The second day out of port, the decks being washed down and breakfast over, the watch was called, and the mate set us to work.
It was a very bright day. The sky and water were both of the same deep hue1; and the air felt warm and sunny; so that we threw off our jackets. I could hardly believe that I was sailing in the same ship I had been in during the night, when every thing had been so lonely and dim; and I could hardly imagine that this was the same ocean, now so beautiful and blue, that during part of the night-watch had rolled along so black and forbidding.
There were little traces of sunny clouds all over the heavens; and little fleeces of foam2 all over the sea; and the ship made a strange, musical noise under her bows, as she glided3 along, with her sails all still. It seemed a pity to go to work at such a time; and if we could only have sat in the windlass again; or if they would have let me go out on the bowsprit, and lay down between the manropes there, and look over at the fish in the water, and think of home, I should have been almost happy for a time.
I had now completely got over my sea-sickness, and felt very well; at least in my body, though my heart was far from feeling right; so that I could now look around me, and make observations.
And truly, though we were at sea, there was much to behold5 and wonder at; to me, who was on my first voyage. What most amazed me was the sight of the great ocean itself, for we were out of sight of land. All round us, on both sides of the ship, ahead and astern, nothing was to be seen but water—water—water; not a single glimpse of green shore, not the smallest island, or speck6 of moss7 any where. Never did I realize till now what the ocean was: how grand and majestic8, how solitary9, and boundless10, and beautiful and blue; for that day it gave no tokens of squalls or hurricanes, such as I had heard my father tell of; nor could I imagine, how any thing that seemed so playful and placid11, could be lashed12 into rage, and troubled into rolling avalanches13 of foam, and great cascades14 of waves, such as I saw in the end.
As I looked at it so mild and sunny, I could not help calling to mind my little brother's face, when he was sleeping an infant in the cradle. It had just such a happy, careless, innocent look; and every happy little wave seemed gamboling about like a thoughtless little kid in a pasture; and seemed to look up in your face as it passed, as if it wanted to be patted and caressed15. They seemed all live things with hearts in them, that could feel; and I almost felt grieved, as we sailed in among them, scattering16 them under our broad bows in sun-flakes, and riding over them like a great elephant among lambs. But what seemed perhaps the most strange to me of all, was a certain wonderful rising and falling of the sea; I do not mean the waves themselves, but a sort of wide heaving and swelling17 and sinking all over the ocean. It was something I can not very well describe; but I know very well what it was, and how it affected18 me. It made me almost dizzy to look at it; and yet I could not keep my eyes off it, it seemed so passing strange and wonderful.
I felt as if in a dream all the time; and when I could shut the ship out, almost thought I was in some new, fairy world, and expected to hear myself called to, out of the clear blue air, or from the depths of the deep blue sea. But I did not have much leisure to indulge in such thoughts; for the men were now getting some stun'-sails ready to hoist19 aloft, as the wind was getting fairer and fairer for us; and these stun'-sails are light canvas which are spread at such times, away out beyond the ends of the yards, where they overhang the wide water, like the wings of a great bird.
For my own part, I could do but little to help the rest, not knowing the name of any thing, or the proper way to go about aught. Besides, I felt very dreamy, as I said before; and did not exactly know where, or what I was; every thing was so strange and new.
While the stun'-sails were lying all tumbled upon the deck, and the sailors were fastening them to the booms, getting them ready to hoist, the mate ordered me to do a great many simple things, none of which could I comprehend, owing to the queer words he used; and then, seeing me stand quite perplexed20 and confounded, he would roar out at me, and call me all manner of names, and the sailors would laugh and wink21 to each other, but durst not go farther than that, for fear of the mate, who in his own presence would not let any body laugh at me but himself.
However, I tried to wake up as much as I could, and keep from dreaming with my eyes open; and being, at bottom, a smart, apt lad, at last I managed to learn a thing or two, so that I did not appear so much like a fool as at first.
People who have never gone to sea for the first time as sailors, can not imagine how puzzling and confounding it is. It must be like going into a barbarous country, where they speak a strange dialect, and dress in strange clothes, and live in strange houses. For sailors have their own names, even for things that are familiar ashore22; and if you call a thing by its shore name, you are laughed at for an ignoramus and a landlubber. This first day I speak of, the mate having ordered me to draw some water, I asked him where I was to get the pail; when I thought I had committed some dreadful crime; for he flew into a great passion, and said they never had any pails at sea, and then I learned that they were always called buckets. And once I was talking about sticking a little wooden peg23 into a bucket to stop a leak, when he flew out again, and said there were no pegs24 at sea, only plugs. And just so it was with every thing else.
