1-35

 

35.

Our family was no longer getting larger. There were no new spouses¹ on the horizon, no newbabies. My aunts and uncles, Sophie and Edward, Fergie and Andrew, had stopped growing theirfamilies. Pa, too, of course. An era of stasis had set in.

But now, in 2002, it dawned on me, dawned on all of us, that the family wasn’t static after all.

We were about to get smaller.

Princess Margaret and Gan-Gan were both unwell.

I didn’t know Princess Margaret, whom I called Aunt Margo. She was my great-aunt, yes, weshared 12.5 percent of our DNA², we spent the bigger holidays together, and yet she was almost atotal stranger. Like most Britons, I mainly knew of her. I was conversant³ with the general contoursof her sad life. Great loves thwarted⁴ by the Palace. Exuberant⁵ streaks⁶ of self-destruction splashedacross the tabloids⁷. One hasty marriage, which looked doomed⁸ at the outset and ended up beingworse than expected. Her husband leaving poisonous notes around the house, scalding lists ofthings wrong with her. Twenty-four reasons why I hate you!

Growing up, I felt nothing for her, except a bit of pity and a lot of jumpiness. She could kill ahouseplant with one scowl⁹. Mostly, whenever she was around, I kept my distance. On those rarer-than-rare occasions when our paths crossed, when she deigned¹⁰ to take notice of me, to speak tome, I’d wonder if she had any opinion of me. It seemed that she didn’t. Or else, given her tone, hercoldness, the opinion wasn’t much.

Then one Christmas she cleared up the mystery. The whole family gathered to open gifts onChristmas Eve, as always, a German tradition that survived the anglicizing of the family surnamefrom Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor. We were at Sandringham in a big room with a long tablecovered with white cloth and white name cards. By custom, at the start of the night, each of uslocated our place, stood before our mound¹¹ of presents. Then suddenly, everyone began opening atthe same time. A free-for-all, with scores of family members talking at once and pulling at bowsand tearing at wrapping paper.

Standing¹² before my pile, I chose to open the smallest present first. The tag said: From AuntMargo.

I looked over, called out: Thank you, Aunt Margo!

I do hope you like it, Harry¹³.

I tore off the paper. It was…

A biro?

I said: Oh. A biro. Wow.

She said: Yes. A biro.

I said: Thank you so much.

But it wasn’t just any biro, she pointed¹⁴ out. It had a tiny rubber fish wrapped around it.

I said: Oh. A fish biro! OK.

I told myself: That is cold-blooded.

Now and then, as I grew older, it struck me that Aunt Margo and I should’ve been friends. Wehad so much in common. Two Spares. Her relationship with Granny wasn’t an exact analog¹⁵ ofmine with Willy, but pretty close. The simmering rivalry¹⁶, the intense competition (driven largelyby the older sibling), it all looked familiar. Aunt Margo also wasn’t that dissimilar from Mummy.

Both rebels, both labeled as sirens. (Pablo Picasso was among the many men obsessed¹⁷ withMargo.) So my first thought when I learned in early 2002 that she’d been taken ill was to wishthere’d been more time to get to know her. But we were well past that. She was unable to care forherself. After badly burning her feet in a bath, she was confined to a wheelchair, and said to beswiftly declining.

When she died, February 9, 2002, my first thought was that this would be a heavy blow toGan-Gan, who was also in decline.

Granny tried to talk Gan-Gan out of attending the funeral. But Gan-Gan dragged herself out ofher sickbed, and shortly after that day took a bad fall.

It was Pa who told me she’d been confined to her bed at Royal Lodge¹⁸, the sprawling¹⁹ countryhouse in which she’d lived part- time for the last fifty years, when she wasn’t at her mainresidence, Clarence House. Royal Lodge was three miles south of Windsor Castle, still in WindsorGreat Park, still part of the Crown Estate, but like the castle it had one foot in another world.

Dizzyingly high ceilings. Pebbled²⁰ driveway winding²¹ serenely²² through vivid gardens.

Built not long after the death of Cromwell.

I felt comforted to hear that Gan-Gan was there, a place I knew she loved. She was in her ownbed, Pa said, and not suffering.

Granny was often with her.

Days later, at Eton, while studying, I took the call. I wish I could remember whose voice wasat the other end; a courtier, I believe. I recall that it was just before Easter, the weather bright andwarm, light slanting²³ through my window, filled with vivid colors.

Your Royal Highness, the Queen Mother has died.

Cut to Willy and me, days later. Dark suits, downcast faces, eyes filled with déjà vu. Wewalked slowly behind the gun carriage, bagpipes²⁴ playing, hundreds of them. The sound threw meback in time.

I began shaking.

Once again we made that hideous²⁵ trek²⁶ to Westminster Abbey. Then we stepped into a car,joined the cortège—from the center of town, along Whitehall, out to the Mall, on to St. George’sChapel.

Throughout that morning my eye kept going to the top of Gan-Gan’s coffin²⁷, where they’d setthe crown. Its three thousand diamonds and jeweled cross winked²⁸ in the spring sunlight. At thecenter of the cross was a diamond the size of a cricket ball. Not just a diamond, actually; the GreatDiamond of the World, a 105-karat monster called the Koh-i-Noor. Largest diamond ever seen byhuman eyes. “Acquired” by the British Empire at its zenith. Stolen, some thought. I’d heard it wasmesmerizing, and I’d heard it was cursed. Men fought for it, died for it, and thus the curse wassaid to be masculine.

