2-9

 

9.

One month later I went to RAF Brize Norton and boarded a C-17. There were dozens of othersoldiers on the plane, but I was the only stowaway². With help from Colonel Ed and JLP, I boardedin secret, then crept into an alcove³ behind the cockpit.

The alcove had bunkbeds for the crew on overnight flights. As the big engines fired, as theplane roared down the runway, I lay down on a bottom bunk⁴, my small rucksack as a pillow.

Somewhere below, in the cargo⁵ hold, my Bergen was neatly⁶ packed with three pairs of camotrousers, three clean T-shirts, one pair of goggles⁷, one air bed, one small notebook, one tube of suncream. It felt like more than enough. I could honestly say that nothing I needed or wanted in lifehad been left behind, other than a few pieces of Mummy’s jewelry⁸, and the lock of her hair in thelittle blue box, and the silver-framed photo of her that used to sit on my desk at Eton, all of whichI’d stashed⁹ in a safe place. And, of course, my weapons. My 9- mm and SA80A had beensurrendered to a stern-faced clerk, who’d locked them in a steel box that also went into the hold. Ifelt their absence most acutely, since, for the first time in my life, other than that wobbly morningstroll in Paris, I was about to venture forth¹⁰ into the wide world without armed bodyguards¹¹.

The flight was eternal. Seven hours? Nine? I can’t say. It felt like a week. I tried to sleep, butmy head was too full. I spent most of the time staring. At the upper bunk. At my feet. I listened tothe engines, listened to the other soldiers on board. I replayed my life. I thought about Pa andWilly. And Chels.

The papers reported that we’d broken up. (One headline: Hooray Harry¹²’s Dumped.) Thedistance, the different life goals were too much. It was hard enough maintaining a relationship inthe same country, but with me going off to war, it just didn’t seem feasible. Of course, none of thiswas true. We’d not broken up. She’d given me a touching¹³, tender farewell, and promised to waitfor me.

She knew, therefore, to disregard all the other stories in the papers, about how I’d reacted tothe breakup. Reportedly, I’d gone on a pub crawl and guzzled¹⁴ a few dozen vodkas beforestaggering into a waiting car. One paper actually asked the mother of a soldier recently killed inaction how she felt about my being publicly intoxicated¹⁵.

(She was against it.)

If I die in Afghanistan, I thought, at least I’ll never have to see another fake headline, readanother shameful¹⁶ lie about myself.

I thought a lot on that flight about dying. What would it mean? Did I care? I tried to picture myfuneral. Would it be a state funeral? Private? I tried to imagine the headlines: Bye, Harry.

How would I be remembered by history? For the headlines? Or for who I actually was?

Would Willy walk behind my coffin¹⁷? Would Grandpa and Pa?

Before I’d shipped out, JLP sat me down, told me I needed to update my will.

My will? Really?

If anything happened, he said, the Palace needed to know what I wanted to be done with myfew belongings¹⁸, and where I wished to be…buried. He asked so plainly, so calmly, as you’d asksomebody where they’d like to have lunch. But that was his gift. The truth was the truth, no senseleaning away from it.

I looked away. I couldn’t really think of a spot where I wanted to spend the hereafter. Icouldn’t think of any spot that felt sacred, besides Althorp, maybe, and that was out of thequestion. So I said: Frogmore Gardens?

It was beautiful, and slightly removed from things. Peaceful.

JLP gave a nod. He’d see to it.

Amid these thoughts and recollections I managed to doze¹ off for a few minutes, and when Iopened my eyes we were swooping¹⁹ down to Kandahar Airfield²⁰.

Time to put on the body armor. Time to put on the Kevlar.

I waited for everyone else to disembark, then some Special Forces guys appeared in thealcove. They returned my weapons and handed me a vial of morphine, to keep on my person at alltimes. We were now in a place where pain, injuries, trauma²¹ were commonplace. They hurried meoff the plane into a four-by-four with blacked windows and dusty seats. We drove to a differentpart of the base, then hurried into a Portakabin.

