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1、Cannibalism In The Cars by Mark Twain 中英文I visited St. Louis lately, and on my way West, after changing cars at Terre Haute, Indiana, a mild, benevolent-looking gentleman of about forty-five, or maybe fifty, came in at one of the way-stations and sat down beside me. We talked together pleasantly on
2、various subjects for an hour, perhaps, and I found him exceedingly intelligent and entertaining. When he learned that I was from Washington, he immediately began to ask questions about various public men, and about Congressional affairs; and I saw very shortly that I was conversing with a man who wa
3、s perfectly familiar with the ins and outs of political life at the Capital, even to the ways and manners, and customs of procedure of Senators and Representatives in the Chambers of the national Legislature. Presently two men halted near us for a single moment, and one said to the other: Harris, if
4、 youll do that for me, Ill never forget you, my boy.My new comrades eye lighted pleasantly. The words had touched upon a happy memory, I thought. Then his face settled into thoughtfulness- almost into gloom. He turned to me and said,Let me tell you a story; let me give you a secret chapter of my lif
5、e- a chapter that has never been referred to by me since its events transpired. Listen patiently, and promise that you will not interrupt me.I said I would not, and he related the following strange adventure, speaking sometimes with animation, sometimes with melancholy, but always with feeling and e
6、arnestness.THE STRANGERS NARRATIVEOn the 19th of December, 1853, I started from St. Louis on the evening train bound for Chicago. There were only twenty-four passengers, all told. There were no ladies and no children. We were in excellent spirits, and pleasant acquaintanceships were soon formed. The
7、 journey bade fair to be a happy one; and no individual in the party, I think, had even the vaguest presentiment of the horrors we were soon to undergo.At 11 P.m. it began to snow hard. Shortly after leaving the small village of Welden, we entered upon that tremendous prairie solitude that stretches
8、 its leagues on leagues of houseless dreariness far away toward the jubilee Settlements. The winds, unobstructed by trees or hills, or even vagrant rocks, whistled fiercely across the level desert, driving the falling snow before it like spray from the crested waves of a stormy sea. The snow was dee
9、pening fast; and we knew, by the diminished speed of the train, that the engine was plowing through it with steadily increasing difficulty. Indeed, it almost came to a dead halt sometimes, in the midst of great drifts that piled themselves like colossal graves across the track. Conversation began to
10、 flag. Cheerfulness gave place to grave concern. The possibility of being imprisoned in the snow, on the bleak prairie, fifty miles from any house, presented itself to every mind, and extended its depressing influence over every spirit.At two oclock in the morning I was aroused out of an uneasy slum
11、ber by the ceasing of all motion about me. The appalling truth flashed upon me instantly-we were captives in a snow-drift! All hands to the rescue! Every man sprang to obey. Out into the wild night, the pitchy darkness, the billowy snow, the driving storm, every soul leaped, with the consciousness t
12、hat a moment lost now might bring destruction to us all. Shovels, hands, boards-anything, everything that could displace snow, was brought into instant requisition. It was a weird picture, that small company of frantic men fighting the banking snows, half in the blackest shadow and half in the angry
13、 light of the locomotives reflector.One short hour sufficed to prove the utter uselessness of our efforts. The storm barricaded the track with a dozen drifts while we dug one away. And worse than this, it was discovered that the last grand charge the engine had made upon the enemy had broken the for
14、e-and-aft shaft of the driving-wheel! With a free track before us we should still have been helpless. We entered the car wearied with labor, and very sorrowful. We gathered about the stoves, and gravely canvassed our situation. We had no provisions whatever-in this lay our chief distress. We could n
15、ot freeze, for there was a good supply of wood in the tender. This was our only comfort. The discussion ended at last in accepting the disheartening decision of the conductor, viz., that it would be death for any man to attempt to travel fifty miles on foot through snow like that. We could not send
16、for help, and even if we could it would not come. We must submit, and await, as patiently as we might, succor or starvation! I think the stoutest heart there felt a momentary chill when those words were uttered.Within the hour conversation subsided to a low murmur here and there about the car, caugh
