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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Chapter 38
His packing was done. It had been very simple, since his kit1 consisted only of toilet things, one change of clothes, and the first volume of Spengler's Decline of the West. He was waiting in his hotel lobby for time to take the train to Winnipeg. He was interested by the entrance of a lady more decorative2 than the females customarily seen in this modest inn: a hand-tooled presentation copy of a lady, in crushed levant and satin doublure; a lady with mascara'd eyelashes, a permanent wave, and a cobweb frock. She ambled3 through the lobby and leaned against a fake-marble pillar, wielding4 a long cigarette-holder and staring at Doremus. She seemed amused by him, for no clear reason.
Could she be some sort of Corpo spy?
She lounged toward him, and he realized that she was Lorinda Pike.
While he was still gasping5, she chuckled6, "Oh, no, darling, I'm not so realistic in my art as to carry out this rôle too far! It just happens to be the easiest disguise to win over the Corpo frontier guards--if you'll agree it really is a disguise!"
He kissed her with a fury which shocked the respectable hostelry.
She knew, from N.U. agents, that he was going out into a very fair risk of being flogged to death. She had come solely7 to say farewell and bring him what might be his last budget of news.
Buck8 was in concentration camp--he was more feared and more guarded than Doremus had been, and Linda had not been able to buy him out. Julian, Karl, and John Pollikop were still alive, still imprisoned9. Father Perefixe was running the N.U. cell in Fort Beulah, but slightly confused because he wanted to approve of war with Mexico, a nation which he detested10 for its treatment of Catholic priests. Lorinda and he had, apparently11, fought bloodily12 all one evening about Catholic rule in Latin America. As is always typical of Liberals, Lorinda managed to speak of Father Perefixe at once with virtuous13 loathing14 and the greatest affection. Emma and David were reported as well content in Worcester, though there were murmurs15 that Philip's wife did not too thankfully receive her mother-in-law's advice on cooking. Sissy was becoming a deft16 agitator17 who still, remembering that she was a born architect, drew plans for houses that Julian and she would some day adorn18. She contrived19 blissfully to combine assaults on all Capitalism20 with an entirely21 capitalistic conception of the year-long honeymoons22 Julian and she were going to have.
Less surprising than any of this were the tidings that Francis Tasbrough, very beautiful in repentance23, had been let out of the Corpo prison to which he had been sent for too much grafting24 and was again a district commissioner25, well thought of, and that his housekeeper26 was now Mrs. Candy, whose daily reports on his most secret arrangements were the most neatly27 written and sternly grammatical documents that came into Vermont N.U. headquarters.
Then Lorinda was looking up at him as he stood in the vestibule of his Westbound train and crying, "You look so well again! Are you happy? Oh, be happy!"
Even now he did not see this defeminized radical28 woman crying. . . . She turned away from him and raced down the station platform too quickly. She had lost all her confident pose of flip29 elegance30. Leaning out from the vestibule he saw her stop at the gate, diffidently raise her hand as if to wave at the long anonymity31 of the train windows, then shakily march away through the gates. And he realized that she hadn't even his address; that no one who loved him would have any stable address for him now any more.
Mr. William Barton Dobbs, a traveling man for harvesting machinery32, an erect33 little man with a small gray beard and a Vermont accent, got out of bed in his hotel in a section in Minnesota which had so many Bavarian-American and Yankee-descended farmers, and so few "radical" Scandinavians, that it was still loyal to President Haik.
He went down to breakfast, cheerfully rubbing his hands. He consumed grapefruit and porridge--but without sugar: there was an embargo34 on sugar. He looked down and inspected himself; he sighed, "I'm getting too much of a pod, with all this outdoor work and being so hungry; I've got to cut down on the grub"; and then he consumed fried eggs, bacon, toast, coffee made of acorns35, and marmalade made of carrots--Coon's troops had shut off coffee beans and oranges.
