"Now I shall tell you about myself, who and what I am! My name issurrounded with such hate and fear that no one can judge what isthe truth and what is false, what is history and what myth. Sometime you will write about it, remembering your trip throughMongolia and your sojourn1 at the yurta of the 'bloody2 General.'"He shut his eyes, smoking as he spoke3, and tumbling out hissentences without finishing them as though some one would preventhim from phrasing them.
"The family of Ungern von Sternberg is an old family, a mixture ofGermans with Hungarians--Huns from the time of Attila. My warlikeancestors took part in all the European struggles. Theyparticipated in the Crusades and one Ungern was killed under thewalls of Jerusalem, fighting under Richard Coeur de Lion. Even thetragic Crusade of the Children was marked by the death of RalphUngern, eleven years old. When the boldest warriors4 of the countrywere despatched to the eastern border of the German Empire againstthe Slavs in the twelfth century, my ancestor Arthur was amongthem, Baron5 Halsa Ungern Sternberg. Here these border knightsformed the order of Monk8 Knights6 or Teutons, which with fire andsword spread Christianity among the pagan Lithuanians, Esthonians,Latvians and Slavs. Since then the Teuton Order of Knights hasalways had among its members representatives of our family. Whenthe Teuton Order perished in the Grunwald under the swords of thePolish and Lithuanian troops, two Barons10 Ungern von Sternberg werekilled there. Our family was warlike and given to mysticism andasceticism.
"During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries several Barons vonUngern had their castles in the lands of Latvia and Esthonia. Manylegends and tales lived after them. Heinrich Ungern von Sternberg,called 'Ax,' was a wandering knight7. The tournaments of France,England, Spain and Italy knew his name and lance, which filled thehearts of his opponents with fear. He fell at Cadiz 'neath thesword of a knight who cleft11 both his helmet and his skull12. BaronRalph Ungern was a brigand13 knight between Riga and Reval. BaronPeter Ungern had his castle on the island of Dago in the BalticSea, where as a privateer he ruled the merchantmen of his day.
"In the beginning of the eighteenth century there was also a well-known Baron Wilhelm Ungern, who was referred to as the 'brother ofSatan' because he was an alchemist. My grandfather was a privateerin the Indian Ocean, taking his tribute from the English traderswhose warships14 could not catch him for several years. At last hewas captured and handed to the Russian Consul15, who transported himto Russia where he was sentenced to deportation16 to the Transbaikal.
I am also a naval17 officer but the Russo-Japanese War forced me toleave my regular profession to join and fight with the ZabaikalCossacks. I have spent all my life in war or in the study andlearning of Buddhism18. My grandfather brought Buddhism to us fromIndia and my father and I accepted and professed19 it. InTransbaikalia I tried to form the order of Military Buddhists20 foran uncompromising fight against the depravity of revolution."He fell into silence and began drinking cup after cup of tea asstrong and black as coffee.
"Depravity of revolution! . . . Has anyone ever thought of itbesides the French philosopher, Bergson, and the most learned TashiLama in Tibet?"The grandson of the privateer, quoting scientific theories, works,the names of scientists and writers, the Holy Bible and Buddhistbooks, mixing together French, German, Russian and English,continued:
"In the Buddhistic21 and ancient Christian9 books we read sternpredictions about the time when the war between the good and evilspirits must begin. Then there must come the unknown 'Curse' whichwill conquer the world, blot22 out culture, kill morality and destroyall the people. Its weapon is revolution. During every revolutionthe previously23 experienced intellect-creator will be replaced bythe new rough force of the destroyer. He will place and hold inthe first rank the lower instincts and desires. Man will befarther removed from the divine and the spiritual. The Great Warproved that humanity must progress upward toward higher ideals; butthen appeared that Curse which was seen and felt by Christ, theApostle John, Buddha24, the first Christian martyrs25, Dante, Leonardoda Vinci, Goethe and Dostoyevsky. It appeared, turned back thewheel of progress and blocked our road to the Divinity. Revolutionis an infectious disease and Europe making the treaty with Moscowdeceived itself and the other parts of the world. The Great Spiritput at the threshold of our lives Karma, who knows neither angernor pardon. He will reckon the account, whose total will befamine, destruction, the death of culture, of glory, of honor andof spirit, the death of states and the death of peoples. I seealready this horror, this dark, mad destruction of humanity."The door of the yurta suddenly swung open and an adjutant snappedinto a position of attention and salute26.
"Why do you enter a room by force?" the General exclaimed in anger.
"Your Excellency, our outpost on the border has caught a Bolshevikreconnaissance party and brought them here."The Baron arose. His eyes sparkled and his face contracted withspasms.
"Bring them in front of my yurta!" he ordered.
