I Took a Wooden Boat-20220122

I took a wooden boat from Chongqing to Hankou.

Of course I know it is risky to travel by wooden boat. With countless shoals and reefs to negotiate, accidents may happen any time. To complicate matters, there are bandits lurking around - those pitiful fellow countrymen who, unable to ward off starvation by farming or soldiering or whatnot, have been reduced to the disreputable business as a last resort. I'll be in a real fix if they should rob me of, say, my bedding or cloths.

Now, on reflection ,I realize that in the days before steamers and aircraft came into use, people used to travel by wooden boat up and down the Sichuan section of the Yangtse River. Even today, many continue to do so, and statistics will invariably show a higher percentage of people travelling by wooden boat than by steamer or aircraft. Why shouldn't I do the same? Why should I think it beneath myself to travel by wooden boat? As for safety, is it less dangerous to travel by steamer or aircraft? Going to foot seems to be the best choice, but a tile falling off the eaves of somebody's house might prove equally disastrous to foot passengers. Enjoying absolute safety is humanly impossible.

It stands to reason that I can go by steamer or aircraft if I care to. I can simply go around fishing for help or personal connections, or just buy a "black" ticket. But I'll have to pay more than the regular price for a "black" ticket, which I can ill afford and which I disdain to do. And the very word "black" generates in me a feeling of repulsion. "Black" signifies fraud or illegal practice. Buying a "black" ticket is as good as getting involved in a fraud or an illegal practice. If it is beyond one's capacity to single-handedly stem the prevailing social evils, one should at least be self-disciplined so as not to make matters worse. All this is undoubtedly the pedantic view of a bookish person - a view which must sound ridiculous to all sensible gentlemen.

Some people have told me from their own experience that soliciting help or seeking personal connections is something as difficult as hunting for a job. You may be kept cooling your heels in a janitor's office or a reception room before an interview is granted. Hearing that you are trying to get a steamer or air ticket, the much sought-after interviewer may reply in a cold and indifferent manner, "Ah, that's difficult ... Come see me next week ... " Thereupon you seem to see a ray of hope, and you may also feel totally uncertain of success. All you can do is wait until then. After making you don't know how many visits, there eventually appear signs of a positive outcome. Then you have to go here and there to get a signature or a seal, meet with all sorts of cold reception and wait for all sorts of summonses - all for the purpose of obtaining a useful certificate to buy a ticket with. Once with a ticket in hand, your status automatically changes. You can now call yourself the employee of a certain government office or a certain official's secretary. You can call yourself so-and-so or so-and-so's father. You can either keep your original name or have it changed. In short, you must temporarily break off relations with your old self. The funniest thing is when you try to pass for a soldier of a certain army unit, you must not only have your name changed, but also wear a grey-cloth cotton-padded army uniform with a leather belt around your waist. All that kills my idea of soliciting help or seeking personal connections. I disdain to go humbly begging for a job even when I am starving, let alone to go asking for other people;s help in getting me a mere ticket. Neither is it necessary for me to go to all that trouble, nor should I bother other people for that matter. Going around is hard in the city of Chongqing. You have to queue up for at least 30 minutes or more to get on a bus. It would really be too much for me to go about for the ticket everyday. As to the temporary divorce from my old self and the concealing of my identity, I hate to usurp all those designations though other people may think otherwise. I'm neither a government employee, nor a secretary, not so-and-so, nor so-and-so's father. I am myself. I am just an ordinary man with no urge to do  better, so I hate to change places with anybody else, whether for a while or for good. To change places just for the sake of a trip would make me feel like being deprived. Wouldn't it be sinful for me to wear the grey-cloth cotton-padded army uniform for nothing more than making a single trip? Though many other people violate the taboo, I for my part cannot bear to do the same. This again is the impractical view of a bookish person.

It was with this impractical view that I decided to take a wooden boat. It is absolutely true that a wooden boat cannot compare with a steamer, much less an airplane. But there is no need for soliciting help or seeking personal connections, nor the need for the so-called "black" ticket. All you need to do is contact the transport company, or go direct to the wharf to look for a wooden boat. Once you have located it, you will know what the fare is from Chongqing to Hankou, and every dollar will be paid for what it is worth, no more, no less. I find the wooden boat super in this respect. I am saved the humiliation of begging for help or the need of confronting the nasty look on somebody's face. I can travel with my true identity. This is something quite beyond the majority of those travelling by steamer or aircraft. I am proud of it.

After I had made up my mind, two friends of mine, in spite of the difficult boat journey all the way from Li Jia Tuo and Bai Bin respectively, came to dissuade me from taking the wooden boat out of concern and respect for me. They enumerated various reasons against my decision as well as various possible mishaps, advising me in the end to re-consider the matter. I felt very grateful to them, and of course refrained from showing any reluctance to re-consider the matter. By way of allaying their anxiety, I said jokingly, " A good guy always enjoys Heaven's protection." Now, the subsequent news of my safe arrival in Hankou must have set their minds at rest.

