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Chapter 4
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 Peter and Lonegan were together at dinner three hours after the message from The States.
 
“It's a big chance, Mowbray. That's all I can say. I stay at the wire—no heroics.”
 
“You ought to see it all from here.”
 
Lonegan smiled deprecatingly. “Boylan will help you get through. You don't know him yet. Some time, perhaps, you will—two hundred and fifty pounds of soul. He'll do all he can to get you the same chance he has, because I asked him; and then he'll try to make The States look obsolete1 as a newspaper, wherein, of course, he'll fail. But he'll try. If he takes to you, it won't make him try less, but he'd do your stuff and his, if you fell sick. There isn't another Boylan—a great newspaper man, too. The States will watch closely, knowing that Rhodes'' will get everything possible from Boylan's part of the front. The point is—and I think he'll want it, too—you'd better work together on the main line of stuff, as we do here. Your letters on the side should be better than his, because you're a better writer. As for war stuff, Boylan is the old master—Peking, Manchuria and the Balkans—that I think of; also the Schmedding Polar Failure. That last was war—a spectacular expedition of the Germans—
 
“I might as well make this a lecture, now that I've started,” Lonegan went on. “The war game isn't complex. All the bewildering technicalities that bristle2 from a military officer's talk are just big-name stuff designed to keep down the contempt of the crowd—the oldest professional trick. Whenever the crowd gets to understand your terminology3 your game is cooked. You know how it is in a drug-store, and you've seen the old family doctor look wise....
 
“There's a lot of different explosives which they fire by mathematics, and which you can learn in part from our homely4 encyclopedias6, but the main game will be fought out on the same principles that Attila fought it and Genghis Khan—numbers, traps, unexpectedness, the same dull old flanking activities, the raid of supplies and communications, the bending back of wings, the crimp of a line by making a hole in one part—and all that archaic7 rot. As I say, the game is extinct, so far as our modern complicated intelligences go, and the men whose names are biggest in the papers from now on are the same old beefy type of rudiments8 whom a man wouldn't associate with in times of national quiet.... I will end this by saying that the big story is the man—the peasant, the trooper, the one blinded little dupe, who dies, or plunges9, or loses his legs in the name of the Fatherland—”
 
“I see that,” said Peter; “but what really is interesting to me is this peasant's blindness and the monkey other men make of him—”
 
“I'm glad you spoke10 of that, for it is a thing to avoid. Interesting, I grant, but not popular with our kind of press. We are not servants of the minority or the elect. You'll find Boylan exploiting the army he's with—just as another might have done under Napoleon. By the way, where are you going to-night?”
 
“I'm going to sit at the feet of the most genial11 anarchist12 at large. His name is Fallows, an American, who has been ten years in Russia among the peasants.”
 
“Duke Fallows—I know of him. When did he come to town?”
 
“Two days ago.”
 
“Peter, how did you get next?” Lonegan looked a bit in awe13 at the other.
 
“I was asked to one of his private audiences last night.”
 
Peter knew that Lonegan had many things to ask by the quick tone in which he spoke the first question.
 
“You know what Fallows will do to you?”
 
“Yes, if one lets go. He has learned how to use his power. He has brought forth14 his young upon the bare rocks, as somebody said.”
 
“He'd turn an angel into an anarchist.”
 
“A man ought not to be afraid to listen if there's a chance for him to be proved wrong—”
 
“Correct, absolutely. I am merely thinking about our job.”
 
“A man gets in the habit of thinking about his job—doesn't he?”
 
“Did he tell you about the plowman of Liaoyang?”
 
“No, but my companion did. Fallows must have seen that episode rather clearly.”
 
“Let's not get off the job business, Peter. As I was saying, the truth isn't popular—”
 
“That doesn't sound like Lonegan.”
 
“No, and I don't like the feel of saying it, but it's very much to the point—”
 
“Possibly.”
 
“Mowbray, we are taking our bread, and its cake, too, from a paper that expects us to exploit the orthodox heroics. The pity and atrocious sham15 of it all has its side. But the fact still remains16 its side does not furnish the stuff that American newspapers pay men and cable tolls17 to furnish.”
 
“Won't you come to-night?” Peter asked laughing. “Perhaps we can both reach the high point some day when we have earned the right to be poor.”
 
“That's a higher point than I dream of, Peter. I can't help but think what a nest you've got into. Of course, I mean with Fallows and his kind—”
 
“An eagle's nest.”
 
“But the eaglets are starving.”
 
“Heretofore the job has been served. Come along with me and meet Duke Fallows again—”
 
“No. I must go back to the wire for the present. Boylan would be shocked, too. By the way, I've got a bid in for you with General Kohlvihr. Boylan is to help me put it through, of course. The more decorated they are the more they fall for Boylan. There's a chance that you'll start south with a column within two days. So you'd better get at that encyclopedia5 stuff—”
 
“Yes, I'll attend to that.”
 
