SERVADAC (Hector), born at St. Trelody in the district of Lesparre, department of the Gironde, July 19th, 18 —.
Property: 1200 francs in rentes.
Length of service: Fourteen years, three months, and five days.
Service: Two years at school at St. Cyr; two years at L’Ecole d’Application; two years in the 8th Regiment1 of the Line; two years in the 3rd Light Cavalry2; seven years in Algeria.
Campaigns: Soudan and Japan.
Rank: Captain on the staff at Mostaganem.
Decorations: Chevalier of the Legion of Honor, March 13th, 18 —.
Hector Servadac was thirty years of age, an orphan3 without lineage and almost without means. Thirsting for glory rather than for gold, slightly scatter-brained, but warm-hearted, generous, and brave, he was eminently4 formed to be the protege of the god of battles.
For the first year and a half of his existence he had been the foster-child of the sturdy wife of a vine-dresser of Medoc — a lineal descendant of the heroes of ancient prowess; in a word, he was one of those individuals whom nature seems to have predestined for remarkable5 things, and around whose cradle have hovered6 the fairy godmothers of adventure and good luck.
In appearance Hector Servadac was quite the type of an officer; he was rather more than five feet six inches high, slim and graceful7, with dark curling hair and mustaches, well-formed hands and feet, and a clear blue eye. He seemed born to please without being conscious of the power he possessed8. It must be owned, and no one was more ready to confess it than himself, that his literary attainments9 were by no means of a high order. “We don’t spin tops” is a favorite saying amongst artillery10 officers, indicating that they do not shirk their duty by frivolous11 pursuits; but it must be confessed that Servadac, being naturally idle, was very much given to “spinning tops.” His good abilities, however, and his ready intelligence had carried him successfully through the curriculum of his early career. He was a good draughtsman, an excellent rider — having thoroughly12 mastered the successor to the famous “Uncle Tom” at the riding-school of St. Cyr — and in the records of his military service his name had several times been included in the order of the day.
The following episode may suffice, in a certain degree, to illustrate13 his character. Once, in action, he was leading a detachment of infantry14 through an intrenchment. They came to a place where the side-work of the trench15 had been so riddled16 by shell that a portion of it had actually fallen in, leaving an aperture17 quite unsheltered from the grape-shot that was pouring in thick and fast. The men hesitated. In an instant Servadac mounted the side-work, laid himself down in the gap, and thus filling up the breach18 by his own body, shouted, “March on!”
And through a storm of shot, not one of which touched the prostrate19 officer, the troop passed in safety.
Since leaving the military college, Servadac, with the exception of his two campaigns in the Soudan and Japan, had been always stationed in Algeria. He had now a staff appointment at Mostaganem, and had lately been entrusted20 with some topographical work on the coast between Tenes and the Shelif. It was a matter of little consequence to him that the gourbi, in which of necessity he was quartered, was uncomfortable and ill-contrived; he loved the open air, and the independence of his life suited him well. Sometimes he would wander on foot upon the sandy shore, and sometimes he would enjoy a ride along the summit of the cliff; altogether being in no hurry at all to bring his task to an end. His occupation, moreover, was not so engrossing21 but that he could find leisure for taking a short railway journey once or twice a week; so that he was ever and again putting in an appearance at the general’s receptions at Oran, and at the fetes given by the governor at Algiers.
It was on one of these occasions that he had first met Madame de L— — the lady to whom he was desirous of dedicating the rondo, the first four lines of which had just seen the light. She was a colonel’s widow, young and handsome, very reserved, not to say haughty22 in her manner, and either indifferent or impervious23 to the admiration24 which she inspired. Captain Servadac had not yet ventured to declare his attachment25; of rivals he was well aware he had not a few, and amongst these not the least formidable was the Russian Count Timascheff. And although the young widow was all unconscious of the share she had in the matter, it was she, and she alone, who was the cause of the challenge just given and accepted by her two ardent26 admirers.
During his residence in the gourbi, Hector Servadac’s sole companion was his orderly, Ben Zoof. Ben Zoof was devoted27, body and soul, to his superior officer. His own personal ambition was so entirely28 absorbed in his master’s welfare, that it is certain no offer of promotion29 — even had it been that of aide-de-camp to the Governor-General of Algiers — would have induced him to quit that master’s service. His name might seem to imply that he was a native of Algeria; but such was by no means the case. His true name was Laurent; he was a native of Montmartre in Paris, and how or why he had obtained his patronymic was one of those anomalies which the most sagacious of etymologists would find it hard to explain.