Empty. Not a soul.

Where is everybody? Bloody²² hell, was peace declared while I was in the air?

No, the whole base was out on a mission.

I looked around. Apparently²³ they’d left in the middle of a meal. Tables were covered withhalf-empty pizza boxes. I tried to remember what I’d eaten on the flight. Nothing. I began shovingcold pizza into my mouth.

I took my in-theater test, one last barrier to entry, one last measure to prove that I knew how todo the job. Shortly after, I climbed into a Chinook and flew about fifty miles to a much smalleroutpost. Forward Operating Base Dwyer. Long, unwieldy name for what was little more than asandcastle made of sandbags.

I was met by a sand-covered soldier who said he’d been ordered to show me around.

Welcome to Dwyer.

Thanks.

I asked how the place got its name.

One of our lads. K-I-A. Vehicle hit a land mine.

The quick tour revealed Dwyer to be even more spartan²⁴ than it looked from the Chinook. Noheat, few lights, not much water. There was plumbing²⁵, of a sort, but the pipes were usuallyclogged or frozen. There was also a building that purported²⁶ to be a “shower block,” but I wasadvised: use at your peril²⁷.

Basically, my tour guide told me, just give up being clean. Focus instead on staying warm.

It gets that cold here?

He chortled.

Dwyer was home to about fifty soldiers, mostly artillery²⁸ and Household Cavalry²⁹. I met them intwos and threes. They were all sandy-haired, by which I mean their hair was matted with sand.

Their faces and necks and eyelashes—also encrusted. They looked like fillets of fish that’d beenbreadcrumbed before frying.

Within one hour, I did too.

Everyone and everything at Dwyer was either caked with sand or sprinkled with sand orpainted the color of sand. And out beyond the sand-colored tents and sandbags and sand walls wasan infinite ocean of…sand. Fine, fine sand, like talcum powder. The lads spent much of their daygazing at all that sand. So, after completing my tour, getting my cot and some chow, I did too.

We told ourselves we were scanning for the enemy, and we were, I suppose. But you couldn’tstare at that many grains of sand without also thinking about eternity³⁰. All that shifting, swirling,whirling sand, you felt it saying something to you about your minuscule³¹ niche³² in the cosmos³³.

Ashes to ashes. Sand to sand. Even when I retired³⁴, settled onto my metal cot, drifted off to sleep,sand was uppermost on my mind. I heard it out there, having whispery conversations with itself. Ifelt a grain on my tongue. On my eyeball. I dreamed of it.

And when I woke, there was a spoonful of it in my mouth.

 

1 doze   

v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐

参考例句：

• He likes to have a doze after lunch.他喜欢午饭后打个盹。
• While the adults doze,the young play.大人们在打瞌睡，而孩子们在玩耍。

2 stowaway   

n.（藏于轮船，飞机中的）偷乘者

参考例句：

• The stowaway masqueraded as a crew member.偷渡者假扮成乘务员。
• The crew discovered the stowaway about two days into their voyage.船员在开船约两天后发现了那名偷乘者。

3 alcove   

n.凹室

参考例句：

• The bookcase fits neatly into the alcove.书架正好放得进壁凹。
• In the alcoves on either side of the fire were bookshelves.火炉两边的凹室里是书架。

4 bunk   

n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话

参考例句：

• He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
• Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。

5 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

6 neatly   

adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地

参考例句：

• Sailors know how to wind up a long rope neatly.水手们知道怎样把一条大绳利落地缠好。
• The child's dress is neatly gathered at the neck.那孩子的衣服在领口处打着整齐的皱褶。

7 goggles   

n.护目镜

参考例句：

• Skiers wear goggles to protect their eyes from the sun.滑雪者都戴上护目镜使眼睛不受阳光伤害。
• My swimming goggles keep steaming up so I can't see.我的护目镜一直有水雾，所以我看不见。

