2-60

 

60.

I got up each day, went to the base, did my work, enjoyed none of it. It felt pointless.

And boring. I was bored to tears.

More, for the first time in years, I was without a purpose. A goal.

What’s next? I asked myself every night.

I begged my commanding officers to send me back.

Back where?

To the war.

Oh, they said, ha-ha, no.

In March 2013 word came down that the Palace wanted to send me on another royal tour. Myfirst since the Caribbean. This time: America.

I was glad for the break in the monotony. On the other hand I was also worried about returningto the scene of the crime. I imagined days and days of questions about Vegas.

No, Palace courtiers assured me. Impossible. Time and the war had eclipsed Vegas. This wasstrictly a goodwill¹ tour, to promote the rehabilitation² of wounded British and American soldiers.

No one is going to mention Vegas, sir. Cut to May 2013, me touring the devastation³ caused byHurricane Sandy, alongside New Jersey⁴ governor Chris Christie. The governor gifted me a bluefleece, which the press spun⁵…as his way of keeping me clothed. Actually, Christie spun it that waytoo. A reporter asked him what he thought of my time in Las Vegas, and Christie vowed⁶ that if Ispent the whole day with him, “nobody’s going to get naked.” The line got a big laugh, becauseChristie is famously stout⁷.

Before Jersey I’d gone to Washington, D.C., met with President Barack Obama and First LadyMichelle Obama, visited Arlington National Cemetery⁸, laid a wreath at the Tomb of the UnknownSoldier. I’d laid dozens of wreaths before, but the ritual was different in America. You didn’t placethe wreath on the grave yourself; a white-gloved soldier placed it with you, and then you laid yourhand singly, for one beat, upon the wreath. This extra step, this partnering with another livingsoldier, moved me. Holding my hand to the wreath for that extra second, I found myself a bitwobbly, my mind flooding with images of all the men and women with whom I’d served. Ithought about death, injury, grief, from Helmand Province to Hurricane Sandy to the Alma tunnel,and I wondered how other people just got on with their lives, whereas I felt such doubt andconfusion—and something else.

What? I wondered.

Sadness?

Numbness⁹?

I couldn’t name it. And without being able to give it a name, I felt a kind of vertigo¹⁰.

What was happening to me?

The whole American tour lasted only five days—a true whirlwind. So many sights, and faces,and remarkable¹¹ moments. But on the flight home I was thinking about only one part.

A stop- off in Colorado. Something called the Warrior¹² Games. A kind of Olympiad forwounded soldiers, with two hundred men and women taking part, each of whom inspired me.

I watched them closely, saw them having the time of their lives, saw them competing to thehilt, and I asked them…how?

Sport, they said. The most direct route to healing.

Most were natural athletes, and they told me these games had given them a rare chance torediscover and express their physical talents, despite their wounds. As a result it made theirwounds, both mental and physical, disappear. Maybe only for a moment, or a day, but that wasenough. More than enough. Once you’ve made a wound disappear for any length of time, it’s nolonger in control—you are.

Yes, I thought. I get that.

And so, on the flight back to Britain, I kept going over those games in my mind, wondering ifwe could do something similar in Britain. A version of those Warrior Games, but perhaps withmore soldiers, more visibility, more benefits to participants. I scribbled¹³ some notes on a sheet ofpaper and by the time my plane touched down I had the essential idea sketched¹⁴ out.

A Paralympics for soldiers from all over the world! In London’s Olympic Park! Where theLondon Olympics had just happened!

With full support and cooperation from the Palace. Maybe?

Big ask. But I felt that I’d accrued¹⁵ some political capital. Despite Vegas, despite at least onearticle that made me out to be some kind of war criminal, despite my whole checkered¹⁶ history asthe naughty one, Britons seemed to have a generally positive view of the Spare. There was afeeling that I was coming into my own. Plus, most Brits had a positive view of the militarycommunity overall, despite the unpopularity of the war. Surely they’d be supportive of an effort tohelp soldiers and their families.

The first step would be pitching the Royal Foundation Board, which oversaw¹⁷ my charitableprojects and Willy’s and Kate’s. It was our foundation, so I told myself: No problem.

Also, the calendar was on my side. This was early summer 2013. Willy and Kate, weeks fromhaving their first child, were going to be out of commission for a while. The foundation thereforedidn’t have any projects in the pipeline¹⁸. Its roughly seven million pounds was just sitting there,doing nothing. And if these International Warrior Games worked, they’d enhance the foundation’sprofile, which would energize¹⁹ donors²⁰ and replenish²¹ the foundation’s accounts many times over.

There’d be that much more to go around when Willy and Kate came back full-time²². So I wasfeeling supremely²³ confident in the days leading up to my pitch.

But when the actual day came, not so much. I realized how badly I wanted this, for the soldiersand their families, and if I’m being honest: for myself. And this sudden attack of nerves kept mefrom being at my best. Still, I got through it, and the board said yes.

Thrilled, I reached out to Willy, expecting him to be thrilled as well.

He was sorely irritated. He wished I’d run all this by him first.

My assumption, I said, was that other people had done so.

He complained that I’d be using up all the funds in the Royal Foundation.

