The horizon is the Himalaya range; the slopes are covered with the ribbed velvet6 of the tea plantations7, and on one hill stand the scattered8 bungalows9 of Mussoree, looking no bigger than pebbles10.
My friend Captain McT——, with whom I stayed, had a house with a peaked, reed-thatched roof. Round the verandah where we slept at night hung festoons of jasmine and bougainvillea. Bamboos, ph?nix, and curtains of creepers at the end of the lawn made a wall of verdure, fresh and cool; and through this were wafted11 the perfumes shed on the air—the scent12 of roses and verbena, of violet[Pg 290] or of rosemary, according to the side whence the wind blew, mingling13 with that of the amaryllis and honeysuckle in bloom close at hand. And in this quiet garden, far from the bazaar14 where the darboukhas were twanging, birds sang all night, and the fireflies danced in mazes15 from flower to flower.
Captain McT——'s orderly appeared as soon as we stirred in the morning, shouldering arms—the "arm" an umbrella which the authorities allow as a privilege off duty to the Ghoorkhas, men from the high plateaux, who are very sensitive to sunstroke, and who wear only a cap without a pugaree. The umbrella solemnly resting against his right shoulder, this worthy16 stood at attention, serious and motionless, and very upright—a quaint17 figure, his age impossible to guess, with his Mongolian face, his little slits18 of eyes, and his figure, in spite of his military squareness, rather too pliant19 in the yellow khaki uniform.
We visited a temple where the natives treasure the couch of the Guru Ram-Roy, a very holy and much venerated20 fakir.
Every year pilgrims set up the tallest tree from the neighbouring jungle in front of the sanctuary21, and twist round it an enormous red flag. The[Pg 291] mast now standing22 was at least a hundred feet high, and held in place by guys attached to banyan3 trees and houses standing near. Close to the ground ties of coloured worsted, the offerings of the faithful, held the crimson23 hanging to the pole.
The front of the temple is covered with paintings. Decorations in the Persian style divide the panels, on which are depicted24 the principal scenes from the sacred books of the Brahmins. There are two perfect things to be seen here: two nude25 female figures standing, one white, the other brown, exquisitely26 refined in colouring, admirably drawn27 in a style reminding me of early Italian art; and then, just beyond these, tasteless imitations of chromos—goddesses with eyes too large and a simper like the advertisements of tooth-paste, and some horrible caricatures of English ladies in the fashion of ten years ago holding parasols like a nimbus.
And certainly the most comical of all is the representation of a baboo donor28, to whom two servants, prostrate29 before him, are offering a glass of water.
To the right of the forecourt is the high priest's room; lustres, glass shades, gilt30 chairs, coloured photographs, incongruously surrounding an antique silk carpet, soiled and stained.
[Pg 292]
At the end of the court, over which enormous bread-fruit trees cast a cool shade, above some steps and a marble terrace where some musicians were performing, stands the holy spot which we dared not go near. In the dim light we could see a square object, red embroidered31 in gold—the couch of Ram-Roy—and hanging to the wall a silver curtain. All this, though perhaps it is but tinsel, looked at a distance and in the shadow like brocade and magnificent jewels. Round the main building there are four kiosks dedicated32 to the Guru's four wives.
The guardian33 fakirs who watch the sacred flag sat under a tree in front of the temple. One of these, quite young, was beautiful beyond words. He had taken a vow34 always to stand. Leaning on a long pole he rocked himself without ceasing; for an instant he allowed his rapt eyes to rest on the bystanders, and then looked up again at the plume35 of white horse-hair that crowns the flagstaff. His legs were rather wide apart and evidently stiff; he walked without bending his knees, and then as soon as he stood still he rested his chin on his long cane36, and swayed his body as before.
A tea plantation—a garden of large shrubs pruned[Pg 293] in such a way as to secure the greatest possible growth of young shoots, and above the delicate tea plants a shady hedge of fan palms and taller trees. The leaves are gathered by day, spread in the evening on hurdles37 and left for the night in open sheds. On the morrow they are first thrown into a sort of bottomless square funnel38 which revolves39 on a board; rolled and broken in this machine they are ready for drying. The tea passes through twenty grades of increasing temperature, and in drying it gives out the most delightful40 aroma—a mixture of sweetbriar, seaweed, and violets, with a scent of tea too. The leaves are finally sifted41, which sorts them in four sizes into boxes containing the different qualities.
