While engaged in these inquiries8, often fruitless, or but partially9 gratified, I could not but regret that there was no public printed Directory for the Neversink, such as they have in large towns, containing an alphabetic10 list of all the crew, and where they might be found. Also, in losing myself in some remote, dark corner of the bowels11 of the frigate, in the vicinity of the various store-rooms, shops, and warehouses12, I much lamented13 that no enterprising tar14 had yet thought of compiling a Hand-book of the Neversink, so that the tourist might have a reliable guide.
Indeed, there were several parts of the ship under hatches shrouded15 in mystery, and completely inaccessible16 to the sailor.
Wondrous17 old doors, barred and bolted in dingy18 bulkheads, must have opened into regions full of interest to a successful explorer.
They looked like the gloomy entrances to family vaults19 of buried dead; and when I chanced to see some unknown functionary21 insert his key, and enter these inexplicable22 apartments with a battle-lantern, as if on solemn official business, I almost quaked to dive in with him, and satisfy myself whether these vaults indeed contained the mouldering23 relics24 of by-gone old Commodores and Post-captains. But the habitations of the living commodore and captain—their spacious25 and curtained cabins—were themselves almost as sealed volumes, and I passed them in hopeless wonderment, like a peasant before a prince's palace. Night and day armed sentries26 guarded their sacred portals, cutlass in hand; and had I dared to cross their path, I would infallibly have been cut down, as if in battle. Thus, though for a period of more than a year I was an inmate27 of this floating box of live-oak, yet there were numberless things in it that, to the last, remained wrapped in obscurity, or concerning which I could only lose myself in vague speculations28. I was as a Roman Jew of the Middle Ages, confined to the Jews' quarter of the town, and forbidden to stray beyond my limits. Or I was as a modern traveller in the same famous city, forced to quit it at last without gaining ingress to the most mysterious haunts—the innermost shrine29 of the Pope, and the dungeons30 and cells of the Inquisition.
But among all the persons and things on board that puzzled me, and filled me most with strange emotions of doubt, misgivings31 and mystery, was the Gunner—a short, square, grim man, his hair and beard grizzled and singed32, as if with gunpowder33. His skin was of a flecky brown, like the stained barrel of a fowling-piece, and his hollow eyes burned in his head like blue-lights. He it was who had access to many of those mysterious vaults I have spoken of. Often he might be seen groping his way into them, followed by his subalterns, the old quarter-gunners, as if intent upon laying a train of powder to blow up the ship. I remembered Guy Fawkes and the Parliament-house, and made earnest inquiry34 whether this gunner was a Roman Catholic. I felt relieved when informed that he was not.
A little circumstance which one of his mates once told me heightened the gloomy interest with which I regarded his chief. He told me that, at periodical intervals, his master the Gunner, accompanied by his phalanx, entered into the great Magazine under the Gun-room, of which he had sole custody35 and kept the key, nearly as big as the key of the Bastile, and provided with lanterns, something like Sir Humphrey Davy's Safety-lamp for coal mines, proceeded to turn, end for end, all the kegs of powder and packages of cartridges36 stored in this innermost explosive vault20, lined throughout with sheets of copper37. In the vestibule of the Magazine, against the panelling, were several pegs38 for slippers39, and, before penetrating40 further than that vestibule, every man of the gunner's gang silently removed his shoes, for fear that the nails in their heels might possibly create a spark, by striking against the coppered floor within. Then, with slippered41 feet and with hushed whispers, they stole into the heart of the place.
This turning of the powder was to preserve its inflammability. And surely it was a business full of direful interest, to be buried so deep below the sun, handling whole barrels of powder, any one of which, touched by the smallest spark, was powerful enough to blow up a whole street of warehouses.
The gunner went by the name of Old Combustibles, though I thought this an undignified name for so momentous42 a personage, who had all our lives in his hand.
While we lay in Callao, we received from shore several barrels of powder. So soon as the launch came alongside with them, orders were given to extinguish all lights and all fires in the ship; and the master-at-arms and his corporals inspected every deck to see that this order was obeyed; a very prudent43 precaution, no doubt, but not observed at all in the Turkish navy. The Turkish sailors will sit on their gun-carriages, tranquilly44 smoking, while kegs of powder are being rolled under their ignited pipe-bowls. This shows the great comfort there is in the doctrine45 of these Fatalists, and how such a doctrine, in some things at least, relieves men from nervous anxieties. But we all are Fatalists at bottom. Nor need we so much marvel46 at the heroism47 of that army officer, who challenged his personal foe48 to bestride a barrel of powder with him—the match to be placed between them—and be blown up in good company, for it is pretty certain that the whole earth itself is a vast hogshead, full of inflammable materials, and which we are always bestriding; at the same time, that all good Christians49 believe that at any minute the last day may come and the terrible combustion50 of the entire planet ensue.
