Nine

Nine
Young Mr. Shrivenham of the British Embassy shifted from one foot to theother and gazed upwards¹ as the plane zoomed² over Baghdad aerodrome.
There was a considerable dust storm in progress. Palm trees, houses, hu-man beings were all shrouded³ in a thick brown haze⁴. It had come on quitesuddenly.
Lionel Shrivenham observed in a tone of deep distress⁵:
“Ten to one they can’t come down here.”
“What will they do?” asked his friend Harold.
“Go on to Basrah, I imagine. It’s clear there, I hear.”
“You’re meeting some kind of a VIP, aren’t you?”
Young Mr. Shrivenham groaned⁶ again.
“Just my luck. The new Ambassador has been delayed coming out. Lans-downe, the Counsellor, is in England. Rice, the Oriental Counsellor, is ill inbed with gastric⁷ flu, dangerously high temperature. Best is in Tehran, andhere am I, left with the whole bag of tricks. No end of a flap about this fel-low. I don’t know why. Even the hush-hush boys are in a flap. He’s one ofthese world travellers, always off somewhere inaccessible⁸ on a camel.
Don’t see why he’s so important, but apparently⁹ he’s absolutely the cat’swhiskers, and I’m to conform to his slightest wish. If he gets carried on toBasrah he’ll probably be wild. Don’t know what arrangements I’d betterlay on. Train up tonight? Or get the RAF to fly him up tomorrow?”
Mr. Shrivenham sighed again, as his sense of injury and responsibilitydeepened. Since his arrival three months ago in Baghdad he had been con-sistently unlucky. One more raspberry, he felt, would finally blight¹⁰ whatmight have been a promising¹¹ career.
The plane swooped¹² overhead once more.
“Evidently thinks he can’t make it,” said Shrivenham, then added ex-citedly: “Hallo—I believe he’s coming down.”
A few moments later and the plane had taxied sedately¹³ to its place andShrivenham stood ready to greet the VIP.
His unprofessional eye noted¹⁴ “rather a pretty girl” before he sprang for-ward to greet the buccaneer-like figure in the swirling¹⁵ cloak.
“Practically fancy dress,” he thought to himself disapprovingly¹⁶ as hesaid aloud:
“Sir Rupert Crofton Lee? I’m Shrivenham of the Embassy.”
Sir Rupert, he thought, was slightly curt¹⁷ in manner—perhaps under-standable after the strain of circling round the city uncertain whether alanding could be effected or not.
“Nasty day,” continued Shrivenham. “Had a lot of this sort of thing thisyear. Ah, you’ve got the bags. Then, if you’ll follow me, sir, it’s all laidon….”
As they left the aerodrome in the car, Shrivenham said:
“I thought for a bit that you were going to be carried on to some otherAirport, sir. Didn’t look as though the pilot could make a landing. Came upsuddenly, this dust storm.”
Sir Rupert blew out his cheeks importantly as he remarked:
“That would have been disastrous¹⁸—quite disastrous. Had my schedulebeen jeopardized¹⁹, young man, I can tell you the results would have beengrave and far-reaching in the extreme.”
“Lot of cock,” thought Shrivenham disrespectfully. “These VIP’s thinktheir potty affairs are what makes the world go round.”
Aloud he said respectfully:
“I expect that’s so, sir.”
“Have you any idea when the Ambassador will reach Baghdad?”
“Nothing definite as yet, sir.”
“I shall be sorry to miss him. Haven’t seen him since—let me see, yes, In-dia in 1938.”
Shrivenham preserved a respectful silence.
“Let me see, Rice is here, isn’t he?”
“Yes, sir, he’s Oriental Counsellor.”
“Capable fellow. Knows a lot. I’ll be glad to meet him again.”
Shrivenham coughed.
“As a matter of fact, sir, Rice is on the sick list. They’ve taken him to hos-pital for observation. Violent type of gastroenteritis. Something a bitworse than the usual Baghdad tummy, apparently.”
“What’s that?” Sir Rupert turned his head sharply. “Bad gastroenteritis—hm. Came on suddenly, did it?”
“Day before yesterday, sir.”
Sir Rupert was frowning. The rather affected²⁰ grandiloquence²¹ of mannerhad dropped from him. He was a simpler man—and somewhat of a wor-ried one.
“I wonder,” he said. “Yes, I wonder.”
Shrivenham looked politely inquiring.
“I’m wondering,” said Sir Rupert, “if it might be a case of Scheele’sGreen….”
Baffled, Shrivenham remained silent.
They were just approaching the Feisal Bridge, and the car swung off tothe left towards the British Embassy.
Suddenly Sir Rupert leaned forward.
“Just stop a minute, will you?” he said sharply. “Yes, right-hand side.
Where all those pots are.”
The car glided²² into the right-hand kerb and stopped.
It was a small native shop piled high with crude white clay pots and wa-ter jars.
A short stocky European who had been standing²³ talking to the propri-etor moved away towards the bridge as the car drew up. Shrivenhamthought it was Crosbie of the I and P whom he had met once or twice.
Sir Rupert sprang from the car and strode up to the small booth. Pickingup one of the pots, he started a rapid conversation in Arabic with the pro-prietor. The flow of speech was too fast for Shrivenham whose Arabic wasas yet slow and painstaking²⁴ and distinctly limited in vocabulary.
The proprietor²⁵ was beaming, his hands flew wide, he gesticulated, heexplained at length. Sir Rupert handled different pots, apparently askingquestions about them. Finally he selected a narrow-mouthed water jar,tossed the man some coins and went back to the car.