Coolies in white turbans were busy round the machines. They are very skilful42, but work with determined43 slowness as a mute rebellion against the humiliating coercion44 of obeying a thing of wood and iron, and above all of obeying it without stopping, for the ideal of every Hindoo is to do nothing. And this rose to positive martyrdom when, in the absence of our own servants, who were nowhere to be found, one of these craftsmen45, a Brahmin, strictly46 forbidden by his religion ever to touch the food of the disbelievers, or even the[Pg 294] vessels47 they use, was obliged to make tea for us. Looking utterly48 miserable49, the poor fellow weighed out the leaves, put them into little antique earthenware50 pots, and poured on the boiling water. A sand-glass marked how long the infusion51 was to stand. He even brought us some pretty little crackle basins that looked as if they had come out of some old-world convent pharmacy52; but the poor man could not bring himself to pour the tea out—he fled.
Close to a field that had just been reaped four oxen yoked53 abreast54 were threshing out the grain, tramping round and round on a large sheet spread on the ground. The driver chanted a shrill55, slow tune56; further away women in red were gleaning57, and a patriarch contemplated58 his estate, enthroned on a cart in a halo of sunset gold.
The Ghoorkhas, small men and very active, young too, with Chinese features, were practising gymnastics. And recruits were being drilled, two of them barefoot, though wearing their gaiters.
Firmly erect59 in military attitudes, they moved like one man. All without exception turn out capital soldiers.
[Pg 295]
The drill sergeant60 shouts the word of command in wonderful English—lept, meaning left.
This native regiment61, after many victories, was presented by the Empress Queen with a sort of mace62. A little shrine63 contains two crossed knives, and is surmounted64 by three Ghoorkhas bearing a royal crown in silver. This object is preserved in a case in the ammunition65 store. An officer is appointed to guard it, and the soldier who took it out to show me touched it really as if it had been the Host. And it is a fact that on high festivals the soldiers come to sacrifice goats before the house where this fetish is treasured.
After dinner, with the dessert, the head orderly of the mess marched in with the decanters. He set them on the table, and then stood immovable at his post behind the colonel's chair, shouldering his gun till everybody had done, when he carried off the bottles with the same air of being on parade.
Outside, under a thatched screen, sits the punkah coolie, his legs crossed, the string in his hand; and as soon as everyone goes into the room he wakes up, rocks his body to and fro, his arm out in a fixed66 position, swaying all of a piece with a mechanical see-saw, utterly stupid. He will go to sleep lulled67 by his own rocking, and never wake unless the cord breaks, or somebody stops him.
点击收听单词发音
1 myriad | |
adj.无数的;n.无数,极大数量 | |
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2 cedars | |
雪松,西洋杉( cedar的名词复数 ) | |
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3 banyan | |
n.菩提树,榕树 | |
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4 shrubs | |
灌木( shrub的名词复数 ) | |
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5 petals | |
n.花瓣( petal的名词复数 ) | |
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6 velvet | |
n.丝绒,天鹅绒;adj.丝绒制的,柔软的 | |
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7 plantations | |
n.种植园,大农场( plantation的名词复数 ) | |
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8 scattered | |
adj.分散的,稀疏的;散步的;疏疏落落的 | |
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9 bungalows | |
n.平房( bungalow的名词复数 );单层小屋,多于一层的小屋 | |
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10 pebbles | |
[复数]鹅卵石; 沙砾; 卵石,小圆石( pebble的名词复数 ) | |
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11 wafted | |
v.吹送,飘送,(使)浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12 scent | |
n.气味,香味,香水,线索,嗅觉;v.嗅,发觉 | |
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13 mingling | |
adj.混合的 | |
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14 bazaar | |
n.集市,商店集中区 | |
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15 mazes | |
迷宫( maze的名词复数 ); 纷繁复杂的规则; 复杂难懂的细节; 迷宫图 | |
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16 worthy | |
adj.(of)值得的,配得上的;有价值的 | |
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17 quaint | |
adj.古雅的,离奇有趣的,奇怪的 | |
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18 slits | |
n.狭长的口子,裂缝( slit的名词复数 )v.切开,撕开( slit的第三人称单数 );在…上开狭长口子 | |
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19 pliant | |
adj.顺从的;可弯曲的 | |
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20 venerated | |
