and praise. You might suppose that at the base or at home, where recognition is given rather for general good work than for special acts of honor, favoritism is more common. But it may safely be stated that decorations in all fields are usually honestly earned.

The saddest mistake is when a man has performed some lofty, noble, self-sacrificing act, yet receives no reward but his consciousness of duty well done.

I was one day assisting Colonel B—— to hold a board on a disabled soldier to decide the amount of his disability and his right to pension. His left arm was missing, and Colonel B——, in his sympathetic manner, asked him how he had lost it. The facts were that he and his officer, being one night out on a scouting¹⁵ trip in No Man's Land, were both wounded by rifle fire, the officer the more seriously. The private put his officer on his shoulders and carried him through a shower of machine-gun bullets to a place of safety in a shellhole near their own parapet, one of the bullets smashing the man's arm on the way. In the morning both were pulled in by comrades, and sent to the hospital. The officer died on the way without regaining¹⁶ consciousness, and the private's left arm had to be amputated. He alone knew the details of his heroic work, and he received an ordinary pension for a V.C. deed. He told his story at the colonel's request, in a quiet, modest, uncomplaining manner which gave it the stamp of truth. His case is one of many like it where no adequate reward has been given for great heroism¹⁷; but their total avoidance is impossible.

Sergeant-Major D—— took part in the Battle of the Somme, and did such excellent work under dangerous surroundings that he was recommended for a decoration, which recommendation was approved. In the usual course of events it was published in divisional orders that Sergeant-Major D—— had been awarded the Military Medal. But then the powers bethought themselves that he, being a warrant officer, should have been given instead the Military Cross, and as a result the whole order was cancelled, and he was given nothing. However, at the Battle of Vimy Ridge¹⁸, he was a Lieutenant¹⁹ in our battalion²⁰. Some months previously²¹ he had been given his promotion²², really against his own desires as he said that he could do better work in the junior position—a not very common form of modesty²³ in the army. After this battle he was chosen for courageous and able work, and was awarded the Military Cross. Thus he at last came into his own.

The Blank Highlanders held the lines to the right of a certain Canadian battalion. They planned to put on an important raid, but, being short a certain necessary section, they asked the loan of an officer and twenty men of this section of the Canadians on their left. The Canadians were glad of the honor of aiding this well-known Scottish unit in their raid. Twenty men gaily²⁴ joined them, but for some reason the men were sent in charge of two officers, the regular officer of the section and a subaltern. The officer in charge remained at the Scottish H.Q., while his subaltern took part in the raid. So effectually did the Canadians aid the Scots that the latter were very high in their praise of the Canadians, and put in a recommendation that "the officer in charge of this Canadian Section be awarded the M.C. for gallantry," intending the award for the subaltern who had assisted them on the field.

But the "officer in charge of the Canadian Section" was he who had remained at the H.Q. By some twist in this recommendation he received, and accepted, the M.C. which had been meant for his junior who had really done the gallant work for which the decoration was given. The subaltern did not get even a mention in dispatches, and at a later date he was killed while fighting bravely.

The Canadian battalion to which the two officers belonged were so annoyed, and so ashamed of the decorated officer, that no word was said of the mistake to their Scottish friends. The officer was allowed to wear without comment his unearned award, but his stay with his battalion came to an abrupt²⁵ end shortly afterward²⁶.

But it may be repeated safely that mistakes such as the above are very, very rare, and that most of those who win recognition on the field may wear their ribbons with pride and without shame.

1 sneer   

v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语

参考例句：

• He said with a sneer.他的话中带有嘲笑之意。
• You may sneer,but a lot of people like this kind of music.你可以嗤之以鼻，但很多人喜欢这种音乐。

2 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。

3 naught   

n.无，零 [=nought]

参考例句：

• He sets at naught every convention of society.他轻视所有的社会习俗。
• I hope that all your efforts won't go for naught.我希望你的努力不会毫无结果。

4 feats   

功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
• His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。

5 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

6 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

8 conspicuous   

adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的

参考例句：

• It is conspicuous that smoking is harmful to health.很明显，抽烟对健康有害。
• Its colouring makes it highly conspicuous.它的色彩使它非常惹人注目。

9 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

10 err   

vi.犯错误，出差错

参考例句：

• He did not err by a hair's breadth in his calculation.他的计算结果一丝不差。
• The arrows err not from their aim.箭无虚发。

11 erring   

做错事的，错误的

参考例句：

• Instead of bludgeoning our erring comrades, we should help them with criticism. 对犯错误的同志， 要批评帮助，不能一棍子打死。
• She had too little faith in mankind not to know that they were erring. 她对男人们没有信心，知道他们总要犯错误的。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

12 sneeringly   

嘲笑地，轻蔑地

参考例句：

• Guan and Zhang had nothing more to say, But they walked away sneeringly. 关羽、张飞无话，冷笑着走了。

13 alienate   

vt.使疏远，离间；转让(财产等)

参考例句：

• His attempts to alienate the two friends failed because they had complete faith.他离间那两个朋友的企图失败了，因为他们彼此完全信任。
• We'd better not alienate ourselves from the colleagues.我们最好还是不要与同事们疏远。

14 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

15 scouting   

守候活动，童子军的活动

参考例句：

• I have people scouting the hills already. 我已经让人搜过那些山了。
• Perhaps also from the Gospel it passed into the tradition of scouting. 也许又从《福音书》传入守望的传统。 来自演讲部分

16 regaining   

复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• She was regaining consciousness now, but the fear was coming with her. 现在她正在恢发她的知觉，但是恐怖也就伴随着来了。
• She said briefly, regaining her will with a click. 她干脆地答道，又马上重新振作起精神来。

17 heroism   

n.大无畏精神，英勇

参考例句：

• He received a medal for his heroism.他由于英勇而获得一枚奖章。
• Stories of his heroism resounded through the country.他的英雄故事传遍全国。

18 ridge   

n.山脊；鼻梁；分水岭

参考例句：

• We clambered up the hillside to the ridge above.我们沿着山坡费力地爬上了山脊。
• The infantry were advancing to attack the ridge.步兵部队正在向前挺进攻打山脊。

19 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

20 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

21 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

22 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

23 modesty   

n.谦逊，虚心，端庄，稳重，羞怯，朴素

参考例句：

• Industry and modesty are the chief factors of his success.勤奋和谦虚是他成功的主要因素。
• As conceit makes one lag behind,so modesty helps one make progress.骄傲使人落后，谦虚使人进步。

24 gaily   

adv.欢乐地，高兴地

参考例句：

• The children sing gaily.孩子们欢唱着。
• She waved goodbye very gaily.她欢快地挥手告别。

25 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

26 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。