“Interesting technique,” said Sir Rupert. “Been making them like this forthousands of years, same shape as in one of the hill districts in Armenia.”
His finger slipped down through the narrow aperture²⁶, twisting roundand round.
“It’s very crude stuff,” said Shrivenham unimpressed.
“Oh, no artistic²⁷ merit! But interesting historically. See these indicationsof lugs²⁸ here? You pick up many a historical tip from observation of thesimple things in daily use. I’ve got a collection of them.”
The car turned in through the gates of the British Embassy.
Sir Rupert demanded to be taken straight to his room. Shrivenham wasamused to note that, his lecture on the clay pot ended, Sir Rupert had leftit nonchalantly in the car. Shrivenham made a point of carrying it upstairsand placing it meticulously²⁹ upon Sir Rupert’s bedside table.
“Your pot, sir.”
“Eh? Oh, thank you, my boy.”
Sir Rupert appeared distrait³⁰. Shrivenham left him after repeating thatluncheon would be ready shortly and drinks awaited his choice.
When the young man had left the room, Sir Rupert went to the windowand unfolded the small slip of paper that had been tucked into the mouthof the pot. He smoothed it out. There were two lines of writing on it. Heread them over carefully, then set light to the paper with a match.
Then he summoned a servant.
“Yes, sir? I unpack³¹ for you, sir?”
“Not yet. I want to see Mr. Shrivenham—up here.”
Shrivenham arrived with a slightly apprehensive³² expression.
“Anything I can do, sir? Anything wrong?”
“Mr. Shrivenham, a drastic change has occurred in my plans. I cancount upon your discretion³³, of course?”
“Oh, absolutely, sir.”
“It is some time since I was in Baghdad, actually I have not been heresince the war. The hotels lie mainly on the other bank, do they not?”
“Yes, sir. In Rashid Street.”
“Backing on the Tigris?”
“Yes. The Babylonian Palace is the biggest of them. That’s the more orless official hotel.”
“What do you know about a hotel called the Tio?”
“Oh, a lot of people go there. Food’s rather good and it’s run by a terrificcharacter called Marcus Tio. He’s quite an institution in Baghdad.”
“I want you to book me a room there, Mr. Shrivenham.”
“You mean — you’re not going to stay at the Embassy?” Shrivenhamlooked nervously³⁴ apprehensive. “But—but—it’s all laid on, sir.”
“What is laid on can be laid off,” barked Sir Rupert.
“Oh, of course, sir. I didn’t mean—”
Shrivenham broke off. He had a feeling that in the future someone wasgoing to blame him.
“I have certain somewhat delicate negotiations³⁵ to carry out. I learn thatthey cannot be carried out from the Embassy. I want you to book me aroom tonight at the Tio Hotel and I wish to leave the Embassy in a reason-ably unobtrusive manner. That is to say I do not want to drive up to theTio in an Embassy car. I also require a seat booked on the plane leavingfor Cairo the day after tomorrow.”
Shrivenham looked more dismayed still.
“But I understood you were staying five days—”
“That is no longer the case. It is imperative³⁶ that I reach Cairo as soon asmy business here is terminated. It would not be safe for me to remainlonger.”
“Safe?”
A sudden grim smile transformed Sir Rupert’s face. The manner whichShrivenham had been likening to that of a Prussian drill sergeant³⁷ was laidaside. The man’s charm became suddenly apparent.
“Safety hasn’t usually been one of my preoccupations, I agree,” he said.
“But in this case it isn’t only my own safety I have to consider—my safetyincludes the safety of a lot of other people as well. So make those arrange-ments for me. If the air passage is difficult, apply for priority. Until I leavehere tonight, I shall remain in my room.” He added, as Shrivenham’smouth opened in surprise, “Officially, I’m sick. Touch of malaria³⁸.” Theother nodded. “So I shan’t need food.”
“But surely we can send you up—”
“Twenty-four hours’ fast is nothing to me. I’ve gone hungry longer thanthat on some of my journeys. You just do as I tell you.”
Downstairs Shrivenham was greeted by his colleagues and groaned inanswer to their inquiries³⁹.
“Cloak and dagger⁴⁰ stuff in a big way,” he said. “Can’t quite make hisgrandiloquence Sir Rupert Crofton Lee out. Whether it’s genuine or play-acting. The swirling cloak and bandit’s hat and all the rest of it. Fellowwho’d read one of his books told me that although he’s a bit of a self-ad-vertiser, he really has done all these things and been to these places—but Idon’t know…Wish Thomas Rice was up and about to cope. That remindsme, what’s Scheele’s Green?”
“Scheele’s Green?” said his friend, frowning. “Something to do withwallpaper, isn’t it? Poisonous. It’s a form of arsenic⁴¹, I think.”
“Cripes!” said Shrivenham, staring. “I thought it was a disease. Some-thing like amoebic dysentery.”
“Oh, no, it’s something in the chemical line. What wives do their hus-bands in with, or vice⁴² versa.”
Shrivenham had relapsed into startled silence. Certain disagreeablefacts were becoming clear to him. Crofton Lee had suggested, in effect,that Thomas Rice, Oriental Counsellor to the Embassy, was suffering, notfrom gastroenteritis, but from arsenical poisoning. Added to that SirRupert had suggested that his own life was in danger, and his decision notto eat food and drink prepared in the kitchens of the British Embassyshook Shrivenham’s decorous British soul to the core. He couldn’t imaginewhat to make of it all.

