1-12

 

12.

Most of my teachers were kind souls who just let me be, who understood all that I was dealingwith and didn’t want to give me more. Mr. Dawson, who played the organ in the chapel¹, wasextremely gentle. Mr. Little, the drum teacher, was exceedingly patient. Confined to a wheelchair,he’d turn up for drum lessons in his van, and it would take us forever to get him out of the van andinto the classroom, and then we’d have to leave enough time to get him back into the van after thelesson, so we’d never have more than twenty minutes of actual teaching. I didn’t mind, and inreturn Mr. Little didn’t ever complain that my drumming wasn’t really improving.

Some teachers, however, gave me no quarter. Like my history teacher, Mr. Hughes-Games.

Day and night, from Mr. Hughes-Games’s bungalow² beside the sports fields, came the shrillyelps of his pointers, Tosca and Beade. They were beautiful, spotted³, gray-eyed, and Mr. Hughes-Games cherished them as children. He kept silver-framed photos of them on his desk, which wasone reason many boys thought Mr. Hughes-Games a tad eccentric. So it came as a roaring shockwhen I realized that Mr. Hughes-Games believed me to be the odd one. What could be odder, hesaid to me one day, than a British prince not knowing British history?

I cannot fathom⁴ it, Wales. We’re talking about your blood relatives—does that mean nothingto you?

Less than nothing, sir.

It wasn’t just that I didn’t know anything about my family’s history: I didn’t want to knowanything.

I liked British history in theory. I found certain bits intriguing⁵. I knew a few things about thesigning of the Magna Carta, for instance—June 1215, at Runnymede—but that was because I’donce glimpsed the place where it happened through the window of Pa’s car. Right by the river.

Looked beautiful. Perfect spot to establish peace, I thought. But micro details about the NormanConquest? Or the ins and outs of the beef between Henry VIII and the Pope? Or the differencesbetween the First and Second Crusades?

Please.

It all came to a head one day when Mr. Hughes-Games was talking about Charles EdwardStuart, or Charles III, as he thought of himself. Pretender to the Throne. Mr. Hughes-Games hadstrong opinions about the fellow. While he shared them with us, in a hot rage, I stared at my penciland tried not to fall asleep.

Suddenly Mr. Hughes-Games stopped and posited⁶ a question about Charles’s life. The answerwas a cinch if you’d done the reading. No one had.

Wales—you must know this.

Why must I?

Because it’s your family!

Laughter.

I dropped my head. The other boys knew I was royal, of course. If they forgot for half asecond, my omnipresent bodyguard⁷ (armed) and uniformed police scattered⁸ across the groundswould be more than happy to remind them. But did Mr. Hughes-Games need to shout it from therooftops? Did he need to use that loaded word—family? My family had declared me a nullity. TheSpare. I didn’t complain about it, but I didn’t need to dwell on it either. Far better, in my mind, notto think about certain facts, such as the cardinal⁹ rule for royal travel: Pa and William could neverbe on the same flight together, because there must be no chance of the first and second in line tothe throne being wiped out. But no one gave a damn whom I traveled with; the Spare could alwaysbe spared. I knew this, knew my place, so why go out of my way to study it? Why memorize thenames of past spares? What was the sense in that?

More, why trace my family tree when all tracery led to the same severed¹⁰ branch—Mummy?

After class I went up to Mr. Hughes-Games’s desk and asked him to please stop.

Stop what, Wales?

Embarrassing me, sir.

His eyebrows¹¹ flew up to his hairline, like startled birds.

I argued that it would be cruel to single out any other boy the way he did me, to ask any otherstudent at Ludgrove such pointed¹² questions about his great-great-grand-whatever.

Mr. Hughes- Games harrumphed and snuffled. He’d overstepped, he knew it. But he wasstubborn.

It’s good for you, Wales. The more I call on you, the more you’ll learn.

Days later, however, at the start of class, Mr. Hughes-Games made a proffer¹³ of peace, MagnaCarta style. He presented me with one of those wooden rulers, engraved¹⁴ along both sides with thenames of every British monarch¹⁵ since Harold in 1066. (Rulers, get it?) The royal line, inch byinch, right up to Granny. He said I could keep it at my desk, refer to it as needed.

Gosh, I said. Thanks.

 

1 chapel   

n.小教堂，殡仪馆

参考例句：

• The nimble hero,skipped into a chapel that stood near.敏捷的英雄跳进近旁的一座小教堂里。
• She was on the peak that Sunday afternoon when she played in chapel.那个星期天的下午，她在小教堂的演出，可以说是登峰造极。

2 bungalow   

n.平房，周围有阳台的木造小平房

参考例句：

• A bungalow does not have an upstairs.平房没有上层。
• The old couple sold that large house and moved into a small bungalow.老两口卖掉了那幢大房子，搬进了小平房。

3 spotted   

adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的

参考例句：

• The milkman selected the spotted cows,from among a herd of two hundred.牛奶商从一群200头牛中选出有斑点的牛。
• Sam's shop stocks short spotted socks.山姆的商店屯积了有斑点的短袜。

4 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。

5 intriguing   

adj.有趣的；迷人的v.搞阴谋诡计(intrigue的现在分词)；激起…的好奇心

参考例句：

• These discoveries raise intriguing questions. 这些发现带来了非常有趣的问题。
• It all sounds very intriguing. 这些听起来都很有趣。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 posited   

v.假定，设想，假设( posit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Several writers have posited the idea of a universal consciousness. 有几个作者都假设存在普遍意识。 来自辞典例句
• All cash receipts should be recorded and de-posited daily. 所有的现金收据应该被每日记录和存放。 来自互联网

7 bodyguard   

n.护卫，保镖

参考例句：

• She has to have an armed bodyguard wherever she goes.她不管到哪儿都得有带武器的保镖跟从。
• The big guy standing at his side may be his bodyguard.站在他身旁的那个大个子可能是他的保镖。

8 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

9 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

10 severed   

v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂

参考例句：

• The doctor said I'd severed a vessel in my leg. 医生说我割断了腿上的一根血管。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• We have severed diplomatic relations with that country. 我们与那个国家断绝了外交关系。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 eyebrows   

眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Eyebrows stop sweat from coming down into the eyes. 眉毛挡住汗水使其不能流进眼睛。
• His eyebrows project noticeably. 他的眉毛特别突出。

12 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

13 proffer   

v.献出，赠送；n.提议，建议

参考例句：

• He rose and proffered a silver box full of cigarettes.他站起身，伸手递过一个装满香烟的银盒子。
• I proffer to lend him one.我表示愿意借他一个。

14 engraved   

v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的过去式和过去分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中）

参考例句：

• The silver cup was engraved with his name. 银杯上刻有他的名字。
• It was prettily engraved with flowers on the back. 此件雕刻精美，背面有花饰图案。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 monarch   

n.帝王，君主，最高统治者

参考例句：

• The monarch's role is purely ceremonial.君主纯粹是个礼仪职位。
• I think myself happier now than the greatest monarch upon earth.我觉得这个时候比世界上什么帝王都快乐。