CHAPTER XIV FIAM OVERLOOKS THE BATTLE

I don’t know how he managed it, but he understood the man?uvres of war better than I. You see, Hajis are unusually intelligent. Often I couldn’t make out what was going on. I could see soldiers running, firing, apparently¹ turning back, cavalry² galloping⁴, and could hear the roar of cannon⁵ on all sides, yet I couldn’t tell how the battle was going. But he explained everything to me.

“Look there at that hill. Do you see they are attacking? Look to the left; that is an assault. There are ten thousand men. Bravo, advance!” He would get wildly enthusiastic, running here and there and shouting orders in his squeaky little voice, screaming encouragement, reproof⁶, praise and blame. You ought to have heard him calling: “Re?nforcements to the right! Place two batteries behind that hill! Forward with the reserves! Smash their entrenchments!” He seemed to think himself the general.

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I often relied entirely⁷ on him for information. I put my hat, with him on it, on the branch of a tree or on top of a cane⁸ and went tranquilly⁹ to sleep near my horse browsing¹⁰ in the grass. When I awoke I called:

“Fiam, who is winning?”

“If you are awake,” he answered, “we will go and send a telegram to your journal.”

Then I would put him in the hat band, mount my horse and gallop³ away to the nearest military telegraph station.

We had many curious expressions. He could never understand firearms. The discharge of muskets¹¹ he called little thunder, and that of cannon big thunder. He thought that men really hurled¹² thunderbolts. When I tried to explain to him about guns and cannon he would respond:

“All right! All right! But the fact is that these machines which work with that thing you call powder are nothing but factories of thunderbolts of various [113] sizes, and we can prove it, because we see and hear both the lightning and the thunder.”

“WHO IS WINNING?”

Another of his ideas was that the telegraph was nothing but a Haji. For him it was a live Haji in a copper¹³ wire that carried the messages. He spoke¹⁴ of it as “my brother of the wire.”

I tried to tell him about it: “But no, dear Fiam. This time it is really a thunderbolt that carries the message.”

“Truly!” he exclaimed sceptically. “And where is the lightning, where is the thunder? I should think that you would admit that I, a Haji, understand such things a little better than you.”

The telegrams that he dictated¹⁵ to me and that I had to alter in private, usually began this way: “Brother of the wire, go and say to our friends in Europe and America that to-day after four hours of big and little thunder, etc.”

Seeing him so infatuated with fighting, I said to him once:

“It appears to me, Fiam——”

“Miferino!”

“That you love war!”

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“Not at all. Do you think any one could love slaughter¹⁶?”

“But you think of nothing else!”

“That is true. This is a question of my country, so I would like to be a soldier and fight with all my strength. I swear to you I wouldn’t mind dying. Just think that the future of the country for centuries and centuries, its prosperity and greatness, depend upon our victory. Hurrah¹⁷ for the war!”

“Brave Fiam, you are a good citizen.”

1 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

2 cavalry   

n.骑兵；轻装甲部队

参考例句：

• We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. 我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
• The enemy cavalry rode our men down. 敌人的骑兵撞倒了我们的人。

3 gallop   

v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展

参考例句：

• They are coming at a gallop towards us.他们正朝着我们飞跑过来。
• The horse slowed to a walk after its long gallop.那匹马跑了一大阵后慢下来缓步而行。

4 galloping   

adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The horse started galloping the moment I gave it a good dig. 我猛戳了马一下，它就奔驰起来了。
• Japan is galloping ahead in the race to develop new technology. 日本在发展新技术的竞争中进展迅速，日新月异。

5 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

6 reproof   

n.斥责，责备

参考例句：

• A smart reproof is better than smooth deceit.严厉的责难胜过温和的欺骗。
• He is impatient of reproof.他不能忍受指责。

7 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。

8 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

9 tranquilly   

adv. 宁静地

参考例句：

• He took up his brush and went tranquilly to work. 他拿起刷子，一声不响地干了起来。
• The evening was closing down tranquilly. 暮色正在静悄悄地笼罩下来。

10 browsing   

v.吃草( browse的现在分词 )；随意翻阅；（在商店里）随便看看；（在计算机上）浏览信息

参考例句：

• He sits browsing over[through] a book. 他坐着翻阅书籍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cattle is browsing in the field. 牛正在田里吃草。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 muskets   

n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The watch below, all hands to load muskets. 另一组人都来帮着给枪装火药。 来自英汉文学 - 金银岛
• Deep ditch, single drawbridge, massive stone walls, eight at towers, cannon, muskets, fire and smoke. 深深的壕堑，单吊桥，厚重的石壁，八座巨大的塔楼。大炮、毛瑟枪、火焰与烟雾。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

12 hurled   

v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂

参考例句：

• He hurled a brick through the window. 他往窗户里扔了块砖。
• The strong wind hurled down bits of the roof. 大风把屋顶的瓦片刮了下来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

14 spoke   

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

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

15 dictated   

v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布

参考例句：

• He dictated a letter to his secretary. 他向秘书口授信稿。
• No person of a strong character likes to be dictated to. 没有一个个性强的人愿受人使唤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

17 hurrah   

int.好哇，万岁，乌拉

参考例句：

• We hurrah when we see the soldiers go by.我们看到士兵经过时向他们欢呼。
• The assistants raised a formidable hurrah.助手们发出了一片震天的欢呼声。