He read, meantime, the Minneapolis Daily Corporate36. It announced a Great Victory in Mexico--in the same place, he noted37, in which there had already been three Great Victories in the past two weeks. Also, a "shameful38 rebellion" had been put down in Andalusia, Alabama; it was reported that General Göring was coming over to be the guest of President Haik; and the pretender Trowbridge was said "by a reliable source" to have been assassinated39, kidnaped, and compelled to resign.
"No news this morning," regretted Mr. William Barton Dobbs.
As he came out of the hotel, a squad40 of Minute Men were marching by. They were farm boys, newly recruited for service in Mexico; they looked as scared and soft and big-footed as a rout41 of rabbits. They tried to pipe up the newest-oldest war song, in the manner of the Civil War ditty "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again":
When Johnny comes home from Greaser Land,
Hurray, hurraw,
His ears will be full of desert sand,
Hurray, hurraw,
But he'll speaka de Spiggoty pretty sweet
And he'll bring us a gun and a señorit',
Johnny comes marching home!
Their voices wavered. They peeped at the crowd along the walk, or looked sulkily down at their dragging feet, and the crowd, which once would have been yelping43 "Hail Haik!" was snickering "You beggars 'll never get to Greaser Land!" and even, from the safety of a second-story window, "Hurray, hurraw for Trowbridge!"
"Poor devils!" thought Mr. William Barton Dobbs, as he watched the frightened toy soldiers . . . not too toy-like to keep them from dying.
Yet it is a fact that he could see in the crowd numerous persons whom his arguments, and those of the sixty-odd N.U. secret agents under him, had converted from fear of the M.M.'s to jeering44.
In his open Ford45 convertible--he never started it but he thought of how he had "put it over on Sissy" by getting a Ford all his own--Doremus drove out of the village into stubble-lined prairie. The meadow larks46' liquid ecstasy47 welcomed him from barbed-wire fences. If he missed the strong hills behind Fort Beulah, he was yet exalted48 by the immensity of the sky, the openness of prairie that promised he could go on forever, the gayety of small sloughs49 seen through their fringes of willows50 and cottonwoods, and once, aspiring51 overhead, an early flight of mallards.
He whistled boisterously52 as he bounced on along the section-line road.
He reached a gaunt yellow farmhouse53--it was to have had a porch, but there was only an unpainted nothingness low down on the front wall to show where the porch would be. To a farmer who was oiling a tractor in the pig-littered farmyard he chirped54, "Name's William Barton Dobbs--representing the Des Moines Combine and Up-to-Date Implement55 Company."
"Dobbs!"
"That's right. 'Scuse me."
In an upper bedroom of the farmhouse, seven men were waiting, perched on chair and table and edges of the bed, or just squatted57 on the floor. Some of them were apparently farmers; some unambitious shopkeepers. As Doremus bustled58 in, they rose and bowed.
"Good-morning gentlemen. A little news," he said. "Coon has driven the Corpos out of Yankton and Sioux Falls. Now I wonder if you're ready with your reports?"
To the agent whose difficulty in converting farm-owners had been their dread59 of paying decent wages to farm hands, Doremus presented for use the argument (as formalized yet passionate60 as the observations of a life-insurance agent upon death by motor accident) that poverty for one was poverty for all. . . . It wasn't such a very new argument, nor so very logical, but it had been a useful carrot for many human mules61.
For the agent among the Finnish-American settlers, who were insisting that Trowbridge was a Bolshevik and just as bad as the Russians, Doremus had a mimeographed quotation62 from the Izvestia of Moscow damning Trowbridge as a "social Fascist63 quack64." For the Bavarian farmers down the other way, who were still vaguely65 pro-Nazi66, Doremus had a German émigré paper published in Prague, proving (though without statistics or any considerable quotation from official documents) that, by agreement with Hitler, President Haik was, if he remained in power, going to ship back to the German Army all German-Americans with so much as one grandparent born in the Fatherland.