As if impressed with a befitting sense of the awfulness of his calling, our gunner always wore a fixed51 expression of solemnity, which was heightened by his grizzled hair and beard. But what imparted such a sinister52 look to him, and what wrought53 so upon my imagination concerning this man, was a frightful54 scar crossing his left cheek and forehead. He had been almost mortally wounded, they said, with a sabre-cut, during a frigate engagement in the last war with Britain.
He was the most methodical, exact, and punctual of all the forward officers. Among his other duties, it pertained55 to him, while in harbour, to see that at a certain hour in the evening one of the great guns was discharged from the forecastle, a ceremony only observed in a flag-ship. And always at the precise moment you might behold56 him blowing his match, then applying it; and with that booming thunder in his ear, and the smell of the powder in his hair, he retired57 to his hammock for the night. What dreams he must have had!
The same precision was observed when ordered to fire a gun to bring to some ship at sea; for, true to their name, and preserving its applicability, even in times of peace, all men-of-war are great bullies58 on the high seas. They domineer over the poor merchantmen, and with a hissing59 hot ball sent bowling60 across the ocean, compel them to stop their headway at pleasure.
It was enough to make you a man of method for life, to see the gunner superintending his subalterns, when preparing the main-deck batteries for a great national salute61. While lying in harbour, intelligence reached us of the lamentable62 casualty that befell certain high officers of state, including the acting63 Secretary of the Navy himself, some other member of the President's cabinet, a Commodore, and others, all engaged in experimenting upon a new-fangled engine of war. At the same time with the receipt of this sad news, orders arrived to fire minute-guns for the deceased head of the naval64 department. Upon this occasion the gunner was more than usually ceremonious, in seeing that the long twenty-fours were thoroughly65 loaded and rammed66 down, and then accurately67 marked with chalk, so as to be discharged in undeviating rotation68, first from the larboard side, and then from the starboard.
But as my ears hummed, and all my bones danced in me with the reverberating69 din5, and my eyes and nostrils70 were almost suffocated71 with the smoke, and when I saw this grim old gunner firing away so solemnly, I thought it a strange mode of honouring a man's memory who had himself been slaughtered72 by a cannon73. Only the smoke, that, after rolling in at the port-holes, rapidly drifted away to leeward74, and was lost to view, seemed truly emblematical75 touching76 the personage thus honoured, since that great non-combatant, the Bible, assures us that our life is but a vapour, that quickly passeth away.
点击收听单词发音
1 frigate | |
n.护航舰,大型驱逐舰 | |
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2 intervals | |
n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 );间隔时间;[数学]区间;(戏剧、电影或音乐会的)幕间休息 | |
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3 apparitions | |
n.特异景象( apparition的名词复数 );幽灵;鬼;(特异景象等的)出现 | |
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4 inordinately | |
adv.无度地,非常地 | |
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5 din | |
n.喧闹声,嘈杂声 | |
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6 abodes | |
住所( abode的名词复数 ); 公寓; (在某地的)暂住; 逗留 | |
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7 industriously | |
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8 inquiries | |
n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 );疑问;探究;打听 | |
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9 partially | |
adv.部分地,从某些方面讲 | |
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10 alphabetic | |
adj.照字母次序的,字母的 | |
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11 bowels | |
n.肠,内脏,内部;肠( bowel的名词复数 );内部,最深处 | |
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12 warehouses | |
仓库,货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
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13 lamented | |
adj.被哀悼的,令人遗憾的v.(为…)哀悼,痛哭,悲伤( lament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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14 tar | |
n.柏油,焦油;vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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15 shrouded | |
v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 );保密 | |
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16 inaccessible | |
adj.达不到的,难接近的 | |
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17 wondrous | |
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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18 dingy | |
adj.昏暗的,肮脏的 | |
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19 vaults | |
n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 );地下室;撑物跳高;墓穴 | |
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20 vault | |
n.拱形圆顶,地窖,地下室 | |
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21 functionary | |
n.官员;公职人员 | |
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22 inexplicable | |
adj.无法解释的,难理解的 | |
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23 mouldering | |
v.腐朽( moulder的现在分词 );腐烂,崩塌 | |
