CHAPTER VII THE END OF FIAM’S FEARS

“Poor little thing!” I exclaimed. “Do tell me more.”

I was anxious to hear the end of this story, with which I had sympathized so much.

“Well, then at last even my box was sold. I don’t know whether it was daytime or night, for shut up in there I knew nothing about time. I felt myself all shaken up; a little later the box was opened and two big fingers fumbled¹ around inside and rudely grasped one of the sticks, which in this last store I had heard called matches. Then: tric, trac! the head of the stick was struck violently against the side of the box and ffroo! it burned. I jumped with horror and waited anxiously as the little stick was consumed by its own flame between the big fingers. I understood everything at once. This was my destiny!”

“You suffered horribly, eh?”

“Oh! I passed days and nights in agony. Every [62] four or five hours the box was opened and one of my matches was taken out to its death. Each time I hid among the lower sticks till, at last, there remained only three. I resigned myself to my dreadful end and began to count the hours of my life. By this time I knew that all my tree, my beautiful tree, with branches ten arms long, was all burned, fibre by fibre, and had absolutely vanished. It was no use to struggle.”

“Why didn’t you try flight?”

“How? What could I do? How could I open the box? And if it was open how could I fly without legs? If I had only had these legs that you have made for me! But enough of that! By chance the box was forgotten and laid where you found me. And you have saved me. I am your faithful servant forever. To you I am revealing myself for the third and last time.”

“Fiam, you are my dearest friend.”

“Do you know what the most evil thing in the world is?”

“No; what?”

“Those monsters that cut, and split and destroy and change, those new monsters that once didn’t even exist.”

[63]

“The machines?”

“Call them that if you like. They are merciless. They devour² the most sacred and ancient beings to make things to sell. They respect nothing.”

“But, my friend, you are not able to judge.”

Fiammiferino pinched my ear furiously and howled in a voice that sounded like a whistle, it was so loud and shrill³:

“Don’t contradict me. You must be careful, you know, for if you make me angry I may take fire.”

I quieted him, talking as gently as I could. I was sorry he had such an inflammable temper, but I suppose the phosphorus was largely to blame.

I can’t tell you how many other intimate conversations I had with Fiam. When we were alone he always sat astride of my collar, and I usually let him sit there when I was working and writing. I must tell you that he gave me excellent advice, made suggestions, and explained Japanese affairs to me. I shall even have to own that more than once my success as a journalist at this time was due entirely⁴ to Fiam, but for pity’s sake don’t mention it to any one.

He often left his post of observation on the battlement, [64] and came down onto my necktie, which he called “the silk waterfall.” There he read what I wrote and gave me his opinion with a frankness that would have made me very angry if I hadn’t been so fond of him. Sometimes in the midst of a sentence I would hear his little voice shrieking⁵:

“Oh, what stupidity! What have you written? Throw it away. I can’t understand a word of it.”

At this interruption I would stop writing and say:

“What is that?”

And he would go on: “Rub out that nonsense. I will tell you what to say, and you can put quotation⁶ marks.”

[65]

“Don’t you want to sign it, too?” I asked, laughing.

But I agreed to what he proposed, and was always satisfied with what he did. In the end I accepted his services absolutely.

“Fiam,” I would sometimes say, “I am tired. I don’t feel like thinking. Tell me what to write.”

And he would shout at me: “Lazy fellow, if I weren’t here what would you do? Well, just this once” ... and he would dictate⁷ page after page.

Dear little Fiam, how good he was!

1 fumbled   

（笨拙地）摸索或处理（某事物）( fumble的过去式和过去分词 )； 乱摸，笨拙地弄； 使落下

参考例句：

• She fumbled in her pocket for a handkerchief. 她在她口袋里胡乱摸找手帕。
• He fumbled about in his pockets for the ticket. 他（瞎）摸着衣兜找票。

2 devour   

v.吞没；贪婪地注视或谛听，贪读；使着迷

参考例句：

• Larger fish devour the smaller ones.大鱼吃小鱼。
• Beauty is but a flower which wrinkle will devour.美只不过是一朵，终会被皱纹所吞噬。

3 shrill   

adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫

参考例句：

• Whistles began to shrill outside the barn.哨声开始在谷仓外面尖叫。
• The shrill ringing of a bell broke up the card game on the cutter.刺耳的铃声打散了小汽艇的牌局。

4 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

5 shrieking   

v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were all shrieking with laughter. 他们都发出了尖锐的笑声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 quotation   

n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情

参考例句：

• He finished his speech with a quotation from Shakespeare.他讲话结束时引用了莎士比亚的语录。
• The quotation is omitted here.此处引文从略。

7 dictate   

v.口授；(使)听写；指令，指示，命令

参考例句：

• It took him a long time to dictate this letter.口述这封信花了他很长时间。
• What right have you to dictate to others?你有什么资格向别人发号施令？