1-42

 

42.

The remedy to all problems, as always, was work. Hard, sweaty, nonstop labor¹, that was what theHills had to offer, and plenty of it, and I couldn’t get enough. The harder I worked, the less I feltthe heat, and the easier it was to talk—or not talk—around the supper table.

But this wasn’t merely work. Being a jackaroo required stamina², to be sure, but it alsodemanded a certain artistry. You had to be a whisperer with the animals. You had to be a reader ofthe skies, and the land.

You also had to possess a superior level of horsemanship. I’d come to Australia thinking Iknew my way around horses, but the Hills were Huns, each born in a saddle. Noel was the son of aprofessional polo player. (He’d been Pa’s former polo coach.) Annie could stroke a horse’s noseand tell you what that beast was thinking. And George climbed into a saddle more easily than mostpeople get into their beds.

A typical working day began in the middle of the night. Hours before dawn George and Iwould stumble outside, tackle the first chores, trying to get as much done as possible before thesun ascended³. At first light we’d saddle up, gallop⁴ to the edges of the Hills’ forty thousand acres(double the size of Balmoral) and begin to muster⁵. That is, move the herd⁶ of cattle from here tothere. We’d also search for individual cows that had strayed overnight, and drive them back intothe herd. Or load some onto a trailer and take them to another section. I rarely knew exactly whywe were moving these cows or those, but I got the bottom line:

Cows need their space.

I felt them.

Whenever George and I found a group of strays, a rebellious⁷ little cattle cabal⁸, that wasespecially challenging. It was vital to keep them together. If they scattered⁹, we’d be proper fucked.

It would take hours to round them up and then the day would be wrecked¹⁰. If one darted¹¹ off, into astand of trees, say, George or I would have to ride full speed after it. Every now and then, mid-chase, you’d get whipped out of the saddle by a low-hanging branch, maybe knocked cold. Whenyou came to, you’d do a check for broken bones, internal bleeding, while your horse stoodmorosely over you.

The trick was never letting a chase last too long. Long chases wore out the cow, reduced itsbody fat, slashed¹² its market value. Fat was money, and there was no margin¹³ for error with Aussiecattle, which had so little fat to begin with. Water was scarce, grass was scarce, and what littlethere was often got grubbed by kangaroos, which George and his family viewed as other peopleview rats.

I always flinched¹⁴, and chuckled¹⁵, at the way George spoke¹⁶ to errant cattle. He harangued¹⁷ them,abused them, cursed them, favoring one curse word in particular, a word many people go alifetime without using. George couldn’t go five minutes. Most people dive under a table when theyhear this word, but for George it was the Swiss Army knife of language—endless applications anduses. (He also made it sound almost charming, with his Aussie accent.)It was merely one of dozens of words in the complete George lexicon¹⁸. For instance, a fat was aplump cow ready for slaughter¹⁹. A steer²⁰ was a young bull that should’ve been castrated but hadn’tbeen yet. A weaner was a calf²¹ newly split from its mother. A smoko was a cigarette break. Tuckerwas food. I spent a lot of late 2003 sitting high in the saddle, watching a weaner while sucking asmoko and dreaming of my next tucker.

Sometimes hard, sometimes tedious, mustering²² could be unexpectedly emotional. Youngfemales were easier, they went where you nudged them, but young males didn’t care for beingbossed around, and what they really didn’t like was being split from their mums. They cried,moaned, sometimes charged you. A wildly swung horn could ruin a limb or sever²³ an artery²⁴. But Iwasn’t afraid. Instead…I was empathetic. And the young males seemed to know.

The one job I wouldn’t do, the one piece of hard work I shied from, was snipping²⁵ balls. Everytime George brought out that long shiny blade I’d raise my hands. No, mate, can’t do it.

Suit yourself.

At day’s end I’d take a scalding shower, eat a gargantuan²⁶ supper, then sit with George on theporch, rolling cigarettes, sipping²⁷ cold beers. Sometimes we’d listen to his small CD player, whichmade me think of Pa’s wireless²⁸. Or Henners. He and the other boy went to borrow another CDplayer…Often we’d just sit gazing into the distance. The land was so tabletop flat you could seethunderstorms brewing²⁹ hours ahead of when they arrived, the first spidery bolts flicking³⁰ the far-offland. As the bolts got thicker, and closer, wind would race through the house, ruffling³¹ the curtains.

Then the rooms would flutter with white light. The first thunderclaps would shake the furniture.

Finally, the deluge³². George would sigh. His parents would sigh. Rain was grass, rain was fat. Rainwas money.