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shoal n. 1.鱼群 2.浅滩；水下沙洲

reef n. 1.礁；礁脉 2.缩帆部；帆的可收缩部

bandit n. 土匪

lurk v. 1 +adv./prep. （尤指为做不正当的事而）埋伏，潜伏 -SYN skulk- Why are you lurking around outside my house? 2. +adv./prep. （不好或危险的事）潜在，隐藏着 At night, danger lurks in these streets. 3. （计算机）“潜水”，隐身   n.诡计；妙计；花招 

ward n. 1.病房；病室 He worked as a nurse on the children's ward. 2. （英国城市中可选出一位地方议员的）区，选区 3.受监护人（受法院或监护人保护的人，尤指儿童） The child was made a ward of court.  v. ~ sb/sth off 防止，避免，抵御（危险、疾病、攻击等）to ward off criticism受到批评后为自己开脱

soldiering n.军旅生活；行伍生涯；当兵

disreputable a. 名声不好的；不名誉的；不光彩的 She spent the evening with her disreputable brother Stefan.

tile n. 1. （贴墙或铺地用的）瓷砖，地砖，小方地毯，片状材料 ceramic floor tiles陶瓷地砖 2.（铺屋顶的）瓦，瓦片 3.（棋盘游戏的）棋子 IDIOMS have a night on the tiles深夜在外玩乐   v. 1 ~ sth铺瓦；铺地砖；贴瓷砖 2. ～ sth 平铺显示，并列显示，瓦片式显示（视窗）

eaves n. 屋檐

disastrous a.极糟糕的；灾难性的；完全失败的 -SYN catastrophic, devastating- Lowering interest rates could have disastrous consequences for the economy. 

disdain n.鄙视；蔑视；鄙弃 -SYN contempt- disdain for sb/sth v. 1. ~ sb/sth 鄙视；蔑视；鄙弃 2.～ to do sth 不屑（做某事） He disdained to turn to his son for advice.

repulsion n. 1.嫌恶感；强烈的反感；憎恶 2.(physics)排斥力；斥力

signify v. 1. 表示；说明；预示-SYN mean- signify sth This decision signified a radical change in their policies. signify that ... This mark signifies that the products conform to an approved standard. 2.表达，表示，显示（感情，意愿等）3.具有重要性；要紧

fraud n. 1.欺诈罪；欺骗罪 2.骗子，行骗的人 3. 伪劣品；冒牌货

stem n. 1.（花草的）茎；（花或叶）梗，柄 2.（高脚酒杯的）脚 3.烟斗柄 4.-stemmed 有...茎（或梗）的 a long-stemmed rose一枝长茎玫瑰 5.词干 IDIOMS from stem to stem从船头到船尾  

discipline v 1. ~ sb (for sth)惩罚；处罚 2. ~ sb训练；训导；管教 3.自我控制；严格要求（自己） ~ yourself Dieting is a matter of disciplining yourself. ~ yourself to do sth He disciplined himself to exercise at least three times a week.

pedantic a. 迂腐的；学究气的

solicit v. 1. 索求，请求...给予（援助、钱或信息）；征求；筹集 ~ sth (from sb) They were planning to solicit funds from a number of organizations. ~ sb (for sth) Historians and critics are solicited for their opinions. ~ (for sth) to solicit for money筹款 ~sb to do sth Volunteers are being solicited to assist with the project. 2. 招徕；拉（客）

janitor n. =custodian （建筑物的）管理员，看管人，看门人

summons n. 1. （法院的）传唤，传票 2.召唤；召见令 v.传（某人）出庭；传唤 -SYN summon- ~ sb (for sth) She was summonsed for speeding. ~ sb to do sth He was summonsed to appear in court.

usurp v.篡夺；侵权

designation n. 1 ~ (as sth) 选定；指定；委任 2.名称；称号；称呼

deprived a. 贫穷的；贫困的；穷苦的

sinful a. 不道德的；邪恶的 -SYN immoral-

wharf n. 码头

humiliate v.羞辱；使丧失尊严

mishap n.小事故；晦气

refrain v.克制；节制；避免 -SYN desist- 

reluctant a.不情愿的，勉强的

subsequent a.随后的；后来的；之后的；接后的

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To complicate matters, there are bandits lurking around：还有盗匪。To complicate matters起承上启下添加的成分；lurking around作“潜伏”，也为添加成分。无字却有其意。

have been reduced to the disreputable business as a last resort：无奈何只好出此下策。disreputable business-不体面的行为，指下策。reduced to-被逼从事......；at a last resort-作为最后一着。

I'll be in a real fix：异常难处的事儿。in a fix-成语-陷入困境；尴尬。

the Sichuan section of the Yangtse River：川江-四川段的长江。

Enjoying absolute safety is humanly impossible：要绝对避免危险就莫要做人。humanly-从做人的角度看。

It stands to reason that I can go by steamer or aircraft if I care to：要坐轮船坐飞机，自然也有办法。It stands to reason-成语-当然。

to pay more than the regular price for a "black" ticket, which I can ill afford and which I disdain to do：付出超出定额的钱，力有不及，心有不甘。disdain to do-不屑一干-心有不甘。

Buying a "black" ticket is as good as getting involved in a fraud or an illegal practice：你买黑票，无异同作弊，赞助越出常轨。as good as-实际上等于，与...几乎一样。

the pedantic view of a bookish person：书生之见。pedantic view意同impractical view，作不现实的观点。

You may be kept cooling your heels in a janitor's office or a reception room before an interview is granted：在传达室恭候，在会客室恭候。cooling your heels-长等，空等。

After making you don't know how many visits, there eventually appear signs of a positive outcome：跑了不知多少趟，总算有眉目了。you don't know how作插入语，修饰many。

The funniest thing is when you try to pass for a soldier of a certain army unit：最有味的是冒充什么部的士兵。to pass for-冒充。

Wouldn't it be sinful for me to wear the grey-cloth cotton-padded army uniform for nothing more than making a single trip？：为了走一趟路才穿上那套衣服，岂不是亵渎了那套衣服？sinful->做了不该做的事，亵渎原作轻慢，冒失，用在此处略带讽刺口气。

every dollar will be paid for what it is worth：每块钱花得明明白白，即，该花多少就花多少，或，每块钱都花得值得。

I find the wooden boat super in this respect：我觉得木船好极了。super相当于fantastic或wonderful。