Chapter 16 Pikeaway Talks

Chapter 16 Pikeaway Talks
‘The news from France is very bad,’ said Colonel Pikeaway, brushing acloud of cigar ash off his coat. ‘I heard Winston Churchill say that in thelast war. There was a man who could speak in plain words and no morethan needed. It was very impressive. It told us what we needed to know.
Well, it’s a long time since then, but I say it again today. The news fromFrance is very bad.’
He coughed, wheezed¹ and brushed a little more ash off himself.
‘The news from Italy is very bad,’ he said. ‘The news from Russia, I ima-gine, could be very bad if they let much out about it. They’ve got troublethere too. Marching bands of students in the street, shop windowssmashed, Embassies attacked. News from Egypt is very bad. News fromJerusalem is very bad. News from Syria is very bad. That’s all more or lessnormal, so we needn’t worry too much. News from Argentine is what I’dcall peculiar². Very peculiar indeed. Argentine, Brazil, Cuba, they’ve all gottogether. Call themselves the Golden Youth Federated States, or somethinglike that. It’s got an army, too. Properly drilled, properly armed, properlycommanded. They’ve got planes, they’ve got bombs, they’ve got God-knows- what. And most of them seem to know what to do with them,which makes it worse. There’s a singing crowd as well, apparently³. Popsongs, old local folk songs, and bygone battle hymns⁴. They go along ratherlike the Salvation⁵ Army used to do–no blasphemy⁶ intended–I’m not crab-bing the Salvation Army. Jolly good work they did always. And the girls–pretty as Punch in their bonnets⁷.’
He went on:
‘I’ve heard that something’s going on in that line in the civilized⁸ coun-tries, starting with us. Some of us can be called civilized still, I suppose?
One of our politicians the other day, I remember, said we were a splendidnation, chiefly because we were permissive, we had demonstrations⁹, wesmashed things, we beat up anyone if we hadn’t anything better to do, wegot rid of our high spirits by showing violence, and our moral purity bytaking most of our clothes off. I don’t know what he thought he was talk-ing about– politicians seldom do– but they can make it sound all right.
That’s why they are politicians.’
He paused and looked across at the man he was talking to.
‘Distressing– sadly distressing,’ said Sir George Packham. ‘One canhardly believe–one worries–if one could only–Is that all the news you’vegot?’ he asked plaintively¹¹.
‘Isn’t it enough? You’re hard to satisfy. World anarchy¹² well on its way–that’s what we’ve got. A bit wobbly still–not fully¹³ established yet, but verynear to it–very near indeed.’
‘But action can surely be taken against all this?’
‘Not so easy as you think. Tear gas puts a stop to rioting for a while andgives the police a break. And naturally we’ve got plenty of germ warfareand nuclear bombs and all the other pretty bags of tricks–What do youthink would happen if we started using those? Mass massacre¹⁴ of all themarching girls and boys, and the housewife’s shopping circle, and the oldage pensioners¹⁵ at home, and a good quota¹⁶ of our pompous¹⁷ politicians asthey tell us we’ve never had it so good, and in addition you and me–Ha,ha!
‘And anyway,’ added Colonel Pikeaway, ‘if it’s only news you’re after, Iunderstand you’ve got some hot news of your own arriving today. Topsecret from Germany, Herr Heinrich Spiess himself.’
‘How on earth did you hear that? It’s supposed to be strictly¹⁸–’
‘We know everything here,’ said Colonel Pikeaway, using his pet phrase–that’s what we’re for.
‘Bringing some tame doctor, too, I understand–’ he added.
‘Yes, a Dr Reichardt, a top scientist, I presume–’
‘No. Medical doctor–Loony-bins–’
‘Oh dear–a psychologist?’
‘Probably. The ones that run loony-bins are mostly that. With any luckhe’ll have been brought over so that he can examine the heads of some ofour young firebrands. Stuffed full they are of German philosophy, BlackPower philosophy, dead French writers’ philosophy, and so on and soforth. Possibly they’ll let him examine some of the heads of our legal lightswho preside over our judicial¹⁹ courts here saying we must be very carefulnot to do anything to damage a young man’s ego¹⁰ because he might have toearn his living. We’d be a lot safer if they sent them all round to get plentyof National Assistance to live on and then they could go back to theirrooms, not do any work, and enjoy themselves reading more philosophy.
However, I’m out of date. I know that. You needn’t tell me so.’
‘One has to take into account the new modes of thought,’ said Sir GeorgePackham. ‘One feels, I mean one hopes–well, it’s difficult to say–’
‘Must be very worrying for you,’ said Colonel Pikeaway. ‘Finding thingsso difficult to say.’
His telephone rang. He listened, then handed it to Sir George.
‘Yes?’ said Sir George. ‘Yes? Oh yes. Yes. I agree. I suppose–No–no–notthe Home Office. No. Privately²⁰, you mean. Well, I suppose we’d better use–er–’ Sir George looked round him cautiously.
‘This place isn’t bugged,’ said Colonel Pikeaway amiably²¹.
‘Code word Blue Danube,’ said Sir George Packham in a loud, hoarsewhisper. ‘Yes, yes. I’ll bring Pikeaway along with me. Oh yes, of course.
Yes, yes. Get on to him. Yes, say you particularly want him to come, but toremember our meeting has got to be strictly private.’
‘We can’t take my car then,’ said Pikeaway. ‘It’s too well known.’
‘Henry Horsham’s coming to fetch us in the Volkswagen.’
‘Fine,’ said Colonel Pikeaway. ‘Interesting, you know, all this.’
‘You don’t think–’ said Sir George and hesitated.
‘I don’t think what?’
‘I mean just really–well, I–mean, if you wouldn’t mind my suggesting–aclothes brush?’
‘Oh, this.’ Colonel Pikeaway hit himself lightly on the shoulder and acloud of cigar ash flew up and made Sir George choke.
‘Nanny,’ Colonel Pikeaway shouted. He banged a buzzer²² on his desk.
A middle-aged²³ woman came in with a clothes brush, appearing with thesuddenness of a genie²⁴ summoned by Aladdin’s lamp.
‘Hold your breath, please, Sir George,’ she said. ‘This may be a little pun-gent.’
She held the door open for him and he retired²⁵ outside while shebrushed Colonel Pikeaway, who coughed and complained:
‘Damned nuisance these people are. Always wanting you to get fixed²⁶ uplike a barber’s dummy²⁷.’
‘I should not describe your appearance as quite like that, ColonelPikeaway. You ought to be used to my cleaning you up nowadays. And youknow the Home Secretary suffers from asthma²⁸.’
‘Well, that’s his fault. Not taking proper care to have pollution removedfrom the streets of London.
‘Come on, Sir George, let’s hear what our German friend has come overto say. Sounds as though it’s a matter of some urgency.’

