Quoin, the quarter-gunner, was the representative of a class on board the Neversink, altogether too remarkable1 to be left astern, without further notice, in the rapid wake of these chapters.
As has been seen, Quoin was full of unaccountable whimsies2; he was, withal, a very cross, bitter, ill-natured, inflammable old man. So, too, were all the members of the gunner's gang; including the two gunner's mates, and all the quarter-gunners. Every one of them had the same dark brown complexion3; all their faces looked like smoked hams. They were continually grumbling4 and growling5 about the batteries; running in and out among the guns; driving the sailors away from them; and cursing and swearing as if all their conscience had been powder-singed, and made callous6, by their calling. Indeed they were a most unpleasant set of men; especially Priming, the nasal-voiced gunner's mate, with the hare-lip; and Cylinder7, his stuttering coadjutor, with the clubbed foot. But you will always observe, that the gunner's gang of every man-of-war are invariably ill-tempered, ugly featured, and quarrelsome. Once when I visited an English line-of-battle ship, the gunner's gang were fore8 and aft, polishing up the batteries, which, according to the Admiral's fancy, had been painted white as snow. Fidgeting round the great thirty-two-pounders, and making stinging remarks at the sailors and each other, they reminded one of a swarm9 of black wasps10, buzzing about rows of white headstones in a church-yard.
Now, there can be little doubt, that their being so much among the guns is the very thing that makes a gunner's gang so cross and quarrelsome. Indeed, this was once proved to the satisfaction of our whole company of main-top-men. A fine top-mate of ours, a most merry and companionable fellow, chanced to be promoted to a quarter-gunner's berth11. A few days afterward12, some of us main-top-men, his old comrades, went to pay him a visit, while he was going his regular rounds through the division of guns allotted13 to his care. But instead of greeting us with his usual heartiness14, and cracking his pleasant jokes, to our amazement15, he did little else but scowl16; and at last, when we rallied him upon his ill-temper, he seized a long black rammer17 from overhead, and drove us on deck; threatening to report us, if we ever dared to be familiar with him again.
My top-mates thought that this remarkable metamorphose was the effect produced upon a weak, vain character suddenly elevated from the level of a mere18 seaman19 to the dignified20 position of a petty officer. But though, in similar cases, I had seen such effects produced upon some of the crew; yet, in the present instance, I knew better than that;—it was solely21 brought about by his consorting22 with with those villainous, irritable23, ill-tempered cannon24; more especially from his being subject to the orders of those deformed25 blunderbusses, Priming and Cylinder.
The truth seems to be, indeed, that all people should be very careful in selecting their callings and vocations26; very careful in seeing to it, that they surround themselves by good-humoured, pleasant-looking objects; and agreeable, temper-soothing sounds. Many an angelic disposition27 has had its even edge turned, and hacked28 like a saw; and many a sweet draught29 of piety30 has soured on the heart from people's choosing ill-natured employments, and omitting to gather round them good-natured landscapes. Gardeners are almost always pleasant, affable people to con-verse with; but beware of quarter-gunners, keepers of arsenals32, and lonely light-house men.
It would be advisable for any man, who from an unlucky choice of a profession, which it is too late to change for another, should find his temper souring, to endeavour to counteract33 that misfortune, by filling his private chamber34 with amiable35, pleasurable sights and sounds. In summer time, an Aeolian harp36 can be placed in your window at a very trifling37 expense; a conch-shell might stand on your mantel, to be taken up and held to the ear, that you may be soothed38 by its continual lulling39 sound, when you feel the blue fit stealing over you. For sights, a gay-painted punch-bowl, or Dutch tankard—never mind about filling it—might be recommended. It should be placed on a bracket in the pier40. Nor is an old-fashioned silver ladle, nor a chased dinner-castor, nor a fine portly demijohn, nor anything, indeed, that savors41 of eating and drinking, bad to drive off the spleen. But perhaps the best of all is a shelf of merrily-bound books, containing comedies, farces42, songs, and humorous novels. You need never open them; only have the titles in plain sight. For this purpose, Peregrine Pickle43 is a good book; so is Gil Blas; so is Goldsmith.
But of all chamber furniture in the world, best calculated to cure a had temper, and breed a pleasant one, is the sight of a lovely wife. If you have children, however, that are teething, the nursery should be a good way up stairs; at sea, it ought to be in the mizzen-top. Indeed, teething children play the very deuce with a husband's temper. I have known three promising44 young husbands completely spoil on their wives' hands, by reason of a teething child, whose worrisomeness happened to be aggravated45 at the time by the summer-complaint. With a breaking heart, and my handkerchief to my eyes, I followed those three hapless young husbands, one after the other, to their premature46 graves.
Gossiping scenes breed gossips. Who so chatty as hotel-clerks, market women, auctioneers, bar-keepers, apothecaries47, newspaper-reporters, monthly-nurses, and all those who live in bustling48 crowds, or are present at scenes of chatty interest.
A forced, interior quietude, in the midst of great out-ward commotion50, breeds moody51 people. Who so moody as railroad-brakemen, steam-boat-engineers, helmsmen, and tenders of power-looms in cotton factories? For all these must hold their peace while employed, and let the machinery52 do the chatting; they cannot even edge in a single syllable53.
