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22.

Marko, the largest member of the group, also laughed the loudest. There was some ratio betweenthe size of his body and the radius¹ of his bellows². Also, there was a similar link between thevolume of his voice and the bright shade of his hair. I was a ginger³, self-conscious about it, butMarko was an extreme ginger and owned it.

I gawped at him and thought: Teach me to be like that.

Marko, however, wasn’t your typical teacher. Perpetually moving, perpetually doing, he lovedmany things—food, travel, nature, guns, us—but he had no interest in giving lectures. He wasmore about leading by example. And having a good time. He was one great big ginger MardiGras, and if you wanted to join the party, wonderful, and if not, that was grand too. I wonderedmany times, watching him wolf his dinner, gulp⁴ his gin, shout another joke, slap another trackeron the back, why more people weren’t like this guy.

Why didn’t more at least try?

I wanted to ask Willy what it was like to have such a man minding him, guiding him, butapparently the Eton rule carried over to Botswana: Willy didn’t want to know me in the bush anymore than he did back at school.

The one thing about Marko that gave me pause was his time in the Welsh Guards. I’dsometimes look at him on that trip and see those eight Welsh Guards in their red tunics⁵, hoistingthat coffin⁶ onto their shoulders and marching down the abbey aisle…I tried to remind myself thatMarko wasn’t there that day. I tried to remind myself that, anyway, the box was empty.

All was well.

When Tiggy “suggested” I go to bed, always before everyone else, I didn’t squawk. The dayswere long, the tent was a welcome cocoon⁷. Its canvas smelt⁸ pleasantly of old books, its floor wascovered with soft antelope⁹ skins, my bed was wrapped in a cozy¹⁰ African rug. For the first time inmonths, years, I’d drop off straightaway. Of course it helped to have that campfire glowing againstthe wall, to hear those adults on the other side, and the animals beyond. Screeches¹¹, bleats¹², roars,what a racket they made after dark—their busy time. Their rush hour. The later it got, the louderthey got. I found it soothing¹³. I also found it hilarious¹⁴: no matter how loud the animals, I could stillhear Marko laughing.

One night, before I fell asleep, I made myself a promise: I’m going to find a way to make thatguy laugh.

 

1 radius   

n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限

参考例句：

• He has visited every shop within a radius of two miles.周围两英里以内的店铺他都去过。
• We are measuring the radius of the circle.我们正在测量圆的半径。

2 bellows   

n.风箱；发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的名词复数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的第三人称单数 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫

参考例句：

• His job is to blow the bellows for the blacksmith. 他的工作是给铁匠拉风箱。 来自辞典例句
• You could, I suppose, compare me to a blacksmith's bellows. 我想，你可能把我比作铁匠的风箱。 来自辞典例句

3 ginger   

n.姜，精力，淡赤黄色；adj.淡赤黄色的；vt.使活泼，使有生气

参考例句：

• There is no ginger in the young man.这个年轻人没有精神。
• Ginger shall be hot in the mouth.生姜吃到嘴里总是辣的。

4 gulp   

vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽

参考例句：

• She took down the tablets in one gulp.她把那些药片一口吞了下去。
• Don't gulp your food,chew it before you swallow it.吃东西不要狼吞虎咽，要嚼碎了再咽下去。

5 tunics   

n.（动植物的）膜皮( tunic的名词复数 )；束腰宽松外衣；一套制服的短上衣；（天主教主教等穿的）短祭袍

参考例句：

• After work colourful clothes replace the blue tunics. 下班后，蓝制服都换成了色彩鲜艳的衣服。 来自辞典例句
• The ancient Greeks fastened their tunics with Buttons and loops. 古希腊人在肩部用钮扣与环圈将束腰外衣扣紧。 来自互联网

6 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

7 cocoon   

n.茧

参考例句：

• A cocoon is a kind of silk covering made by an insect.蚕茧是由昆虫制造的一种由丝组成的外包层。
• The beautiful butterfly emerged from the cocoon.美丽的蝴蝶自茧中出现。

8 smelt   

v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼

参考例句：

• Tin is a comparatively easy metal to smelt.锡是比较容易熔化的金属。
• Darby was looking for a way to improve iron when he hit upon the idea of smelting it with coke instead of charcoal.达比一直在寻找改善铁质的方法，他猛然想到可以不用木炭熔炼，而改用焦炭。

9 antelope   

n.羚羊；羚羊皮

参考例句：

• Choosing the antelope shows that China wants a Green Olympics.选择藏羚羊表示中国需要绿色奥运。
• The tiger was dragging the antelope across the field.老虎拖着羚羊穿过原野。

10 cozy   

adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的

参考例句：

• I like blankets because they are cozy.我喜欢毛毯，因为他们是舒适的。
• We spent a cozy evening chatting by the fire.我们在炉火旁聊天度过了一个舒适的晚上。

11 screeches   

n.尖锐的声音( screech的名词复数 )v.发出尖叫声( screech的第三人称单数 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫

参考例句：

• The boy's screeches brought his mother. 男孩的尖叫声招来了他母亲。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The woman's screeches brought the police. 这个妇女的尖叫声招来了警察。 来自辞典例句

12 bleats   

v.（羊，小牛）叫( bleat的第三人称单数 )；哭诉；发出羊叫似的声音；轻声诉说

参考例句：

• Every time the sheep bleats it loses a mouthful. 羊每叫一次，就少吃一口。 来自互联网
• There is a saying that every time the sheep bleats, it loses a mouthful of hay. 有句古谚曾说，绵羊每叫一声，它就会掉落一口干草。 来自互联网

13 soothing   

adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的

参考例句：

• Put on some nice soothing music.播放一些柔和舒缓的音乐。
• His casual, relaxed manner was very soothing.他随意而放松的举动让人很快便平静下来。

14 hilarious   

adj.充满笑声的，欢闹的；[反]depressed

参考例句：

• The party got quite hilarious after they brought more wine.在他们又拿来更多的酒之后，派对变得更加热闹起来。
• We stop laughing because the show was so hilarious.我们笑个不停，因为那个节目太搞笑了。