1-24

 

24.

As a royal you were always taught to maintain a buffer¹ zone between you and the rest of Creation.

Even working a crowd you always kept a discreet² distance between Yourself and Them. Distancewas right, distance was safe, distance was survival. Distance was an essential bit of being royal, noless than standing³ on the balcony, waving to the crowds outside Buckingham Palace, your familyall around you.

Of course, family included distance as well. No matter how much you might love someone,you could never cross that chasm⁴ between, say, monarch⁵ and child. Or Heir and Spare. Physically,but also emotionally. It wasn’t just Willy’s edict about giving him space; the older generationmaintained a nearly zero-tolerance prohibition⁶ on all physical contact. No hugs, no kisses, no pats.

Now and then, maybe a light touching⁷ of cheeks…on special occasions.

But in Africa none of this was true. In Africa distance dissolved. All creatures mingled⁸ freely.

Only the lion walked with his head in the air, only the elephant had an emperor’s strut⁹, and eventhey weren’t totally aloof¹⁰. They mingled daily among their subjects. They had no choice. Yes,there was predation and prey¹¹, life could be nasty and brutish and short, but to my teenage eyes itall looked like distilled¹² democracy. Utopia.

And that wasn’t even counting the bear hugs and high fives from all the trackers and guides.

On the other hand, maybe it wasn’t the mere¹³ closeness of living things that I liked. Maybe itwas the mind-boggling number. In a matter of hours I’d gone from a place of aridity¹⁴, sterility,death, to a wetland of teeming¹⁵ fertility. Maybe that was what I yearned¹⁶ for most of all—life.

Maybe that was the real miracle I found in the Okavango in April 1999.

I don’t think I blinked once that whole week. I don’t think I stopped grinning, even whileasleep. Had I been transported back to the Jurassic period, I couldn’t have been more awed—andit wasn’t just T. rexes that had me captivated. I loved the littlest creatures too. And the birds.

Thanks to Adi, clearly the savviest guide in our group, I began to recognize hooded¹⁸ vultures, cattleegrets, southern carmine¹⁹ bee-eaters, African fish eagles, in flight. Even the bugs²⁰ were compelling.

Adi taught me to really see them. Look down, he said, note the different species of beetle²¹, admirethe beauty of larvae²². Also, appreciate the baroque architecture of termite²³ mounds—the talleststructures built by any animal besides humans.

So much to know, Harry²⁴. To appreciate.

Right, Adi.

Whenever I went with him on a wander, whenever we’d come upon a fresh carcass crawlingwith maggots or wild dogs, whenever we’d stumble on a mountain of elephant dung sproutingmushrooms that looked like the Artful Dodger’s top hat, Adi never cringed. Circle of life, Harry.

Of all the animals in our midst, Adi said, the most majestic²⁵ was the water. The Okavango wasjust another living thing. He’d walked its entire length as a boy, with his father, carrying nothingbut bedrolls. He knew the Okavango inside and out, and felt for it something like romantic love.

Its surface was a poreless cheek, which he often lightly stroked.

But he also felt for the river a kind of sober awe¹⁷. Respect. Its innards were death, he said.

Hungry crocs, ill-tempered hippos, they were all down there, in the dark, waiting for you to slipup. Hippos killed five hundred people a year; Adi drummed it into my head over and over, and allthese years later I can still hear him: Never go into the dark water, Harry.

One night around the fire, all the guides and trackers discussed the river, shouting stories aboutriding it, swimming it, boating it, fearing it, everyone talking over each other. I heard it all thatnight, the mysticism of the river, the sacredness of the river, the weirdness²⁶ of the river.

Speaking of weirdness…The smell of marijuana wafted²⁷ on the air.

The stories grew louder, sillier.

I asked if I could try.

Everyone guffawed²⁸. Sod off!

Willy looked at me in horror.

But I wouldn’t back off. I pleaded my case. I was experienced, I said.

Heads swung round. Oh really?

Henners and I had recently pinched two six-packs of Smirnoff Ice and drunk them till wepassed out, I boasted. Plus, Tiggy always let me have a nip of her flask²⁹ on stalking trips. (Sloe gin,she was never without it.) I thought it best to leave out the full breadth of my experience.

The adults exchanged sly glances. One shrugged³⁰, rolled a new joint³¹, passed it to me.

I took a puff³². Coughed, retched. African weed was much harsher than Eton weed. And the highwas less too.

But at least I was a man.

No. I was still a wee baby.

The “joint” was just fresh basil wrapped in a bit of filthy³³ rolling paper.