If it didn’t rain, that also felt like a blessing³³, because after a windstorm the clear sky would bepeppered with stars. I’d point out to George what the gang in Botswana had pointed³⁴ out to me. Seethat bright one next to the moon? That’s Venus. And over there, that’s Scorpius—best place to seeit is the southern hemisphere. And there’s Pleiades. And that’s Sirius—brightest star in the sky.

And there’s Orion: the Hunter. All comes down to hunting, doesn’t it? Hunters, hunted…What’s that, Harry³⁵?

Nothing, mate.

The thing I found endlessly mesmerizing³⁶ about the stars was how far away they all were. Thelight you saw was born hundreds of centuries ago. In other words, looking at a star, you werelooking at the past, at a time long before anyone you knew or loved had lived.

Or died.

Or disappeared.

George and I usually hit the sack about eight thirty. Often we were too tired to take off ourclothes. I was no longer afraid of the dark, I craved³⁷ it. I slept as if dead, woke as if reborn. Sore,but ready for more.

There were no days off. Between the relentless³⁸ work, the relentless heat, the relentless cows, Icould feel myself being whittled³⁹ down, lighter⁴⁰ each morning by a kilo, quieter by a few dozenwords. Even my British accent was being pared away. After six weeks I sounded nothing likeWilly and Pa. I sounded more like George.

And dressed a bit like him as well. I took to wearing a slouchy felt cowboy hat like his. Icarried one of his old leather whips.

Finally, to go with this new Harry, I acquired a new name. Spike⁴¹.

It happened like this. My hair had never fully⁴² recovered after I’d let my Eton schoolmatesshave it. Some strands⁴³ shot up like summer grass, some lay flat, like lacquered hay. George oftenpointed at my head and said: You look a right mess! But on a trip to Sydney, to see the RugbyWorld Cup, I’d made an official appearance at the Taronga Zoo, and I’d been asked to pose for aphoto with something called an echidna. A cross between a hedgehog and an anteater, it had hardspiky hair, which was why the zookeepers named it Spike. It looked, as George would say, a rightmess.

More to the point, it looked like me. A lot like me. And when George happened to see a photoof me posing with Spike, he yelped⁴⁴.

Haz—that thing’s got your hair!

Thereafter, he never called me anything but Spike. And then my bodyguards⁴⁶ took up thechorus. Indeed, they made Spike my code name on the radio. Some even printed up T-shirts,which they wore while guarding me: Spike 2003.

Soon enough my mates at home got wind of this new nickname, and adopted it. I becameSpike, when I wasn’t Haz, or Baz, or Prince Jackaroo, or Harold, or Darling Boy, or Scrawny, anickname given me by some Palace staff. Identity had always been problematic, but with a halfdozen formal names and a full dozen nicknames it was turning into a hall of mirrors.

Most days I didn’t care what people called me. Most days I thought: Don’t care who I am, solong as it’s someone new, someone other than Prince Harry. But then an official package wouldarrive from London, from the Palace, and the old me, the old life, the royal life, would comeracing back.

The packet usually arrived in the everyday mail, though sometimes it was under the arm of anew bodyguard⁴⁵. (There was a constant changing of the guard, every couple of weeks, to keep themfresh and let them see their families.) Inside the packet would be letters from Pa, office paperwork,plus some briefs about charities in which I was involved. All stamped: Att HRH Prince Henry ofWales.

One day the package contained a series of memos⁴⁷ from the Palace comms team about adelicate matter. Mummy’s former butler had penned a tell-all, which actually told nothing. It wasmerely one man’s self-justifying, self-centering version of events. My mother once called thisbutler a dear friend, trusted him implicitly⁴⁸. We did too. Now this. He was milking herdisappearance for money. It made my blood boil. I wanted to fly home, confront him. I phoned Pa,announced that I was getting on a plane. I’m sure it was the one and only conversation I had withhim while I was in Australia. He—and then, in a separate phone call, Willy—talked me out of it.

All we could do, they both said, was issue a united condemnation⁴⁹.

So we did. Or they did. I had nothing to do with the drafting. (Personally, I’d have gone muchfurther.) In measured tones it called out the butler for his treachery, and publicly requested ameeting with him, to uncover his motives⁵⁰ and explore his so-called revelations.

The butler answered us publicly, saying he welcomed such a meeting. But not for anyconstructive purpose. To one newspaper he vowed⁵¹: “I’d love to give them a piece of my mind.”

He wanted to give us a piece of his mind?

I waited anxiously for the meeting. I counted the days.

Of course it didn’t happen.

I didn’t know why; I assumed the Palace quashed it.

I told myself: Shame.

I thought of that man as the one errant steer that got away that summer.