Now, this theory about the wondrous54 influence of habitual55 sights and sounds upon the human temper, was suggested by my experiences on board our frigate56. And al-though I regard the example furnished by our quarter-gunners—especially him who had once been our top-mate—as by far the strongest argument in favour of the general theory; yet, the entire ship abounded57 with illustrations of its truth. Who were more liberal-hearted, lofty-minded, gayer, more jocund58, elastic59, adventurous60, given to fun and frolic, than the top-men of the fore, main, and mizzen masts? The reason of their liberal-heartedness was, that they were daily called upon to expatiate61 themselves all over the rigging. The reason of their lofty-mindedness was, that they were high lifted above the petty tumults62, carping cares, and paltrinesses of the decks below.
And I feel persuaded in my inmost soul, that it is to the fact of my having been a main-top-man; and especially my particular post being on the loftiest yard of the frigate, the main-royal-yard; that I am now enabled to give such a free, broad, off-hand, bird's-eye, and, more than all, impartial63 account of our man-of-war world; withholding64 nothing; inventing nothing; nor flattering, nor scandalising any; but meting65 out to all—commodore and messenger-boy alike—their precise descriptions and deserts.
The reason of the mirthfulness of these top-men was, that they always looked out upon the blue, boundless66, dimpled, laughing, sunny sea. Nor do I hold, that it militates against this theory, that of a stormy day, when the face of the ocean was black, and overcast67, that some of them would grow moody, and chose to sit apart. On the contrary, it only proves the thing which I maintain. For even on shore, there are many people naturally gay and light-hearted, who, whenever the autumnal wind begins to bluster68 round the corners, and roar along the chimney-stacks, straight becomes cross, petulant69, and irritable. What is more mellow70 than fine old ale? Yet thunder will sour the best nut-brown ever brewed71.
The Holders72 of our frigate, the Troglodytes73, who lived down in the tarry cellars and caves below the berth-deck, were, nearly all of them, men of gloomy dispositions74, taking sour views of things; one of them was a blue-light Calvinist. Whereas, the old-sheet-anchor-men, who spent their time in the bracing75 sea-air and broad-cast sunshine of the forecastle, were free, generous-hearted, charitable, and full of good-will to all hands; though some of them, to tell the truth, proved sad exceptions; but exceptions only prove the rule.
The "steady-cooks" on the berth-deck, the "steady-sweepers," and "steady-spit-box-musterers," in all divisions of the frigate, fore and aft, were a narrow-minded set; with contracted souls; imputable76, no doubt, to their groveling duties. More especially was this evinced in the case of those odious77 ditchers and night scavengers, the ignoble78 "Waisters."
The members of the band, some ten or twelve in number, who had nothing to do but keep their instruments polished, and play a lively air now and then, to stir the stagnant79 current in our poor old Commodore's torpid80 veins81, were the most gleeful set of fellows you ever saw. They were Portuguese82, who had been shipped at the Cape31 De Verd islands, on the passage out. They messed by themselves; forming a dinner-party, not to be exceeded ire mirthfulness, by a club of young bridegrooms, three months after marriage, completely satisfied with their bargains, after testing them.
But what made them, now, so full of fun? What indeed but their merry, martial83, mellow calling. Who could he a churl84, and play a flageolet? who mean and spiritless, braying85 forth86 the souls of thousand heroes from his brazen87 trump88? But still more efficacious, perhaps, in ministering to the light spirits of the band, was the consoling thought, that should the ship ever go into action, they would be exempted89 from the perils90 of battle. In ships of war, the members of the "music," as the band is called, are generally non-combatants; and mostly ship, with the express understanding, that as soon as the vessel91 comes within long gun-shot of an enemy, they shall have the privilege of burrowing92 down in the cable-tiers, or sea coal-hole. Which shows that they are inglorious, but uncommonly93 sensible fellows.
Look at the barons94 of the gun-room—Lieutenants95, Purser, Marine97 officers, Sailing-master—all of them gentlemen with stiff upper lips, and aristocratic cut noses. Why was this? Will any one deny, that from their living so long in high military life, served by a crowd of menial stewards98 and cot-boys, and always accustomed to command right and left; will any one deny, I say, that by reason of this, their very noses had become thin, peaked, aquiline99, and aristocratically cartilaginous? Even old Cuticle100, the Surgeon, had a Roman nose.
But I never could account how it came to be, that our grey headed First Lieutenant96 was a little lop-sided; that is, one of his shoulders disproportionately dropped. And when I observed, that nearly all the First Lieutenants I saw in other men-of-war, besides many Second and Third Lieutenants, were similarly lop-sided, I knew that there must be some general law which induced the phenomenon; and I put myself to studying it out, as an interesting problem. At last, I came to the conclusion—to which I still adhere—that their so long wearing only one epaulet (for to only one does their rank entitle them) was the infallible clew to this mystery. And when any one reflects upon so well-known a fact, that many sea Lieutenants grow decrepit101 from age, without attaining102 a Captaincy and wearing two epaulets, which would strike the balance between their shoulders, the above reason assigned will not appear unwarrantable.
