Out of the goodness and simplicity2 of his heart, thus spoke3 my elder brother to me, upon the eve of my departure for the seaport4.
"And, Wellingborough," he added, "since we are both short of money, and you want an outfit5, and I Have none to give, you may as well take my fowling-piece along, and sell it in New York for what you can get.—Nay, take it; it's of no use to me now; I can't find it in powder any more."
I was then but a boy. Some time previous my mother had removed from New York to a pleasant village on the Hudson River, where we lived in a small house, in a quiet way. Sad disappointments in several plans which I had sketched6 for my future life; the necessity of doing something for myself, united to a naturally roving disposition7, had now conspired8 within me, to send me to sea as a sailor.
For months previous I had been poring over old New York papers, delightedly perusing9 the long columns of ship advertisements, all of which possessed10 a strange, romantic charm to me. Over and over again I devoured11 such announcements as the following:
FOR BREMEN.
The coppered and copper-fastened brig Leda, having nearly completed her cargo12, will sail for the above port on Tuesday the twentieth of May.
For freight or passage apply on board at Coenties Slip.
To my young inland imagination every word in an advertisement like this, suggested volumes of thought.
A brig! The very word summoned up the idea of a black, sea-worn craft, with high, cozy13 bulwarks15, and rakish masts and yards.
Coppered and copper-fastened!
That fairly smelt16 of the salt water! How different such vessels18 must be from the wooden, one-masted, green-and-white-painted sloops19, that glided20 up and down the river before our house on the bank.
Nearly completed her cargo!
How momentous21 the announcement; suggesting ideas, too, of musty bales, and cases of silks and satins, and filling me with contempt for the vile22 deck-loads of hay and lumber23, with which my river experience was familiar.
Will sail on Tuesday the 20th of May-and
the newspaper bore date the fifth of the month! Fifteen whole days beforehand; think of that; what an important voyage it must be, that the time of sailing was fixed24 upon so long beforehand; the river sloops were not used to make such prospective25 announcements.
For freight or passage apply on board!
Think of going on board a coppered and copper-fastened brig, and taking passage for Bremen! And who could be going to Bremen? No one but foreigners, doubtless; men of dark complexions26 and jet-black whiskers, who talked French.
Coenties Slip.
Plenty more brigs and any quantity of ships must be lying there. Coenties Slip must be somewhere near ranges of grim-looking warehouses27, with rusty28 iron doors and shutters29, and tiled roofs; and old anchors and chain-cable piled on the walk. Old-fashioned coffeehouses, also, much abound30 in that neighborhood, with sunburnt sea-captains going in and out, smoking cigars, and talking about Havanna, London, and Calcutta.
All these my imaginations were wonderfully assisted by certain shadowy reminiscences of wharves31, and warehouses, and shipping32, with which a residence in a seaport during early childhood had supplied me.
Particularly, I remembered standing33 with my father on the wharf34 when a large ship was getting under way, and rounding the head of the pier35. I remembered the yo heave ho! of the sailors, as they just showed their woolen36 caps above the high bulwarks. I remembered how I thought of their crossing the great ocean; and that that very ship, and those very sailors, so near to me then, would after a time be actually in Europe.
Added to these reminiscences my father, now dead, had several times crossed the Atlantic on business affairs, for he had been an importer in Broad-street. And of winter evenings in New York, by the well-remembered sea-coal fire in old Greenwich-street, he used to tell my brother and me of the monstrous37 waves at sea, mountain high; of the masts bending like twigs38; and all about Havre, and Liverpool, and about going up into the ball of St. Paul's in London. Indeed, during my early life, most of my thoughts of the sea were connected with the land; but with fine old lands, full of mossy cathedrals and churches, and long, narrow, crooked39 streets without sidewalks, and lined with strange houses. And especially I tried hard to think how such places must look of rainy days and Saturday afternoons; and whether indeed they did have rainy days and Saturdays there, just as we did here; and whether the boys went to school there, and studied geography, and wore their shirt collars turned over, and tied with a black ribbon; and whether their papas allowed them to wear boots, instead of shoes, which I so much disliked, for boots looked so manly40.
As I grew older my thoughts took a larger flight, and I frequently fell into long reveries about distant voyages and travels, and thought how fine it would be, to be able to talk about remote and barbarous countries; with what reverence41 and wonder people would regard me, if I had just returned from the coast of Africa or New Zealand; how dark and romantic my sunburnt cheeks would look; how I would bring home with me foreign clothes of a rich fabric42 and princely make, and wear them up and down the streets, and how grocers' boys would turn back their heads to look at me, as I went by. For I very well remembered staring at a man myself, who was pointed43 out to me by my aunt one Sunday in Church, as the person who had been in Stony44 Arabia, and passed through strange adventures there, all of which with my own eyes I had read in the book which he wrote, an arid-looking book in a pale yellow cover.
