"Another gun!" exclaimed little Tom Clavell, as a second cannon sent its peal over the flat roofs, and another; "a salute27, by Jove! What is up--is this an anniversary?"
It was no anniversary, however, and on the troopship coming to anchor in the crowded and busy harbour, and the quarantine boat coming on board, we soon learned what was "up;" the news spread like lightning through the vessel28, from lip to lip and ear to ear; the hum grew into a roar, and ended in the soldiers and sailors giving three hearty29 cheers, to which many responded from other ships, and from the shore; while the bands of the Chasseurs de Vincennes, on board the three-deckers, struck up the "Marseillaise."
News had just come in that four days ago a battle had been fought by Lord Raglan and Marshal St. Arnaud at a place called the Alma in Crim Tartary; that the allied30 troops after terrible slaughter31 were victorious32, and the Russians were in full retreat. That evening a few of us dined at the mess of the Buffs, a battalion33 of which was quartered in the castle of St. Elmo. The officers occupied one of the knights' palaces--the Auberge de Bavière--near that bastion where the Scottish hero of Alexandria is lying in the grave that so becomes his fate and character. This auberge is a handsome building overlooking the blue sea, which almost washes its walls; and there we heard the first hasty details of that glorious battle, the story of which filled our hearts with regret and envy that we had not borne a share in it, and which formed a source of terrible anxiety to the poor wives of many officers who had left them behind at Malta, and who could only see the fatal lists after their transmission to London. We heard the brief story of that tremendous uphill charge made by the Light Division--the Welsh Fusileers, the 19th, 33rd, 88th, and other regiments--supported by the Guards and Highlanders; that the 33rd alone had nineteen reliefs shot under their two colours, which were perforated by sixty-five bullet-holes. We heard how Colonel Chesters of ours, and eight of his officers, fell dead at the same moment, and that Charley Gwynne, Phil Caradoc, and many more were wounded.
"On, on, my gallant35 23rd!" were the last words of Chesters, as he fell from his horse.
We heard how two of our boy ensigns, Buller and little Anstruther of Balcaskie, were shot dead with the colours in their hands; how Connelly, Wynne, young Radcliffe, and many more, all fell sword in hand; how the regiment34 had fought like tigers, and that Sir George Brown, after his horse was shot under him, led them on foot, with his hat in his hand, crying, "Hurrah36 for the Royal Welsh! Come on, my boys!"
And on they went, till Private Evans planted the Red Dragon on the great redoubt, where nine hundred men were lying dead. The heights were taken by a rush, and the first gun captured from the Russians was by Major Bell of ours, who brought it out of the field. A passionate37 glow of triumph and exultation38 filled my heart; I felt proud of our army, but of my regiment in particular, for the brave fellows of the Buffs were loud in their commendations of the 23rd; proud that I wore the same uniform and the same badges in which so many had perished with honour. None but a soldier, perhaps, can feel or understand all this, or that esprit de corps39 already referred to, and which sums up love of country, kindred, pride of self and profession, in one. But anon came the chilling and mortifying40 thought that I enjoyed only reflected honours. Why was I now seated amid the splendour and luxury of a mess in the Auberge de Bavière? Why was I not yonder, where so many had won glory or a grave? How provoking was the chance, the mere41 chain of military contingencies42, by which I had lost all participation43 in that great battle, the first fought in Europe since Waterloo--this Alma, that was now in all men's mouths, and in the heart of many a wife and mother, fought and won while we had been sailing on the sea, and while the unconscious folks at home throughout the British Isles44 were going about their peaceful avocations45; when thousands of men and women, parents and wives, whose tenderest thoughts were with our gallant little host, were ignorant that those they loved best on earth perhaps were already cold, mutilated, and buried in hasty graves beneath its surface, in a place before unheard of, or by them unknown.