"Do we close with a cheerful hymn67 and the benediction68, Mr. Dobbs?" demanded the youngest and most flippant--and quite the most successful--agent.
"I wouldn't mind! Maybe it wouldn't be so unsuitable as you think. But considering the loose morals and economics of most of you comrades, perhaps it would be better if I closed with a new story about Haik and Mae West that I heard, day before yesterday. . . . Bless you all! Goodbye!"
As he drove to his next meeting, Doremus fretted69, "I don't believe that Prague story about Haik and Hitler is true. I think I'll quit using it. Oh, I know--I know, Mr. Dobbs; as you say, if you did tell the truth to a Nazi, it would still be a lie. But just the same I think I'll quit using it. . . . Lorinda and me, that thought we could get free of Puritanism! . . . Those cumulus clouds are better than a galleon70. If they'd just move Mount Terror and Fort Beulah and Lorinda and Buck here, this would be Paradise. . . . Oh, Lord, I don't want to, but I suppose I'll have to order the attack on the M.M. post at Osakis now; they're ready for it. . . . I wonder if that shotgun charge yesterday was intended for me? . . . Didn't really like Lorinda's hair fixed71 up in that New York style at all!"
He slept that night in a cottage on the shore of a sandy-bottomed lake ringed with bright birches. His host and his host's wife, worshipers of Trowbridge, had insisted on giving him their own room, with the patchwork72 quilt and the hand-painted pitcher73 and bowl.
He dreamed--as he still did dream, once or twice a week--that he was back in his cell at Trianon. He knew again the stink74, the cramped75 and warty76 bunk77, the never relaxed fear that he might be dragged out and flogged.
He heard magic trumpets78. A soldier opened the door and invited out all the prisoners. There, in the quadrangle, General Emmanuel Coon (who, to Doremus's dreaming fancy, looked exactly like Sherman) addressed them:
"Gentlemen, the Commonwealth79 army has conquered! Haik has been captured! You are free!"
So they marched out, the prisoners, the bent80 and scarred and crippled, the vacant-eyed and slobbering, who had come into this place as erect and daring men: Doremus, Dan Wilgus, Buck, Julian, Mr. Falck, Henry Veeder, Karl Pascal, John Pollikop, Truman Webb. They crept out of the quadrangle gates, through a double line of soldiers standing81 rigidly82 at Present Arms yet weeping as they watched the broken prisoners crawling past.
And beyond the soldiers, Doremus saw the women and children. They were waiting for him--the kind arms of Lorinda and Emma and Sissy and Mary, with David behind them, clinging to his father's hand, and Father Perefixe. And Foolish was there, his tail a proud plume83, and from the dream-blurred crowd came Mrs. Candy, holding out to him a cocoanut cake.
Then all of them were fleeing, frightened by Shad Ledue--
His host was slapping Doremus's shoulder, muttering, "Just had a phone call. Corpo posse out after you."
So Doremus rode out, saluted84 by the meadow larks, and onward85 all day, to a hidden cabin in the Northern Woods where quiet men awaited news of freedom.
And still Doremus goes on in the red sunrise, for a Doremus Jessup can never die.
