Quartz 4

Norwegian Wood

3 min read

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1JT4y1J7hz?p=28

I was 37 then, strapped in my seat as the huge 747 plunged through dense cloud cover1 on2 approach3 to Hamburg airport. Cold November rains drenched the earth, lending everything the gloomy air4 of a Flemish landscape: the ground crew in waterproofs, a flag atop a squat airport building, a BMW billboard. So - Germany again.

Once the plane was on the ground, soft music began to flow from the ceiling speakers: a sweet orchestral cover version of the Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood”. The melody never failed to send a shudder through me, but this time it hit me harder than ever.

I bent forward, my face in my hands to keep my skull from splitting open. Before long one of the German stewardesses approached and asked in English if I were sick.

  • “No,” I said, “just dizzy.”
  • “Are you sure?”
  • “Yes, I’m sure. Thanks.”

She smiled and left, and the music changed to a Billy Joel tune. I straightened up and looked out of the window at the dark clouds
hanging5 over the North Sea, thinking of all I had lost in the course of my life: times gone for ever, friends who had died or disappeared, feelings I would never know again.

The plane reached the gate 6. People began unfastening their seatbelts and pulling luggage from the overhead7 lockers, and All the while I was in the meadow. I could smell the grass, feel the wind on my face, hear the cries of the birds. Autumn 1969, and soon I would be 20.
The stewardess came to check on8 me again. This time she sat next to me and asked if I was all right.

“I’m fine, thanks,” I said with a smile. “Just feeling kind of blue."
"I know what you mean, “she said. “It happens to me, too, every once in a while.”
She stood and gave me a lovely smile. “Well, then, have a nice trip. Auf Wiedersehen.

“Auf Wiedersehen.”

Footnotes

  1. the fact of the sky being covered with cloud or the ground with snow （云层的）遮盖；（雪的）覆盖 Fog and low cloud cover are expected this afternoon. 预计今天下午有雾和低空云层。 In this area there is snow cover for six months of the year. 这个地区一年中有六个月被积雪覆盖。 ↩

  2. used to describe an activity or a state ↩

  3. used as a noun: The plane crashed during its approach to the runway. ↩

  4. the particular feeling or impression that is given by sb/sth; the way sb does sth 感觉；印象；神态 The room had an air of luxury. 房间具有豪华的气派。She looked at him with a defiant air. 她用蔑视的神情望着他。 ↩

  5. to stay in the air: ↩

  6. a part of an airport where travellers are allowed to get on or off a particular aircraft: ↩

  7. above your head, usually in the sky: ↩

  8. to look at someone or something in order to make sure that they are safe, correct, etc.: ↩

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