敬重(某人或某事物),崇敬( venerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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21 sanctuary | |
n.圣所,圣堂,寺庙;禁猎区,保护区 | |
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22 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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23 crimson | |
n./adj.深(绯)红色(的);vi.脸变绯红色 | |
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24 depicted | |
描绘,描画( depict的过去式和过去分词 ); 描述 | |
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25 nude | |
adj.裸体的;n.裸体者,裸体艺术品 | |
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26 exquisitely | |
adv.精致地;强烈地;剧烈地;异常地 | |
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27 drawn | |
v.拖,拉,拔出;adj.憔悴的,紧张的 | |
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28 donor | |
n.捐献者;赠送人;(组织、器官等的)供体 | |
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29 prostrate | |
v.拜倒,平卧,衰竭;adj.拜倒的,平卧的,衰竭的 | |
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30 gilt | |
adj.镀金的;n.金边证券 | |
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31 embroidered | |
adj.绣花的 | |
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32 dedicated | |
adj.一心一意的;献身的;热诚的 | |
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33 guardian | |
n.监护人;守卫者,保护者 | |
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34 vow | |
n.誓(言),誓约;v.起誓,立誓 | |
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35 plume | |
n.羽毛;v.整理羽毛,骚首弄姿,用羽毛装饰 | |
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36 cane | |
n.手杖,细长的茎,藤条;v.以杖击,以藤编制的 | |
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37 hurdles | |
n.障碍( hurdle的名词复数 );跳栏;(供人或马跳跃的)栏架;跨栏赛 | |
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38 funnel | |
n.漏斗;烟囱;v.汇集 | |
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39 revolves | |
v.(使)旋转( revolve的第三人称单数 );细想 | |
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40 delightful | |
adj.令人高兴的,使人快乐的 | |
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41 sifted | |
v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 );筛滤;细查;详审 | |
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42 skilful | |
(=skillful)adj.灵巧的,熟练的 | |
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43 determined | |
adj.坚定的;有决心的 | |
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44 coercion | |
n.强制,高压统治 | |
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45 craftsmen | |
n. 技工 | |
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46 strictly | |
adv.严厉地,严格地;严密地 | |
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47 vessels | |
n.血管( vessel的名词复数 );船;容器;(具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的)人 | |
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48 utterly | |
adv.完全地,绝对地 | |
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49 miserable | |
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的 | |
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50 earthenware | |
n.土器,陶器 | |
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51 infusion | |
n.灌输 | |
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52 pharmacy | |
n.药房,药剂学,制药业,配药业,一批备用药品 | |
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53 yoked | |
结合(yoke的过去式形式) | |
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54 abreast | |
adv.并排地;跟上(时代)的步伐,与…并进地 | |
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55 shrill | |
adj.尖声的;刺耳的;v尖叫 | |
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56 tune | |
n.调子;和谐,协调;v.调音,调节,调整 | |
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57 gleaning | |
n.拾落穗,拾遗,落穗v.一点点地收集(资料、事实)( glean的现在分词 );(收割后)拾穗 | |
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58 contemplated | |
adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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59 erect | |
n./v.树立,建立,使竖立;adj.直立的,垂直的 | |
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60 sergeant | |
n.警官,中士 | |
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61 regiment | |
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制 | |
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62 mace | |
n.狼牙棒,豆蔻干皮 | |
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63 shrine | |
n.圣地,神龛,庙;v.将...置于神龛内,把...奉为神圣 | |
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64 surmounted | |
战胜( surmount的过去式和过去分词 ); 克服(困难); 居于…之上; 在…顶上 | |
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65 ammunition | |
n.军火,弹药 | |
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66 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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67 lulled | |
vt.使镇静,使安静(lull的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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