Peter left him smiling, and turned his steps across the Square, into a narrow street of the poor quarter, and on toward a little room and a low lamp, where a woman's hands sewed magically as she waited.
 

点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 obsolete T5YzH     
adj.已废弃的,过时的
参考例句:
  • These goods are obsolete and will not fetch much on the market.这些货品过时了,在市场上卖不了高价。
  • They tried to hammer obsolete ideas into the young people's heads.他们竭力把陈旧思想灌输给青年。
2 bristle gs1zo     
v.(毛发)直立,气势汹汹,发怒;n.硬毛发
参考例句:
  • It has a short stumpy tail covered with bristles.它粗短的尾巴上鬃毛浓密。
  • He bristled with indignation at the suggestion that he was racist.有人暗示他是个种族主义者,他对此十分恼火。
3 terminology spmwD     
n.术语;专有名词
参考例句:
  • He particularly criticized the terminology in the document.他特别批评了文件中使用的术语。
  • The article uses rather specialized musical terminology.这篇文章用了相当专业的音乐术语。
4 homely Ecdxo     
adj.家常的,简朴的;不漂亮的
参考例句:
  • We had a homely meal of bread and cheese.我们吃了一顿面包加乳酪的家常便餐。
  • Come and have a homely meal with us,will you?来和我们一起吃顿家常便饭,好吗?
5 encyclopedia ZpgxD     
n.百科全书
参考例句:
  • The encyclopedia fell to the floor with a thud.那本百科全书砰的一声掉到地上。
  • Geoff is a walking encyclopedia.He knows about everything.杰夫是个活百科全书,他什么都懂。
6 encyclopedias a88b1e8f5e10dbff92d83626a0e989f5     
n.百科全书, (某一学科的)专科全书( encyclopedia的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • However, some encyclopedias can be found on the Web. 同时,一些百科全书能也在网络上找到。 来自互联网
  • Few people think of encyclopedias as creative enterprises; but they are. 鲜少有人想到百科全书是创意的工作,但它确实是。 来自互联网
7 archaic 4Nyyd     
adj.(语言、词汇等)古代的,已不通用的
参考例句:
  • The company does some things in archaic ways,such as not using computers for bookkeeping.这个公司有些做法陈旧,如记账不使用电脑。
  • Shaanxi is one of the Chinese archaic civilized origins which has a long history.陕西省是中国古代文明发祥之一,有悠久的历史。
8 rudiments GjBzbg     
n.基础知识,入门
参考例句:
  • He has just learned the rudiments of Chinese. 他学汉语刚刚入门。
  • You do not seem to know the first rudiments of agriculture. 你似乎连农业上的一点最起码的常识也没有。
9 plunges 2f33cd11dab40d0fb535f0437bcb9bb1     
n.跳进,投入vt.使投入,使插入,使陷入vi.投入,跳进,陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 );暴跌;骤降;突降
参考例句:
  • Even before he plunges into his program, he has his audience in his pocket. 他的节目甚至还没有出场,就已控制住了观众。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • 'Monseigneur, he precipitated himself over the hill-side, head first, as a person plunges into the river.' “大人,他头冲下跳下山坡去了,像往河里跳一样。” 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
10 spoke XryyC     
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。
11 genial egaxm     
adj.亲切的,和蔼的,愉快的,脾气好的
参考例句:
  • Orlando is a genial man.奥兰多是一位和蔼可亲的人。
  • He was a warm-hearted friend and genial host.他是个热心的朋友,也是友善待客的主人。
12 anarchist Ww4zk     
n.无政府主义者
参考例句:
  • You must be an anarchist at heart.你在心底肯定是个无政府主义者。
  • I did my best to comfort them and assure them I was not an anarchist.我尽量安抚他们并让它们明白我并不是一个无政府主义者。
13 awe WNqzC     
n.敬畏,惊惧;vt.使敬畏,使惊惧
参考例句:
  • The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
  • The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。
14 forth Hzdz2     
adv.向前;向外,往外
参考例句:
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
15 sham RsxyV     
n./adj.假冒(的),虚伪(的)
参考例句:
  • They cunningly played the game of sham peace.他们狡滑地玩弄假和平的把戏。
  • His love was a mere sham.他的爱情是虚假的。
16 remains 1kMzTy     
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹
参考例句:
  • He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
  • The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。
17 tolls 688e46effdf049725c7b7ccff16b14f3     
(缓慢而有规律的)钟声( toll的名词复数 ); 通行费; 损耗; (战争、灾难等造成的)毁坏
参考例句:
  • A man collected tolls at the gateway. 一个人在大门口收通行费。
  • The long-distance call tolls amount to quite a sum. 长途电话费数目相当可观。


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