That’s absurd, I spluttered. I was told only a half-million-pound grant would be needed to getthe games going, a fraction of the foundation’s money. Besides, it was coming from theEndeavour Fund, an arm of the foundation I’d created specifically for veterans’ recovery. The restwould come from donors and sponsors.

What was going on here? I wondered.

Then I realized: My God, sibling²⁴ rivalry²⁵.

I put a hand over my eyes. Had we not got past this yet? The whole Heir versus²⁶ Spare thing?

Wasn’t it a bit late in the day for that tired childhood dynamic?

But even if it wasn’t, even if Willy insisted on being competitive, on turning our brotherhoodinto some kind of private Olympiad, hadn’t he built up an insurmountable lead? He was married,with a baby on the way, while I was eating takeaway alone over the sink.

Pa’s sink! I still lived with Pa!

Game over, man. You win.

 

1 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

2 rehabilitation   

n.康复，悔过自新，修复，复兴，复职，复位

参考例句：

• He's booked himself into a rehabilitation clinic.他自己联系了一家康复诊所。
• No one can really make me rehabilitation of injuries.已经没有人可以真正令我的伤康复了。

3 devastation   

n.毁坏；荒废；极度震惊或悲伤

参考例句：

• The bomb caused widespread devastation. 炸弹造成大面积破坏。
• There was devastation on every side. 到处都是破坏的创伤。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

5 spun   

v.纺，杜撰，急转身

参考例句：

• His grandmother spun him a yarn at the fire.他奶奶在火炉边给他讲故事。
• Her skilful fingers spun the wool out to a fine thread.她那灵巧的手指把羊毛纺成了细毛线。

6 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

7 stout   

adj.强壮的，粗大的，结实的，勇猛的，矮胖的

参考例句：

• He cut a stout stick to help him walk.他砍了一根结实的枝条用来拄着走路。
• The stout old man waddled across the road.那肥胖的老人一跩一跩地穿过马路。

8 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

9 numbness   

n.无感觉，麻木，惊呆

参考例句：

• She was fighting off the numbness of frostbite. 她在竭力摆脱冻僵的感觉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sometimes they stay dead, causing' only numbness. 有时，它们没有任何反应，只会造成麻木。 来自时文部分

10 vertigo   

n.眩晕

参考例句：

• He had a dreadful attack of vertigo.他忽然头晕得厉害。
• If you have vertigo it seems as if the whole room is spinning round you.如果你头晕，就会觉得整个房间都旋转起来

11 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

12 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

13 scribbled   

v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下

参考例句：

• She scribbled his phone number on a scrap of paper. 她把他的电话号码匆匆写在一张小纸片上。
• He scribbled a note to his sister before leaving. 临行前，他给妹妹草草写了一封短信。

14 sketched   

v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The historical article sketched the major events of the decade. 这篇有关历史的文章概述了这十年中的重大事件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He sketched the situation in a few vivid words. 他用几句生动的语言简述了局势。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 accrued   

adj.权责已发生的v.增加( accrue的过去式和过去分词 )；（通过自然增长）产生；获得；（使钱款、债务）积累

参考例句：

• The company had accrued debts of over 1000 yuan. 该公司已积欠了1000多万元的债务。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I have accrued a set of commemoration stamps. 我已收集一套纪念邮票。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 checkered   

adj.有方格图案的

参考例句：

• The ground under the trees was checkered with sunlight and shade.林地光影交错。
• He’d had a checkered past in the government.他过去在政界浮沉。

17 oversaw   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去式 )

参考例句：

• He will go down as the president who oversaw two historic transitions. 他将作为见证了巴西两次历史性转变的总统，安然引退。 来自互联网
• Dixon oversaw the project as creative director of Design Research Studio. 狄克逊监督项目的创意总监设计研究工作室。 来自互联网

18 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

19 energize   

vt.给予(某人或某物)精力、能量

参考例句：

• It is used to energize the city.它的作用是为城市供给能量。
• This is a great way to energize yourself and give yourself more power!这种方法非常棒，可以激活你的能量，让你有更多的活力！

20 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 replenish   

vt.补充；(把…)装满；(再)填满

参考例句：

• I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
• We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。

22 full-time   

adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的

参考例句：

• A full-time job may be too much for her.全天工作她恐怕吃不消。
• I don't know how she copes with looking after her family and doing a full-time job.既要照顾家庭又要全天工作，我不知道她是如何对付的。

23 supremely   

adv.无上地，崇高地

参考例句：

• They managed it all supremely well. 这件事他们干得极其出色。
• I consider a supremely beautiful gesture. 我觉得这是非常优雅的姿态。

24 sibling   

n.同胞手足(指兄、弟、姐或妹)

参考例句：

• Many of us hate living in the shadows of a more successful sibling.我们很多人都讨厌活在更为成功的手足的阴影下。
• Sibling ravalry has been common in this family.这个家里，兄弟姊妹之间的矛盾很平常。

25 rivalry   

n.竞争，竞赛，对抗

参考例句：

• The quarrel originated in rivalry between the two families.这次争吵是两家不和引起的。
• He had a lot of rivalry with his brothers and sisters.他和兄弟姐妹间经常较劲。

26 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。