Chapter 32

A STEAMER took us down to Acapulco. It is probably athriving port now. When we were there, a few native huts andtwo or three stone buildings at the edge of the jungleconstituted the 'town.' We bought some horses, and hired twomen - a Mexican and a Yankee - for our ride to the city ofMexico. There was at that time nothing but a mule¹-track, andno public conveyance² of any kind. Nothing could exceed thebeauty of the scenery. Within 160 miles, as the crow flies,one rises up to the city of Mexico some 12,000 feet, withPopocatepetl overhanging it 17,500 feet high. In this shortspace one passes from intense tropical heat and vegetation topines and laurels³ and the proximity⁴ of perpetual snows. Thepath in places winds along the brink⁵ of precipitousdeclivities, from the top of which one sees the climaticgradations blending one into another. So narrow are some ofthe mountain paths that a mule laden⁶ with ore has often onepanier overhanging the valley a thousand feet below it.

　　Constantly in the long trains of animals descending⁷ to thecoast, a slip of the foot or a charge from behind, for theyall come down the steep track with a jolting⁸ shuffle⁹, sendsmule and its load over the ledge¹⁰. We found it very difficultin places to get out of the way in time to let the trainspass. Flocks of parrots and great macaws screeching¹¹ andflying about added to the novelty of the scene.

　　The villages, inhabited by a cross between the originalIndians and the Spaniards, are about twenty miles apart. Atone¹² of these we always stayed for the night, sleeping ingrass hammocks suspended between the posts of the verandah.

　　The only travellers we fell in with were a party of fourAmericans, returning to the Eastern States from Californiawith the gold they had won there. They had come in oursteamer to Acapulco, and had left it a few hours before wedid. As the villages were so far apart we necessarily had tostop at night in the same one. The second time this happenedthey, having arrived first, had quartered themselves on theAlcalde or principal personage of the place. Our guide tookus to the same house; and although His Worship, who had abetter¹³ supply of maize¹⁴ for the horses, and a few morechickens to sell than the other natives, was anxious toaccommodate us, the four Americans, a very rough-looking lotand armed to the teeth, wouldn't hear of it, but peremptorilybade us put up elsewhere. Our own American, who was muchafraid of them, obeyed their commands without more ado. Itmade not the slightest difference to us, for one grasshammock is as soft as another, and the Alcalde's chickenswere as tough as ours.

　　Before the morning start, two of the diggers, rifles in hand,came over to us and plainly told us they objected to ourcompany. Fred, with perfect good humour, assured them we hadno thought of robbing them, and that as the villages were sofar apart we had no choice in the matter. However, as theywished to travel separate from us, if there should be twovillages at all within suitable distances, they could stop atone and we at the other. There the matter rested. But ourguide was more frightened than ever. They were four to two,he argued, for neither he nor the Mexican were armed. Andthere was no saying, etc., etc. . . . In short we had betterstay where we were till they got through. Fred laughed atthe fellow's alarm, and told him he might stop if he liked,but we meant to go on.

　　As usual, when we reached the next stage, the diggers werebefore us; and when our men began to unsaddle at a hut aboutfifty yards from where they were feeding their horses, one ofthem, the biggest blackguard to look at of the lot, andthough the fiercest probably the greatest cur, shouted at usto put the saddles on again and 'get out of that.' He hadwarned us in the morning that they'd had enough of us, and,with a volley of oaths, advised us to be off. Fred, who wasin his shirt-sleeves, listened at first with a look ofsurprise at such cantankerous¹⁵ unreasonableness¹⁶; but when theruffian fell to swear and threaten, he burst into one of hiscontemptuous guffaws¹⁷, turned his back and began to feed hishorse with a corncob. Thus insulted, the digger ran into thehut (as I could see) to get his rifle. I snatched up my own,which I had been using every day to practise at the largeiguanas and macaws, and, well protected by my horse, calledout as I covered him, 'This is a double-barrelled rifle. Ifyou raise yours I'll drop you where you stand.' He wasforestalled and taken aback. Probably he meant nothing butbravado. Still, the situation was a critical one. ObviouslyI could not wait till he had shot my friend. But had it cometo shooting there would have been three left, unless mysecond barrel had disposed of another. Fortunately the'boss' of the digging party gauged¹⁸ the gravity of the crisisat a glance; and instead of backing him up as expected, sworeat him for a 'derned fool,' and ordered him to have no moreto do with us.

