LONDON -- to a slave -- was a sufficiently1 interesting place. It was merely a great big village; and mainly mud and thatch2. The streets were muddy, crooked3, unpaved. The populace was an ever flocking and drifting swarm4 of rags, and splendors5, of nodding plumes6 and shining armor. The king had a palace there; he saw the outside of it. It made him sigh; yes, and swear a little, in a poor juvenile7 sixth century way. We saw knights8 and grandees9 whom we knew, but they didn't know us in our rags and dirt and raw welts and bruises10, and wouldn't have recognized us if we had hailed them, nor stopped to answer, either, it being unlawful to speak with slaves on a chain. Sandy passed within ten yards of me on a mule11 -- hunting for me, I imagined. But the thing which clean broke my heart was something which happened in front of our old barrack in a square, while we were enduring the spectacle of a man being boiled to death in oil for counterfeiting12 pennies. It was the sight of a newsboy -- and I couldn't get at him! Still, I had one comfort -- here was proof that Clarence was still alive and banging away. I meant to be with him before long; the thought was full of cheer.
I had one little glimpse of another thing, one day, which gave me a great uplift. It was a wire stretching from housetop to housetop. Telegraph or telephone, sure. I did very much wish I had a little piece of it. It was just what I needed, in order to carry out my project of escape. My idea was to get loose some night, along with the king, then gag and bind13 our master, change clothes with him, batter14 him into the aspect of a stranger, hitch15 him to the slave-chain, assume possession of the property, march to Camelot, and -
But you get my idea; you see what a stunning16 dramatic surprise I would wind up with at the palace. It was all feasible, if I could only get hold of a slender piece of iron which I could shape into a lock-pick. I could then undo17 the lumbering18 padlocks with which our chains were fastened, whenever I might choose. But I never had any luck; no such thing ever happened to fall in my way. However, my chance came at last. A gentleman who had come twice before to dicker for me, without result, or indeed any approach to a result, came again. I was far from expecting ever to belong to him, for the price asked for me from the time I was first enslaved was exorbitant19, and always provoked either anger or derision, yet my master stuck stubbornly to it -- twenty-two dollars. He wouldn't bate20 a cent. The king was greatly admired, because of his grand physique, but his kingly style was against him, and he wasn't salable21; nobody wanted that kind of a slave. I considered myself safe from parting from him because of my extravagant22 price. No, I was not expecting to ever belong to this gentleman whom I have spoken of, but he had something which I expected would belong to me eventually, if he would but visit us often enough. It was a steel thing with a long pin to it, with which his long cloth outside garment was fastened together in front. There were three of them. He had disappointed me twice, because he did not come quite close enough to me to make my project entirely24 safe; but this time I succeeded; I captured the lower clasp of the three, and when he missed it he thought he had lost it on the way.
I had a chance to be glad about a minute, then straightway a chance to be sad again. For when the purchase was about to fail, as usual, the master suddenly spoke23 up and said what would be worded thus -in modern English:
"I'll tell you what I'll do. I'm tired supporting these two for no good. Give me twenty-two dollars for this one, and I'll throw the other one in."
The king couldn't get his breath, he was in such a fury. He began to choke and gag, and meantime the master and the gentleman moved away discussing.
"An ye will keep the offer open --"
"'Tis open till the morrow at this hour."
"Then I will answer you at that time," said the gentleman, and disappeared, the master following him.
I had a time of it to cool the king down, but I managed it. I whispered in his ear, to this effect:
"Your grace WILL go for nothing, but after another fashion. And so shall I. To-night we shall both be free."
"Ah! How is that?"
"With this thing which I have stolen, I will unlock these locks and cast off these chains to-night. When he comes about nine-thirty to inspect us for the night, we will seize him, gag him, batter him, and early in the morning we will march out of this town, proprietors25 of this caravan26 of slaves."