Born on the hill of Montmartre, between the Solferino tower and the mill of La Galette, Ben Zoof had ever possessed the most unreserved admiration for his birthplace; and to his eyes the heights and district of Montmartre represented an epitome30 of all the wonders of the world. In all his travels, and these had been not a few, he had never beheld31 scenery which could compete with that of his native home. No cathedral — not even Burgos itself — could vie with the church at Montmartre. Its race-course could well hold its own against that at Pentelique; its reservoir would throw the Mediterranean32 into the shade; its forests had flourished long before the invasion of the Celts; and its very mill produced no ordinary flour, but provided material for cakes of world-wide renown33. To crown all, Montmartre boasted a mountain — a veritable mountain; envious34 tongues indeed might pronounce it little more than a hill; but Ben Zoof would have allowed himself to be hewn in pieces rather than admit that it was anything less than fifteen thousand feet in height.
Ben Zoof’s most ambitious desire was to induce the captain to go with him and end his days in his much-loved home, and so incessantly35 were Servadac’s ears besieged36 with descriptions of the unparalleled beauties and advantages of this eighteenth arrondissement of Paris, that he could scarcely hear the name of Montmartre without a conscious thrill of aversion. Ben Zoof, however, did not despair of ultimately converting the captain, and meanwhile had resolved never to leave him. When a private in the 8th Cavalry, he had been on the point of quitting the army at twenty-eight years of age, but unexpectedly he had been appointed orderly to Captain Servadac. Side by side they fought in two campaigns. Servadac had saved Ben Zoof’s life in Japan; Ben Zoof had rendered his master a like service in the Soudan. The bond of union thus effected could never be severed37; and although Ben Zoof’s achievements had fairly earned him the right of retirement38, he firmly declined all honors or any pension that might part him from his superior officer. Two stout39 arms, an iron constitution, a powerful frame, and an indomitable courage were all loyally devoted to his master’s service, and fairly entitled him to his soi-disant designation of “The Rampart of Montmartre.” Unlike his master, he made no pretension40 to any gift of poetic41 power, but his inexhaustible memory made him a living encyclopaedia42; and for his stock of anecdotes43 and trooper’s tales he was matchless.
Thoroughly appreciating his servant’s good qualities, Captain Servadac endured with imperturbable44 good humor those idiosyncrasies, which in a less faithful follower45 would have been intolerable, and from time to time he would drop a word of sympathy that served to deepen his subordinate’s devotion.
On one occasion, when Ben Zoof had mounted his hobby-horse, and was indulging in high-flown praises about his beloved eighteenth arrondissement, the captain had remarked gravely, “Do you know, Ben Zoof, that Montmartre only requires a matter of some thirteen thousand feet to make it as high as Mont Blanc?”
Ben Zoof’s eyes glistened46 with delight; and from that moment Hector Servadac and Montmartre held equal places in his affection.
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1
regiment
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| n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制 | |
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2
cavalry
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| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
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3
orphan
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| n.孤儿；adj.无父母的 | |
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4
eminently
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| adv.突出地；显著地；不寻常地 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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6
hovered
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| 鸟( hover的过去式和过去分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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7
graceful
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| adj.优美的，优雅的；得体的 | |
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8
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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attainments
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| 成就，造诣； 获得( attainment的名词复数 )； 达到； 造诣； 成就 | |
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artillery
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| n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队) | |
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11
frivolous
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| adj.轻薄的；轻率的 | |
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12
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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13
illustrate
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| v.举例说明，阐明；图解，加插图 | |
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14
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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15
trench
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| n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕 | |
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16
riddled
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| adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式) | |
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17
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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18
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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entrusted
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| v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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engrossing
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| adj.使人全神贯注的，引人入胜的v.使全神贯注( engross的现在分词 ) | |
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22
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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23
impervious
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| adj.不能渗透的，不能穿过的，不易伤害的 | |
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24
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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25
attachment
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| n.附属物，附件；依恋；依附 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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28
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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29
promotion
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| n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传 | |
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30
epitome
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| n.典型，梗概 | |
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31
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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32
Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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33
renown
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| n.声誉，名望 | |
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envious
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| adj.嫉妒的，羡慕的 | |
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35
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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besieged
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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retirement
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| n.退休，退职 | |
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40
pretension
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| n.要求；自命，自称；自负 | |
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41
poetic
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| adj.富有诗意的，有诗人气质的，善于抒情的 | |
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42
encyclopaedia
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| n.百科全书 | |
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43
anecdotes
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| n.掌故，趣闻，轶事( anecdote的名词复数 ) | |
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44
imperturbable
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| adj.镇静的 | |
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45
follower
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| n.跟随者；随员；门徒；信徒 | |
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46
glistened
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| v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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