　　After that, as we drew near to the city, the country beingmore thickly populated, we no longer clashed.

　　This is not a guide-book, and I have nothing to tell of thatreaders would not find better described in their 'Murray.'

　　We put up in an excellent hotel kept by M. Arago, the brotherof the great French astronomer¹⁹. The only other travellers init besides ourselves were the famous dancer Cerito, and herhusband the violin virtuoso²⁰, St. Leon. Luckily for me ourEnglish Minister was Mr. Percy Doyle, whom I had known asATTACHE at Paris when I was at Larue, and who was a greatfriend of the De Cubriers. We were thus provided with manyadvantages for 'sight-seeing' in and about the city, and alsofor more distant excursions through credentials²¹ from theMexican authorities. Under these auspices²² we visited thesilver mines at Guadalajara, Potosi, and Guanajuata.

　　The life in Mexico city was delightful²³, after a year's tramp.

　　The hotel, as I have said, was to us luxurious²⁴. My roomunder the verandah opened on to a large and beautiful gardenpartially enclosed on two sides. As I lay in bed of amorning reading Prescott's 'History of Mexico,' or watchingthe brilliant humming birds as they darted²⁵ from flower toflower, and listened to the gentle plash of the fountain, mycup of enjoyment²⁶ and romance was brimming over.

　　Just before I left, an old friend of mine arrived fromEngland. This was Mr. Joseph Clissold. He was aschoolfellow of mine at Sheen. He had pulled in theCambridge boat, and played in the Cambridge eleven. Heafterwards became a magistrate²⁷ either in Australia or NewZealand. He was the best type of the good-natured, level-headed, hard-hitting Englishman. Curiously²⁸ enough, as itturned out, the greater part of the only conversation we had(I was leaving the day after he came) was about thebrigandage on the road between Mexico and Vera Cruz. He toldme the passengers in the diligence which had brought him uphad been warned at Jalapa that the road was infested²⁹ byrobbers; and should the coach be stopped they were on noaccount to offer resistance, for the robbers would certainlyshoot them if they did.

　　Fred chose to ride down to the coast, I went by coach. Thisheld six inside and two by the driver. Three of the insidepassengers sat with backs to the horses, the others facingthem. My coach was full, and stifling³⁰ hot and stuffy³¹ it wasbefore we had done with it. Of the five others two were fatpriests, and for twenty hours my place was between them. Butin one way I had my revenge: I carried my loaded riflebetween my knees, and a pistol in my belt. The dismay, theterror, the panic, the protestations, the entreaties³² andexecrations of all the five, kept us at least from ENNUI³³ formany a weary mile. I doubt whether the two priests everthumbed their breviaries so devoutly³⁴ in their lives. Perhapsthat brought us salvation³⁵. We reached Vera Cruz withoutadventure, and in the autumn of '51 Fred and I landed safelyat Southampton.

　　Two months after I got back, I read an account in the 'Times'

　　of 'Joe' Clissold's return trip from Mexico. The coach inwhich he was travelling was stopped by robbers. FriendJoseph was armed with a double-barrelled smooth-bore loadedwith slugs. He considered this on the whole more suitablethan a rifle. When the captain of the brigands³⁶ opened thecoach door and, pistol in hand, politely proffered³⁷ hisrequest, Mr. Joe was quite ready for him, and confided³⁸ thecontents of one barrel to the captain's bosom³⁹. Seeing thefate of their commander, and not knowing what else the dillymight contain, the rest of the band dug spurs into theirhorses and fled. But the sturdy oarsman and smart cricketerwas too quick for one of them - the horse followed hisfriends, but the rider stayed with his chief.