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1
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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whimsies
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| n.怪念头( whimsy的名词复数 )；异想天开；怪脾气；与众不同的幽默感 | |
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complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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cylinder
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| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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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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wasps
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| 黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人 | |
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berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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allotted
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| 分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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heartiness
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| 诚实，热心 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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rammer
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| n.撞锤；夯土机；拨弹机；夯 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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solely
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| adv.仅仅，唯一地 | |
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consorting
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| v.结伴( consort的现在分词 )；交往；相称；调和 | |
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irritable
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| adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的 | |
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cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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vocations
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| n.（认为特别适合自己的）职业( vocation的名词复数 )；使命；神召；（认为某种工作或生活方式特别适合自己的）信心 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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hacked
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| 生气 | |
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draught
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| n.拉，牵引，拖；一网（饮，吸，阵)；顿服药量，通风；v.起草，设计 | |
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piety
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| n.虔诚，虔敬 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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arsenals
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| n.兵工厂，军火库( arsenal的名词复数 )；任何事物的集成 | |
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counteract
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| vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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harp
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| n.竖琴；天琴座 | |
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trifling
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| adj.微不足道的；没什么价值的 | |
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soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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lulling
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| vt.使镇静，使安静（lull的现在分词形式） | |
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pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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savors
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| v.意味，带有…的性质( savor的第三人称单数 )；给…加调味品；使有风味；品尝 | |
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farces
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| n.笑剧( farce的名词复数 )；闹剧；笑剧剧目；作假的可笑场面 | |
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pickle
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| n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡 | |
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promising
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| adj.有希望的，有前途的 | |
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aggravated
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| 使恶化( aggravate的过去式和过去分词 )； 使更严重； 激怒； 使恼火 | |
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premature
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| adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的 | |
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apothecaries
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| n.药剂师，药店( apothecary的名词复数 ) | |
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bustling
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| adj.喧闹的 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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moody
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| adj.心情不稳的，易怒的，喜怒无常的 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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frigate
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| n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰 | |
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abounded
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| v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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jocund
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| adj.快乐的，高兴的 | |
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elastic
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| n.橡皮圈，松紧带；adj.有弹性的；灵活的 | |
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adventurous
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| adj.爱冒险的；惊心动魄的，惊险的，刺激的 | |
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expatiate
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| v.细说，详述 | |
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tumults
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| 吵闹( tumult的名词复数 )； 喧哗； 激动的吵闹声； 心烦意乱 | |
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impartial
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| adj.(in,to)公正的，无偏见的 | |
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withholding
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| 扣缴税款 | |
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meting
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| v.（对某人）施以，给予（处罚等）( mete的现在分词 ) | |
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boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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overcast
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| adj.阴天的，阴暗的，愁闷的；v.遮盖，（使）变暗，包边缝；n.覆盖，阴天 | |
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bluster
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| v.猛刮；怒冲冲的说；n.吓唬，怒号；狂风声 | |
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petulant
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| adj.性急的，暴躁的 | |
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mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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brewed
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| 调制( brew的过去式和过去分词 )； 酝酿； 沏（茶）； 煮（咖啡） | |
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holders
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| 支持物( holder的名词复数 )； 持有者； （支票等）持有人； 支托（或握持）…之物 | |
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troglodytes
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| n.类人猿( troglodyte的名词复数 )；隐居者；穴居者；极端保守主义者 | |
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dispositions
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| 安排( disposition的名词复数 )； 倾向； （财产、金钱的）处置； 气质 | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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imputable
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| adj.可归罪的，可归咎的，可归因的 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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ignoble
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| adj.不光彩的，卑鄙的；可耻的 | |
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stagnant
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| adj.不流动的，停滞的，不景气的 | |
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torpid
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| adj.麻痹的，麻木的，迟钝的 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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Portuguese
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| n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语 | |
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martial
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| adj.战争的，军事的，尚武的，威武的 | |
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churl
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| n.吝啬之人；粗鄙之人 | |
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85
braying
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| v.发出驴叫似的声音( bray的现在分词 )；发嘟嘟声；粗声粗气地讲话（或大笑）；猛击 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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brazen
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| adj.厚脸皮的，无耻的，坚硬的 | |
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trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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exempted
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| 使免除[豁免]( exempt的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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perils
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| 极大危险( peril的名词复数 )； 危险的事（或环境） | |
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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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burrowing
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| v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的现在分词 )；翻寻 | |
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uncommonly
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| adv. 稀罕(极，非常) | |
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barons
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| 男爵( baron的名词复数 )； 巨头； 大王； 大亨 | |
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lieutenants
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| n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 )；副职官员；空军；仅低于…官阶的官员 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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stewards
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| （轮船、飞机等的）乘务员( steward的名词复数 )； （俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的）管理员； （大型活动的）组织者； （私人家中的）管家 | |
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aquiline
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| adj.钩状的，鹰的 | |
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cuticle
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| n.表皮 | |
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decrepit
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| adj.衰老的，破旧的 | |
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attaining
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| （通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况） | |
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