On approaching, she turned out to be a small, slatternly-looking craft, her hull2 and spars a dingy3 black, rigging all slack and bleached4 nearly white, and everything denoting an ill state of affairs aboard. The four boats hanging from her sides proclaimed her a whaler. Leaning carelessly over the bulwarks5 were the sailors, wild, haggard-looking fellows in Scotch6 caps and faded blue frocks; some of them with cheeks of a mottled bronze, to which sickness soon changes the rich berry-brown of a seaman's complexion7 in the tropics.
On the quarter-deck was one whom I took for the chief mate. He wore a broad-brimmed Panama hat, and his spy-glass was levelled as we advanced.
When we came alongside, a low cry ran fore8 and aft the deck, and everybody gazed at us with inquiring eyes. And well they might. To say nothing of the savage9 boat's crew, panting with excitement, all gesture and vociferation, my own appearance was calculated to excite curiosity. A robe of the native cloth was thrown over my shoulders, my hair and beard were uncut, and I betrayed other evidences of my recent adventure. Immediately on gaining the deck, they beset10 me on all sides with questions, the half of which I could not answer, so incessantly11 were they put.
As an instance of the curious coincidences which often befall the sailor, I must here mention that two countenances12 before me were familiar. One was that of an old man-of-war's-man, whose acquaintance I had made in Rio de Janeiro, at which place touched the ship in which I sailed from home. The other was a young man whom, four years previous, I had frequently met in a sailor boarding-house in Liverpool. I remembered parting with him at Prince's Dock Gates, in the midst of a swarm13 of police-officers, trackmen, stevedores14, beggars, and the like. And here we were again:—years had rolled by, many a league of ocean had been traversed, and we were thrown together under circumstances which almost made me doubt my own existence.
But a few moments passed ere I was sent for into the cabin by the captain.
He was quite a young man, pale and slender, more like a sickly counting-house clerk than a bluff15 sea-captain. Bidding me be seated, he ordered the steward16 to hand me a glass of Pisco. In the state I was, this stimulus17 almost made me delirious18; so that of all I then went on to relate concerning my residence on the island I can scarcely remember a word. After this I was asked whether I desired to "ship"; of course I said yes; that is, if he would allow me to enter for one cruise, engaging to discharge me, if I so desired, at the next port. In this way men are frequently shipped on board whalemen in the South Seas. My stipulation19 was acceded20 to, and the ship's articles handed me to sign.
The mate was now called below, and charged to make a "well man" of me; not, let it be borne in mind, that the captain felt any great compassion21 for me, he only desired to have the benefit of my services as soon as possible.
Helping22 me on deck, the mate stretched me out on the windlass and commenced examining my limb; and then doctoring it after a fashion with something from the medicine-chest, rolled it up in a piece of an old sail, making so big a bundle that, with my feet resting on the windlass, I might have been taken for a sailor with the gout. While this was going on, someone removing my tappa cloak slipped on a blue frock in its place, and another, actuated by the same desire to make a civilized23 mortal of me, flourished about my head a great pair lie imminent24 jeopardy25 of both ears, and the certain destruction of hair and beard.
The day was now drawing to a close, and, as the land faded from my sight, I was all alive to the change in my condition. But how far short of our expectations is oftentimes the fulfilment of the most ardent26 hopes. Safe aboard of a ship—so long my earnest prayer—with home and friends once more in prospect27, I nevertheless felt weighed down by a melancholy28 that could not be shaken off. It was the thought of never more seeing those who, notwithstanding their desire to retain me a captive, had, upon the whole, treated me so kindly29. I was leaving them for ever.
So unforeseen and sudden had been my escape, so excited had I been through it all, and so great the contrast between the luxurious30 repose31 of the valley, and the wild noise and motion of a ship at sea, that at times my recent adventures had all the strangeness of a dream; and I could scarcely believe that the same sun now setting over a waste of waters, had that very morning risen above the mountains and peered in upon me as I lay on my mat in Typee.
