18 Boazers

Boazers At Repton, prefects were never called prefects. They were called Boazers, and they had the power of life and death over us junior boys. They could summon us down in our pyjamas at night-time and thrash us for leaving just one football sock on the floor of the changing-room when it should have been hung up on a peg. A Boazer could thrash us for a hundred and one other piddling little misdemeanours – for burning his toast at tea-time, for failing to dust his study properly, for failing to get his study fire burning in spite of spending half your pocket money on firelighters, for being late at roll-call, for talking in evening Prep, for forgetting to change into house-shoes at six o'clock. The list was endless.

在雷普顿，级长从来不叫级长。 他们被称为Boazers，他们对我们这些小男孩有生有死的权力。 他们会在晚上把穿着睡衣的我们叫下来，因为我们在更衣室的地板上只留下了一只足球袜，而它本应该挂在一个钉子上。 他还会因为另外一百零一件微不足道的小事揍我们一顿——因为在喝茶的时候烤焦了面包片，因为没有好好打扫书房的灰尘，因为尽管花了你一半的零花钱买了打火机，却没有把书房的火点着，因为点名迟到，因为在晚上的预备课上讲话，因为忘记在六点钟换便鞋。 这样的例子不胜枚举。

'Four with the dressing-gown on or three with it off?' the Boazer would say to you in the changing-room late at night. Others in the dormitory had told you what to answer to this question. 'Four with it on,' you mumbled, trembling. This Boazer was famous for the speed of his strokes. Most of them paused between each stroke to prolong the operation, but Williamson, the great footballer, cricketer and athlete, always delivered his strokes in a series of swift back and forth movements without any pause between them at all. Four strokes would rain down upon your bottom so fast that it was all over in four seconds. A ritual took place in the dormitory after each beating. The victim was required to stand in the middle of the room and lower his pyjama trousers so that the damage could be inspected. Half a dozen experts would crowd round you and express their opinions in highly professional language. 'What a super job.' 'He's got every single one in the same place!'

“四个穿着晨衣，还是三个不穿晨衣?”深夜里，老板在更衣室里对你说。 宿舍里的其他人已经告诉过你如何回答这个问题。 “带着它，四个。”你颤抖着喃喃地说。 这位博阿泽以他的击球速度而闻名。 为了延长手术时间，他们中的大多数人在每次划水之间都会暂停，但威廉姆森，这位伟大的足球运动员、板球运动员和运动员，总是以一系列快速的前后动作来完成划水，每次划水之间根本没有任何停顿。 四划像雨点般落在你的屁股上，速度如此之快，以至于四秒钟就结束了。 每次挨打后，宿舍里都会举行一个仪式。 受害者被要求站在房间中间，放下他的睡裤，以便检查损坏情况。 六个专家会围着你，用非常专业的语言表达他们的意见。 “多棒的工作啊。“他把每一根都放在同一个地方!”

'Crikey! Nobody could tell you had more than one, except for the mess!' 'Boy, that Williamson's got a terrific eye!' 'Of course he's got a terrific eye! Why d'you think he's a Cricket Teamer?' 'There's no wet blood though! If you had had just one more he'd have got some blood out!' 'Through a dressing-gown, too! It's pretty amazing, isn't it!' 'Most Boazers couldn't get a result like that without a dressing-gown!' 'You must have tremendously thin skin! Even Williamson couldn't have done that to ordinary skin!' Did he use the long one or the short one? 'Hang on! Don't pull them up yet! I've got to see this again!' And I would stand there, slightly bemused by this cool clinical approach. Once, I was still standing in the middle of the dormitory with my pyjama trousers around my knees when Williamson came through the door. 'What on earth

“哎呀! !没人能看出来你不止一个，除了一团糟!“天哪，那个威廉森的眼睛真好看!”“他的眼睛当然好看!”你为什么认为他是板球队队员?“可是没有湿血!”如果你再多喝一杯，他就会血流出来了!“还穿了一件晨衣!”真是太神奇了，不是吗?“不穿晨衣，大多数花花公子都做不到这样的效果!”“你的皮肤一定很薄!”即使是威廉姆森也不可能把普通的皮肤弄成那样!”他用的是长一点的还是短一点的? “等等!先别把他们拉上来!我一定要再看一遍!”我站在那里，对这种很酷的临床方法有点困惑。 有一次，当威廉姆森从门口进来时，我还站在宿舍中央，我的睡裤盖在膝盖上。 “到底是怎么回事?”

do you think you're doing?' he said, knowing very well exactly what I was doing. 'N-nothing,' I stammered. 'N-nothing at all.' 'Pull those pyjamas up and get into bed immediately!' he ordered, but I noticed that as he turned away to go out of the door, he craned his head ever so slightly to one side to catch a glimpse of my bare bottom and his own handiwork. I was certain I detected a little glimmer of pride around the edges of his mouth before he closed the door behind him.

你觉得你在做什么?他说，很清楚我在做什么。 “没什么，”我结结巴巴地说。“什么也没有。“把睡衣穿上，马上上床睡觉!”他命令道，但我注意到，当他转身要出门的时候，他把头微微向一边歪了歪，想看一眼我光着的屁股和他自己的手艺。 在他关上身后的门之前，我确信我在他的嘴角上发现了一丝骄傲的光芒。