8 jewelry   

n.（jewllery）（总称）珠宝

参考例句：

• The burglars walked off with all my jewelry.夜盗偷走了我的全部珠宝。
• Jewelry and lace are mostly feminine belongings.珠宝和花边多数是女性用品。

9 stashed   

v.贮藏( stash的过去式和过去分词 )；隐藏；藏匿；藏起

参考例句：

• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她有一大笔钱存在几个不同的银行账户下。
• She has a fortune stashed away in various bank accounts. 她在不同的银行账户上秘密储存了一大笔钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

11 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

12 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。

13 touching   

adj.动人的，使人感伤的

参考例句：

• It was a touching sight.这是一幅动人的景象。
• His letter was touching.他的信很感人。

14 guzzled   

v.狂吃暴饮，大吃大喝( guzzle的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The children guzzled down all the cakes. 孩子们大吃一通，把蛋糕都吃光了。 来自互联网
• The boys guzzled the cheap Vodka. 这些男孩狂饮廉价的伏特加酒。 来自互联网

15 intoxicated   

喝醉的，极其兴奋的

参考例句：

• She was intoxicated with success. 她为成功所陶醉。
• They became deeply intoxicated and totally disoriented. 他们酩酊大醉，东南西北全然不辨。

16 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

17 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。

18 belongings   

n.私人物品，私人财物

参考例句：

• I put a few personal belongings in a bag.我把几件私人物品装进包中。
• Your personal belongings are not dutiable.个人物品不用纳税。

19 swooping   

俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The wind were swooping down to tease the waves. 大风猛扑到海面上戏弄着浪涛。
• And she was talking so well-swooping with swift wing this way and that. 而她却是那样健谈--一下子谈到东，一下子谈到西。

20 airfield   

n.飞机场

参考例句：

• The foreign guests were motored from the airfield to the hotel.用车把外宾从机场送到旅馆。
• The airfield was seized by enemy troops.机场被敌军占领。

21 trauma   

n.外伤，精神创伤

参考例句：

• Counselling is helping him work through this trauma.心理辅导正帮助他面对痛苦。
• The phobia may have its root in a childhood trauma.恐惧症可能源于童年时期的创伤。

22 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

23 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

24 spartan   

adj.简朴的，刻苦的；n.斯巴达；斯巴达式的人

参考例句：

• Their spartan lifestyle prohibits a fridge or a phone.他们不使用冰箱和电话，过着简朴的生活。
• The rooms were spartan and undecorated.房间没有装饰，极为简陋。

25 plumbing   

n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究

参考例句：

• She spent her life plumbing the mysteries of the human psyche. 她毕生探索人类心灵的奥秘。
• They're going to have to put in new plumbing. 他们将需要安装新的水管。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》

27 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

28 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

29 cavalry   

n.骑兵；轻装甲部队

参考例句：

• We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. 我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
• The enemy cavalry rode our men down. 敌人的骑兵撞倒了我们的人。

30 eternity   

n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷

参考例句：

• The dull play seemed to last an eternity.这场乏味的剧似乎演个没完没了。
• Finally,Ying Tai and Shan Bo could be together for all of eternity.英台和山伯终能双宿双飞，永世相随。

31 minuscule   

adj.非常小的；极不重要的

参考例句：

• The human race only a minuscule portion of the earth's history.人类只有占有极小部分地球历史。
• As things stand,Hong Kong's renminbi banking system is minuscule.就目前的情况而言，香港的人民币银行体系可谓微不足道。

32 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

33 cosmos   

n.宇宙；秩序，和谐

参考例句：

• Our world is but a small part of the cosmos.我们的世界仅仅是宇宙的一小部分而已。
• Is there any other intelligent life elsewhere in the cosmos?在宇宙的其他星球上还存在别的有智慧的生物吗？

34 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。