CHAPTER VII—CHANGING SCENES

 I have told you of the last part of this astonishing flight in Archer¹’s own words, as well as I could transcribe² them from my shorthand notes, because I think it gives a very good idea of his own impressions. How Tom Slade felt throughout that exciting night I can only conjecture³. You knew him and I did not. Imperturbable⁴, resourceful, strong-willed, a little dash of grim humor (at least, in his relations with the irrepressible Archer), and with the spirit of adventure born in him, I can form some sort of picture of him in my own mind—the scowl⁵, the big mouth, the towhead—but at best he is something of a mystery to me. I can fancy him on that wild night, one hand upon his stabilizing⁶ control, the other on the handle by which he communicated his dogged will to the rudders, a keen eye always fixed⁷ upon his altimétre or his compass. Sometimes I fancy that I can hear that “soberr, kind of” voice of his. But as I say, you knew him and I did not.

I must now tell you of the practical results of his deed. You know already of the movements which followed immediately upon the discovery of his warning messages, and if you have read the papers I suppose you know of the iron wall which the Germans found confronting them. Archer’s messages were opened and read and such parts of them as required transmission were wired on to General Pershing, who was then in Paris.

But these, important though they were, are not a part of my story. You will recall that when the souvenir-loving Archer first inspected the Hun plane in quest of booty, his longing⁸ fingers lingered upon something which looked like a shade roller, hung before the pilot’s seat and which Slade had wound in oilskin. It was typical of Slade that he should have thought to do this even in the excitement of his escape, and this little act of foresightedness and caution was destined⁹ to have far-reaching and memorable¹⁰ consequences in which he was to be involved.

They spent the balance of the night in the barracks of this aviation centre and, according to Archer, were treated royally by the student airmen, who, I suspect, found him an amusing youngster for several of them gave him a sentence to say which he repeated to their great delight. It ran something like this: Roaring, raging, rampant¹¹, rambunctious¹² rhinoceroses¹³ ran round rugged¹⁴ rocks, recklessly raising ridiculous reverberating¹⁵ rows. If he repeated it to them as he did to me, it must have been very entertaining. He also sang them “Peterr Porkerr’s Pig,” a ballad¹⁶ of the Catskills, I suppose, which won him great applause. He says the airmen slept in the long dormitories, in rows on either side, and that it was just like camping to be among them. In the morning he and Slade watched some ground flights, made by beginners in machines with “clipped wings,” which could not leave the ground. They wriggled¹⁷ around this way and that, he said, and were very funny—like a “barrnyarrd full of chickens.” Several new men came in from their brevet, cross-country flights during the morning and were loudly acclaimed¹⁸, he said. It was fun to see them chase each other round the field.

That afternoon Archer went into Troyes to have a new cycle issued to him, and said goodbye to the comrade whom he was destined never to see again. Slade, he said, was to remain there for another day while the instructor¹⁹ (Lieutenant Tanner) endeavored to have him transferred from the messenger corps²⁰ into this branch of the service. He thought it would not be difficult in the circumstances, and surely it ought not to have been.

And thus Archibald Archer passes out of the story. He remained my cot neighbor here in the hospital until the day before yesterday, when he was discharged as cured. He knew nothing of Slade after their parting at the aviation school and it was not until he became a patient in the hospital and saw the mended place in the roof that he learned of his former comrade’s having been there before him and of how the stolid²¹ partner of their great exploit had later gone to his last adventure high among the clouds. But of the intimate circumstances of this he knew nothing.

You will think it rather a coincidence that all three of us should have been patients in this same hospital, but such things are not unusual here in France. I could tell you of four brothers who met in one of the big hospitals in Paris, and of a father and son who met on sentry²² duty when one supposed the other to be in Mexico—such a kaleidoscope is this great war.

I began by being merely amused at Archibald Archer but I came to be greatly interested in him and to like him immensely. He is the kind of young fellow who is putting pep into this war, and I never dreamed until after he went away how keenly we should miss him. Even the “cross red nurses,” as he called them, who frequently had occasion to chide²³ him, wish that he would be brought back with a slight wound. I shall never forget his souvenirs and his apple-eating and the good old up-country roll of his R’s. If his luck doesn’t change (and I don’t think it will ever change) and he gets home safely, I mean to hunt him up on his farm in the Catskills and hear him sing “Peterrr Porrkerr’s Pig” once again. If all goes well, I promise you a meeting with him and you can put him into one of your famous stories if you wish to. It has been pretty lonesome here these last two days, and I thank goodness that I am leaving the hospital myself on Friday.

