My horizon being limited in the companion, I turned the handle and prepared to step on to the deck outside. It was only when I had done so that I realised how strong the wind was; it caught the door and dashed it from my hand as if it had been made of paper, while the cap I had upon my head was whisked off and carried away into the swirl18 of grey water astern before I had time to clap my hand to it. Undaunted, however, by this mishap19, I shut the door, and, hanging on to the hand-rail, lest I too should be washed overboard, made my way forward and eventually reached the ladder leading to the bridge. By the time I put my foot upon the first step I was quite exhausted20 and had to pause in order to recover my breath; and yet, if it was so bad below, how shall I describe the scene which greeted my eyes when I stood upon the bridge itself? From that dizzy height I was better able to estimate the magnitude of the waves and the capabilities21 of the little vessel for withstanding them.
The captain, sea-booted and clad in sou’wester and oilskins, came forward and dragged me to a place of safety as soon as he became aware of my presence. I saw his lips move, but what with the shrieking22 of the wind in the shrouds23 and the pounding of the seas on the deck below, what he said was quite inaudible. Once in the corner to which he led me, I clung to the rails like a drowning man and regarded the world above my canvas screen in silent consternation24. And I had excellent reasons for being afraid, for the picture before me was one that might have appalled25 the stoutest26 heart. Violent as the sea had appeared from the port of the companion hatch, it looked doubly so now; and the higher the waves, the deeper the valleys in between. Tossed to and fro, her bows one moment in mid-air and the next pointing to the bottom of the ocean, it seemed impossible so frail27 a craft could long withstand the buffeting28 she was receiving. She rolled without ceasing, long, sickening movements followed on each occasion by a death-like pause that made the heart stand still and forced the belief upon one that she could never right herself again. Times out of number I searched the captain’s face in the hope of deriving29 some sort of encouragement from it; but I found none. On the other hand, it was plain, from the glances he now and again threw back along the vessel, and from the strained expression that was never absent from his eyes, that he was as anxious as myself, and, since he was more conversant30 with her capabilities, with perhaps greater reason. Only the man at the wheel — a tall, gaunt individual, with bushy eyebrows31 and the largest hands I have ever seen on a human being — seemed undisturbed. Despite the fact that upon his handling of those frail spokes32 depended the lives of twenty human creatures, he was as undaunted by the war of the elements going on around him as if he were sitting by the fireside, smoking his pipe, ashore33.
For upward of half an hour I remained where the captain had placed me, drenched34 by the spray, listening to the dull thud of the seas as they broke upon the deck below, and watching with an interest that amounted almost to a pain the streams of water that sluiced35 backward and forward across the bridge every time she rolled. Then, summoning all my courage, for I can assure you it was needed, I staggered toward the ladder and once more prepared to make my way below. I had not reached the deck, however, and fortunately my hands had not quitted the guide rails, when a wave larger than any I had yet seen mounted the bulwark36 and dashed aboard, carrying away a boat and twisting the davits, from which it had been suspended a moment before, like pieces of bent37 wire. Had I descended38 a moment earlier, nothing could have prevented me from being washed overboard. With a feeling of devout39 thankfulness in my heart for my escape, I remained where I was, clinging to the ladder long after the sea had passed and disappeared through the scuppers. Then I descended and, holding on to the rails as before, eventually reached the saloon entrance in safety.
To be inside, in that still, warm atmosphere, out of the pressure of the wind, was a relief beyond all telling, though what sort of object I must have looked, with my hair blown in all directions by the wind and my clothes soaked through and through by the spray that had dashed upon me on the bridge, is more than I can say. Thinking it advisable I should change as soon as possible, I made my way to my own cabin, but, before I reached it, the door of that occupied by the Fr?ulein Valerie opened and she came out. That something unusual was the matter I saw at a glance.
“Mr. Forrester,” she said, with a scorn in her voice that cut like a knife, “come here. I have something curious to show you.”
I did as she wished, and forthwith she led me to her cabin. I was not prepared, however, for what I found there. Crouching40 in a corner, almost beside himself with fear, and with the frightened face of the monkey Pehtes peering out from beneath his coat, was no less a person than Pharos, the man I had hitherto supposed insensible to such an emotion. In the presence of that death, however, which we all believed to be so imminent41, he showed himself a coward past all believing. Terror incarnate42 stared from his eyes and rendered him unconscious of our scorn. At every roll the vessel gave he shrank farther into his corner, glaring at us meanwhile with a ferocity that was not very far removed from madness.
