Chapter 52 On The Trail Again

The most massive minds are apt to forget things at times. The mostadroit plotters make their little mistakes. Psmith was no exception tothe rule. He made the mistake of not telling Mike of the afternoon'shappenings.

　　It was not altogether forgetfulness. Psmith was one of those peoplewho like to carry through their operations entirely¹ by themselves.

　　Where there is only one in a secret the secret is more liable toremain unrevealed. There was nothing, he thought, to be gained fromtelling Mike. He forgot what the consequences might be if he did not.

　　So Psmith kept his own counsel, with the result that Mike went over toschool on the Monday morning in pumps.

　　Edmund, summoned from the hinterland of the house to give his opinionwhy only one of Mike's boots was to be found, had no views on thesubject. He seemed to look on it as one of those things which nofellow can understand.

　　"'Ere's one of 'em, Mr. Jackson," he said, as if he hoped that Mikemight be satisfied with a compromise.

　　"One? What's the good of that, Edmund, you chump? I can't go over toschool in one boot."Edmund turned this over in his mind, and then said, "No, sir," as muchas to say, "I may have lost a boot, but, thank goodness, I can stillunderstand sound reasoning.""Well, what am I to do? Where is the other boot?""Don't know, Mr. Jackson," replied Edmund to both questions.

　　"Well, I mean--Oh, dash it, there's the bell."And Mike sprinted² off in the pumps he stood in.

　　It is only a deviation³ from those ordinary rules of school life, whichone observes naturally and without thinking, that enables one torealise how strong public-school prejudices really are. At a school,for instance, where the regulations say that coats only of blackor dark blue are to be worn, a boy who appears one day in even themost respectable and unostentatious brown finds himself looked onwith a mixture of awe⁴ and repulsion, which would be excessive if hehad sand-bagged the headmaster. So in the case of boots. School rulesdecree that a boy shall go to his form-room in boots, There is no realreason why, if the day is fine, he should not wear shoes, should heprefer them. But, if he does, the thing creates a perfect sensation.

　　Boys say, "Great Scott, what _have_ you got on?" Masters say,"Jones, _what_ are you wearing on your feet?" In the few minuteswhich elapse between the assembling of the form for call-over and thearrival of the form-master, some wag is sure either to stamp on theshoes, accompanying the act with some satirical remark, or else topull one of them off, and inaugurate an impromptu⁵ game of footballwith it. There was once a boy who went to school one morning inelastic-sided boots....

　　Mike had always been coldly distant in his relations to the rest ofhis form, looking on them, with a few exceptions, as worms; and theform, since his innings against Downing's on the Friday, had regardedMike with respect. So that he escaped the ragging he would have had toundergo at Wrykyn in similar circumstances. It was only Mr. Downingwho gave trouble.

　　There is a sort of instinct which enables some masters to tell when aboy in their form is wearing shoes instead of boots, just as peoplewho dislike cats always know when one is in a room with them. Theycannot see it, but they feel it in their bones.

　　Mr. Downing was perhaps the most bigoted⁶ anti-shoeist in the wholelist of English schoolmasters. He waged war remorselessly againstshoes. Satire⁷, abuse, lines, detention--every weapon was employed byhim in dealing⁸ with their wearers. It had been the late Dunster'spractice always to go over to school in shoes when, as he usually did,he felt shaky in the morning's lesson. Mr. Downing always detected himin the first five minutes, and that meant a lecture of anything fromten minutes to a quarter of an hour on Untidy Habits and Boys WhoLooked like Loafers--which broke the back of the morning's worknicely. On one occasion, when a particularly tricky⁹ bit of Livy was onthe bill of fare, Dunster had entered the form-room in heel-lessTurkish bath-slippers, of a vivid crimson¹⁰; and the subsequentproceedings, including his journey over to the house to change theheel-less atrocities¹¹, had seen him through very nearly to the quarterto eleven interval¹².

　　Mike, accordingly, had not been in his place for three minutes whenMr. Downing, stiffening¹³ like a pointer, called his name.

