Chapter 5

My name isn't the end of the story about my name. Whenyour name is Bob no one asks you, "How do you spell that?"Not so with Piscine Molitor Patel.
Some thought it was P. Singh and that I was a Sikh, andthey wondered why I wasn't wearing a turban.
In my university days I visited Montreal once with somefriends. It fell to me to order pizzas one night. I couldn't bearto have yet another French speaker guffawing¹ at my name, sowhen the man on the phone asked, "Can I ‘ave your name?"I said, "I am who I am." Half an hour later two pizzas arrivedfor "Ian Hoolihan".
It is true that those we meet can change us, sometimes soprofoundly that we are not the same afterwards, even unto ournames. Witness Simon who is called Peter, Matthew also knownas Levi, Nathaniel who is also Bartholomew, Judas, not Iscariot,who took the name Thaddeus, Simeon who went by Niger,Saul who became Paul.
My Roman soldier stood in the schoolyard one morningwhen I was twelve. I had just arrived. He saw me and a flashof evil genius lit up his dull mind. He raised his arm, pointedat me and shouted, "It's Pissing Patel!"In a second everyone was laughing. It fell away as we filedinto the class. I walked in last, wearing my crown of thorns.
The cruelty of children comes as news to no one. Thewords would waft² across the yard to my ears, unprovoked,uncalled for: "Where's Pissing? I've got to go." Or: "You'refacing the wall. Are you Pissing?" Or something of the sort. Iwould freeze or, the contrary, pursue my activity, pretendingnot to have heard. The sound would disappear, but the hurtwould linger, like the smell of piss long after it has evaporated.
Teachers started doing it too. It was the heat. As the daywore on, the geography lesson, which in the morning had beenas compact as an oasis³, started to stretch out like the TharDesert; the history lesson, so alive when the day was young,became parched⁴ and dusty; the mathematics lesson, so preciseat first, became muddled⁵. In their afternoon fatigue⁶, as theywiped their foreheads and the backs of their necks with theirhandkerchiefs, without meaning to offend or get a laugh, eventeachers forgot the fresh aquatic⁷ promise of my name anddistorted it in a shameful⁸ way. By nearly imperceptiblemodulations I could hear the change. It was as if their tongueswere charioteers driving wild horses. They could manage wellenough the first syllable⁹, the Pea, but eventually the heat wastoo much and they lost control of their frothy-mouthed steedsand could no longer rein¹⁰ them in for the climb to the secondsyllable, the seen. Instead they plunged¹¹ hell-bent into sing,and next time round, all was lost. My hand would be up togive an answer, and I would be acknowledged with a "Yes,Pissing." Often the teacher wouldn't realize what he had justcalled me. He would look at me wearily after a moment,wondering why I wasn't coming out with the answer. Andsometimes the class, as beaten down by the heat as he was,wouldn't react either. Not a snicker or a smile. But I alwaysheard the slur¹².
I spent my last year at St. Joseph's School feeling like thepersecuted prophet Muhammad in Mecca, peace be upon him.
But just as he planned his flight to Medina, the Hejira thatwould mark the beginning of Muslim time, I planned myescape and the beginning of a new time for me.
After St. Joseph's, I went to Petit Seminaire, the best privateEnglish-medium secondary school in Pondicherry. Ravi wasalready there, and like all younger brothers, I would suffer fromfollowing in the footsteps of a popular older sibling¹³. He was theathlete of his generation at Petit Seminaire, a fearsome bowlerand a powerful batter¹⁴, the captain of the town's best cricketteam, our very own Kapil Dev. That I was a swimmer madeno waves; it seems to be a law of human nature that thosewho live by the sea are suspicious of swimmers, just as thosewho live in the mountains are suspicious of mountain climbers.
