Chapter 4 Dinner With Eric（2）

II
Colonel Pikeaway, his bulk sprawled¹ out in his chair in the small room inBloomsbury where he sat from ten to five with a short interval² for lunch,was surrounded as usual by an atmosphere of thick cigar smoke; with hiseyes closed, only an occasional blink showed that he was awake and notasleep. He seldom raised his head. Somebody had said that he looked likea cross between an ancient Buddha³ and a large blue frog, with perhaps, assome impudent⁴ youngster had added, just a touch of a bar sinister⁵ from ahippopotamus in his ancestry⁶.
The gentle buzz of the intercom on his desk roused him. He blinkedthree times and opened his eyes. He stretched forth⁷ a rather weary-look-ing hand and picked up the receiver.
‘Well?’ he said.
His secretary’s voice spoke⁸.
‘The Minister is here waiting to see you.’
‘Is he now?’ said Colonel Pikeaway. ‘And what Minister is that? TheBaptist minister from the church round the corner?’
‘Oh no, Colonel Pikeway, it’s Sir George Packham.’
‘Pity,’ said Colonel Pikeaway, breathing asthmatically. ‘Great pity. TheReverend McGill is far more amusing. There’s a splendid touch of hell fireabout him.’
‘Shall I bring him in, Colonel Pikeaway?’
‘I suppose he will expect to be brought in at once. Under Secretaries arefar more touchy⁹ than Secretaries of State,’ said Colonel Pikeawaygloomily. ‘All these Ministers insist on coming in and having kittens allover the place.’
Sir George Packham was shown in. He coughed and wheezed¹⁰. Mostpeople did. The windows of the small room were tightly closed. ColonelPikeaway reclined in his chair, completely smothered¹¹ in cigar ash. The at-mosphere was almost unbearable¹² and the room was known in officialcircles as the ‘small cat-house’.
‘Ah, my dear fellow,’ said Sir George, speaking briskly and cheerfully ina way that did not match his ascetic¹³ and sad appearance. ‘Quite a longtime since we’ve met, I think.’
‘Sit down, sit down do,’ said Pikeaway. ‘Have a cigar?’
Sir George shuddered¹⁴ slightly.
‘No, thank you,’ he said, ‘no, thanks very much.’
He looked hard at the windows. Colonel Pikeaway did not take the hint.
Sir George cleared his throat and coughed again before saying:
‘Er–I believe Horsham has been to see you.’
‘Yes, Horsham’s been and said his piece,’ said Colonel Pikeaway, slowlyallowing his eyes to close again.
‘I thought it was the best way. I mean, that he should call upon you here.
It’s most important that things shouldn’t get round anywhere.’
‘Ah,’ said Colonel Pikeaway, ‘but they will, won’t they?’
‘I beg your pardon?’
‘They will,’ said Colonel Pikeaway.
‘I don’t know how much you–er–well, know about this last business.’
‘We know everything here,’ said Colonel Pikeaway. ‘That’s what we’refor.’
‘Oh–oh yes, yes certainly. About Sir S.N.–you know who I mean?’
‘Recently a passenger from Frankfurt,’ said Colonel Pikeaway.
‘Most extraordinary business. Most extraordinary. One wonders– onereally does not know, one can’t begin to imagine…’
Colonel Pikeaway listened kindly¹⁵.
‘What is one to think?’ pursued Sir George. ‘Do you know him person-ally?’
‘I’ve come across him once or twice,’ said Colonel Pikeaway.
‘One really cannot help wondering–’
Colonel Pikeaway subdued¹⁶ a yawn with some difficulty. He was rathertired of Sir George’s thinking, wondering, and imagining. He had a pooropinion anyway of Sir George’s process of thought. A cautious man, a manwho could be relied upon to run his department in a cautious manner. Nota man of scintillating¹⁷ intellect. Perhaps, thought Colonel Pikeaway, all thebetter for that. At any rate, those who think and wonder and are not quitesure are reasonably safe in the place where God and the electors have putthem.
‘One cannot quite forget,’ continued Sir George, ‘the disillusionment wehave suffered in the past.’
Colonel Pikeaway smiled kindly.
‘Charleston, Conway and Courtfold,’ he said. ‘Fully trusted, vetted¹⁸ andapproved of. All beginning with C, all crooked¹⁹ as sin.’
‘Sometimes I wonder if we can trust anyone,’ said Sir George unhappily.
‘That’s easy,’ said Colonel Pikeaway, ‘you can’t.’
‘Now take Stafford Nye,’ said Sir George. ‘Good family, excellent family,knew his father, his grandfather.’
‘Often a slip-up in the third generation,’ said Colonel Pikeaway.
The remark did not help Sir George.
‘I cannot help doubting–I mean, sometimes he doesn’t really seem seri-ous.’
‘Took my two nieces to see the ch?teaux of the Loire when I was a youngman,’ said Colonel Pikeaway unexpectedly. ‘Man fishing on the bank. I hadmy fishing-rod with me, too. He said to me, “Vous n’êtes pas un pêcheursérieux. Vous avez des femmes avec vous.”’
‘You mean you think Sir Stafford–?’
‘No, no, never been mixed up with women much. Irony’s his trouble.
Likes surprising people. He can’t help liking²⁰ to score off people.’
‘Well, that’s not very satisfactory, is it?’
‘Why not?’ said Colonel Pikeaway. ‘Liking a private joke is much betterthan having some deal with a defector.’
‘If one could feel that he was really sound. What would you say–yourpersonal opinion?’
‘Sound as a bell,’ said Colonel Pikeaway. ‘If a bell is sound. It makes asound, but that’s different, isn’t it?’ He smiled kindly. ‘Shouldn’t worry, if Iwere you,’ he said.