Going below into the forecastle just after dark, I was inducted into a wretched "bunk32" or sleeping-box built over another. The rickety bottoms of both were spread with several pieces of a blanket. A battered33 tin can was then handed me, containing about half a pint34 of "tea"—so called by courtesy, though whether the juice of such stalks as one finds floating therein deserves that title, is a matter all shipowners must settle with their consciences. A cube of salt beef, on a hard round biscuit by way of platter, was also handed up; and without more ado, I made a meal, the salt flavour of which, after the Nebuchadnezzar fare of the valley, was positively35 delicious.
While thus engaged, an old sailor on a chest just under me was puffing36 out volumes of tobacco smoke. My supper finished, he brushed the stem of his sooty pipe against the sleeve of his frock, and politely waved it toward me. The attention was sailor-like; as for the nicety of the thing, no man who has lived in forecastles is at all fastidious; and so, after a few vigorous whiffs to induce repose, I turned over and tried my best to forget myself. But in vain. My crib, instead of extending fore and aft, as it should have done, was placed athwart ships, that is, at right angles to the keel, and the vessel, going before the wind, rolled to such a degree, that-every time my heels went up and my head went down, I thought I was on the point of turning a somerset. Beside this, there were still more annoying causes of inquietude; and every once in a while a splash of water came down the open scuttle37, and flung the spray in my face.
At last, after a sleepless38 night, broken twice by the merciless call of the watch, a peep of daylight struggled into view from above, and someone came below. It was my old friend with the pipe.
"Here, shipmate," said I, "help me out of this place, and let me go on deck."
"Halloa, who's that croaking39?" was the rejoinder, as he peered into the obscurity where I lay. "Ay, Typee, my king of the cannibals, is it you I But I say, my lad, how's that spar of your'n? the mate says it's in a devil of a way; and last night set the steward to sharpening the handsaw: hope he won't have the carving40 of ye."
Long before daylight we arrived off the bay of Nukuheva, and making short tacks41 until morning, we then ran in and sent a boat ashore42 with the natives who had brought me to the ship. Upon its return, we made sail again, and stood off from the land. There was a fine breeze; and notwithstanding my bad night's rest, the cool, fresh air of a morning at sea was so bracing43, mat, as soon as I breathed it, my spirits rose at once.
Seated upon the windlass the greater portion of the day, and chatting freely with the men, I learned the history of the voyage thus far, and everything respecting the ship and its present condition.
These matters I will now throw together in the next chapter.
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1
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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2
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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3
dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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bleached
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| 漂白的，晒白的，颜色变浅的 | |
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5
bulwarks
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| n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙 | |
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6
scotch
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| n.伤口，刻痕；苏格兰威士忌酒；v.粉碎，消灭，阻止；adj.苏格兰(人)的 | |
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7
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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8
fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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9
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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10
beset
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| v.镶嵌；困扰，包围 | |
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incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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12
countenances
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| n.面容( countenance的名词复数 )；表情；镇静；道义支持 | |
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13
swarm
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| n.(昆虫)等一大群；vi.成群飞舞；蜂拥而入 | |
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14
stevedores
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| n.码头装卸工人，搬运工( stevedore的名词复数 ) | |
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15
bluff
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| v.虚张声势，用假象骗人；n.虚张声势，欺骗 | |
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16
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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17
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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stipulation
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| n.契约，规定，条文；条款说明 | |
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20
acceded
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| v.（正式）加入( accede的过去式和过去分词 )；答应；（通过财产的添附而）增加；开始任职 | |
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21
compassion
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| n.同情，怜悯 | |
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22
helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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23
civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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jeopardy
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| n.危险；危难 | |
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ardent
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，强烈的，烈性的 | |
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prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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28
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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31
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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32
bunk
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| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
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33
battered
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| adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损 | |
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34
pint
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| n.品脱 | |
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35
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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36
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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37
scuttle
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| v.急赶，疾走，逃避；n.天窗；舷窗 | |
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38
sleepless
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| adj.不睡眠的，睡不著的，不休息的 | |
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39
croaking
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的现在分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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40
carving
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| n.雕刻品，雕花 | |
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41
tacks
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| 大头钉( tack的名词复数 )； 平头钉； 航向； 方法 | |
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42
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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43
bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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