CHAPTER 47. THE CONTENTS OF THE THIRD-CLASS CARRIAGE

 I moved to the stranger who was holding the lamp. He was in official uniform.

 

‘Are you the guard of the 12.0 out from St Pancras?’

 

‘I am.’

 

‘Where’s your train? What’s happened?’

 

‘As for where it is, there it is, right in front of you, what’s left of it. As to what’s happened, why, we’re wrecked¹.’

 

‘What do you mean by you’re wrecked?’

 

‘Some heavy loaded trucks broke loose from a goods in front and came running down the hill on top of us.’

 

‘How long ago was it?’

 

‘Not ten minutes. I was just starting off down the road to the signal box, it’s a good two miles away, when I saw you coming. My God! I thought there was going to be another smash.’

 

‘Much damage done?’

 

‘Seems to me as if we’re all smashed up. As far as I can make out they’re matchboxed up in front. I feel as if I was all broken up inside of me. I’ve been in the service going on for thirty years, and this is the first accident I’ve been in.’

 

It was too dark to see the man’s face, but judging from his tone he was either crying or very near to it.

 

Our guard turned and shouted back to our engine,

 

‘You’d better go back to the box and let ’em know!’

 

‘All right!’ came echoing back.

 

The special immediately commenced retreating, whistling continually as it went. All the country side must have heard the engine shrieking², and all who did hear must have understood that on the line something was seriously wrong.

 

The smashed train was all in darkness, the force of the collision had put out all the carriage lamps. Here was a flickering³ candle, there the glimmer⁴ of a match, these were all the lights which shone upon the scene. People were piling up débris by the side of the line, for the purpose of making a fire,—more for illumination than for warmth.

 

Many of the passengers had succeeded in freeing themselves, and were moving hither and thither⁵ about the line. But the majority appeared to be still imprisoned⁶. The carriage doors were jammed. Without the necessary tools it was impossible to open them. Every step we took our ears were saluted⁷ by piteous cries. Men, women, children, appealed to us for help.

 

‘Open the door, sir!’ ‘In the name of God, sir, open the door!’

 

Over and over again, in all sorts of tones, with all degrees of violence, the supplication⁸ was repeated.

 

The guards vainly endeavoured to appease⁹ the, in many cases, half-frenzied creatures.

 

‘All right, sir! If you’ll only wait a minute or two, madam! We can’t get the doors open without tools, a special train’s just started off to get them. If you’ll only have patience there’ll be plenty of help for everyone of you directly. You’ll be quite safe in there, if you’ll only keep still.’

 

But that was just what they found it most difficult to do—keep still!

 

In the front of the train all was chaos¹⁰. The trucks which had done the mischief—there were afterwards shown to be six of them, together with two guards’ vans—appeared to have been laden¹¹ with bags of Portland cement. The bags had burst, and everything was covered with what seemed gritty dust. The air was full of the stuff, it got into our eyes, half blinding us. The engine of the express had turned a complete somersault. It vomited¹² forth¹³ smoke, and steam, and flames,—every moment it seemed as if the woodwork of the carriages immediately behind and beneath would catch fire.

 

The front coaches were, as the guard had put it, ‘match-boxed.’ They were nothing but a heap of débris,—telescoped into one another in a state of apparently¹⁴ inextricable confusion. It was broad daylight before access was gained to what had once been the interiors. The condition of the first third-class compartment¹⁵ revealed an extraordinary state of things.

 

Scattered¹⁶ all over it were pieces of what looked like partially¹⁷ burnt rags, and fragments of silk and linen¹⁸. I have those fragments now. Experts have assured me that they are actually neither of silk nor linen! but of some material—animal rather than vegetable—with which they are wholly unacquainted. On the cushions and woodwork—especially on the woodwork of the floor—were huge blotches,—stains of some sort. When first noticed they were damp, and gave out a most unpleasant smell. One of the pieces of woodwork is yet in my possession,—with the stain still on it. Experts have pronounced upon it too,—with the result that opinions are divided. Some maintain that the stain was produced by human blood, which had been subjected to a great heat, and, so to speak, parboiled. Others declare that it is the blood of some wild animal,—possibly of some creature of the cat species. Yet others affirm that it is not blood at all, but merely paint. While a fourth describes it as—I quote the written opinion which lies in front of me—‘caused apparently by a deposit of some sort of viscid matter, probably the excretion of some variety of lizard¹⁹.’

 

In a corner of the carriage was the body of what seemed a young man costumed like a tramp. It was Marjorie Lindon.

 

So far as a most careful search revealed, that was all the compartment contained.

1 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

2 shrieking   

v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The boxers were goaded on by the shrieking crowd. 拳击运动员听见观众的喊叫就来劲儿了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were all shrieking with laughter. 他们都发出了尖锐的笑声。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 flickering   

adj.闪烁的，摇曳的，一闪一闪的

参考例句：

• The crisp autumn wind is flickering away. 清爽的秋风正在吹拂。
• The lights keep flickering. 灯光忽明忽暗。

4 glimmer   

v.发出闪烁的微光；n.微光，微弱的闪光

参考例句：

• I looked at her and felt a glimmer of hope.我注视她，感到了一线希望。
• A glimmer of amusement showed in her eyes.她的眼中露出一丝笑意。

5 thither   

adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的

参考例句：

• He wandered hither and thither looking for a playmate.他逛来逛去找玩伴。
• He tramped hither and thither.他到处流浪。

6 imprisoned   

下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was imprisoned for two concurrent terms of 30 months and 18 months. 他被判处30个月和18个月的监禁，合并执行。
• They were imprisoned for possession of drugs. 他们因拥有毒品而被监禁。

7 saluted   

v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• The sergeant stood to attention and saluted. 中士立正敬礼。
• He saluted his friends with a wave of the hand. 他挥手向他的朋友致意。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 supplication   

n.恳求，祈愿，哀求

参考例句：

• She knelt in supplication. 她跪地祷求。
• The supplication touched him home. 这个请求深深地打动了他。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记

9 appease   

v.安抚，缓和，平息，满足

参考例句：

• He tried to appease the crying child by giving him candy.他试图给那个啼哭的孩子糖果使他不哭。
• The government tried to appease discontented workers.政府试图安抚不满的工人们。

10 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 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。

12 vomited   

参考例句：

• Corbett leaned against the wall and promptly vomited. 科比特倚在墙边，马上呕吐了起来。
• She leant forward and vomited copiously on the floor. 她向前一俯，哇的一声吐了一地。 来自英汉文学

13 forth   

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。

14 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

15 compartment   

n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间

参考例句：

• We were glad to have the whole compartment to ourselves.真高兴，整个客车隔间由我们独享。
• The batteries are safely enclosed in a watertight compartment.电池被安全地置于一个防水的隔间里。

16 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

17 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

18 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。

19 lizard   

n.蜥蜴，壁虎

参考例句：

• A chameleon is a kind of lizard.变色龙是一种蜥蜴。
• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect.蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。