CHAPTER XIX

　　After our return to Uliassutai we heard that disquieting¹ news hadbeen received by the Mongol Sait from Muren Kure. The letterstated that Red Troops were pressing Colonel Kazagrandi very hardin the region of Lake Kosogol. The Sait feared the advance of theRed troops southward to Uliassutai. Both the American firmsliquidated their affairs and all our friends were prepared for aquick exit, though they hesitated at the thought of leaving thetown, as they were afraid of meeting the detachment of Chahars sentfrom the east. We decided² to await the arrival of this detachment,as their coming could change the whole course of events. In a fewdays they came, two hundred warlike Chahar brigands³ under thecommand of a former Chinese hunghutze. He was a tall, skinny manwith hands that reached almost to his knees, a face blackened bywind and sun and mutilated with two long scars down over hisforehead and cheek, the making of one of which had also closed oneof his hawklike⁴ eyes, topped off with a shaggy coonskin cap--suchwas the commander of the detachment of Chahars. A personage verydark and stern, with whom a night meeting on a lonely street couldnot be considered a pleasure by any bent⁵ of the imagination.

The detachment made camp within the destroyed fortress⁶, near to thesingle Chinese building that had not been razed⁷ and which was nowserving as headquarters for the Chinese Commissioner⁸. On the veryday of their arrival the Chahars pillaged⁹ a Chinese dugun ortrading house not half a mile from the fortress and also offendedthe wife of the Chinese Commissioner by calling her a "traitor¹⁰."The Chahars, like the Mongols, were quite right in their stand,because the Chinese Commissioner Wang Tsao-tsun had on his arrivalin Uliassutai followed the Chinese custom of demanding a Mongolianwife. The servile new Sait had given orders that a beautiful andsuitable Mongolian girl be found for him. One was so run down andplaced in his yamen, together with her big wrestling Mongol brotherwho was to be a guard for the Commissioner but who developed intothe nurse for the little white Pekingese pug which the officialpresented to his new wife.

Burglaries, squabbles and drunken orgies of the Chahars followed,so that Wang Tsoa-tsun exerted all his efforts to hurry thedetachment westward¹¹ to Kobdo and farther into Urianhai.

One cold morning the inhabitants of Uliassutai rose to witness avery stern picture. Along the main street of the town thedetachment was passing. They were riding on small, shaggy ponies,three abreast¹²; were dressed in warm blue coats with sheepskinovercoats outside and crowned with the regulation coonskin caps;armed from head to foot. They rode with wild shouts and cheers,very greedily eyeing the Chinese shops and the houses of theRussian colonists¹³. At their head rode the one-eyed hunghutze chiefwith three horsemen behind him in white overcoats, who carriedwaving banners and blew what may have been meant for music throughgreat conch shells. One of the Chahars could not resist and sojumped out of his saddle and made for a Chinese shop along thestreet. Immediately the anxious cries of the Chinese merchantscame from the shop. The hunghutze swung round, noticed the horseat the door of the shop and realized what was happening.

Immediately he reined¹⁴ his horse and made for the spot. With hisraucous voice he called the Chahar out. As he came, he struck himfull in the face with his whip and with all his strength. Bloodflowed from the slashed¹⁵ cheek. But the Chahar was in the saddle ina second without a murmur¹⁶ and galloped¹⁷ to his place in the file.

During this exit of the Chahars all the people were hidden in theirhouses, anxiously peeping through cracks and corners of thewindows. But the Chahars passed peacefully out and only when theymet a caravan¹⁸ carrying Chinese wine about six miles from town didtheir native tendency display itself again in pillaging¹⁹ andemptying several containers. Somewhere in the vicinity of Harganathey were ambushed²⁰ by Tushegoun Lama and so treated that neveragain will the plains of Chahar welcome the return of these warriorsons who were sent out to conquer the Soyot descendants of theancient Tuba.

The day the column left Uliassutai a heavy snow fell, so that theroad became impassable. The horses first were up to their knees,tired out and stopped. Some Mongol horsemen reached Uliassutai thefollowing day after great hardship and exertion²¹, having made onlytwenty-five miles in forty-eight hours. Caravans²² were compelled tostop along the routes. The Mongols would not consent even toattempt journeys with oxen and yaks²³ which made but ten or twelvemiles a day. Only camels could be used but there were too few andtheir drivers did not feel that they could make the first railwaystation of Kuku-Hoto, which was about fourteen hundred miles away.