1 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

2 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

3 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。

4 hymns   

n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌( hymn的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At first, they played the hymns and marches familiar to them. 起初他们只吹奏自己熟悉的赞美诗和进行曲。 来自英汉非文学 - 百科语料821
• I like singing hymns. 我喜欢唱圣歌。 来自辞典例句

5 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

6 blasphemy   

n.亵渎，渎神

参考例句：

• His writings were branded as obscene and a blasphemy against God.他的著作被定为淫秽作品，是对上帝的亵渎。
• You have just heard his blasphemy!你刚刚听到他那番亵渎上帝的话了！

7 bonnets   

n.童帽( bonnet的名词复数 )；（烟囱等的）覆盖物；（苏格兰男子的）无边呢帽；（女子戴的）任何一种帽子

参考例句：

• All the best bonnets of the city were there. 城里戴最漂亮的无边女帽的妇女全都到场了。 来自辞典例句
• I am tempting you with bonnets and bangles and leading you into a pit. 我是在用帽子和镯子引诱你，引你上钩。 来自飘（部分）

8 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

9 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

10 ego   

n.自我，自己，自尊

参考例句：

• He is absolute ego in all thing.在所有的事情上他都绝对自我。
• She has been on an ego trip since she sang on television.她上电视台唱过歌之后就一直自吹自擂。

11 plaintively   

adv.悲哀地，哀怨地

参考例句：

• The last note of the song rang out plaintively. 歌曲最后道出了离别的哀怨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Birds cry plaintively before they die, men speak kindly in the presence of death. 鸟之将死，其鸣也哀；人之将死，其言也善。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 anarchy   

n.无政府状态；社会秩序混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• There would be anarchy if we had no police.要是没有警察，社会就会无法无天。
• The country was thrown into a state of anarchy.这国家那时一下子陷入无政府状态。

13 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

14 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

15 pensioners   

n.领取退休、养老金或抚恤金的人( pensioner的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He intends to redistribute income from the middle class to poorer paid employees and pensioners. 他意图把中产阶级到低薪雇员和退休人员的收入做重新分配。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I am myself one of the pensioners upon the fund left by our noble benefactor. 我自己就是一个我们的高贵的施主遗留基金的养老金领取者。 来自辞典例句

16 quota   

n.（生产、进出口等的）配额，（移民的）限额

参考例句：

• A restricted import quota was set for meat products.肉类产品设定了进口配额。
• He overfulfilled his production quota for two months running.他一连两个月超额完成生产指标。

17 pompous   

adj.傲慢的，自大的；夸大的；豪华的

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities.他有点自大，自视甚高。
• He is a good man underneath his pompous appearance. 他的外表虽傲慢，其实是个好人。

18 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

19 judicial   

adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的

参考例句：

• He is a man with a judicial mind.他是个公正的人。
• Tom takes judicial proceedings against his father.汤姆对他的父亲正式提出诉讼。

20 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

21 amiably   

adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地

参考例句：

• She grinned amiably at us. 她咧着嘴向我们亲切地微笑。
• Atheists and theists live together peacefully and amiably in this country. 无神论者和有神论者在该国和睦相处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 buzzer   

n.蜂鸣器；汽笛

参考例句：

• The buzzer went off at eight o'clock.蜂鸣器在8点钟时响了。
• Press the buzzer when you want to talk.你想讲话的时候就按蜂鸣器。

23 middle-aged   

adj.中年的

参考例句：

• I noticed two middle-aged passengers.我注意到两个中年乘客。
• The new skin balm was welcome by middle-aged women.这种新护肤香膏受到了中年妇女的欢迎。

24 genie   

n.妖怪，神怪

参考例句：

• Now the genie of his darkest and weakest side was speaking.他心灵中最阴暗最软弱的部分有一个精灵在说话。
• He had to turn to the Genie of the Ring for help.他不得不向戒指神求助。

25 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

26 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

27 dummy   

n.假的东西；(哄婴儿的)橡皮奶头

参考例句：

• The police suspect that the device is not a real bomb but a dummy.警方怀疑那个装置不是真炸弹，只是一个假货。
• The boys played soldier with dummy swords made of wood.男孩们用木头做的假木剑玩打仗游戏。

28 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。