CHAPTER XV FIAM WEARS A FUR COAT

One day when we were far away from our post there was a great storm. It rained cats and dogs, and the brim of my hat dripped all around like an overflowing¹ gutter².

I walked through the wood with my head bent³ forward, completely forgetting Fiam, who was fastened to the band of the crown and was soaked through and through. After many hours I reached my tent. I took off my hat and pulled out Fiam, whom I placed on a blanket, knowing how he loved to climb around the folds. But to my dismay I saw that he didn’t move. He stayed just as I had put him; flat on his back, with his arms stretched out and one leg in the air. He looked as if he were dead.

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“Fiam!” I called frightened. “Fiam, my friend, speak to me.”

But he was quite still.

“He is dead, he is dead!” I exclaimed, almost with tears in my eyes. “The rain has killed him, and it is all my fault. I was so cruel to forget him.” I continued to call, “Fiam, come back. Forgive me! Fiam!”

It seemed to me as if I had lost a brother of whom I should have been careful and should have protected better. I was overcome with remorse⁴. I thought of all the delightful⁵ times we had had together, of his kindness, of his courage, of the work we had shared and of our sincere friendship.

“Fiam, Fiam!” I called, now and again, hoping to hear once more his little affectionate voice.

At last I thought of trying a radical⁶ way of reviving him if there were still the tiniest hope.

I took a flask⁷ of saki which I had had on the ship and dropped a little on Fiam. Then I put a wad of cotton (which I kept handy in case it was needed for wounds) in the cigarette box; then put my friend on the cotton, as if he were in a beautiful white feather [119] bed, shut the box and put it near the fire, which I lighted as best I could in the midst of my small shelter.

When I again opened the box and looked in, he was lying there immovable, his arms stretched out and his little leg raised up.

“Fiam!” I called.

No answer. I closed the box and waited, and am not ashamed to say that I waited in tears. At last after about an hour had passed, during which I had [120] looked in for the hundredth time, I jumped for joy. His little voice had answered.

But it was a tiny voice, even smaller and feebler than usual. I asked him no end of questions most anxiously.

“Speak. What is the matter? How do you feel? What can I do for you? Tell me—why don’t you move?”

“Why,” he replied faintly, “because the water has swollen⁸ my joints⁹.” That was it. The dampness had enlarged the wood and shrunk the thread in such a way that the little fellow couldn’t move ever so slightly.

“But you ought to have told me at once,” I said to him reprovingly and in an affectionate tone.

“I couldn’t. I was suffocated¹⁰ by the melted phosphorus. Now I begin to feel stronger.”

“Wait a minute; I will put you near the fire again, and when you are comfortably dry you will be as well as you ever were.”

“I am so afraid of the flames! Shut up the imperial tomb, and don’t put me too near the fire,” he warned me.

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“Just keep quiet.”

Three hours later Fiam was completely cured of his cold, and walked carefully, like a person on stilts¹¹, around the house.

But a queer thing had happened. You remember that after the incident of the postage stamps Fiam had always been covered with little gummed pieces of paper showing parts of the Emperor’s face in different colors. The rain had softened¹² the gum, and when he was put in the cotton to dry it had stuck to him, and with all my attempts to get him free I was unable to succeed, so that now my companion was completely covered with thick down, a kind of white fur coat, which made him look like a miniature automobilist.

I proposed to shave him with my razor, but he opposed this energetically.

“Don’t do it!” he said. “In the first place your razor frightens me. I see that you can’t even shave yourself without cutting your chin, and one of those slips would cut me in two. Then I like this fur; it is becoming. It makes me look bigger, you know how thin I am, and it protects me from bad weather. Let it be.”

1 overflowing   

n. 溢出物,溢流 adj. 充沛的，充满的 动词overflow的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• The stands were overflowing with farm and sideline products. 集市上农副产品非常丰富。
• The milk is overflowing. 牛奶溢出来了。

2 gutter   

n.沟，街沟，水槽，檐槽，贫民窟

参考例句：

• There's a cigarette packet thrown into the gutter.阴沟里有个香烟盒。
• He picked her out of the gutter and made her a great lady.他使她脱离贫苦生活，并成为贵妇。

3 bent   

n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的

参考例句：

• He was fully bent upon the project.他一心扑在这项计划上。
• We bent over backward to help them.我们尽了最大努力帮助他们。

4 remorse   

n.痛恨，悔恨，自责

参考例句：

• She had no remorse about what she had said.她对所说的话不后悔。
• He has shown no remorse for his actions.他对自己的行为没有任何悔恨之意。

5 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

6 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

7 flask   

n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱

参考例句：

• There is some deposit in the bottom of the flask.这只烧杯的底部有些沉淀物。
• He took out a metal flask from a canvas bag.他从帆布包里拿出一个金属瓶子。

8 swollen   

adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀

参考例句：

• Her legs had got swollen from standing up all day.因为整天站着，她的双腿已经肿了。
• A mosquito had bitten her and her arm had swollen up.蚊子叮了她，她的手臂肿起来了。

9 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

10 suffocated   

（使某人）窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 )； （将某人）闷死； 让人感觉闷热； 憋气

参考例句：

• Many dogs have suffocated in hot cars. 许多狗在热烘烘的汽车里给闷死了。
• I nearly suffocated when the pipe of my breathing apparatus came adrift. 呼吸器上的管子脱落时，我差点给憋死。

11 stilts   

n.（支撑建筑物高出地面或水面的）桩子，支柱( stilt的名词复数 )；高跷

参考例句：

• a circus performer on stilts 马戏团里踩高跷的演员
• The bamboo huts here are all built on stilts. 这里的竹楼都是架空的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 softened   

（使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰

参考例句：

• His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
• The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。