1 mule   

n.骡子，杂种，执拗的人

参考例句：

• A mule is a cross between a mare and a donkey.骡子是母马和公驴的杂交后代。
• He is an old mule.他是个老顽固。

2 conveyance   

n.(不动产等的)转让，让与；转让证书；传送；运送；表达；（正）运输工具

参考例句：

• Bicycles have become the most popular conveyance for Chinese people.自行车已成为中国人最流行的代步工具。
• Its another,older,usage is a synonym for conveyance.它的另一个更古老的习惯用法是作为财产转让的同义词使用。

3 laurels   

n.桂冠，荣誉

参考例句：

• The path was lined with laurels.小路两旁都种有月桂树。
• He reaped the laurels in the finals.他在决赛中荣膺冠军。

4 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

5 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

6 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

7 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

8 jolting   

adj.令人震惊的

参考例句：

• 'she should be all right from the plane's jolting by now. “飞机震荡应该过了。
• This is perhaps the most jolting comment of all. 这恐怕是最令人震惊的评论。

9 shuffle   

n.拖著脚走，洗纸牌；v.拖曳，慢吞吞地走

参考例句：

• I wish you'd remember to shuffle before you deal.我希望在你发牌前记得洗牌。
• Don't shuffle your feet along.别拖着脚步走。

10 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

11 screeching   

v.发出尖叫声( screech的现在分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• Monkeys were screeching in the trees. 猴子在树上吱吱地叫着。
• the unedifying sight of the two party leaders screeching at each other 两党党魁狺狺对吠的讨厌情景

12 atone   

v.赎罪，补偿

参考例句：

• He promised to atone for his crime.他承诺要赎自己的罪。
• Blood must atone for blood.血债要用血来还。

13 abetter   

n.教唆者，怂恿者

参考例句：

• Make them SMAART goals andand you'll have abetter chance of attaining them. 制定SMAART目标，那么你实现这些目标的机会将更大。 来自互联网
• Betty beat abit of butter to make abetter butter. 贝蒂敲打一小块奶油要做一块更好的奶油面。 来自互联网

14 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

15 cantankerous   

adj.爱争吵的，脾气不好的

参考例句：

• He met a crabbed,cantankerous director.他碰上了一位坏脾气、爱争吵的主管。
• The cantankerous bus driver rouse on the children for singing.那个坏脾气的公共汽车司机因为孩子们唱歌而骂他们。

16 unreasonableness   

无理性； 横逆

参考例句：

• Figure out the unreasonableness and extend the recommendation of improvement. 对发现的不合理性，提供改进建议。
• I'd ignore every one of them now, embrace every quirk or unreasonableness to have him back. 现在，对这些事情，我情愿都视而不见，情愿接受他的每一个借口或由着他不讲道理，只要他能回来。

17 guffaws   

n.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的名词复数 )v.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Harry even had to cover his face duck out of view to hide his uncontrolled guffaws. 哈里王子更是一发不可收拾，捂住脸，狂笑起来。 来自互联网

18 gauged   

adj.校准的；标准的；量规的；量计的v.（用仪器）测量( gauge的过去式和过去分词 )；估计；计量；划分

参考例句：

• He picked up the calipers and gauged carefully. 他拿起卡钳仔细测量。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Distance is gauged by journey time rather than miles. 距离以行程时间而非英里数来计算。 来自辞典例句

19 astronomer   

n.天文学家

参考例句：

• A new star attracted the notice of the astronomer.新发现的一颗星引起了那位天文学家的注意。
• He is reputed to have been a good astronomer.他以一个优秀的天文学者闻名于世。

20 virtuoso   

n.精于某种艺术或乐器的专家，行家里手

参考例句：

• He was gaining a reputation as a remarkable virtuoso.作为一位技艺非凡的大师，他声誉日隆。
• His father was a virtuoso horn player who belonged to the court orchestra.他的父亲是宫廷乐队中一个技巧精湛的圆号演奏家。