All was forgotten--the inspired speech, the penetrating27 voice--allwere sunk in the austere28 order of the severe commander. The Baronput on his cap, caught up the bamboo tashur which he always carriedwith him and rushed from the yurta. I followed him out. There infront of the yurta stood six Red soldiers surrounded by theCossacks.
The Baron stopped and glared sharply at them for several minutes.
In his face one could see the strong play of his thoughts.
Afterwards he turned away from them, sat down on the doorstep ofthe Chinese house and for a long time was buried in thought. Thenhe rose, walked over to them and, with an evident show ofdecisiveness in his movements, touched all the prisoners on theshoulder with his tashur and said: "You to the left and you to theright!" as he divided the squad30 into two sections, four on theright and two on the left.
"Search those two! They must be commissars!" commanded the Baronand, turning to the other four, asked: "Are you peasants mobilizedby the Bolsheviki?""Just so, Your Excellency!" cried the frightened soldiers.
"Go to the Commandant and tell him that I have ordered you to beenlisted in my troops!"On the two to the left they found passports of Commissars of theCommunist Political Department. The General knitted his brows andslowly pronounced the following:
"Beat them to death with sticks!"He turned and entered the yurta. After this our conversation didnot flow readily and so I left the Baron to himself.
After dinner in the Russian firm where I was staying some ofUngern's officers came in. We were chatting animatedly32 whensuddenly we heard the horn of an automobile33, which instantly threwthe officers into silence.
"The General is passing somewhere near," one of them remarked in astrangely altered voice.
Our interrupted conversation was soon resumed but not for long.
The clerk of the firm came running into the room and exclaimed:
"The Baron!"He entered the door but stopped on the threshold. The lamps hadnot yet been lighted and it was getting dark inside, but the Baroninstantly recognized us all, approached and kissed the hand of thehostess, greeted everyone very cordially and, accepting the cup oftea offered him, drew up to the table to drink. Soon he spoke:
"I want to steal your guest," he said to the hostess and then,turning to me, asked: "Do you want to go for a motor ride? Ishall show you the city and the environs."Donning my coat, I followed my established custom and slipped myrevolver into it, at which the Baron laughed.
"Leave that trash behind! Here you are in safety. Besides youmust remember the prediction of Narabanchi Hutuktu that Fortunewill ever be with you.""All right," I answered, also with a laugh. "I remember very wellthis prediction. Only I do not know what the Hutuktu thinks'Fortune' means for me. Maybe it is death like the rest after myhard, long trip, and I must confess that I prefer to travel fartherand am not ready to die."We went out to the gate where the big Fiat34 stood with its intrudinggreat lights. The chauffeur35 officer sat at the wheel like a statueand remained at salute all the time we were entering and seatingourselves.
"To the wireless36 station!" commanded the Baron.
We veritably leapt forward. The city swarmed37, as earlier, with theOriental throng38, but its appearance now was even more strange andmiraculous. In among the noisy crowd Mongol, Buriat and Tibetanriders threaded swiftly; caravans39 of camels solemnly raised theirheads as we passed; the wooden wheels of the Mongol carts screamedin pain; and all was illumined by splendid great arc lights fromthe electric station which Baron Ungern had ordered erectedimmediately after the capture of Urga, together with a telephonesystem and wireless station. He also ordered his men to clean anddisinfect the city which had probably not felt the broom since thedays of Jenghiz Khan. He arranged an auto-bus traffic betweendifferent parts of the city; built bridges over the Tola andOrkhon; published a newspaper; arranged a veterinary laboratory andhospitals; re-opened the schools; protected commerce, mercilesslyhanging Russian and Mongolian soldiers for pillaging41 Chinese firms.
In one of these cases his Commandant arrested two Cossacks and aMongol soldier who had stolen brandy from one of the Chinese shopsand brought them before him. He immediately bundled them all intohis car, drove off to the shop, delivered the brandy back to theproprietor and as promptly43 ordered the Mongol to hang one of theRussians to the big gate of the compound. With this one swung hecommanded: "Now hang the other!" and this had only just beenaccomplished when he turned to the Commandant and ordered him tohang the Mongol beside the other two. That seemed expeditious44 andjust enough until the Chinese proprietor42 came in dire45 distress46 tothe Baron and plead with him:
"General Baron! General Baron! Please take those men down from mygateway, for no one will enter my shop!"After the commercial quarter was flashed past our eyes, we enteredthe Russian settlement across a small river. Several Russiansoldiers and four very spruce-looking Mongolian women stood on thebridge as we passed. The soldiers snapped to salute like immobilestatues and fixed47 their eyes on the severe face of their Commander.