 

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 stamina   

n.体力；精力；耐力

参考例句：

• I lacked the stamina to run the whole length of the race.我没有跑完全程的耐力。
• Giving up smoking had a magical effect on his stamina.戒烟神奇地增强了他的体力。

3 ascended   

v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He has ascended into heaven. 他已经升入了天堂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The climbers slowly ascended the mountain. 爬山运动员慢慢地登上了这座山。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 gallop   

v./n.(马或骑马等)飞奔；飞速发展

参考例句：

• They are coming at a gallop towards us.他们正朝着我们飞跑过来。
• The horse slowed to a walk after its long gallop.那匹马跑了一大阵后慢下来缓步而行。

5 muster   

v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册

参考例句：

• Go and muster all the men you can find.去集合所有你能找到的人。
• I had to muster my courage up to ask him that question.我必须鼓起勇气向他问那个问题。

6 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

7 rebellious   

adj.造反的，反抗的，难控制的

参考例句：

• They will be in danger if they are rebellious.如果他们造反，他们就要发生危险。
• Her reply was mild enough,but her thoughts were rebellious.她的回答虽然很温和，但她的心里十分反感。

8 cabal   

n.政治阴谋小集团

参考例句：

• He had been chosen by a secret government cabal.他已被一个秘密的政府阴谋集团选中。
• The illegal aspects of the cabal's governance are glaring and ubiquitous.黑暗势力的非法统治是显而易见的并无处不在。

9 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

10 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

11 darted   

v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔

参考例句：

• The lizard darted out its tongue at the insect. 蜥蜴伸出舌头去吃小昆虫。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The old man was displeased and darted an angry look at me. 老人不高兴了，瞪了我一眼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 slashed   

v.挥砍( slash的过去式和过去分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减

参考例句：

• Someone had slashed the tyres on my car. 有人把我的汽车轮胎割破了。
• He slashed the bark off the tree with his knife. 他用刀把树皮从树上砍下。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

14 flinched   

v.（因危险和痛苦）退缩，畏惧( flinch的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He flinched at the sight of the blood. 他一见到血就往后退。
• This tough Corsican never flinched or failed. 这个刚毅的科西嘉人从来没有任何畏缩或沮丧。 来自辞典例句

15 chuckled   

轻声地笑( chuckle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She chuckled at the memory. 想起这件事她就暗自发笑。
• She chuckled softly to herself as she remembered his astonished look. 想起他那惊讶的表情，她就轻轻地暗自发笑。

16 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

17 harangued   

v.高谈阔论( harangue的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He harangued his fellow students and persuaded them to walk out. 他对他的同学慷慨陈词说服他们罢课。 来自辞典例句
• The teacher harangued us all about our untidy work. 老师对于凌乱的作业对我们全部喋喋不休地训斥。 来自互联网

18 lexicon   

n.字典，专门词汇

参考例句：

• Chocolate equals sin in most people's lexicon.巧克力在大多数人的字典里等同于罪恶。
• Silent earthquakes are only just beginning to enter the public lexicon.无声地震才刚开始要成为众所周知的语汇。

19 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

20 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

21 calf   

n.小牛，犊，幼仔，小牛皮

参考例句：

• The cow slinked its calf.那头母牛早产了一头小牛犊。
• The calf blared for its mother.牛犊哞哞地高声叫喊找妈妈。

22 mustering   

v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的现在分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发

参考例句：

• He paused again, mustering his strength and thoughts. 他又停下来，集中力量，聚精会神。 来自辞典例句
• The LORD Almighty is mustering an army for war. 这是万军之耶和华点齐军队，预备打仗。 来自互联网

23 sever   

v.切开，割开；断绝，中断

参考例句：

• She wanted to sever all her connections with the firm.她想断绝和那家公司的所有联系。
• We must never sever the cultural vein of our nation.我们不能割断民族的文化血脉。

24 artery   

n.干线，要道；动脉

参考例句：

• We couldn't feel the changes in the blood pressure within the artery.我们无法感觉到动脉血管内血压的变化。
• The aorta is the largest artery in the body.主动脉是人体中的最大动脉。

25 snipping   

n.碎片v.剪( snip的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The crew had been snipping it for souvenirs. 舰上人员把它剪下来当作纪念品。 来自辞典例句
• The gardener is snipping off the dead leaves in the garden. 花匠在花园时剪枯叶。 来自互联网

26 gargantuan   

adj.巨大的，庞大的

参考例句：

• My gargantuan,pristine machine was good for writing papers and playing solitaire,and that was all.我那庞大的、早期的计算机只适合写文章和玩纸牌游戏，就这些。
• Right away,I realized this was a mistake of gargantuan proportions.我立刻意识到这是一个巨大的错误。