That was as far as I went, but the king was charmed and satisfied. That evening we waited patiently for our fellow-slaves to get to sleep and signify it by the usual sign, for you must not take many chances on those poor fellows if you can avoid it. It is best to keep your own secrets. No doubt they fidgeted only about as usual, but it didn't seem so to me. It seemed to me that they were going to be forever getting down to their regular snoring. As the time dragged on I got nervously27 afraid we shouldn't have enough of it left for our needs; so I made several premature28 attempts, and merely delayed things by it; for I couldn't seem to touch a padlock, there in the dark, without starting a rattle29 out of it which interrupted somebody's sleep and made him turn over and wake some more of the gang.
But finally I did get my last iron off, and was a free man once more. I took a good breath of relief, and reached for the king's irons. Too late! in comes the master, with a light in one hand and his heavy walkingstaff in the other. I snuggled close among the wallow of snorers, to conceal30 as nearly as possible that I was naked of irons; and I kept a sharp lookout31 and prepared to spring for my man the moment he should bend over me.
But he didn't approach. He stopped, gazed absently toward our dusky mass a minute, evidently thinking about something else; then set down his light, moved musingly32 toward the door, and before a body could imagine what he was going to do, he was out of the door and had closed it behind him.
"Quick!" said the king. "Fetch him back!"
Of course, it was the thing to do, and I was up and out in a moment. But, dear me, there were no lamps in those days, and it was a dark night. But I glimpsed a dim figure a few steps away. I darted33 for it, threw myself upon it, and then there was a state of things and lively! We fought and scuffled and struggled, and drew a crowd in no time. They took an immense interest in the fight and encouraged us all they could, and, in fact, couldn't have been pleasanter or more cordial if it had been their own fight. Then a tremendous row broke out behind us, and as much as half of our audience left us, with a rush, to invest some sympathy in that. Lanterns began to swing in all directions; it was the watch gathering34 from far and near. Presently a halberd fell across my back, as a reminder35, and I knew what it meant. I was in custody36. So was my adversary37. We were marched off toward prison, one on each side of the watchman. Here was disaster, here was a fine scheme gone to sudden destruction! I tried to imagine what would happen when the master should discover that it was I who had been fighting him; and what would happen if they jailed us together in the general apartment for brawlers and petty law-breakers, as was the custom; and what might -
Just then my antagonist38 turned his face around in my direction, the freckled39 light from the watchman's tin lantern fell on it, and, by George, he was the wrong man!
收听单词发音 |
1
sufficiently
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| adv.足够地，充分地 | |
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thatch
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| vt.用茅草覆盖…的顶部；n.茅草(屋) | |
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crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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splendors
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| n.华丽( splendor的名词复数 )；壮丽；光辉；显赫 | |
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plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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juvenile
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| n.青少年，少年读物；adj.青少年的，幼稚的 | |
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8
knights
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| 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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grandees
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| n.贵族，大公，显贵者( grandee的名词复数 ) | |
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bruises
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| n.瘀伤，伤痕，擦伤( bruise的名词复数 ) | |
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11
mule
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| n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人 | |
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12
counterfeiting
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| n.伪造v.仿制，造假( counterfeit的现在分词 ) | |
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13
bind
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| vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬 | |
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14
batter
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| v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员 | |
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15
hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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16
stunning
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| adj.极好的；使人晕倒的 | |
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17
undo
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| vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销 | |
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18
lumbering
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| n.采伐林木 | |
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19
exorbitant
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| adj.过分的；过度的 | |
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20
bate
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| v.压制；减弱；n.（制革用的）软化剂 | |
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21
salable
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| adj.有销路的，适销的 | |
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22
extravagant
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| adj.奢侈的；过分的；(言行等)放肆的 | |
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23
spoke
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| 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 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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proprietors
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| n.所有人，业主( proprietor的名词复数 ) | |
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caravan
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| n.大蓬车；活动房屋 | |
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27
nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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30
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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31
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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musingly
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| adv.沉思地，冥想地 | |
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33
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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34
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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35
reminder
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| n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示 | |
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36
custody
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| n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留 | |
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adversary
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| adj.敌手，对手 | |
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38
antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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39
freckled
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| adj.雀斑；斑点；晒斑；（使）生雀斑v.雀斑，斑点( freckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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