1 archer   

n.射手，弓箭手

参考例句：

• The archer strung his bow and aimed an arrow at the target.弓箭手拉紧弓弦将箭瞄准靶子。
• The archer's shot was a perfect bull's-eye.射手的那一箭正中靶心。

2 transcribe   

v.抄写，誉写；改编(乐曲)；复制，转录

参考例句：

• We need volunteers to transcribe this manuscript.我们需要自愿者来抄写这个文稿。
• I am able to take dictation in English and transcribe them rapidly into Chinese.我会英文记录，还能立即将其改写成中文。

3 conjecture   

n./v.推测，猜测

参考例句：

• She felt it no use to conjecture his motives.她觉得猜想他的动机是没有用的。
• This conjecture is not supported by any real evidence.这种推测未被任何确切的证据所证实。

4 imperturbable   

adj.镇静的

参考例句：

• Thomas,of course,was cool and aloof and imperturbable.当然，托马斯沉着、冷漠，不易激动。
• Edward was a model of good temper and his equanimity imperturbable.爱德华是个典型的好性子，他总是沉着镇定。

5 scowl   

vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容

参考例句：

• I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
• The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色，清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。

6 stabilizing   

n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The disulfide bridges might then be viewed primarily as stabilizing components. 二硫桥可以被看作是初级的稳定因素。 来自辞典例句
• These stabilizing design changes are usually not desirable for steady-state operation. 这些增加稳定性的设计改变通常不太符合稳态工作的要求。 来自辞典例句

7 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

8 longing   

n.（for）渴望

参考例句：

• Hearing the tune again sent waves of longing through her.再次听到那首曲子使她胸中充满了渴望。
• His heart burned with longing for revenge.他心中燃烧着急欲复仇的怒火。

9 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

10 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

11 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

12 rambunctious   

adj.喧闹的；粗鲁的

参考例句：

• Their rambunctious son always got into trouble.他们那个不受管束的儿子老是惹麻烦。
• It's not the chirping,rambunctious play that they did when they first arrived.他们现在已经不像刚开始见面那会儿，总是冲着对方乱叫，或者在玩耍时动作粗暴。

13 rhinoceroses   

n.钱，钞票( rhino的名词复数 )；犀牛(=rhinoceros)；犀牛( rhinoceros的名词复数 )；脸皮和犀牛皮一样厚

参考例句：

• Rhinoceroses and dragons for once will let us walk in peace. 犀牛与龙安歇，让我们能平静地行走。 来自互联网
• Although the rhinoceroses are very heavy, they can run very fast. 犀牛虽然体型笨重，但仍能以相当快的速度行走或奔跑。 来自互联网

14 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

15 reverberating   

回响，回荡( reverberate的现在分词 )； 使反响，使回荡，使反射

参考例句：

• The words are still ringing [reverberating] in one's ears. 言犹在耳。
• I heard a voice reverberating: "Crawl out! I give you liberty!" 我听到一个声音在回荡：“爬出来吧，我给你自由！”

16 ballad   

n.歌谣，民谣，流行爱情歌曲

参考例句：

• This poem has the distinctive flavour of a ballad.这首诗有民歌风味。
• This is a romantic ballad that is pure corn.这是一首极为伤感的浪漫小曲。

17 wriggled   

v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等）

参考例句：

• He wriggled uncomfortably on the chair. 他坐在椅子上不舒服地扭动着身体。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A snake wriggled across the road. 一条蛇蜿蜒爬过道路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 acclaimed   

adj.受人欢迎的

参考例句：

• They acclaimed him as the best writer of the year. 他们称赞他为当年的最佳作者。
• Confuscius is acclaimed as a great thinker. 孔子被赞誉为伟大的思想家。

19 instructor   

n.指导者，教员，教练

参考例句：

• The college jumped him from instructor to full professor.大学突然把他从讲师提升为正教授。
• The skiing instructor was a tall,sunburnt man.滑雪教练是一个高高个子晒得黑黑的男子。

20 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

21 stolid   

adj.无动于衷的，感情麻木的

参考例句：

• Her face showed nothing but stolid indifference.她的脸上毫无表情，只有麻木的无动于衷。
• He conceals his feelings behind a rather stolid manner.他装作无动于衷的样子以掩盖自己的感情。

22 sentry   

n.哨兵，警卫

参考例句：

• They often stood sentry on snowy nights.他们常常在雪夜放哨。
• The sentry challenged anyone approaching the tent.哨兵查问任一接近帐篷的人。

23 chide   

v.叱责；谴责

参考例句：

• However,they will chide you if you try to speak French.然而，如果你试图讲法语，就会遭到他们的责骂。
• He thereupon privately chide his wife for her forwardness in the matter.于是他私下责备他的妻子，因为她对这种事热心。