So great was the slaughter in my own regiment, that though I was only a lieutenant46, there seemed to be every prospect47 of my winning ere long the huge spurs won by Toby Purcell at the Boyne Water; but my turn of sharp service was coming; for, though I could not foresee it all then, Inkermann was yet to be fought, the Quarries48 to be contested, the Mamelon and Redan to be stormed, and Sebastopol itself had yet to fall. Had I shared in that battle by the Alma, I might have perished, and been lost to Estelle for ever; leaving her, perhaps, to be wooed and won by another, when I was dead and forgotten like the last year's snow. This reflection cooled my ardour a little; for love made me selfish, or disposed to be more economical of my person, after my enthusiasm and the fumes49 of the Buffs' champagne50 passed away; and now from Malta I wrote the first letter I had ever addressed to her, full of what the reader may imagine, and sent with it a suite51 of those delicate and beautiful gold filigree52 ornaments53, for the manufacture of which the Maltese jewellers are so famed; and when I sealed my packet at the Clarendon in the Strada San Paola, I sighed while reflecting that I could receive no answer to it, with assurances of her love and sorrow, until after I had been face to face with those same Muscovites whom my comrades had hurled54 from the heights of the Alma.
Three days after this intelligence arrived we quitted Malta, and had a fair and rapid run for the Dardanelles. The first morning found us, with many a consort55 full of troops, skirting, under easy sail, the barren-looking isle of Cerigo--of old, the fabled56 abode57 of the goddess of love, now the Botany Bay of the Ionians; its picturesque old town and fort encircled by a chain of bare, brown, and rugged58 mountains, whose peaks the rising sun was tipping with fire. As if to remind us that we were near the land of Minerva, and of the curious Ascalaphus,
"Begat in Stygian shades
On Orphnè, famed among Avernal maids,"
many little dusky owls59 perched on the yards and booms, where they permitted themselves to be caught. Ere long the Isthmus60 of Corinth came in sight--that long tract61 of rock connecting the bleak-looking Morea with the Grecian continent, and uniting two chains of lofty mountains, the classical names of which recalled the days of our school-boy tasks; thence on to Candia, the hills of which rose so pale and white from the deep indigo62 blue of the sea, that they seemed as if sheeted with the snow of an early winter; but when we drew nearer the shore, the land-wind wafted63 towards us the aromatic64 odour that arises from the rank luxuriance of the vast quantity of flowers and shrubs65 which there grow wild, and form food for the wild goats and hares.
Every hour produced some new, or rather ancient, object of interest as we ploughed the classic waters of the ?gean Sea, and no man among us, who had read and knew the past glories, traditions, and poetry of the shores we looked on, could hear uttered without deep interest the names of those isles and bays--that on yonder plain, as we skirted the mainland of Asia, stood the Troy of Priam; that yonder hill towering in the background, a purple cone66 against a golden sky, was Mount Ida capped with snow, Scamander flowing at its foot; Ida, where Paris, the princely shepherd, adjudged the prize of beauty to Venus, and whence the assembled gods beheld67 the Trojan strife68; for every rock and peak we looked on was full of the memories of ancient days, and of that "bright land of battle and of song," which Byron loved with all a poet's enthusiasm. Dusk was closing as we entered the Hellespont; the castles of Europe and Asia were, however, distinctly visible, and we could see the red lights that shone in the Turkish fort, and the windmills whirling on the Sigean promontory69, as we glided70, with squared yards, before a fair and steady breeze, into those famous straits which Mohammed IV. fortified71 to secure his city and fleets against the fiery72 energy of the Venetians; and now, as I do not mean "to talk guide-book," our next chapter will find us in the land of strife and toil73, of battle and the pest; in that Crim Tartary which, to so many among us, was to prove the land of death and doom74.