 

1 buffer   

n.起缓冲作用的人(或物)，缓冲器；vt.缓冲

参考例句：

• A little money can be a useful buffer in time of need.在急需时，很少一点钱就能解燃眉之急。
• Romantic love will buffer you against life's hardships.浪漫的爱会减轻生活的艰辛。

2 discreet   

adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的

参考例句：

• He is very discreet in giving his opinions.发表意见他十分慎重。
• It wasn't discreet of you to ring me up at the office.你打电话到我办公室真是太鲁莽了。

3 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。

4 chasm   

n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突

参考例句：

• There's a chasm between rich and poor in that society.那社会中存在着贫富差距。
• A huge chasm gaped before them.他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。

5 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。

6 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

7 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

8 mingled   

混合，混入( mingle的过去式和过去分词 )； 混进，与…交往[联系]

参考例句：

• The sounds of laughter and singing mingled in the evening air. 笑声和歌声交织在夜空中。
• The man and the woman mingled as everyone started to relax. 当大家开始放松的时候，这一男一女就开始交往了。

9 strut   

v.肿胀，鼓起；大摇大摆地走；炫耀；支撑；撑开；n.高视阔步；支柱，撑杆

参考例句：

• The circulation economy development needs the green science and technology innovation as the strut.循环经济的发展需要绿色科技创新生态化作为支撑。
• Now we'll strut arm and arm.这会儿咱们可以手挽着手儿，高视阔步地走了。

10 aloof   

adj.远离的；冷淡的，漠不关心的

参考例句：

• Never stand aloof from the masses.千万不可脱离群众。
• On the evening the girl kept herself timidly aloof from the crowd.这小女孩在晚会上一直胆怯地远离人群。

11 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

12 distilled   

adj.由蒸馏得来的v.蒸馏( distil的过去式和过去分词 )；从…提取精华

参考例句：

• The televised interview was distilled from 16 hours of film. 那次电视采访是从16个小时的影片中选出的精华。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Gasoline is distilled from crude oil. 汽油是从原油中提炼出来的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

14 aridity   

n.干旱，乏味；干燥性；荒芜

参考例句：

• The name Sahara conjures up images of a desert of aridity. "撒哈拉"这个名字使人想起干旱的沙漠情景。 来自辞典例句
• The name conjures up images of a desert of aridity. “撒哈拉”这个名字使人想起“干旱”的沙漠情景。 来自互联网

15 teeming   

adj.丰富的v.充满( teem的现在分词 )；到处都是；（指水、雨等）暴降；倾注

参考例句：

• The rain was teeming down. 大雨倾盆而下。
• the teeming streets of the city 熙熙攘攘的城市街道

16 yearned   

渴望，切盼，向往( yearn的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The people yearned for peace. 人民渴望和平。
• She yearned to go back to the south. 她渴望回到南方去。

17 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

18 hooded   

adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的

参考例句：

• A hooded figure waited in the doorway. 一个戴兜帽的人在门口等候。
• Black-eyed gipsy girls, hooded in showy handkerchiefs, sallied forth to tell fortunes. 黑眼睛的吉卜赛姑娘，用华丽的手巾包着头，突然地闯了进来替人算命。 来自辞典例句

19 carmine   

n.深红色，洋红色

参考例句：

• The wind of the autumn color the maples carmine.秋风给枫林涂抹胭红。
• The dish is fresh,fragrant,salty and sweet with the carmine color.这道菜用材新鲜，香甜入口，颜色殷红。

20 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 beetle   

n.甲虫，近视眼的人

参考例句：

• A firefly is a type of beetle.萤火虫是一种甲虫。
• He saw a shiny green beetle on a leaf.我看见树叶上有一只闪闪发光的绿色甲虫。

22 larvae   

n.幼虫

参考例句：

• Larvae are parasitic on sheep.幼虫寄生在绵羊的身上。
• The larvae prey upon small aphids.这种幼虫以小蚜虫为食。

23 termite   

n.白蚁

参考例句：

• The termite control was also probed into further in this text.本文还进一步探讨了白蚁的防治方法。
• Termite often destroys wood.白蚁经常破坏树木。

24 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

25 majestic   

adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的

参考例句：

• In the distance rose the majestic Alps.远处耸立着雄伟的阿尔卑斯山。
• He looks majestic in uniform.他穿上军装显得很威风。

26 weirdness   

n.古怪，离奇，不可思议

参考例句：

• The weirdness of the city by night held her attention. 夜间城市的古怪景象吸引了她的注意力。
• But that's not the end of the weirdness feasible in evolutionary systems. 然而这还不是进化系统居然可行的最怪异的地方呐。

27 wafted   

v.吹送，飘送，（使）浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The sound of their voices wafted across the lake. 他们的声音飘过湖面传到了另一边。
• A delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafted across the garden. 花园中飘过一股刚出炉面包的香味。 来自《简明英汉词典》

28 guffawed   

v.大笑，狂笑( guffaw的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They all guffawed at his jokes. 他们听了他的笑话都一阵狂笑。
• Hung-chien guffawed and said, "I deserve a scolding for that! 鸿渐哈哈大笑道：“我是该骂！ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

29 flask   

n.瓶，火药筒，砂箱

参考例句：

• There is some deposit in the bottom of the flask.这只烧杯的底部有些沉淀物。
• He took out a metal flask from a canvas bag.他从帆布包里拿出一个金属瓶子。

30 shrugged   

vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Sam shrugged and said nothing. 萨姆耸耸肩膀，什么也没说。
• She shrugged, feigning nonchalance. 她耸耸肩，装出一副无所谓的样子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

31 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

32 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

33 filthy   

adj.卑劣的；恶劣的，肮脏的

参考例句：

• The whole river has been fouled up with filthy waste from factories.整条河都被工厂的污秽废物污染了。
• You really should throw out that filthy old sofa and get a new one.你真的应该扔掉那张肮脏的旧沙发，然后再去买张新的。