21 credentials   

n.证明，资格，证明书，证件

参考例句：

• He has long credentials of diplomatic service.他的外交工作资历很深。
• Both candidates for the job have excellent credentials.此项工作的两个求职者都非常符合资格。

22 auspices   

n.资助，赞助

参考例句：

• The association is under the auspices of Word Bank.这个组织是在世界银行的赞助下办的。
• The examination was held under the auspices of the government.这次考试是由政府主办的。

23 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。

24 luxurious   

adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的

参考例句：

• This is a luxurious car complete with air conditioning and telephone.这是一辆附有空调设备和电话的豪华轿车。
• The rich man lives in luxurious surroundings.这位富人生活在奢侈的环境中。

25 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 enjoyment   

n.乐趣；享有；享用

参考例句：

• Your company adds to the enjoyment of our visit. 有您的陪同，我们这次访问更加愉快了。
• After each joke the old man cackled his enjoyment.每逢讲完一个笑话，这老人就呵呵笑着表示他的高兴。

27 magistrate   

n.地方行政官，地方法官，治安官

参考例句：

• The magistrate committed him to prison for a month.法官判处他一个月监禁。
• John was fined 1000 dollars by the magistrate.约翰被地方法官罚款1000美元。

28 curiously   

adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地

参考例句：

• He looked curiously at the people.他好奇地看着那些人。
• He took long stealthy strides. His hands were curiously cold.他迈着悄没声息的大步。他的双手出奇地冷。

29 infested   

adj.为患的，大批滋生的（常与with搭配）v.害虫、野兽大批出没于( infest的过去式和过去分词 )；遍布于

参考例句：

• The kitchen was infested with ants. 厨房里到处是蚂蚁。
• The apartments were infested with rats and roaches. 公寓里面到处都是老鼠和蟑螂。

30 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。

31 stuffy   

adj.不透气的，闷热的

参考例句：

• It's really hot and stuffy in here.这里实在太热太闷了。
• It was so stuffy in the tent that we could sense the air was heavy with moisture.帐篷里很闷热，我们感到空气都是潮的。

32 entreaties   

n.恳求，乞求( entreaty的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He began with entreaties and ended with a threat. 他先是恳求，最后是威胁。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The tyrant was deaf to the entreaties of the slaves. 暴君听不到奴隶们的哀鸣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

33 ennui   

n.怠倦，无聊

参考例句：

• Since losing his job,he has often experienced a profound sense of ennui.他自从失业以来，常觉百无聊赖。
• Took up a hobby to relieve the ennui of retirement.养成一种嗜好以消除退休后的无聊。

34 devoutly   

adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地

参考例句：

• She was a devoutly Catholic. 她是一个虔诚地天主教徒。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This was not a boast, but a hope, at once bold and devoutly humble. 这不是夸夸其谈，而是一个即大胆而又诚心、谦虚的希望。 来自辞典例句

35 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

36 brigands   

n.土匪，强盗( brigand的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They say there are brigands hiding along the way. 他们说沿路隐藏着土匪。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The brigands demanded tribute from passing vehicles. 土匪向过往车辆勒索钱财。 来自辞典例句

37 proffered   

v.提供，贡献，提出( proffer的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She proffered her cheek to kiss. 她伸过自己的面颊让人亲吻。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He rose and proffered a silver box full of cigarettes. 他站起身，伸手递过一个装满香烟的银盒子。 来自辞典例句

38 confided   

v.吐露（秘密，心事等）( confide的过去式和过去分词 )；（向某人）吐露（隐私、秘密等）

参考例句：

• She confided all her secrets to her best friend. 她向她最要好的朋友倾吐了自己所有的秘密。
• He confided to me that he had spent five years in prison. 他私下向我透露，他蹲过五年监狱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

39 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。