1 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

2 zoomed   

v.（飞机、汽车等）急速移动( zoom的过去式 )；（价格、费用等）急升，猛涨

参考例句：

• Traffic zoomed past us. 车辆从我们身边疾驰而过。
• Cars zoomed helter-skelter, honking belligerently. 大街上来往车辆穿梭不停，喇叭声刺耳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 shrouded   

v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密

参考例句：

• The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
• The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

5 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

6 groaned   

v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦

参考例句：

• He groaned in anguish. 他痛苦地呻吟。
• The cart groaned under the weight of the piano. 大车在钢琴的重压下嘎吱作响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 gastric   

adj.胃的

参考例句：

• Miners are a high risk group for certain types of gastric cancer.矿工是极易患某几种胃癌的高风险人群。
• That was how I got my gastric trouble.我的胃病就是这么得的。

8 inaccessible   

adj.达不到的，难接近的

参考例句：

• This novel seems to me among the most inaccessible.这本书对我来说是最难懂的小说之一。
• The top of Mount Everest is the most inaccessible place in the world.珠穆朗玛峰是世界上最难到达的地方。

9 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。

10 blight   

n.枯萎病；造成破坏的因素；vt.破坏，摧残

参考例句：

• The apple crop was wiped out by blight.枯萎病使苹果全无收成。
• There is a blight on all his efforts.他的一切努力都遭到挫折。

11 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

12 swooped   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The aircraft swooped down over the buildings. 飞机俯冲到那些建筑物上方。
• The hawk swooped down on the rabbit and killed it. 鹰猛地朝兔子扑下来，并把它杀死。

13 sedately   

adv.镇静地，安详地

参考例句：

• Life in the country's south-west glides along rather sedately. 中国西南部的生活就相对比较平静。 来自互联网
• She conducts herself sedately. 她举止端庄。 来自互联网