We were forced again to wait: for which? Death or salvation²⁴? Onlyour own energy and force could save us. Consequently my friend andI started out, supplied with a tent, stove and food, for a newreconnaissance along the shore of Lake Kosogol, whence the MongolSait expected the new invasion of Red troops.

1 disquieting   

adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The news from the African front was disquieting in the extreme. 非洲前线的消息极其令人不安。 来自英汉文学
• That locality was always vaguely disquieting, even in the broad glare of afternoon. 那一带地方一向隐隐约约使人感到心神不安甚至在下午耀眼的阳光里也一样。 来自辞典例句

2 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。

3 brigands   

n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They say there are brigands hiding along the way. 他们说沿路隐藏着土匪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The brigands demanded tribute from passing vehicles. 土匪向过往车辆勒索钱财。 来自辞典例句

4 hawklike   

参考例句：

5 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

6 fortress   

n.堡垒，防御工事

参考例句：

• They made an attempt on a fortress.他们试图夺取这一要塞。
• The soldier scaled the wall of the fortress by turret.士兵通过塔车攀登上了要塞的城墙。

7 razed   

v.彻底摧毁，将…夷为平地( raze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The village was razed to the ground . 这座村庄被夷为平地。
• Many villages were razed to the ground. 许多村子被夷为平地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

9 pillaged   

v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are to be pillaged and terrorised in Hitler's fury and revenge. 在希特勒的狂怒和报复下，他们还遭到掠夺和恐怖统治。 来自辞典例句
• They villages were pillaged and their crops destroyed. 他们的村子被抢，他们的庄稼被毁。 来自辞典例句

10 traitor   

n.叛徒，卖国贼

参考例句：

• The traitor was finally found out and put in prison.那个卖国贼终于被人发现并被监禁了起来。
• He was sold out by a traitor and arrested.他被叛徒出卖而被捕了。

11 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

12 abreast   

adv.并排地；跟上(时代)的步伐，与…并进地

参考例句：

• She kept abreast with the flood of communications that had poured in.她及时回复如雪片般飞来的大批信件。
• We can't keep abreast of the developing situation unless we study harder.我们如果不加强学习，就会跟不上形势。

13 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 reined   

勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理

参考例句：

• Then, all of a sudden, he reined up his tired horse. 这时，他突然把疲倦的马勒住了。
• The officer reined in his horse at a crossroads. 军官在十字路口勒住了马。

15 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 murmur   

n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言

参考例句：

• They paid the extra taxes without a murmur.他们毫无怨言地交了附加税。
• There was a low murmur of conversation in the hall.大厅里有窃窃私语声。

17 galloped   

（使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事

参考例句：

• Jo galloped across the field towards him. 乔骑马穿过田野向他奔去。
• The children galloped home as soon as the class was over. 孩子们一下课便飞奔回家了。

18 caravan   

n.大蓬车；活动房屋

参考例句：

• The community adviser gave us a caravan to live in.社区顾问给了我们一间活动住房栖身。
• Geoff connected the caravan to the car.杰弗把旅行用的住屋拖车挂在汽车上。

19 pillaging   

v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The rebels went looting and pillaging. 叛乱者趁火打劫，掠夺财物。
• Soldiers went on a rampage, pillaging stores and shooting. 士兵们横冲直撞，洗劫商店并且开枪射击。 来自辞典例句

20 ambushed   

v.埋伏( ambush的过去式和过去分词 )；埋伏着

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The military vehicles were ambushed. 军车遭到伏击。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 exertion   

n.尽力，努力

参考例句：

• We were sweating profusely from the exertion of moving the furniture.我们搬动家具大费气力，累得大汗淋漓。
• She was hot and breathless from the exertion of cycling uphill.由于用力骑车爬坡，她浑身发热。

22 caravans   

（可供居住的）拖车（通常由机动车拖行）( caravan的名词复数 )； 篷车； （穿过沙漠地带的）旅行队（如商队）

参考例句：

• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles that are pulled by horses. 旧式的吉卜赛大篷车是由马拉的涂了颜色的木质车辆。
• Old-fashioned gypsy caravans are painted wooden vehicles. 旧时的吉普赛大篷车是涂了颜色的木质车辆。

23 yaks   

牦牛( yak的名词复数 )； 笑话

参考例句：

• The jokes get yaks. 那笑话引人发笑。
• Social species including birds, fish and yaks must have companionship. 习惯群居的生物，包括鸟类、鱼类和（牛毛）牛必须有伙伴。

24 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。