THE END
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收听单词发音
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1
kit
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| n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物 | |
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decorative
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| adj.装饰的，可作装饰的 | |
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ambled
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| v.（马）缓行( amble的过去式和过去分词 )；从容地走，漫步 | |
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wielding
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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chuckled
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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buck
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| n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃 | |
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imprisoned
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| 下狱，监禁( imprison的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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10
detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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11
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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bloodily
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| adv.出血地；血淋淋地；残忍地；野蛮地 | |
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13
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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15
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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deft
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| adj.灵巧的，熟练的（a deft hand 能手） | |
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agitator
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| n.鼓动者；搅拌器 | |
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adorn
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| vt.使美化，装饰 | |
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19
contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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20
capitalism
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| n.资本主义 | |
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21
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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honeymoons
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| 蜜月( honeymoon的名词复数 )； 短暂的和谐时期； 蜜月期； 最初的和谐时期 | |
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23
repentance
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| n.懊悔 | |
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grafting
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| 嫁接法，移植法 | |
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commissioner
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| n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员 | |
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housekeeper
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| n.管理家务的主妇，女管家 | |
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27
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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28
radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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29
flip
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| vt.快速翻动；轻抛；轻拍；n.轻抛；adj.轻浮的 | |
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30
elegance
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| n.优雅；优美，雅致；精致，巧妙 | |
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31
anonymity
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| n.the condition of being anonymous | |
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32
machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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embargo
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| n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商） | |
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35
acorns
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| n.橡子，栎实( acorn的名词复数 ) | |
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corporate
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| adj.共同的，全体的；公司的，企业的 | |
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37
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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39
assassinated
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| v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏 | |
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40
squad
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| n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组 | |
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41
rout
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| n.溃退，溃败；v.击溃，打垮 | |
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42
stewed
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| adj.焦虑不安的，烂醉的v.炖( stew的过去式和过去分词 )；煨；思考；担忧 | |
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43
yelping
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| v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的现在分词 ) | |
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44
jeering
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| adj.嘲弄的，揶揄的v.嘲笑( jeer的现在分词 ) | |
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45
Ford
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| n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过 | |
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46
larks
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| n.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的名词复数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了v.百灵科鸟（尤指云雀）( lark的第三人称单数 )；一大早就起床；鸡鸣即起；（因太费力而不想干时说）算了 | |
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47
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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48
exalted
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| adj.(地位等)高的，崇高的；尊贵的，高尚的 | |
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49
sloughs
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| n.沼泽( slough的名词复数 )；苦难的深渊；难以改变的不良心情；斯劳(Slough)v.使蜕下或脱落( slough的第三人称单数 )；舍弃；除掉；摒弃 | |
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50
willows
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| n.柳树( willow的名词复数 )；柳木 | |
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51
aspiring
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| adj.有志气的；有抱负的；高耸的v.渴望；追求 | |
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52
boisterously
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| adv.喧闹地，吵闹地 | |
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53
farmhouse
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| n.农场住宅（尤指主要住房） | |
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54
chirped
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| 鸟叫，虫鸣( chirp的过去式 ) | |
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implement
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| n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行 | |
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56
galloped
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| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
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57
squatted
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| v.像动物一样蹲下( squat的过去式和过去分词 )；非法擅自占用（土地或房屋）；为获得其所有权；而占用某片公共用地。 | |
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bustled
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| 闹哄哄地忙乱，奔忙( bustle的过去式和过去分词 )； 催促 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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quotation
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| n.引文，引语，语录；报价，牌价，行情 | |
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63
fascist
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| adj.法西斯主义的；法西斯党的；n.法西斯主义者，法西斯分子 | |
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64
quack
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| n.庸医；江湖医生；冒充内行的人；骗子 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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Nazi
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| n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的 | |
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hymn
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| n.赞美诗，圣歌，颂歌 | |
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68
benediction
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| n.祝福；恩赐 | |
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69
fretted
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| 焦躁的，附有弦马的，腐蚀的 | |
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70
galleon
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| n.大帆船 | |
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71
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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72
patchwork
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| n.混杂物；拼缝物 | |
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73
pitcher
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| n.(有嘴和柄的)大水罐；(棒球)投手 | |
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74
stink
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| vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭 | |
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75
cramped
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| a.狭窄的 | |
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76
warty
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| adj.有疣的，似疣的；瘤状 | |
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77
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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78
trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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79
commonwealth
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| n.共和国，联邦，共同体 | |
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80
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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81
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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82
rigidly
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| adv.刻板地，僵化地 | |
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83
plume
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| n.羽毛；v.整理羽毛，骚首弄姿，用羽毛装饰 | |
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84
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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85
onward
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| adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先 | |
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