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 swirling   

v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Snowflakes were swirling in the air. 天空飘洒着雪花。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• She smiled, swirling the wine in her glass. 她微笑着，旋动着杯子里的葡萄酒。 来自辞典例句

16 disapprovingly   

adv.不以为然地，不赞成地，非难地

参考例句：

• When I suggested a drink, she coughed disapprovingly. 我提议喝一杯时，她咳了一下表示反对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He shook his head disapprovingly. 他摇了摇头，表示不赞成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 curt   

adj.简短的，草率的

参考例句：

• He gave me an extremely curt answer.他对我作了极为草率的答复。
• He rapped out a series of curt commands.他大声发出了一连串简短的命令。

18 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

19 jeopardized   

危及，损害( jeopardize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The soldier jeopardized his life to save his comrade. 这个士兵冒生命的危险救他的同志。
• The occasional failed project or neglected opportunity does not jeopardized overall progress. 偶然失败的项目或失误的机会并没有影响总的进展。

20 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

21 grandiloquence   

n.夸张之言，豪言壮语，豪语

参考例句：

22 glided   

v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔

参考例句：

• The President's motorcade glided by. 总统的车队一溜烟开了过去。
• They glided along the wall until they were out of sight. 他们沿着墙壁溜得无影无踪。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

24 painstaking   

adj.苦干的；艰苦的，费力的，刻苦的

参考例句：

• She is not very clever but she is painstaking.她并不很聪明，但肯下苦功夫。
• Through years of our painstaking efforts,we have at last achieved what we have today.大家经过多少年的努力，才取得今天的成绩。

25 proprietor   

n.所有人；业主；经营者

参考例句：

• The proprietor was an old acquaintance of his.业主是他的一位旧相识。
• The proprietor of the corner grocery was a strange thing in my life.拐角杂货店店主是我生活中的一个怪物。

26 aperture   

n.孔，隙，窄的缺口

参考例句：

• The only light came through a narrow aperture.仅有的光亮来自一个小孔。
• We saw light through a small aperture in the wall.我们透过墙上的小孔看到了亮光。

27 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

28 lugs   

钎柄

参考例句：

• "They put on a lot of lugs here, don't they?" “这里的人的架子可不小，是不是？ 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• In this department, hydro-set plates are assembled and joined together at the plate lugs. 在这个工段，组装脱水固化的极板并通过极板耳连在一起。 来自辞典例句

29 meticulously   

adv.过细地，异常细致地；无微不至；精心

参考例句：

• The hammer's silvery head was etched with holy runs and its haft was meticulously wrapped in blue leather. 锤子头是纯银制成的，雕刻着神圣符文，而握柄则被精心地包裹在蓝色的皮革中。 来自辞典例句
• She is always meticulously accurate in punctuation and spelling. 她的标点和拼写总是非常精确。 来自辞典例句

30 distrait   

adj.心不在焉的

参考例句：

• The distrait boy is always losing his books.这个心不在焉的男孩老是丢书。
• The distrait actress fluffed her lines.那位心不在焉的女演员忘了台词。

31 unpack   

vt.打开包裹（或行李），卸货

参考例句：

• I must unpack before dinner.我得在饭前把行李打开。
• She said she would unpack the items later.她说以后再把箱子里的东西拿出来。

32 apprehensive   

adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的

参考例句：

• She was deeply apprehensive about her future.她对未来感到非常担心。
• He was rather apprehensive of failure.他相当害怕失败。

33 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

34 nervously   

adv.神情激动地，不安地

参考例句：

• He bit his lip nervously,trying not to cry.他紧张地咬着唇，努力忍着不哭出来。
• He paced nervously up and down on the platform.他在站台上情绪不安地走来走去。

35 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

36 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

37 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

38 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

39 inquiries   

n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending further inquiries. 他获得保释，等候进一步调查。
• I have failed to reach them by postal inquiries. 我未能通过邮政查询与他们取得联系。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

40 dagger   

n.匕首，短剑，剑号

参考例句：

• The bad news is a dagger to his heart.这条坏消息刺痛了他的心。
• The murderer thrust a dagger into her heart.凶手将匕首刺进她的心脏。

41 arsenic   

n.砒霜，砷；adj.砷的

参考例句：

• His wife poisoned him with arsenic.他的妻子用砒霜把他毒死了。
• Arsenic is a poison.砒霜是毒药。

42 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。