1 sprawled   

v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的过去式和过去分词)；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawled full-length across the bed. 他手脚摊开横躺在床上。
• He was lying sprawled in an armchair, watching TV. 他四肢伸开正懒散地靠在扶手椅上看电视。

2 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。

3 Buddha   

n.佛；佛像；佛陀

参考例句：

• Several women knelt down before the statue of Buddha and prayed.几个妇女跪在佛像前祈祷。
• He has kept the figure of Buddha for luck.为了图吉利他一直保存着这尊佛像。

4 impudent   

adj.鲁莽的，卑鄙的，厚颜无耻的

参考例句：

• She's tolerant toward those impudent colleagues.她对那些无礼的同事采取容忍的态度。
• The teacher threatened to kick the impudent pupil out of the room.老师威胁着要把这无礼的小学生撵出教室。

5 sinister   

adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的

参考例句：

• There is something sinister at the back of that series of crimes.在这一系列罪行背后有险恶的阴谋。
• Their proposals are all worthless and designed out of sinister motives.他们的建议不仅一钱不值，而且包藏祸心。

6 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

7 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。

8 spoke   

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。

9 touchy   

adj.易怒的；棘手的

参考例句：

• Be careful what you say because he's touchy.你说话小心，因为他容易生气。
• He's a little touchy about his weight.他对自己的体重感到有点儿苦恼。

10 wheezed   

v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The old organ wheezed out a tune. 那架老风琴呜呜地奏出曲子。 来自辞典例句
• He wheezed out a curse. 他喘着气诅咒。 来自辞典例句

11 smothered   

（使）窒息， （使）透不过气( smother的过去式和过去分词 )； 覆盖； 忍住； 抑制

参考例句：

• He smothered the baby with a pillow. 他用枕头把婴儿闷死了。
• The fire is smothered by ashes. 火被灰闷熄了。

12 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

13 ascetic   

adj.禁欲的；严肃的

参考例句：

• The hermit followed an ascetic life-style.这个隐士过的是苦行生活。
• This is achieved by strict celibacy and ascetic practices.这要通过严厉的独身生活和禁欲修行而达到。

14 shuddered   

v.战栗( shudder的过去式和过去分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动

参考例句：

• He slammed on the brakes and the car shuddered to a halt. 他猛踩刹车，车颤抖着停住了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I shuddered at the sight of the dead body. 我一看见那尸体就战栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

16 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

17 scintillating   

adj．才气横溢的,闪闪发光的; 闪烁的

参考例句：

• Statistics on unemployment levels hardly make for scintillating reading. 失业统计数据读来不大会有趣味。
• You were scintillating on TV last night. 您昨晚在电视上妙语如珠。

18 vetted   

v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的过去式和过去分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• The recruits were thoroughly vetted before they were allowed into the secret service. 情报机关招募的新成员要经过严格的审查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All staff are vetted for links with extremist groups before being employed. 所有职员录用前均须审查是否与极端分子团体有关。 来自辞典例句

19 crooked   

adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He crooked a finger to tell us to go over to him.他弯了弯手指，示意我们到他那儿去。
• You have to drive slowly on these crooked country roads.在这些弯弯曲曲的乡间小路上你得慢慢开车。

20 liking   

n.爱好；嗜好；喜欢

参考例句：

• The word palate also means taste or liking.Palate这个词也有“口味”或“嗜好”的意思。
• I must admit I have no liking for exaggeration.我必须承认我不喜欢夸大其词。