But besides all this, there is such an infinite number of totally new names of new things to learn, that at first it seemed impossible for me to master them all. If you have ever seen a ship, you must have remarked what a thicket25 of ropes there are; and how they all seemed mixed and entangled26 together like a great skein of yarn27. Now the very smallest of these ropes has its own proper name, and many of them are very lengthy28, like the names of young royal princes, such as the starboard-main-top-gallant-bow-line, or the larboard-fore-top-sail-clue-line.
I think it would not be a bad plan to have a grand new naming of a ship's ropes, as I have read, they once had a simplifying of the classes of plants in Botany. It is really wonderful how many names there are in the world. There is no counting the names, that surgeons and anatomists give to the various parts of the human body; which, indeed, is something like a ship; its bones being the stiff standing-rigging, and the sinews the small running ropes, that manage all the motions.
I wonder whether mankind could not get along without all these names, which keep increasing every day, and hour, and moment; till at last the very air will be full of them; and even in a great plain, men will be breathing each other's breath, owing to the vast multitude of words they use, that consume all the air, just as lamp-burners do gas. But people seem to have a great love for names; for to know a great many names, seems to look like knowing a good many things; though I should not be surprised, if there were a great many more names than things in the world. But I must quit this rambling29, and return to my story.
At last we hoisted30 the stun'-sails up to the top-sail yards, and as soon as the vessel31 felt them, she gave a sort of bound like a horse, and the breeze blowing more and more, she went plunging32 along, shaking off the foam from her bows, like foam from a bridle-bit. Every mast and timber seemed to have a pulse in it that was beating with life and joy; and I felt a wild exulting33 in my own heart, and felt as if I would be glad to bound along so round the world.
Then was I first conscious of a wonderful thing in me, that responded to all the wild commotion34 of the outer world; and went reeling on and on with the planets in their orbits, and was lost in one delirious35 throb36 at the center of the All. A wild bubbling and bursting was at my heart, as if a hidden spring had just gushed37 out there; and my blood ran tingling38 along my frame, like mountain brooks39 in spring freshets.
Yes! yes! give me this glorious ocean life, this salt-sea life, this briny40, foamy41 life, when the sea neighs and snorts, and you breathe the very breath that the great whales respire! Let me roll around the globe, let me rock upon the sea; let me race and pant out my life, with an eternal breeze astern, and an endless sea before!
But how soon these raptures42 abated43, when after a brief idle interval44, we were again set to work, and I had a vile45 commission to clean out the chicken coops, and make up the beds of the pigs in the long-boat.
Miserable46 dog's life is this of the sea! commanded like a slave, and set to work like an ass4! vulgar and brutal47 men lording it over me, as if I were an African in Alabama. Yes, yes, blow on, ye breezes, and make a speedy end to this abominable48 voyage!
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1
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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2
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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3
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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4
ass
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| n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人 | |
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behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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speck
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| n.微粒，小污点，小斑点 | |
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7
moss
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| n.苔，藓，地衣 | |
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8
majestic
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| adj.雄伟的，壮丽的，庄严的，威严的，崇高的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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10
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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12
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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13
avalanches
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| n.雪崩( avalanche的名词复数 ) | |
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14
cascades
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| 倾泻( cascade的名词复数 )； 小瀑布（尤指一连串瀑布中的一支）； 瀑布状物； 倾泻（或涌出）的东西 | |
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15
caressed
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| 爱抚或抚摸…( caress的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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16
scattering
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| n.[物]散射；散乱，分散；在媒介质中的散播adj.散乱的；分散在不同范围的；广泛扩散的；（选票）数量分散的v.散射(scatter的ing形式)；散布；驱散 | |
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swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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18
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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24
pegs
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| 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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25
thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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26
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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28
lengthy
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| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
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rambling
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| adj.[建]凌乱的，杂乱的 | |
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30
hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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31
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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plunging
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| adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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33
exulting
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| vi. 欢欣鼓舞，狂喜 | |
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34
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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delirious
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| adj.不省人事的，神智昏迷的 | |
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36
throb
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| v.震颤，颤动；(急速强烈地)跳动，搏动 | |
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37
gushed
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| v.喷，涌( gush的过去式和过去分词 )；滔滔不绝地说话 | |
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38
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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39
brooks
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| n.小溪( brook的名词复数 ) | |
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40
briny
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| adj.盐水的；很咸的；n.海洋 | |
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41
foamy
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| adj.全是泡沫的，泡沫的，起泡沫的 | |
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42
raptures
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| 极度欢喜( rapture的名词复数 ) | |
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43
abated
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| 减少( abate的过去式和过去分词 )； 减去； 降价； 撤消（诉讼） | |
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44
interval
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| n.间隔，间距；幕间休息，中场休息 | |
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45
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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46
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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47
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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48
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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