-
(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Chapter 15 - Rostóv’s hussars charge the French dragoons
Rostov, with his keen sportsman’s eye, was one of the first to catch sight of these blue French dragoons pursuing our Uhlans. Nearer and nearer in disorderly crowds came the Uhlans and the French dragoons pursuing them. He could already see how these men, who looked so small at the foot of the hill, jostled and overtook one another, waving their arms and their sabers in the air.
Rostov gazed at what was happening before him as at a hunt. He felt instinctively2 that if the hussars struck at the French dragoons now, the latter could not withstand them, but if a charge was to be made it must be done now, at that very moment, or it would be too late. He looked around. A captain, standing3 beside him, was gazing like himself with eyes fixed4 on the cavalry5 below them.
“Andrey Sevastyanych!” said Rostov. “You know, we could crush them. . . . ”
“A fine thing too!” replied the captain, “and really . . . ”
Rostov, without waiting to hear him out, touched his horse, galloped7 to the front of his squadron, and before he had time to finish giving the word of command, the whole squadron, sharing his feeling, was following him. Rostov himself did not know how or why he did it. He acted as he did when hunting, without reflecting or considering. He saw the dragoons near and that they were galloping8 in disorder1; he knew they could not withstand an attack — knew there was only that moment and that if he let it slip it would not return. The bullets were whining9 and whistling so stimulatingly10 around him and his horse was so eager to go that he could not restrain himself. He touched his horse, gave the word of command, and immediately, hearing behind him the tramp of the horses of his deployed11 squadron, rode at full trot12 downhill toward the dragoons. Hardly had they reached the bottom of the hill before their pace instinctively changed to a gallop6, which grew faster and faster as they drew nearer to our Uhlans and the French dragoons who galloped after them. The dragoons were now close at hand. On seeing the hussars, the foremost began to turn, while those behind began to halt. With the same feeling with which he had galloped across the path of a wolf, Rostov gave rein13 to his Donets horse and galloped to intersect the path of the dragoons’ disordered lines. One Uhlan stopped, another who was on foot flung himself to the ground to avoid being knocked over, and a riderless horse fell in among the hussars. Nearly all the French dragoons were galloping back. Rostov, picking out one on a gray horse, dashed after him. On the way he came upon a bush, his gallant14 horse cleared it, and almost before he had righted himself in his saddle he saw that he would immediately overtake the enemy he had selected. That Frenchman, by his uniform an officer, was going at a gallop, crouching15 on his gray horse and urging it on with his saber. In another moment Rostov’s horse dashed its breast against the hindquarters of the officer’s horse, almost knocking it over, and at the same instant Rostov, without knowing why, raised his saber and struck the Frenchman with it.
The instant he had done this, all Rostov’s animation16 vanished. The officer fell, not so much from the blow — which had but slightly cut his arm above the elbow — as from the shock to his horse and from fright. Rostov reined17 in his horse, and his eyes sought his foe18 to see whom he had vanquished19. The French dragoon officer was hopping20 with one foot on the ground, the other being caught in the stirrup. His eyes, screwed up with fear as if he every moment expected another blow, gazed up at Rostov with shrinking terror. His pale and mud-stained face — fair and young, with a dimple in the chin and light-blue eyes — was not an enemy’s face at all suited to a battlefield, but a most ordinary, homelike face. Before Rostov had decided21 what to do with him, the officer cried, “I surrender!” He hurriedly but vainly tried to get his foot out of the stirrup and did not remove his frightened blue eyes from Rostov’s face. Some hussars who galloped up disengaged his foot and helped him into the saddle. On all sides, the hussars were busy with the dragoons; one was wounded, but though his face was bleeding, he would not give up his horse; another was perched up behind an hussar with his arms round him; a third was being helped by an hussar to mount his horse. In front, the French infantry22 were firing as they ran. The hussars galloped hastily back with their prisoners. Rostov galloped back with the rest, aware of an unpleasant feeling of depression in his heart. Something vague and confused, which he could not at all account for, had come over him with the capture of that officer and the blow he had dealt him.
