1-17

17.

Many of the sixty boys in Manor¹ House were as welcoming as Willy. Their indifference², however,didn’t unsettle me as much as their ease. Even the ones my age acted as if they’d been born on theschool grounds. Ludgrove had its problems, but at least I knew my way around, knew how to foxPat, knew when sweets got handed out, how to survive letter-writing days. Over time I’d scratchedand clawed my way to the top of the Ludgrove pyramid. Now, at Eton, I was at the bottom again.

Starting over.

Worse, without my best friend, Henners. He was attending a different school.

I didn’t even know how to get dressed in the morning. Every Etonian was required to wear ablack tailcoat, white collarless shirt, white stiff collar pinned to the shirt with a stud — pluspinstripe trousers, heavy black shoes, and a tie that wasn’t a tie, more like a cloth strip folded intothe white detachable collar. Formal kit³, they called it, but it wasn’t formal, it was funereal⁴. Andthere was a reason. We were supposed to be in perpetual mourning for old Henry VI. (Or else forKing George, an early supporter of the school, who used to have the boys over to the castle for tea—or something like that.) Though Henry was my great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather,and though I was sorry for his passing, and for whatever pain it had caused those who loved him, Iwasn’t keen on mourning the man around the clock. Any boy might balk⁵ at taking part in a never-ending funeral, but for a boy who’d just lost his mum it was a daily kick in the balls.

First morning: It took forever to fasten my trousers, button my waistcoat, fold my stiff collar,before finally getting out the door. I was frantic⁶, desperate not to be late, which would mean beingforced to write my name in a large ledger⁷, the Tardy⁸ Book, one of many new traditions I’d need tolearn, along with a long list of new words and phrases. Classes were no longer classes: they weredivs. Teachers were no longer teachers: they were beaks⁹. Cigarettes were tabbage. (Seeminglyeveryone had a raging tabbage habit.) Chambers¹⁰ was the mid-morning meeting of the beaks, whenthey discussed the students, especially the problem students. I often felt my ears burning duringChambers.

Sport, I decided¹¹, would be my thing at Eton. Sporty boys were separated into two groups: drybobs and wet bobs. Dry bobs played cricket, football, rugby, or polo. Wet bobs rowed, sailed, orswam. I was a dry who occasionally got wet. I played every dry sport, though rugby captured myheart. Beautiful game, plus a good excuse to run into stuff very hard. Rugby let me indulge myrage, which some had now taken to calling a “red mist.” Plus, I simply didn’t feel pain the wayother boys did, which made me scary on a pitch. No one had an answer for a boy actually seekingexternal pain to match his internal.

I made some mates. It wasn’t easy. I had special requirements. I needed someone whowouldn’t tease me about being royal, someone who wouldn’t so much as mention my being theSpare. I needed someone who’d treat me normal, which meant ignoring the armed bodyguardsleeping down the hall, whose job was to keep me from being kidnapped or assassinated¹². (To saynothing of the electronic tracker and panic alarm I carried with me at all times.) My mates all metthese criteria¹³.

Sometimes my new mates and I would escape, head for Windsor Bridge, which connectedEton to Windsor over the River Thames. Specifically we’d head to the underside of the bridge,where we could smoke tabbage in privacy. My mates seemed to enjoy the naughtiness of it,whereas I just did it because I was on autopilot. Sure, I fancied a cig after a McDonald’s, whodidn’t? But if we were going to bunk¹⁴ off, I’d much prefer heading over to Windsor Castle golfcourse, knocking a ball around, while drinking a wee beer.

Still, like a robot, I took every cig offered me, and in the same automatic, unthinking way, Isoon graduated to weed.

 

1 manor   

n.庄园，领地

参考例句：

• The builder of the manor house is a direct ancestor of the present owner.建造这幢庄园的人就是它现在主人的一个直系祖先。
• I am not lord of the manor,but its lady.我并非此地的领主，而是这儿的女主人。

2 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

3 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

4 funereal   

adj.悲哀的；送葬的

参考例句：

• He addressed the group in funereal tones.他语气沉痛地对大家讲话。
• The mood of the music was almost funereal.音乐的调子几乎像哀乐。

5 balk   

n.大方木料；v.妨碍；不愿前进或从事某事

参考例句：

• We get strong indications that his agent would balk at that request.我们得到的强烈暗示是他的经纪人会回避那个要求。
• He shored up the wall with a thick balk of wood.他用一根粗大的木头把墙撑住。

6 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

7 ledger   

n.总帐，分类帐；帐簿

参考例句：

• The young man bowed his head and bent over his ledger again.那个年轻人点头应诺，然后又埋头写起分类帐。
• She is a real accountant who even keeps a detailed household ledger.她不愧是搞财务的，家庭分类账记得清楚详细。

8 tardy   

adj.缓慢的，迟缓的

参考例句：

• It's impolite to make a tardy appearance.晚到是不礼貌的。
• The boss is unsatisfied with the tardy tempo.老板不满于这种缓慢的进度。

9 beaks   

n.鸟嘴( beak的名词复数 )；鹰钩嘴；尖鼻子；掌权者

参考例句：

• Baby cockatoos will have black eyes and soft, almost flexible beaks. 雏鸟凤头鹦鹉黑色的眼睛是柔和的，嘴几乎是灵活的。 来自互联网
• Squid beaks are often found in the stomachs of sperm whales. 经常能在抹香鲸的胃里发现鱿鱼的嘴。 来自互联网

10 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

13 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。

14 bunk   

n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话

参考例句：

• He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
• Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。