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1 frigate | |
n.护航舰,大型驱逐舰 | |
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2 celebrated | |
adj.有名的,声誉卓著的 | |
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3 isle | |
n.小岛,岛 | |
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4 Mediterranean | |
adj.地中海的;地中海沿岸的 | |
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5 apparently | |
adv.显然地;表面上,似乎 | |
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6 countless | |
adj.无数的,多得不计其数的 | |
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7 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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8 quaint | |
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
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9 moorish | |
adj.沼地的,荒野的,生[住]在沼地的 | |
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10 dwellers | |
n.居民,居住者( dweller的名词复数 ) | |
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11 promenade | |
n./v.散步 | |
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12 picturesque | |
adj.美丽如画的,(语言)生动的,绘声绘色的 | |
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13 tawny | |
adj.茶色的,黄褐色的;n.黄褐色 | |
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14 monks | |
n.修道士,僧侣( monk的名词复数 ) | |
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15 rusty | |
adj.生锈的;锈色的;荒废了的 | |
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16 triangular | |
adj.三角(形)的,三者间的 | |
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17 baggy | |
adj.膨胀如袋的,宽松下垂的 | |
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18 scarlet | |
n.深红色,绯红色,红衣;adj.绯红色的 | |
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19 jabbered | |
v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的过去式和过去分词 );急促兴奋地说话 | |
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20 knights | |
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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21 poetical | |
adj.似诗人的;诗一般的;韵文的;富有诗意的 | |
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22 taper | |
n.小蜡烛,尖细,渐弱;adj.尖细的;v.逐渐变小 | |
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23 ashore | |
adv.在(向)岸上,上岸 | |
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24 peal | |
n.钟声;v.鸣响 | |
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25 granite | |
adj.花岗岩,花岗石 | |
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26 infantry | |
n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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27 salute | |
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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28 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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29 hearty | |
adj.热情友好的;衷心的;尽情的,纵情的 | |
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30 allied | |
adj.协约国的;同盟国的 | |
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31 slaughter | |
n.屠杀,屠宰;vt.屠杀,宰杀 | |
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32 victorious | |
adj.胜利的,得胜的 | |
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33 battalion | |
n.营;部队;大队(的人) | |
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34 regiment | |
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制 | |
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35 gallant | |
adj.英勇的,豪侠的;(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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36 hurrah | |
int.好哇,万岁,乌拉 | |
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37 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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38 exultation | |
n.狂喜,得意 | |
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39 corps | |
n.(通信等兵种的)部队;(同类作的)一组 | |
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40 mortifying | |
adj.抑制的,苦修的v.使受辱( mortify的现在分词 );伤害(人的感情);克制;抑制(肉体、情感等) | |
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41 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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42 contingencies | |
n.偶然发生的事故,意外事故( contingency的名词复数 );以备万一 | |
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43 participation | |
n.参与,参加,分享 | |
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44 isles | |
岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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45 avocations | |
n.业余爱好,嗜好( avocation的名词复数 );职业 | |
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46 lieutenant | |
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员 | |
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47 prospect | |
n.前景,前途;景色,视野 | |
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48 quarries | |
n.(采)石场( quarry的名词复数 );猎物(指鸟,兽等);方形石;(格窗等的)方形玻璃v.从采石场采得( quarry的第三人称单数 );从(书本等中)努力发掘(资料等);在采石场采石 | |
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49 fumes | |
n.(强烈而刺激的)气味,气体 | |
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50 champagne | |
n.香槟酒;微黄色 | |
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51 suite | |
n.一套(家具);套房;随从人员 | |
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52 filigree | |
n.金银丝做的工艺品;v.用金银细丝饰品装饰;用华而不实的饰品装饰;adj.金银细丝工艺的 | |
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53 ornaments | |
n.装饰( ornament的名词复数 );点缀;装饰品;首饰v.装饰,点缀,美化( ornament的第三人称单数 ) | |
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54 hurled | |
v.猛投,用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 );大声叫骂 | |
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55 consort | |
v.相伴;结交 | |
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56 fabled | |
adj.寓言中的,虚构的 | |
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57 abode | |
n.住处,住所 | |
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58 rugged | |
adj.高低不平的,粗糙的,粗壮的,强健的 | |
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59 owls | |
n.猫头鹰( owl的名词复数 ) | |
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60 isthmus | |
n.地峡 | |
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61 tract | |
n.传单,小册子,大片(土地或森林) | |
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62 indigo | |
n.靛青,靛蓝 | |
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63 wafted | |
v.吹送,飘送,(使)浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64 aromatic | |
adj.芳香的,有香味的 | |
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65 shrubs | |
灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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66 cone | |
n.圆锥体,圆锥形东西,球果 | |
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67 beheld | |
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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68 strife | |
n.争吵,冲突,倾轧,竞争 | |
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69 promontory | |
n.海角;岬 | |
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70 glided | |
v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 );掠过;(鸟或飞机 ) 滑翔 | |
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71 fortified | |
adj. 加强的 | |
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72 fiery | |
adj.燃烧着的,火红的;暴躁的;激烈的 | |
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73 toil | |
vi.辛劳工作,艰难地行动;n.苦工,难事 | |
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74 doom | |
n.厄运,劫数;v.注定,命定 | |
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