CHAPTER V. THE SPANISH SAILOR.

MRS LEDDAM’S prospects¹ began from this time to brighten, through the kindness of Captain Sam, and of the gentleman whose horse John had caught.

The captain interested a friend in John’s behalf, who owned a small schooner² which was called a lighter³, and was used to convey the cargoes⁴ of large vessels⁵ to the city. He consented to take the little boy, and make a man of him, as he said. John[24] was obliged to work hard in all kinds of weather; but the thought of his mother, and trust in God, reconciled him to every hardship. Captain Morgan, his master, was a kind man, and inclined to be religious. When the work of the day was over, they used to sit in the little cabin of the ‘Sally,’ for so the vessel⁶ was named, and, while the captain smoked his pipe, John read to him in his Bible.

Now, this little boy was doing good all this time, though he did not think that such a child as he was could be of service to any one. The captain had hired a Spanish sailor to assist him, and to take charge of the boat when he was absent. This Antonio was a strange-looking creature. His skin was very dark, and his hair hung in black locks over his face. Although he seemed stern, and could look very fierce with his large bright eyes, yet beneath[25] his sailor jacket there beat a warm, kind heart. John soon won the good-will of the Spaniard by his obedient and pleasant manners, and as the little boy became attached to his new friend, he felt anxious to do him good.

One night, when the captain was away, Antonio brought the fishing net that he was netting into the cabin where John was alone. After they had conversed⁷ awhile, John opened the Bible, and proposed to read aloud. Antonio knew nothing of religion, except making the sign of the cross when he was sick or sad; but still he called himself a Roman Catholic, and did not want to hear the Bible read.

‘Just let me read this part,’ said John. ‘Listen, Mr Antonio; it is about fishermen.’ So, before he could speak, John began to read in Luke of the calling of Peter, and the miraculous⁸ draught⁹ of fishes.[26] Antonio became interested, and after that he made one of the little party in the cabin, and listened with profit to the word of God.

One fine morning they were lying near a small island; the bay was smooth as a mirror, and the trees were reflected, leaf for leaf, in its bosom¹⁰. Now and then a fish would rise to the surface of the water, take a breath of air, and dive down again. John amused himself in observing some wild ducks swimming in the shallow water, watching for prey¹¹ with fixed¹² eyes and grave looks, and he smiled to see their disappointment when the little fish were too cunning or too nimble for them. He was interrupted by Antonio coming out of the cabin, dressed in his best clothes.

‘Why, Mr Antonio, where are you going?’

‘Nowhere,’ he replied. ‘This is my saint’s day.’

[27]‘What’s that?’ inquired John.

‘Oh, I am named after San Antonio, and this is his day.’

‘Well,’ said John, ‘I have looked through the New Testament¹³, and have never found such a saint there.’

‘Why,’ said Antonio, ‘he was not alive at that time.’

‘Who made him a saint then?’

Now, as the sailor had not troubled his head about the matter, he was puzzled to find an answer. At last he honestly confessed he did not know.

‘Suppose he is a saint,’ said John, ‘what good can he do you?’

‘Oh,’ he answered, ‘he can pray for me, and help me when I am in danger.’

John felt serious when he heard this, and said, ‘In that chapter we read last Sunday, the Lord Jesus says, “Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden¹⁴, and I[28] will give you rest.” There is nothing said about coming to St Antonio, or St Anyone; but, “Come to me.” I would rather trust to the Saviour¹⁵. Would not you?’ and as he spoke¹⁶, he looked affectionately in his friend’s face.

Antonio did not reply; but he thought of what had been said, and at night he requested John to read that chapter to him again.

But time did not always pass so smoothly¹⁷ with our young friend. Many an hour did he spend drenched¹⁸ with rain and shivering with cold. Often, too, in helping¹⁹ to unload the vessels, he had to endure rude usage from the rough sailors and coal porters. Sometimes his heart was almost broken; but Antonio took his part, and comforted him by his kindness.

John tried in every way to show his gratitude²⁰; and when they were permitted to[29] visit the town, he prevailed on his friend to stay with him at his own home. These visits were pleasant holidays to John. He took care to bring a supply of fish with him, that he might not burden his mother: and if it happened that they could remain over the Sunday, he kept so close to Antonio that he went to church with him all the day.

It was a pleasant sight to see the sailor, cleanly dressed, sitting in God’s house, listening to the instructions of the Bible; the young lad at his side watching his looks with such pleasure and interest, for of all things John desired most to see his friend a true Christian²¹. I believe he was more anxious for this than even to be the master of a vessel.

1 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

2 schooner   

n.纵帆船

参考例句：

• The schooner was driven ashore.那条帆船被冲上了岸。
• The current was bearing coracle and schooner southward at an equal rate.急流正以同样的速度将小筏子和帆船一起冲向南方。

3 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

4 cargoes   

n.（船或飞机装载的）货物( cargo的名词复数 )；大量，重负

参考例句：

• This ship embarked cargoes. 这艘船装载货物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The crew lashed cargoes of timber down. 全体船员将木材绑牢。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

6 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

7 conversed   

v.交谈，谈话( converse的过去式 )

参考例句：

• I conversed with her on a certain problem. 我与她讨论某一问题。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• She was cheerful and polite, and conversed with me pleasantly. 她十分高兴，也很客气，而且愉快地同我交谈。 来自辞典例句

8 miraculous   

adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
• They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。

9 draught   

n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计

参考例句：

• He emptied his glass at one draught.他将杯中物一饮而尽。
• It's a pity the room has no north window and you don't get a draught.可惜这房间没北窗，没有过堂风。

10 bosom   

n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的

参考例句：

• She drew a little book from her bosom.她从怀里取出一本小册子。
• A dark jealousy stirred in his bosom.他内心生出一阵恶毒的嫉妒。

11 prey   

n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨

参考例句：

• Stronger animals prey on weaker ones.弱肉强食。
• The lion was hunting for its prey.狮子在寻找猎物。

12 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

13 testament   

n.遗嘱；证明

参考例句：

• This is his last will and testament.这是他的遗愿和遗嘱。
• It is a testament to the power of political mythology.这说明，编造政治神话可以产生多大的威力。

14 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

15 saviour   

n.拯救者，救星

参考例句：

• I saw myself as the saviour of my country.我幻想自己为国家的救星。
• The people clearly saw her as their saviour.人们显然把她看成了救星。

16 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

17 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

18 drenched   

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）

参考例句：

• We were caught in the storm and got drenched to the skin. 我们遇上了暴雨，淋得浑身透湿。
• The rain drenched us. 雨把我们淋得湿透。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

20 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

21 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。