17、t fitfully between the rising and falling of the blast; the lamps grew dim; and the majority of the castaways settled themselves among the flickering shadows to think-to forget the present, if they could-to sleep, if they might.The eternal night-it surely seemed eternal to us-wore its lagging hours
18、away at last, and the cold gray dawn broke in the east. As the light grew stronger the passengers began to stir and give signs of life, one after another, and each in turn pushed his slouched hat up from his forehead, stretched his stiffened limbs, and glanced out of the windows upon the cheerless p
19、rospect. It was cheer less, indeed!-not a living thing visible anywhere, not a human habitation; nothing but a vast white desert; uplifted sheets of snow drifting hither and thither before the wind-a world of eddying flakes shutting out the firmament above.All day we moped about the cars, saying lit
20、tle, thinking much. Another lingering dreary night-and hunger.Another dawning-another day of silence, sadness, wasting hunger, hopeless watching for succor that could not come. A night of restless slumber, filled with dreams of feasting-wakings distressed with the gnawings of hunger.The fourth day c
21、ame and went-and the fifth! Five days of dreadful imprisonment! A savage hunger looked out at every eye. There was in it a sign of awful import-the foreshadowing of a something that was vaguely shaping itself in every heart-a something which no tongue dared yet to frame into words.The sixth day pass
22、ed-the seventh dawned upon as gaunt and haggard and hopeless a company of men as ever stood in the shadow of death. It must out now! That thing which had been growing up in every heart was ready to leap from every lip at last! Nature had been taxed to the utmostshe must yield. RICHARD H. GASTON of M
23、innesota, tall, cadaverous, and pale, rose up. All knew what was coming. All prepared-every emotion, every semblance of excitement-was smothered-only a calm, thoughtful seriousness appeared in the eyes that were lately so wild.Gentlemen: It cannot be delayed longer! The time is at hand! We must dete
24、rmine which of us shall die to furnish food for the rest!MR. JOHN J. WILLIAMS of Illinois rose and said: Gentlemen-I nominate the Rev. James Sawyer of Tennessee.MR. Wm. R. ADAMS of Indiana said: I nominate Mr. Daniel Slote of New York.MR. CHARLES J. LANGDON: I nominate Mr. Samuel A. Bowen of St. Lou
25、is.MR. SLOTE: Gentlemen-I desire to decline in favor of Mr. John A. Van Nostrand, Jun., of New Jersey.MR. GASTON: If there be no objection, the gentlemans desire will be acceded to.MR. VAN NOSTRAND objecting, the resignation of Mr. Slote was rejected. The resignations of Messrs. Sawyer and Bowen wer
26、e also offered, and refused upon the same grounds.MR. A. L. BASCOM of Ohio: I move that the nominations now close, and that the House proceed to an election by ballot.MR. SAWYER: Gentlemen-I protest earnestly against these proceedings. They are, in every way, irregular and unbecoming. I must beg to
27、move that they be dropped at once, and that we elect a chairman of the meeting and proper officers to assist him, and then we can go on with the business before us understandingly.MR. BELL of Iowa: Gentlemen-I object. This is no time to stand upon forms and ceremonious observances. For more than sev
28、en days we have been without food. Every moment we lose in idle discussion increases our distress. I am satisfied with the nominations that have been madeevery gentleman present is, I believe-and I, for one, do not see why we should not proceed at once to elect one or more of them. I wish to offer a
29、 resolution-MR. GASTON: It would be objected to, and have to lie over one day under the rules, thus bringing about the very delay you wish to avoid. The gentleman from New Jersey-MR. VAN NOSTRAND: Gentlemen-I am a stranger among you; I have not sought the distinction that has been conferred upon me,
30、 and I feel a delicacy-MR. MORGAN Of Alabama (interrupting): I move the previous question.The motion was carried, and further debate shut off, of course. The motion to elect officers was passed, and under it Mr. Gaston was chosen chairman, Mr. Blake, secretary, Messrs. Holcomb, Dyer, and Baldwin a c
31、ommittee on nominations, and Mr. R. M. Howland, purveyor, to assist the committee in making selections.A recess of half an hour was then taken, and some little caucusing followed. At the sound of the gavel the meeting reassembled, and the committee reported in favor of Messrs. George Ferguson of Ken
32、tucky, Lucien Herrman of Louisiana, and W. Messick of Colorado as candidates. The report was accepted.MR. ROGERS of Missouri: Mr. President The report being properly before the House now, I move to amend it by substituting for the name of Mr. Herrman that of Mr. Lucius Harris of St. Louis, who is we
33、ll and honorably known to us all. I do not wish to be understood as casting the least reflection upon the high character and standing of the gentleman from Louisiana far from it. I respect and esteem him as much as any gentleman here present possibly can; but none of us can be blind to the fact that