"See what big eyes he has," whispered my aunt, "they got so big, because when he was almost dead with famishing in the desert, he all at once caught sight of a date tree, with the ripe fruit hanging on it."
Upon this, I stared at him till I thought his eyes were really of an uncommon45 size, and stuck out from his head like those of a lobster46. I am sure my own eyes must have magnified as I stared. When church was out, I wanted my aunt to take me along and follow the traveler home. But she said the constables47 would take us up, if we did; and so I never saw this wonderful Arabian traveler again. But he long haunted me; and several times I dreamt of him, and thought his great eyes were grown still larger and rounder; and once I had a vision of the date tree.
In course of time, my thoughts became more and more prone48 to dwell upon foreign things; and in a thousand ways I sought to gratify my tastes. We had several pieces of furniture in the house, which had been brought from Europe. These I examined again and again, wondering where the wood grew; whether the workmen who made them still survived, and what they could be doing with themselves now.
Then we had several oil-paintings and rare old engravings of my father's, which he himself had bought in Paris, hanging up in the dining-room.
Two of these were sea-pieces. One represented a fat-looking, smoky fishing-boat, with three whiskerandoes in red caps, and their browsers49 legs rolled up, hauling in a seine. There was high French-like land in one corner, and a tumble-down gray lighthouse surmounting50 it. The waves were toasted brown, and the whole picture looked mellow51 and old. I used to think a piece of it might taste good.
The other represented three old-fashioned French men-of-war with high castles, like pagodas52, on the bow and stern, such as you see in Froissart; and snug53 little turrets54 on top of the mast, full of little men, with something undefinable in their hands. All three were sailing through a bright-blue sea, blue as Sicily skies; and they were leaning over on their sides at a fearful angle; and they must have been going very fast, for the white spray was about the bows like a snow-storm.
Then, we had two large green French portfolios55 of colored prints, more than I could lift at that age. Every Saturday my brothers and sisters used to get them out of the corner where they were kept, and spreading them on the floor, gaze at them with never-failing delight.
They were of all sorts. Some were pictures of Versailles, its masquerades, its drawing-rooms, its fountains, and courts, and gardens, with long lines of thick foliage56 cut into fantastic doors and windows, and towers and pinnacles57. Others were rural scenes, full of fine skies, pensive58 cows standing up to the knees in water, and shepherd-boys and cottages in the distance, half concealed59 in vineyards and vines.
And others were pictures of natural history, representing rhinoceroses60 and elephants and spotted61 tigers; and above all there was a picture of a great whale, as big as a ship, stuck full of harpoons62, and three boats sailing after it as fast as they could fly.
Then, too, we had a large library-case, that stood in the hall; an old brown library-case, tall as a small house; it had a sort of basement, with large doors, and a lock and key; and higher up, there were glass doors, through which might be seen long rows of old books, that had been printed in Paris, and London, and Leipsic. There was a fine library edition of the Spectator, in six large volumes with gilded63 backs; and many a time I gazed at the word "London" on the title-page. And there was a copy of D'Alembert in French, and I wondered what a great man I would be, if by foreign travel I should ever be able to read straight along without stopping, out of that book, which now was a riddle64 to every one in the house but my father, whom I so much liked to hear talk French, as he sometimes did to a servant we had.
That servant, too, I used to gaze at with wonder; for in answer to my incredulous cross-questions, he had over and over again assured me, that he had really been born in Paris. But this I never entirely65 believed; for it seemed so hard to comprehend, how a man who had been born in a foreign country, could be dwelling66 with me in our house in America.
As years passed on, this continual dwelling upon foreign associations, bred in me a vague prophetic thought, that I was fated, one day or other, to be a great voyager; and that just as my father used to entertain strange gentlemen over their wine after dinner, I would hereafter be telling my own adventures to an eager auditory. And I have no doubt that this presentiment67 had something to do with bringing about my subsequent rovings.
But that which perhaps more than any thing else, converted my vague dreamings and longings68 into a definite purpose of seeking my fortune on the sea, was an old-fashioned glass ship, about eighteen inches long, and of French manufacture, which my father, some thirty years before, had brought home from Hamburg as a present to a great-uncle of mine: Senator Wellingborough, who had died a member of Congress in the days of the old Constitution, and after whom I had the honor of being named. Upon the decease of the Senator, the ship was returned to the donor69.