But following in someone's shadow wasn't my escape, though Iwould have taken any name over "Pissing", even "Ravi'sbrother". I had a better plan than that.
I put it to execution on the very first day of school, in thevery first class. Around me were other alumni of St. Joseph's.
The class started the way all new classes start, with the statingof names. We called them out from our desks in the order inwhich we happened to be sitting.
"Ganapathy Kumar," said Ganapathy Kumar.
"Vipin Nath," said Vipin Nath.
"Shamshool Hudha," said Shamshool Hudha.
"Peter Dharmaraj," said Peter Dharmaraj.
Each name elicited¹⁵ a tick on a list and a brief mnemonicstare from the teacher. I was terribly nervous.
"Ajith Giadson," said Ajith Giadson, four desks away…"Sampath Saroja," said Sampath Saroja, three away…"Stanley Kumar," said Stanley Kumar, two away…"Sylvester Naveen," said Sylvester Naveen, right in front ofme.
It was my turn. Time to put down Satan. Medina, here Icome.
I got up from my desk and hurried to the blackboard.
Before the teacher could say a word, I picked up a piece ofchalk and said as I wrote:
My name is Piscine Molitor Patel, known to all as– I double underlined the first two letters of my given name–Pi PatelFor good measure I addedπ = 3.14and I drew a large circle, which I then sliced in two with adiameter, to evoke¹⁶ that basic lesson of geometry.
There was silence. The teacher was staring at the board. Iwas holding my breath. Then he said, "Very well, Pi. Sit down.
Next time you will ask permission before leaving your desk.""Yes, sir."He ticked my name off And looked at the next boy.
"Mansoor Ahamad," said Mansoor Ahamad.
I was saved.
"Gautham Selvaraj," said Gautham Selvaraj.
I could breathe.
"Arun Annaji," said Arun Annaji.
A new beginning.
I repeated the stunt¹⁷ with every teacher. Repetition isimportant in the training not only of animals but also ofhumans. Between one commonly named boy and the next, Irushed forward and emblazoned, sometimes with a terriblescreech, the details of my rebirth. It got to be that after a fewtimes the boys sang along with me, a crescendo¹⁸ that climaxed,after a quick intake¹⁹ of air while I underlined the proper note,with such a rousing rendition of my new name that it wouldhave been the delight of any choirmaster. A few boys followedup with a whispered, urgent "Three! Point! One! Four!" as Iwrote as fast as I could, and I ended the concert by slicingthe circle with such vigour²⁰ that bits of chalk went flying.
When I put my hand up that day, which I did every chanceI had, teachers granted me the right to speak with a singlesyllable that was music to my ears. Students followed suit. Eventhe St. Joseph's devils. In fact, the name caught on. Truly weare a nation of aspiring²¹ engineers: shortly after, there was aboy named Omprakash who was calling himself Omega, andanother who was passing himself off as Upsilon, and for awhile there was a Gamma, a Lambda and a Delta²². But I wasthe first and the most enduring of the Greeks at PetitSeminaire. Even my brother, the captain of the cricket team,that local god, approved. He took me aside the next week.
"What's this I hear about a nickname you have?" he said.
I kept silent. Because whatever mocking was to come, it wasto come. There was no avoiding it.
"I didn't realize you liked the colour yellow so much."The colour yellow? I looked around. No one must hear whathe was about to say, especially not one of his lackeys²³. "Ravi,what do you mean?" I whispered.
"It's all right with me, brother. Anything's better than‘Pissing'. Even ‘Lemon Pie'."As he sauntered away he smiled and said, "You look a bitred in the face."But he held his peace.
And so, in that Greek letter that looks like a shack²⁴ with acorrugated tin roof, in that elusive²⁵, irrational²⁶ number with whichscientists try to understand the universe, I found refuge.