　　"Yes, sir?" said Mike.

　　"_What_ are you wearing on your feet, Jackson?""Pumps, sir.""You are wearing pumps? Are you not aware that PUMPS are not theproper things to come to school in? Why are you wearing _PUMPS_?"The form, leaning back against the next row of desks, settled itselfcomfortably for the address from the throne.

　　"I have lost one of my boots, sir."A kind of gulp¹⁴ escaped from Mr. Downing's lips. He stared at Mike fora moment in silence. Then, turning to Stone, he told him to starttranslating.

　　Stone, who had been expecting at least ten minutes' respite¹⁵, was takenunawares. When he found the place in his book and began to construe,he floundered hopelessly. But, to his growing surprise andsatisfaction, the form-master appeared to notice nothing wrong. Hesaid "Yes, yes," mechanically, and finally "That will do," whereuponStone resumed his seat with the feeling that the age of miracles hadreturned.

　　Mr. Downing's mind was in a whirl. His case was complete. Mike'sappearance in shoes, with the explanation that he had lost a boot,completed the chain. As Columbus must have felt when his ship ran intoharbour, and the first American interviewer, jumping on board, said,"Wal, sir, and what are your impressions of our glorious country?" sodid Mr. Downing feel at that moment.

　　When the bell rang at a quarter to eleven, he gathered up his gown,and sped to the headmaster.

1 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

2 sprinted   

v.短距离疾跑( sprint的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He sprinted for the line. 他向终点线冲去。
• Sergeant Horne sprinted to the car. 霍恩中士全力冲向那辆汽车。 来自辞典例句

3 deviation   

n.背离，偏离；偏差，偏向；离题

参考例句：

• Deviation from this rule are very rare.很少有违反这条规则的。
• Any deviation from the party's faith is seen as betrayal.任何对党的信仰的偏离被视作背叛。

4 awe   

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。

5 impromptu   

adj.即席的，即兴的；adv.即兴的(地)，无准备的(地)

参考例句：

• The announcement was made in an impromptu press conference at the airport.这一宣布是在机场举行的临时新闻发布会上作出的。
• The children put on an impromptu concert for the visitors.孩子们为来访者即兴献上了一场音乐会。

6 bigoted   

adj.固执己见的，心胸狭窄的

参考例句：

• He is so bigoted that it is impossible to argue with him.他固执得不可理喻。
• I'll concede you are not as bigoted as some.我承认你不象有些人那么顽固。

7 satire   

n.讽刺，讽刺文学，讽刺作品

参考例句：

• The movie is a clever satire on the advertising industry.那部影片是关于广告业的一部巧妙的讽刺作品。
• Satire is often a form of protest against injustice.讽刺往往是一种对不公正的抗议形式。

8 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

9 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

10 crimson   

n./adj.深(绯)红色(的)；vi.脸变绯红色

参考例句：

• She went crimson with embarrassment.她羞得满脸通红。
• Maple leaves have turned crimson.枫叶已经红了。

11 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 interval   

n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息

参考例句：

• The interval between the two trees measures 40 feet.这两棵树的间隔是40英尺。
• There was a long interval before he anwsered the telephone.隔了好久他才回了电话。

13 stiffening   

n. (使衣服等)变硬的材料, 硬化 动词stiffen的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• Her mouth stiffening, she could not elaborate. 她嘴巴僵直，无法细说下去。
• No genius, not a bad guy, but the attacks are hurting and stiffening him. 不是天才，人也不坏，但是四面八方的攻击伤了他的感情，使他横下了心。

14 gulp   

vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽

参考例句：

• She took down the tablets in one gulp.她把那些药片一口吞了下去。
• Don't gulp your food,chew it before you swallow it.吃东西不要狼吞虎咽，要嚼碎了再咽下去。

15 respite   

n.休息，中止，暂缓

参考例句：

• She was interrogated without respite for twenty-four hours.她被不间断地审问了二十四小时。
• Devaluation would only give the economy a brief respite.贬值只能让经济得到暂时的缓解。