It was kept in a square glass case, which was regularly dusted by one of my sisters every morning, and stood on a little claw-footed Dutch tea-table in one corner of the sitting-room70. This ship, after being the admiration71 of my father's visitors in the capital, became the wonder and delight of all the people of the village where we now resided, many of whom used to call upon my mother, for no other purpose than to see the ship. And well did it repay the long and curious examinations which they were accustomed to give it.
In the first place, every bit of it was glass, and that was a great wonder of itself; because the masts, yards, and ropes were made to resemble exactly the corresponding parts of a real vessel17 that could go to sea. She carried two tiers of black guns all along her two decks; and often I used to try to peep in at the portholes, to see what else was inside; but the holes were so small, and it looked so very dark indoors, that I could discover little or nothing; though, when I was very little, I made no doubt, that if I could but once pry72 open the hull73, and break the glass all to pieces, I would infallibly light upon something wonderful, perhaps some gold guineas, of which I have always been in want, ever since I could remember. And often I used to feel a sort of insane desire to be the death of the glass ship, case, and all, in order to come at the plunder74; and one day, throwing out some hint of the kind to my sisters, they ran to my mother in a great clamor; and after that, the ship was placed on the mantel-piece for a time, beyond my reach, and until I should recover my reason.
I do not know how to account for this temporary madness of mine, unless it was, that I had been reading in a story-book about Captain Kidd's ship, that lay somewhere at the bottom of the Hudson near the Highlands, full of gold as it could be; and that a company of men were trying to dive down and get the treasure out of the hold, which no one had ever thought of doing before, though there she had lain for almost a hundred years.
Not to speak of the tall masts, and yards, and rigging of this famous ship, among whose mazes75 of spun-glass I used to rove in imagination, till I grew dizzy at the main-truck, I will only make mention of the people on board of her. They, too, were all of glass, as beautiful little glass sailors as any body ever saw, with hats and shoes on, just like living men, and curious blue jackets with a sort of ruffle76 round the bottom. Four or five of these sailors were very nimble little chaps, and were mounting up the rigging with very long strides; but for all that, they never gained a single inch in the year, as I can take my oath.
Another sailor was sitting astride of the spanker-boom, with his arms over his head, but I never could find out what that was for; a second was in the fore-top, with a coil of glass rigging over his shoulder; the cook, with a glass ax, was splitting wood near the fore-hatch; the steward77, in a glass apron78, was hurrying toward the cabin with a plate of glass pudding; and a glass dog, with a red mouth, was barking at him; while the captain in a glass cap was smoking a glass cigar on the quarterdeck. He was leaning against the bulwark14, with one hand to his head; perhaps he was unwell, for he looked very glassy out of the eyes.
The name of this curious ship was La Reine, or The Queen, which was painted on her stern where any one might read it, among a crowd of glass dolphins and sea-horses carved there in a sort of semicircle.
And this Queen rode undisputed mistress of a green glassy sea, some of whose waves were breaking over her bow in a wild way, I can tell you, and I used to be giving her up for lost and foundered79 every moment, till I grew older, and perceived that she was not in the slightest danger in the world.
A good deal of dust, and fuzzy stuff like down, had in the course of many years worked through the joints80 of the case, in which the ship was kept, so as to cover all the sea with a light dash of white, which if any thing improved the general effect, for it looked like the foam81 and froth raised by the terrible gale82 the good Queen was battling against.
So much for La Reine. We have her yet in the house, but many of her glass spars and ropes are now sadly shattered and broken,—but I will not have her mended; and her figurehead, a gallant83 warrior84 in a cocked-hat, lies pitching headforemost down into the trough of a calamitous85 sea under the bows—but I will not have him put on his legs again, till I get on my own; for between him and me there is a secret sympathy; and my sisters tell me, even yet, that he fell from his perch86 the very day I left home to go to sea on this my first voyage.