The women first began to run and shift about and then, infected bythe discipline and order of events, swung their hands up to saluteand stood as immobile as their northern swains. The Baron lookedat me and laughed:
"You see the discipline! Even the Mongolian women salute me."Soon we were out on the plain with the car going like an arrow,with the wind whistling and tossing the folds of our coats andcaps. But Baron Ungern, sitting with closed eyes, repeated:
"Faster! Faster!" For a long time we were both silent.
"And yesterday I beat my adjutant for rushing into my yurta andinterrupting my story," he said.
"You can finish it now," I answered.
"And are you not bored by it? Well, there isn't much left and thishappens to be the most interesting. I was telling you that Iwanted to found an order of military Buddhists in Russia. Forwhat? For the protection of the processes of evolution of humanityand for the struggle against revolution, because I am certain thatevolution leads to the Divinity and revolution to bestiality. ButI worked in Russia! In Russia, where the peasants are rough,untutored, wild and constantly angry, hating everybody andeverything without understanding why. They are suspicious andmaterialistic, having no sacred ideals. Russian intelligents liveamong imaginary ideals without realities. They have a strongcapacity for criticising everything but they lack creative power.
Also they have no will power, only the capacity for talking andtalking. With the peasants, they cannot like anything or anybody.
Their love and feelings are imaginary. Their thoughts andsentiments pass without trace like futile48 words. My companions,therefore, soon began to violate the regulations of the Order.
Then I introduced the condition of celibacy49, the entire negation50 ofwoman, of the comforts of life, of superfluities, according to theteachings of the Yellow Faith; and, in order that the Russian mightbe able to live down his physical nature, I introduced thelimitless use of alcohol, hasheesh and opium51. Now for alcohol Ihang my officers and soldiers; then we drank to the 'white fever,'
delirium52 tremens. I could not organize the Order but I gatheredround me and developed three hundred men wholly bold and entirelyferocious. Afterward29 they were heroes in the war with Germany andlater in the fight against the Bolsheviki, but now only a fewremain.""The wireless, Excellency!" reported the chauffeur.
"Turn in there!" ordered the General.
On the top of a flat hill stood the big, powerful radio stationwhich had been partially54 destroyed by the retreating Chinese butreconstructed by the engineers of Baron Ungern. The Generalperused the telegrams and handed them to me. They were fromMoscow, Chita, Vladivostok and Peking. On a separate yellow sheetwere the code messages, which the Baron slipped into his pocket ashe said to me:
"They are from my agents, who are stationed in Chita, Irkutsk,Harbin and Vladivostok. They are all Jews, very skilled and verybold men, friends of mine all. I have also one Jewish officer,Vulfovitch, who commands my right flank. He is as ferocious53 asSatan but clever and brave. . . . Now we shall fly into space."Once more we rushed away, sinking into the darkness of night. Itwas a wild ride. The car bounded over small stones and ditches,even taking narrow streamlets, as the skilled chauffeur only seemedto guide it round the larger rocks. On the plain, as we sped by, Inoticed several times small bright flashes of fire which lasted butfor a second and then were extinguished.
"The eyes of wolves," smiled my companion. "We have fed them tosatiety from the flesh of ourselves and our enemies!" he quietlyinterpolated, as he turned to continue his confession55 of faith.
"During the War we saw the gradual corruption56 of the Russian armyand foresaw the treachery of Russia to the Allies as well as theapproaching danger of revolution. To counteract57 this latter a planwas formed to join together all the Mongolian peoples which had notforgotten their ancient faiths and customs into one Asiatic State,consisting of autonomous58 tribal59 units, under the moral andlegislative leadership of China, the country of loftiest and mostancient culture. Into this State must come the Chinese, Mongols,Tibetans, Afghans, the Mongol tribes of Turkestan, Tartars,Buriats, Kirghiz and Kalmucks. This State must be strong,physically and morally, and must erect40 a barrier against revolutionand carefully preserve its own spirit, philosophy and individualpolicy. If humanity, mad and corrupted60, continues to threaten theDivine Spirit in mankind, to spread blood and to obstruct61 moraldevelopment, the Asiatic State must terminate this movementdecisively and establish a permanent, firm peace. This propagandaeven during the War made splendid progress among the Turkomans,Kirghiz, Buriats and Mongols. . . . "Stop!" suddenly shouted theBaron.
The car pulled up with a jerk. The General jumped out and calledme to follow. We started walking over the prairie and the Baronkept bending down all the time as though he were looking forsomething on the ground.
"Ah!" he murmured at last, "He has gone away. . . ."I looked at him in amazement62.
