CHAPTER VIII. THE POOR PRODIGAL SON.

ABOUT this time our young friend met with a singular adventure. He had been taught by his pastor¹, by reading the Bible, and, above all, by the teachings of the Holy Spirit, that if we love Christ, that love will make us wish to do good to others, and seek to bring them to the Saviour². It was John’s constant prayer that God would give him something to do for Christ. Now, when we offer such a prayer in sincerity³, it will be answered. We have seen that even when a young boy, John was taught to be useful to Antonio and his brother Henry; and as he grew older, his opportunities for doing good increased. My young reader, is there no one to whom you can do some good? Do you love the Lord Jesus yourself?[44] This is the first and most important question; for if you are not a child of God, you cannot be useful to others,—indeed, you will do harm, and thus have a dreadful account to give at the day of judgment⁴.

But to return to John’s adventure. In the marshes⁵ at the mouth of the bay, there are great quantities of wild ducks. Many persons are employed in the winter season in shooting these birds, to supply the city market. They go out in small boats in pursuit of the game.

John often met with these duck hunters; but as they were not always profitable companions, he avoided them, remembering that the Bible says, ‘Evil communications corrupt⁶ good manners.’

It happened, however, that being obliged to lie at anchor, to make some little repairs to his rigging, he stopped where a small river emptied itself into the bay. Two or[45] three huts had been built to shelter the hunters; for this was a favourite resort of the wild fowl⁷.

As John was busy splicing⁸ ropes, a man, paddling a skiff, came alongside, and hailed him with, ‘My lad, have you any medicine aboard? I wish you would let me have some for a sick man.’

‘What kind do you want?’ John inquired.

‘Well, I suppose it don’t matter much; one kind is as good as another. But perhaps you would come yourself and see our young man, he seems very bad.’

John did not hesitate; and taking a medicine chest, which he always kept with him, he jumped into the skiff, and in a few moments was at the side of the sick person.

Stretched on a hard and dirty pallet, in a damp, comfortless hovel, there lay a fine-looking[46] youth of eighteen, raving⁹ with fever, calling continually on his father and mother to come to him.

Several young men passed through the room, but they seemed reckless and dissipated, and their noisy mirth increased the delirium¹⁰ of the sufferer.

John seated himself by the bed, and taking the sick man’s hand, spoke¹¹ kindly¹² to him in a gentle voice. How powerful is the force of kindness! Those calm words soothed¹³ the mind of the youth, and he remained more quiet, while John endeavoured to discover his disease. Exposure and neglect, it seemed, had brought on a fever, which threatened to be fatal. John gave him some medicine, bathed his burning temples, smoothed his pillow, and fanned him until he sank to sleep. Antonio brought from the schooner¹⁴ some tea which he prepared; and before night they[47] had the satisfaction of seeing him more comfortable. It was not John’s way to do things by halves; and seeing that the poor sufferer could have no attention from his associates, and would probably die if neglected, he sent Antonio on with the vessel¹⁵, while he remained with his sick charge. The remedies which he had administered soon broke the fever; and now that the patient was calm, he learned his history.

Edward Reeder had been brought up by pious¹⁶ parents; but falling into evil company, he had been induced to leave his father’s house, and in company with a band of reckless youths, came out in this enterprise. But now he saw his sin and folly¹⁷, and how frail¹⁸ a dependence¹⁹ is the friendship of the wicked.

As his young friend read and talked with him he shed tears of repentance²⁰, and begged John to take him away from the[48] scene of dissipation and wretchedness into which he had brought himself.

As soon as he was able to bear it, John and Antonio carried him to the skiff, and thus brought him on board the ‘Sally.’ The sea breezes restored him in a few days, and then John took him to his mother, that by her good nursing his cure might be completed.

Edward returned to his parents, much wiser and better than when he left his home. Neither he nor his family ever forgot the kindness of John. He called him his deliverer; and every year a handsome present was sent to the family in token of gratitude²¹.

1 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

2 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。

3 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

4 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

5 marshes   

n.沼泽，湿地( marsh的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Cows were grazing on the marshes. 牛群在湿地上吃草。
• We had to cross the marshes. 我们不得不穿过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

7 fowl   

n.家禽，鸡，禽肉

参考例句：

• Fowl is not part of a traditional brunch.禽肉不是传统的早午餐的一部分。
• Since my heart attack,I've eaten more fish and fowl and less red meat.自从我患了心脏病后，我就多吃鱼肉和禽肉，少吃红色肉类。

8 splicing   

n.编接（绳）；插接；捻接；叠接v.绞接( splice的现在分词 )；捻接（两段绳子）；胶接；粘接（胶片、磁带等）

参考例句：

• An ultra_low _loss splicing without conventional power monitoring could be achieved. 焊接最低损耗在非常规能源运作下将可能做到。 来自互联网
• Film, tissue backing. For splicing, holding in shoe and general purpose use. 具有薄膜、棉纸基材，适用于铭版、皮革及一般性双面贴合。 来自互联网

9 raving   

adj.说胡话的；疯狂的，怒吼的；非常漂亮的；令人醉心[痴心]的v.胡言乱语(rave的现在分词)n.胡话；疯话adv.胡言乱语地；疯狂地

参考例句：

• The man's a raving lunatic. 那个男子是个语无伦次的疯子。
• When I told her I'd crashed her car, she went stark raving bonkers. 我告诉她我把她的车撞坏了时，她暴跳如雷。

10 delirium   

n. 神智昏迷,说胡话;极度兴奋

参考例句：

• In her delirium, she had fallen to the floor several times. 她在神志不清的状态下几次摔倒在地上。
• For the next nine months, Job was in constant delirium.接下来的九个月，约伯处于持续精神错乱的状态。

11 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。

12 kindly   

adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地

参考例句：

• Her neighbours spoke of her as kindly and hospitable.她的邻居都说她和蔼可亲、热情好客。
• A shadow passed over the kindly face of the old woman.一道阴影掠过老太太慈祥的面孔。

13 soothed   

v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦

参考例句：

• The music soothed her for a while. 音乐让她稍微安静了一会儿。
• The soft modulation of her voice soothed the infant. 她柔和的声调使婴儿安静了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 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。

15 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。

16 pious   

adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a pious follower of the faith.亚历山大是个虔诚的信徒。
• Her mother was a pious Christian.她母亲是一个虔诚的基督教徒。

17 folly   

n.愚笨，愚蠢，蠢事，蠢行，傻话

参考例句：

• Learn wisdom by the folly of others.从别人的愚蠢行动中学到智慧。
• Events proved the folly of such calculations.事情的进展证明了这种估计是愚蠢的。

18 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

19 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

20 repentance   

n.懊悔

参考例句：

• He shows no repentance for what he has done.他对他的所作所为一点也不懊悔。
• Christ is inviting sinners to repentance.基督正在敦请有罪的人悔悟。

21 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。