34、 he has lost more flesh during the week that we have lain here than any among us-none of us can be blind to the fact that the committee has been derelict in its duty, either through negligence or a graver fault, in thus offering for our suffrages a gentleman who, however pure his own motives may be,
35、 has really less nutriment in him-THE CHAIR: The gentleman from Missouri will take his seat. The Chair cannot allow the integrity of the committee to be questioned save by the regular course, under the rules. What action will the House take upon the gentlemans motion?MR. HALLIDAY of Virginia: I move
36、 to further amend the report by substituting Mr. Harvey Davis of Oregon for Mr. Messick. It may be urged by gentlemen that the hardships and privations of a frontier life have rendered Mr. Davis tough; but, gentlemen, is this a time to cavil at toughness? Is this a time to be fastidious concerning t
37、rifles? Is this a time to dispute about matters of paltry significance? No, gentlemen, bulk is what we desire-substance, weight, bulk-these are the supreme requisites now-not talent, not genius, not education. I insist upon my motion.MR. MORGAN (excitedly): Mr. Chairman-I do most strenuously object
38、to this amendment. The gentleman from Oregon is old, and furthermore is bulky only in bone-not in flesh. I ask the gentleman from Virginia if it is soup we want instead of solid sustenance? if he would delude us with shadows? if he would mock our suffering with an Oregonian specter? I ask him if he
39、can look upon the anxious faces around him, if he can gaze into our sad eyes, if he can listen to the beating of our expectant hearts, and still thrust this famine-stricken fraud upon us? I ask him if he can think of our desolate state, of our past sorrows, of our dark future, and still unpityingly
40、foist upon us this wreck, this ruin, this tottering swindle, this gnarled and blighted and sapless vagabond from Oregons hospitable shores? Never! Applause.The amendment was put to vote, after a fiery debate, and lost. Mr. Harris was substituted on the first amendment. The balloting then began. Five
41、 ballots were held without a choice. On the sixth, Mr. Harris was elected, all voting for him but himself. It was then moved that his election should be ratified by acclamation, which was lost, in consequence of his again voting against himself.MR. RADWAY moved that the House now take up the remaini
42、ng candidates, and go into an election for breakfast. This was carried.On the first ballot-there was a tie, half the members favoring one candidate on account of his youth, and half favoring the other on account of his superior size. The President gave the casting vote for the latter, Mr. Messick. T
43、his decision created considerable dissatisfaction among the friends of Mr. Ferguson, the defeated candidate, and there was some talk of demanding a new ballot; but in the midst of it a motion to adjourn was carried, and the meeting broke up at once.The preparations for supper diverted the attention
44、of the Ferguson faction from the discussion of their grievance for a long time, and then, when they would have taken it up again, the happy announcement that Mr. Harris was ready drove all thought of it to the winds.We improvised tables by propping up the backs of car-seats, and sat down with hearts
45、 full of gratitude to the finest supper that had blessed our vision for seven torturing days. How changed we were from what we had been a few short hours before! Hopeless, sad-eyed misery, hunger, feverish anxiety, desperation, then; thankfulness, serenity, joy too deep for utterance now. That I kno
46、w was the cheeriest hour of my eventful life. The winds howled, and blew the snow wildly about our prison house, but they were powerless to distress us any more. I liked Harris. He might have been better done, perhaps, but I am free to say that no man ever agreed with me better than Harris, or affor
47、ded me so large a degree of satisfaction. Messick was very well, though rather high-flavored, but for genuine nutritiousness and delicacy of fiber, give me Harris. Messick had his good points-I will not attempt to deny it, nor do I wish to do it but he was no more fitted for breakfast than a mummy w
48、ould be, sir-not a bit. Lean?-why, bless me!-and tough? Ah, he was very tough! You could not imagine it-you could never imagine anything like it.Do you mean to tell me that-Do not interrupt me, please. After breakfast we elected a man by the name of Walker, from Detroit, for supper. He was very good
49、. I wrote his wife so afterward. He was worthy of all praise. I shall always remember Walker. He was a little rare, but very good. And then the next morning we had Morgan of Alabama for breakfast. He was one of the finest men I ever sat down to handsome, educated, refined, spoke several languages fluently a perfect gentleman he was a perfect gentleman, and singularly juicy. For sup