At any other time and in any other person such an exhibition might have been conducive43 of pity; in his case, however, it only added to the loathing44 I already felt for him. One thing was very certain, in his present condition he was no fit companion for the woman who stood clinging to the door behind me. I accordingly determined45 to get him either to his own cabin or to mine without delay.
“Come, come, Monsieur Pharos,” I said, “you must not give way like this. I have been on deck, and I can assure you there is no immediate46 danger.”
As I said this I stooped and placed my hand upon his shoulder. He threw it off with a snarl47 and a snap of his teeth that was more like the action of a mad dog than that of a man.
“You lie, you lie!” he cried in a paroxysm of rage and fear. “I am cursed, and I shall never see land again. But I will not die — I will not die! There must be some way of keeping the yacht afloat. The captain must find one. If any one is to be saved it must be me. Do you hear what I say? It must be me.”
For the abominable48 selfishness of this remark I could have struck him.
“Are you a man that you can talk like this in the presence of a woman?” I cried. “For shame, sir, for shame! Get up and let me conduct you to your own cabin.”
With this I lifted him to his feet and, whether he liked it or not, half led and half dragged him along the saloon to his own quarters. Once there I placed him on his settee, but the next roll of the vessel brought him to the floor and left him crouching in the corner, still clutching the monkey, his knees almost level with his shoulders, and his awful face looking up at me between them. The whole affair was so detestable that my gorge49 rose at it, and when I left him I returned to the saloon with a greater detestation of him in my heart than I had felt before. I found the Fr?ulein Valerie seated at the table.
“Fr?ulein,” I said, seating myself beside her, “I am afraid you have been needlessly alarmed. As I said in there, I give you my word there is no immediate danger.”
“I am frightened,” she answered. “See how my hands are trembling. But it is not death I fear.”
“You fear that man,” I said, nodding my head in the direction of the cabin I had just left; “but I assure you, you need not do so, for to-day, at least, he is harmless.”
“Ah! you do not know him as I do,” she replied. “I have seen him like this before. As soon as the storm abates50 he will be himself again, and then he will hate us both the more for having been witnesses of his cowardice51.” Then, sinking her voice a little, she added: “I often wonder, Mr. Forrester, whether he can be human. If so, he must be the only one of his kind in the world, for Nature surely could not permit two such men to live.”
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1
prophesied
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| v.预告，预言( prophesy的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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betokened
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| v.预示，表示( betoken的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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Mediterranean
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| adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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gales
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| 龙猫 | |
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bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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narrated
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| v.故事( narrate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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propeller
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| n.螺旋桨，推进器 | |
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scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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monotonous
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| adj.单调的，一成不变的，使人厌倦的 | |
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relentless
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| adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的 | |
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swirl
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| v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形 | |
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mishap
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| n.不幸的事，不幸；灾祸 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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capabilities
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| n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力 | |
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shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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shrouds
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| n.裹尸布( shroud的名词复数 )；寿衣；遮蔽物；覆盖物v.隐瞒( shroud的第三人称单数 )；保密 | |
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consternation
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| n.大为吃惊，惊骇 | |
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appalled
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| v.使惊骇，使充满恐惧( appall的过去式和过去分词)adj.惊骇的；丧胆的 | |
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stoutest
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| 粗壮的( stout的最高级 )； 结实的； 坚固的； 坚定的 | |
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frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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buffeting
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| 振动 | |
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deriving
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| v.得到( derive的现在分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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conversant
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| adj.亲近的，有交情的，熟悉的 | |
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31
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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32
spokes
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| n.（车轮的）辐条( spoke的名词复数 )；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 | |
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33
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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drenched
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| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
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35
sluiced
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| v.冲洗( sluice的过去式和过去分词 )；（指水）喷涌而出；漂净；给…安装水闸 | |
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36
bulwark
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| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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38
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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devout
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| adj.虔诚的，虔敬的，衷心的 (n.devoutness) | |
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40
crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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41
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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42
incarnate
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| adj.化身的，人体化的，肉色的 | |
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43
conducive
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| adj.有益的，有助的 | |
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44
loathing
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| n.厌恶，憎恨v.憎恨，厌恶( loathe的现在分词)；极不喜欢 | |
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45
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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46
immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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47
snarl
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| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
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48
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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49
gorge
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| n.咽喉，胃，暴食，山峡；v.塞饱，狼吞虎咽地吃 | |
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50
abates
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| 减少( abate的第三人称单数 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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51
cowardice
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| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
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