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2
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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3
spoke
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| 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 | |
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4
seaport
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| n.海港，港口，港市 | |
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5
outfit
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| n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装 | |
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6
sketched
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| v.草拟（sketch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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7
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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8
conspired
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| 密谋( conspire的过去式和过去分词 )； 搞阴谋； （事件等）巧合； 共同导致 | |
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9
perusing
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| v.读（某篇文字）( peruse的现在分词 )；（尤指）细阅；审阅；匆匆读或心不在焉地浏览（某篇文字） | |
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10
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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11
devoured
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| 吞没( devour的过去式和过去分词 )； 耗尽； 津津有味地看； 狼吞虎咽地吃光 | |
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12
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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13
cozy
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| adj.亲如手足的，密切的，暖和舒服的 | |
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14
bulwark
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| n.堡垒，保障，防御 | |
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15
bulwarks
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| n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙 | |
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16
smelt
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| v.熔解，熔炼；n.银白鱼，胡瓜鱼 | |
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17
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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18
vessels
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| 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 | |
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19
sloops
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| n.单桅纵帆船( sloop的名词复数 ) | |
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20
glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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21
momentous
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| adj.重要的，重大的 | |
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vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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23
lumber
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| n.木材，木料；v.以破旧东西堆满；伐木；笨重移动 | |
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24
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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25
prospective
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| adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的 | |
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26
complexions
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| 肤色( complexion的名词复数 )； 面色； 局面； 性质 | |
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27
warehouses
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| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
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28
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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29
shutters
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| 百叶窗( shutter的名词复数 )； （照相机的）快门 | |
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30
abound
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| vi.大量存在；(in，with)充满，富于 | |
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31
wharves
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| n.码头，停泊处( wharf的名词复数 ) | |
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32
shipping
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| n.船运（发货，运输，乘船） | |
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33
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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34
wharf
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| n.码头，停泊处 | |
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35
pier
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| n.码头；桥墩，桥柱；[建]窗间壁，支柱 | |
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36
woolen
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| adj.羊毛(制)的；毛纺的 | |
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37
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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38
twigs
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| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
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39
crooked
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| adj.弯曲的；不诚实的，狡猾的，不正当的 | |
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40
manly
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| adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地 | |
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41
reverence
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| n.敬畏，尊敬，尊严；Reverence:对某些基督教神职人员的尊称；v.尊敬，敬畏，崇敬 | |
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42
fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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43
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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44
stony
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| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
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45
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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46
lobster
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| n.龙虾，龙虾肉 | |
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47
constables
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| n.警察( constable的名词复数 ) | |
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48
prone
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| adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的 | |
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49
browsers
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| 浏览器 | |
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50
surmounting
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| 战胜( surmount的现在分词 )； 克服（困难）； 居于…之上； 在…顶上 | |
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51
mellow
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| adj.柔和的；熟透的；v.变柔和；(使)成熟 | |
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52
pagodas
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| 塔，宝塔( pagoda的名词复数 ) | |
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53
snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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54
turrets
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| （六角）转台( turret的名词复数 )； （战舰和坦克等上的）转动炮塔； （摄影机等上的）镜头转台； （旧时攻城用的）塔车 | |
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55
portfolios
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| n.投资组合( portfolio的名词复数 )；（保险）业务量；（公司或机构提供的）系列产品；纸夹 | |
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56
foliage
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| n.叶子，树叶，簇叶 | |
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57
pinnacles
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| 顶峰( pinnacle的名词复数 )； 顶点； 尖顶； 小尖塔 | |
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58
pensive
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| a.沉思的,哀思的,忧沉的 | |
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59
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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60
rhinoceroses
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| n.钱，钞票( rhino的名词复数 )；犀牛(=rhinoceros)；犀牛( rhinoceros的名词复数 )；脸皮和犀牛皮一样厚 | |
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61
spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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62
harpoons
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| n.鱼镖，鱼叉( harpoon的名词复数 )v.鱼镖，鱼叉( harpoon的第三人称单数 ) | |
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63
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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64
riddle
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| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
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65
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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66
dwelling
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| n.住宅，住所，寓所 | |
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67
presentiment
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| n.预感，预觉 | |
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68
longings
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| 渴望，盼望( longing的名词复数 ) | |
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69
donor
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| n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体 | |
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70
sitting-room
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| n.（BrE）客厅，起居室 | |
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71
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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72
pry
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| vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起) | |
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73
hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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74
plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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75
mazes
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| 迷宫( maze的名词复数 )； 纷繁复杂的规则； 复杂难懂的细节； 迷宫图 | |
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76
ruffle
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| v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边 | |
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77
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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78
apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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79
foundered
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| v.创始人( founder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
joints
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| 接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语） | |
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81
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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82
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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83
gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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84
warrior
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| n.勇士，武士，斗士 | |
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85
calamitous
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| adj.灾难的，悲惨的；多灾多难；惨重 | |
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86
perch
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| n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于 | |
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