1 guffawing   

v.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Then, hand in hand they made off, guffawing gloatingly. 然后，他们手挽着手，哈哈大笑着回到了欧洲。 来自互联网

2 waft   

v.飘浮，飘荡；n.一股；一阵微风；飘荡

参考例句：

• The bubble maker is like a sword that you waft in the air.吹出泡泡的东西就像你在空中挥舞的一把剑。
• When she just about fall over,a waft of fragrance makes her stop.在她差点跌倒时，一股幽香让她停下脚步。

3 oasis   

n.（沙漠中的）绿洲，宜人的地方

参考例句：

• They stopped for the night at an oasis.他们在沙漠中的绿洲停下来过夜。
• The town was an oasis of prosperity in a desert of poverty.该镇是贫穷荒漠中的一块繁荣的“绿洲”。

4 parched   

adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干

参考例句：

• Hot winds parched the crops.热风使庄稼干透了。
• The land in this region is rather dry and parched.这片土地十分干燥。

5 muddled   

adj.混乱的；糊涂的；头脑昏昏然的v.弄乱，弄糟( muddle的过去式)；使糊涂；对付，混日子

参考例句：

• He gets muddled when the teacher starts shouting. 老师一喊叫他就心烦意乱。
• I got muddled up and took the wrong turning. 我稀里糊涂地拐错了弯。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 fatigue   

n.疲劳，劳累

参考例句：

• The old lady can't bear the fatigue of a long journey.这位老妇人不能忍受长途旅行的疲劳。
• I have got over my weakness and fatigue.我已从虚弱和疲劳中恢复过来了。

7 aquatic   

adj.水生的，水栖的

参考例句：

• Aquatic sports include swimming and rowing.水上运动包括游泳和划船。
• We visited an aquatic city in Italy.我们在意大利访问过一个水上城市。

8 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

9 syllable   

n.音节；vt.分音节

参考例句：

• You put too much emphasis on the last syllable.你把最后一个音节读得太重。
• The stress on the last syllable is light.最后一个音节是轻音节。

10 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

11 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

12 slur   

v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音

参考例句：

• He took the remarks as a slur on his reputation.他把这些话当作是对他的名誉的中伤。
• The drug made her speak with a slur.药物使她口齿不清。

13 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

14 batter   

v.接连重击；磨损；n.牛奶面糊；击球员

参考例句：

• The batter skied to the center fielder.击球手打出一个高飞球到中外野手。
• Put a small quantity of sugar into the batter.在面糊里放少量的糖。

15 elicited   

引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Threats to reinstate the tax elicited jeer from the Opposition. 恢复此项征税的威胁引起了反对党的嘲笑。
• The comedian's joke elicited applause and laughter from the audience. 那位滑稽演员的笑话博得观众的掌声和笑声。

16 evoke   

vt.唤起，引起，使人想起

参考例句：

• These images are likely to evoke a strong response in the viewer.这些图像可能会在观众中产生强烈反响。
• Her only resource was the sympathy she could evoke.她以凭借的唯一力量就是她能从人们心底里激起的同情。

17 stunt   

n.惊人表演，绝技，特技；vt.阻碍...发育，妨碍...生长

参考例句：

• Lack of the right food may stunt growth.缺乏适当的食物会阻碍发育。
• Right up there is where the big stunt is taking place.那边将会有惊人的表演。

18 crescendo   

n.(音乐)渐强，高潮

参考例句：

• The gale reached its crescendo in the evening.狂风在晚上达到高潮。
• There was a crescendo of parliamentary and press criticism.来自议会和新闻界的批评越来越多。

19 intake   

n.吸入，纳入；进气口，入口

参考例句：

• Reduce your salt intake.减少盐的摄入量。
• There was a horrified intake of breath from every child.所有的孩子都害怕地倒抽了一口凉气。

20 vigour   

（=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力

参考例句：

• She is full of vigour and enthusiasm.她有热情，有朝气。
• At 40,he was in his prime and full of vigour.他40岁时正年富力强。

21 aspiring   

adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求

参考例句：

• Aspiring musicians need hours of practice every day. 想当音乐家就要每天练许多小时。
• He came from an aspiring working-class background. 他出身于有抱负的工人阶级家庭。 来自辞典例句

22 delta   

n.（流的）角洲

参考例句：

• He has been to the delta of the Nile.他曾去过尼罗河三角洲。
• The Nile divides at its mouth and forms a delta.尼罗河在河口分岔，形成了一个三角洲。

23 lackeys   

n.听差( lackey的名词复数 )；男仆（通常穿制服）；卑躬屈膝的人；被待为奴仆的人

参考例句：

• When the boss falls from power, his lackeys disperse. 树倒猢狲散。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The singer was surrounded by the usual crowd of lackeys and hangers on. 那个歌手让那帮总是溜须拍马、前呼後拥的人给围住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 shack   

adj.简陋的小屋，窝棚

参考例句：

• He had to sit down five times before he reached his shack.在走到他的茅棚以前，他不得不坐在地上歇了五次。
• The boys made a shack out of the old boards in the backyard.男孩们在后院用旧木板盖起一间小木屋。

25 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

26 irrational   

adj.无理性的，失去理性的

参考例句：

• After taking the drug she became completely irrational.她在吸毒后变得完全失去了理性。
• There are also signs of irrational exuberance among some investors.在某些投资者中是存在非理性繁荣的征象的。