Only women were permitted to wear it.

 

1 spouses   

n.配偶，夫或妻( spouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Jobs are available for spouses on campus and in the community. 校园里和社区里有配偶可做的工作。 来自辞典例句
• An astonishing number of spouses-most particularly in the upper-income brackets-have no close notion of their husbands'paychecks. 相当大一部分妇女——特别在高收入阶层——并不很了解他们丈夫的薪金。 来自辞典例句

2 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

3 conversant   

adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的

参考例句：

• Mr.Taylor is thoroughly conversant with modern music.泰勒先生对现代音乐很精通。
• We become the most conversant stranger in the world.我们变成了世界上最熟悉的陌生人。

4 thwarted   

阻挠( thwart的过去式和过去分词 )； 使受挫折； 挫败； 横过

参考例句：

• The guards thwarted his attempt to escape from prison. 警卫阻扰了他越狱的企图。
• Our plans for a picnic were thwarted by the rain. 我们的野餐计划因雨受挫。

5 exuberant   

adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的

参考例句：

• Hothouse plants do not possess exuberant vitality.在温室里培养出来的东西，不会有强大的生命力。
• All those mother trees in the garden are exuberant.果园里的那些母树都长得十分茂盛。

6 streaks   

n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹

参考例句：

• streaks of grey in her hair 她头上的绺绺白发
• Bacon has streaks of fat and streaks of lean. 咸肉中有几层肥的和几层瘦的。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

7 tabloids   

n.小报，通俗小报（版面通常比大报小一半，文章短，图片多，经常报道名人佚事）( tabloid的名词复数 )；药片

参考例句：

• The story was on the front pages of all the tabloids. 所有小报都在头版报道了这件事。
• The story made the front page in all the tabloids. 这件事成了所有小报的头版新闻。

8 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

9 scowl   

vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容

参考例句：

• I wonder why he is wearing an angry scowl.我不知道他为何面带怒容。
• The boss manifested his disgust with a scowl.老板面带怒色，清楚表示出他的厌恶之感。

10 deigned   

v.屈尊，俯就( deign的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Carrie deigned no suggestion of hearing this. 嘉莉不屑一听。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Carrie scarcely deigned to reply. 嘉莉不屑回答。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

11 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

12 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。

13 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。

14 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

15 analog   

n.类似物，模拟

参考例句：

• The analog signal contains high-frequency video information,which helps make up the picture.模拟信号包括有助于构成图像的高频视频信息。
• The analog computer measures continuously,without proceeding step by step.模拟计算机不是一步一步地进行，而是连续地进行量度。

16 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。

17 obsessed   

adj.心神不宁的,鬼迷心窍的,沉迷的

参考例句：

• He's obsessed by computers. 他迷上了电脑。
• The fear of death obsessed him throughout his old life. 他晚年一直受着死亡恐惧的困扰。

18 lodge   

v.临时住宿，寄宿，寄存，容纳；n.传达室，小旅馆

参考例句：

• Is there anywhere that I can lodge in the village tonight?村里有我今晚过夜的地方吗？
• I shall lodge at the inn for two nights.我要在这家小店住两个晚上。

19 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

20 pebbled   

用卵石铺（pebble的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• And quick to the white-pebbled bottom it fell! 接着它飞快地回落到白色卵石的井底潺潺！
• Outside, the rain had stopped but the glass was still pebbled with bright drops. 窗外的雨已经停了，但玻璃上还是布满明亮的水珠。

21 winding   

n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈

参考例句：

• A winding lane led down towards the river.一条弯弯曲曲的小路通向河边。
• The winding trail caused us to lose our orientation.迂回曲折的小道使我们迷失了方向。

22 serenely   

adv.安详地，宁静地，平静地

参考例句：

• The boat sailed serenely on towards the horizon.小船平稳地向着天水交接处驶去。
• It was a serenely beautiful night.那是一个宁静美丽的夜晚。

23 slanting   

倾斜的，歪斜的

参考例句：

• The rain is driving [slanting] in from the south. 南边潲雨。
• The line is slanting to the left. 这根线向左斜了。

24 bagpipes   

n.风笛；风笛( bagpipe的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Yes, and I'm also learning to play the bagpipes. 是的，我也想学习吹风笛。 来自超越目标英语 第3册
• Mr. Vinegar took the bagpipes and the piper led the cow away. 于是醋溜先生拿过了风笛，风笛手牵走了奶牛。 来自互联网

25 hideous   

adj.丑陋的，可憎的，可怕的，恐怖的

参考例句：

• The whole experience had been like some hideous nightmare.整个经历就像一场可怕的噩梦。
• They're not like dogs,they're hideous brutes.它们不像狗，是丑陋的畜牲。

26 trek   

vi.作长途艰辛的旅行；n.长途艰苦的旅行

参考例句：

• We often go pony-trek in the summer.夏季我们经常骑马旅行。
• It took us the whole day to trek across the rocky terrain.我们花了一整天的时间艰难地穿过那片遍布岩石的地带。

27 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。

28 winked   

v.使眼色( wink的过去式和过去分词 )；递眼色（表示友好或高兴等）；（指光）闪烁；闪亮

参考例句：

• He winked at her and she knew he was thinking the same thing that she was. 他冲她眨了眨眼，她便知道他的想法和她一样。
• He winked his eyes at her and left the classroom. 他向她眨巴一下眼睛走出了教室。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》