Count Ostermann-Tolstoy met the returning hussars, sent for Rostov, thanked him, and said he would report his gallant deed to the Emperor and would recommend him for a St. George’s Cross. When sent for by Count Ostermann, Rostov, remembering that he had charged without orders, felt sure his commander was sending for him to punish him for breach23 of discipline. Ostermann’s flattering words and promise of a reward should therefore have struck him all the more pleasantly, but he still felt that same vaguely24 disagreeable feeling of moral nausea25. “But what on earth is worrying me?” he asked himself as he rode back from the general. “Ilyin? No, he’s safe. Have I disgraced myself in any way? No, that’s not it.” Something else, resembling remorse26, tormented27 him. “Yes, oh yes, that French officer with the dimple. And I remember how my arm paused when I raised it.”
Rostov saw the prisoners being led away and galloped after them to have a look at his Frenchman with the dimple on his chin. He was sitting in his foreign uniform on an hussar packhorse and looked anxiously about him; The sword cut on his arm could scarcely be called a wound. He glanced at Rostov with a feigned28 smile and waved his hand in greeting. Rostov still had the same indefinite feeling, as of shame.
All that day and the next his friends and comrades noticed that Rostov, without being dull or angry, was silent, thoughtful, and preoccupied29. He drank reluctantly, tried to remain alone, and kept turning something over in his mind.
Rostov was always thinking about that brilliant exploit of his, which to his amazement30 had gained him the St. George’s Cross and even given him a reputation for bravery, and there was something he could not at all understand. “So others are even more afraid than I am!” he thought. “So that’s all there is in what is called heroism31! And heroism! And did I do it for my country’s sake? And how was he to blame, with his dimple and blue eyes? And how frightened he was! He thought that I should kill him. Why should I kill him? My hand trembled. And they have given me a St. George’s Cross. . . . I can’t make it out at all.”
But while Nikolai was considering these questions and still could reach no clear solution of what puzzled him so, the wheel of fortune in the service, as often happens, turned in his favor. After the affair at Ostrovna he was brought into notice, received command of an hussar battalion32, and when a brave officer was needed he was chosen.
点击
收听单词发音
收听单词发音 |
1
disorder
|
|
| n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
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： |
|
|
|
|
4
fixed
|
|
| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
cavalry
|
|
| n.骑兵；轻装甲部队 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
gallop
|
|
| v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
galloped
|
|
| （使马）飞奔，奔驰( gallop的过去式和过去分词 )； 快速做[说]某事 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
galloping
|
|
| adj. 飞驰的, 急性的 动词gallop的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
whining
|
|
| n. 抱怨，牢骚 v. 哭诉，发牢骚 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
stimulatingly
|
|
| adj.刺激的，有刺激性的v.刺激( stimulate的现在分词 )；激励；使兴奋；起兴奋作用，起刺激作用，起促进作用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
deployed
|
|
| （尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
trot
|
|
| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
rein
|
|
| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
gallant
|
|
| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
crouching
|
|
| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
animation
|
|
| n.活泼，兴奋，卡通片／动画片的制作 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
reined
|
|
| 勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
foe
|
|
| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
vanquished
|
|
| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
hopping
|
|
| n. 跳跃 动词hop的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
decided
|
|
| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
infantry
|
|
| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
breach
|
|
| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
vaguely
|
|
| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
nausea
|
|
| n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
remorse
|
|
| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
tormented
|
|
| 饱受折磨的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
feigned
|
|
| a.假装的，不真诚的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
preoccupied
|
|
| adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
amazement
|
|
| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
heroism
|
|
| n.大无畏精神，英勇 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
battalion
|
|
| n.营；部队；大队(的人) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
购买
在百度中搜索