"A rich Mongol formerly63 had his yurta here. He was the outfitterfor the Russian merchant, Noskoff. Noskoff was a ferocious man asshown by the name the Mongols gave him--'Satan.' He used to havehis Mongol debtors64 beaten or imprisoned65 through the instrumentalityof the Chinese authorities. He ruined this Mongol, who losteverything and escaped to a place thirty miles away; but Noskofffound him there, took all that he had left of cattle and horses andleft the Mongol and his family to die of hunger. When I capturedUrga, this Mongol appeared and brought with him thirty other Mongolfamilies similarly ruined by Noskoff. They demanded his death. . . .
So I hung 'Satan' . . ."Anew the motor car was rushing along, sweeping66 a great circle onthe prairie, and anew Baron Ungern with his sharp, nervous voicecarried his thoughts round the whole circumference67 of Asian life.
"Russia turned traitor68 to France, England and America, signed theBrest-Litovsk Treaty and ushered69 in a reign70 of chaos71. We thendecided to mobilize Asia against Germany. Our envoys72 penetratedMongolia, Tibet, Turkestan and China. At this time the Bolshevikibegan to kill all the Russian officers and we were forced to opencivil war against them, giving up our Pan-Asiatic plans; but wehope later to awake all Asia and with their help to bring peace andGod back to earth. I want to feel that I have helped this idea bythe liberation of Mongolia."He became silent and thought for a moment.
"But some of my associates in the movement do not like me becauseof my atrocities73 and severity," he remarked in a sad voice. "Theycannot understand as yet that we are not fighting a political partybut a sect31 of murderers of all contemporary spiritual culture. Whydo the Italians execute the 'Black Hand' gang? Why are theAmericans electrocuting anarchistic74 bomb throwers? and I am notallowed to rid the world of those who would kill the soul of thepeople? I, a Teuton, descendant of crusaders and privateers, Irecognize only death for murderers! . . . Return!" he commandedthe chauffeur.
An hour and a half later we saw the electric lights of Urga.
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1
sojourn
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| v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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warriors
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| 武士，勇士，战士( warrior的名词复数 ) | |
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baron
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| n.男爵；(商业界等)巨头，大王 | |
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knights
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| 骑士； （中古时代的）武士( knight的名词复数 )； 骑士； 爵士； （国际象棋中）马 | |
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knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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barons
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| 男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨 | |
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cleft
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| n.裂缝；adj.裂开的 | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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brigand
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| n.土匪，强盗 | |
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warships
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| 军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只 | |
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consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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deportation
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| n.驱逐，放逐 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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Buddhism
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| n.佛教（教义） | |
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professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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Buddhists
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| n.佛教徒( Buddhist的名词复数 ) | |
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Buddhistic
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| adj.佛陀的，佛教的 | |
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blot
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| vt.弄脏（用吸墨纸）吸干；n.污点，污渍 | |
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previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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Buddha
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| n.佛；佛像；佛陀 | |
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martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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penetrating
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| adj.（声音）响亮的，尖锐的adj.（气味）刺激的adj.（思想）敏锐的，有洞察力的 | |
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austere
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| adj.艰苦的；朴素的，朴实无华的；严峻的 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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squad
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sect
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| n.派别，宗教，学派，派系 | |
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animatedly
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| adv.栩栩如生地，活跃地 | |
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automobile
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| n.汽车，机动车 | |
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fiat
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| n.命令，法令，批准；vt.批准，颁布 | |
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chauffeur
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wireless
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| adj.无线的；n.无线电 | |
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swarmed
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| 密集( swarm的过去式和过去分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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throng
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| n.人群，群众；v.拥挤，群集 | |
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caravans
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| （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） | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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pillaging
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的现在分词 ) | |
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proprietor
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| n.所有人；业主；经营者 | |
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promptly
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| adv.及时地，敏捷地 | |
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expeditious
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| adj.迅速的，敏捷的 | |
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dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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celibacy
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| n.独身(主义) | |
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negation
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| n.否定；否认 | |
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opium
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| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
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delirium
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| n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋 | |
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ferocious
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| adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的 | |
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partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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confession
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| n.自白，供认，承认 | |
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corruption
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| n.腐败，堕落，贪污 | |
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counteract
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| vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消 | |
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autonomous
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| adj.自治的；独立的 | |
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tribal
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| adj.部族的，种族的 | |
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corrupted
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| （使）败坏( corrupt的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）腐化； 引起（计算机文件等的）错误； 破坏 | |
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obstruct
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| v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物 | |
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62
amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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63
formerly
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| adv.从前，以前 | |
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64
debtors
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| n.债务人，借方( debtor的名词复数 ) | |
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65
imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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66
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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67
circumference
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| n.圆周，周长，圆周线 | |
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68
traitor
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| n.叛徒，卖国贼 | |
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69
ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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71
chaos
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| n.混乱，无秩序 | |
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72
envoys
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| 使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份 | |
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73
atrocities
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| n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪 | |
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anarchistic
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| 无政府主义的 | |
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