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24 relics | |
[pl.]n.遗物,遗迹,遗产;遗体,尸骸 | |
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25 spacious | |
adj.广阔的,宽敞的 | |
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26 sentries | |
哨兵,步兵( sentry的名词复数 ) | |
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27 inmate | |
n.被收容者;(房屋等的)居住人;住院人 | |
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28 speculations | |
n.投机买卖( speculation的名词复数 );思考;投机活动;推断 | |
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29 shrine | |
n.圣地,神龛,庙;v.将...置于神龛内,把...奉为神圣 | |
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30 dungeons | |
n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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31 misgivings | |
n.疑虑,担忧,害怕;疑虑,担心,恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 );疑惧 | |
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32 singed | |
v.浅表烧焦( singe的过去式和过去分词 );(毛发)燎,烧焦尖端[边儿] | |
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33 gunpowder | |
n.火药 | |
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34 inquiry | |
n.打听,询问,调查,查问 | |
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35 custody | |
n.监护,照看,羁押,拘留 | |
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36 cartridges | |
子弹( cartridge的名词复数 ); (打印机的)墨盒; 录音带盒; (唱机的)唱头 | |
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37 copper | |
n.铜;铜币;铜器;adj.铜(制)的;(紫)铜色的 | |
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38 pegs | |
n.衣夹( peg的名词复数 );挂钉;系帐篷的桩;弦钮v.用夹子或钉子固定( peg的第三人称单数 );使固定在某水平 | |
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39 slippers | |
n. 拖鞋 | |
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40 penetrating | |
adj.(声音)响亮的,尖锐的adj.(气味)刺激的adj.(思想)敏锐的,有洞察力的 | |
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41 slippered | |
穿拖鞋的 | |
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42 momentous | |
adj.重要的,重大的 | |
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43 prudent | |
adj.谨慎的,有远见的,精打细算的 | |
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44 tranquilly | |
adv. 宁静地 | |
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45 doctrine | |
n.教义;主义;学说 | |
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46 marvel | |
vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异;n.令人惊异的事 | |
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47 heroism | |
n.大无畏精神,英勇 | |
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48 foe | |
n.敌人,仇敌 | |
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49 Christians | |
n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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50 combustion | |
n.燃烧;氧化;骚动 | |
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51 fixed | |
adj.固定的,不变的,准备好的;(计算机)固定的 | |
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52 sinister | |
adj.不吉利的,凶恶的,左边的 | |
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53 wrought | |
v.引起;以…原料制作;运转;adj.制造的 | |
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54 frightful | |
adj.可怕的;讨厌的 | |
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55 pertained | |
关于( pertain的过去式和过去分词 ); 有关; 存在; 适用 | |
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56 behold | |
v.看,注视,看到 | |
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57 retired | |
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的 | |
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58 bullies | |
n.欺凌弱小者, 开球 vt.恐吓, 威胁, 欺负 | |
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59 hissing | |
n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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60 bowling | |
n.保龄球运动 | |
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61 salute | |
vi.行礼,致意,问候,放礼炮;vt.向…致意,迎接,赞扬;n.招呼,敬礼,礼炮 | |
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62 lamentable | |
adj.令人惋惜的,悔恨的 | |
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63 acting | |
n.演戏,行为,假装;adj.代理的,临时的,演出用的 | |
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64 naval | |
adj.海军的,军舰的,船的 | |
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65 thoroughly | |
adv.完全地,彻底地,十足地 | |
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66 rammed | |
v.夯实(土等)( ram的过去式和过去分词 );猛撞;猛压;反复灌输 | |
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67 accurately | |
adv.准确地,精确地 | |
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68 rotation | |
n.旋转;循环,轮流 | |
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69 reverberating | |
回响,回荡( reverberate的现在分词 ); 使反响,使回荡,使反射 | |
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70 nostrils | |
鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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71 suffocated | |
(使某人)窒息而死( suffocate的过去式和过去分词 ); (将某人)闷死; 让人感觉闷热; 憋气 | |
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72 slaughtered | |
v.屠杀,杀戮,屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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73 cannon | |
n.大炮,火炮;飞机上的机关炮 | |
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74 leeward | |
adj.背风的;下风的 | |
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75 emblematical | |
adj.标志的,象征的,典型的 | |
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76 touching | |
adj.动人的,使人感伤的 | |
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