27 sipping   

v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She sat in the sun, idly sipping a cool drink. 她坐在阳光下懒洋洋地抿着冷饮。
• She sat there, sipping at her tea. 她坐在那儿抿着茶。

28 wireless   

adj.无线的；n.无线电

参考例句：

• There are a lot of wireless links in a radio.收音机里有许多无线电线路。
• Wireless messages tell us that the ship was sinking.无线电报告知我们那艘船正在下沉。

29 brewing   

n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• It was obvious that a big storm was brewing up. 很显然，一场暴风雨正在酝酿中。
• She set about brewing some herb tea. 她动手泡一些药茶。

30 flicking   

（尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的现在分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等）

参考例句：

• He helped her up before flicking the reins. 他帮她上马，之后挥动了缰绳。
• There's something flicking around my toes. 有什么东西老在叮我的脚指头。

31 ruffling   

弄皱( ruffle的现在分词 )； 弄乱； 激怒； 扰乱

参考例句：

• A cool breeze brushed his face, ruffling his hair. 一阵凉风迎面拂来，吹乱了他的头发。
• "Indeed, they do not,'said Pitty, ruffling. "说真的，那倒不一定。" 皮蒂皱皱眉头，表示异议。

32 deluge   

n./vt.洪水，暴雨，使泛滥

参考例句：

• This little stream can become a deluge when it rains heavily.雨大的时候，这条小溪能变作洪流。
• I got caught in the deluge on the way home.我在回家的路上遇到倾盆大雨。

33 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

34 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。

35 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。

36 mesmerizing   

adj.有吸引力的，有魅力的v.使入迷( mesmerize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I think you must be mesmerizing me, Charles. 查尔斯，我想你一定在对我施催眠术啦。 来自辞典例句
• The attendant one-dimensional wave equation has mesmerizing harmonic properties. 伴生的一元波平衡具有迷人的和谐特性。 来自电影对白

37 craved   

渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求

参考例句：

• She has always craved excitement. 她总渴望刺激。
• A spicy, sharp-tasting radish was exactly what her stomach craved. 她正馋着想吃一个香甜可口的红萝卜呢。

38 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

39 whittled   

v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He whittled a simple toy from the piece of wood. 他把那块木头削成了一个简易的玩具。
• The government's majority has been whittled down to eight. 政府多数票减少到了八票。

40 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

41 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

42 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

43 strands   

n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Twist a length of rope from strands of hemp. 用几股麻搓成了一段绳子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She laced strands into a braid. 她把几股线编织成一根穗带。 来自《简明英汉词典》

44 yelped   

v.发出短而尖的叫声( yelp的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He yelped in pain when the horse stepped on his foot. 马踩了他的脚痛得他喊叫起来。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• A hound yelped briefly as a whip cracked. 鞭子一响，猎狗发出一阵嗥叫。 来自《简明英汉词典》

45 bodyguard   

n.护卫，保镖

参考例句：

• She has to have an armed bodyguard wherever she goes.她不管到哪儿都得有带武器的保镖跟从。
• The big guy standing at his side may be his bodyguard.站在他身旁的那个大个子可能是他的保镖。

46 bodyguards   

n.保镖，卫士，警卫员( bodyguard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks came to Jim's office accompanied—like always—by his two bodyguards. 和往常一样，在两名保镖的陪同下，布鲁克斯去吉姆的办公室。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Three of his bodyguards were injured in the attack. 在这次袭击事件中，他有3名保镖受了伤。 来自辞典例句

47 memos   

n.备忘录( memo的名词复数 )；（美）内部通知

参考例句：

• Big shots get their dander up and memos start flying. 大人物们怒火中烧，备忘录四下乱飞。 来自辞典例句
• There was a pile of mail, memos and telephone messages on his desk. 他的办公桌上堆满着信件、备忘录和电话通知。 来自辞典例句

48 implicitly   

adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地

参考例句：

• Many verbs and many words of other kinds are implicitly causal. 许多动词和许多其他类词都蕴涵着因果关系。
• I can trust Mr. Somerville implicitly, I suppose? 我想，我可以毫无保留地信任萨莫维尔先生吧？

49 condemnation   

n.谴责; 定罪

参考例句：

• There was widespread condemnation of the invasion. 那次侵略遭到了人们普遍的谴责。
• The jury's condemnation was a shock to the suspect. 陪审团宣告有罪使嫌疑犯大为震惊。

50 motives   

n.动机，目的( motive的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• to impeach sb's motives 怀疑某人的动机
• His motives are unclear. 他的用意不明。

51 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。