The Highlander1 was not a grayhound, not a very fast sailer; and so, the passage, which some of the packet ships make in fifteen or sixteen days, employed us about thirty.
At last, one morning I came on deck, and they told me that Ireland was in sight.
Ireland in sight! A foreign country actually visible! I peered hard, but could see nothing but a bluish, cloud-like spot to the northeast. Was that Ireland? Why, there was nothing remarkable3 about that; nothing startling. If that's the way a foreign country looks, I might as well have staid at home.
Now what, exactly, I had fancied the shore would look like, I can not say; but I had a vague idea that it would be something strange and wonderful. However, there it was; and as the light increased and the ship sailed nearer and nearer, the land began to magnify, and I gazed at it with increasing interest.
Ireland! I thought of Robert Emmet, and that last speech of his before Lord Norbury; I thought of Tommy Moore, and his amatory verses: I thought of Curran, Grattan, Plunket, and O'Connell; I thought of my uncle's ostler, Patrick Flinnigan; and I thought of the shipwreck4 of the gallant5 Albion, tost to pieces on the very shore now in sight; and I thought I should very much like to leave the ship and visit Dublin and the Giant's Causeway.
Presently a fishing-boat drew near, and I rushed to get a view of it; but it was a very ordinary looking boat, bobbing up and down, as any other boat would have done; yet, when I considered that the solitary6 man in it was actually a born native of the land in sight; that in all probability he had never been in America, and knew nothing about my friends at home, I began to think that he looked somewhat strange.
He was a very fluent fellow, and as soon as we were within hailing distance, cried out—"Ah, my fine sailors, from Ameriky, ain't ye, my beautiful sailors?" And concluded by calling upon us to stop and heave a rope. Thinking he might have something important to communicate, the mate accordingly backed the main yard, and a rope being thrown, the stranger kept hauling in upon it, and coiling it down, crying, "pay out! pay out, my honeys; ah! but you're noble fellows!" Till at last the mate asked him why he did not come alongside, adding, "Haven't you enough rope yet?"
"Sure and I have," replied the fisherman, "and it's time for Pat to cut and run!" and so saying, his knife severed7 the rope, and with a Kilkenny grin, he sprang to his tiller, put his little craft before the wind, and bowled away from us, with some fifteen fathoms8 of our tow-line.
"And may the Old Boy hurry after you, and hang you in your stolen hemp9, you Irish blackguard!" cried the mate, shaking his fist at the receding10 boat, after recovering from his first fit of amazement11.
Here, then, was a beautiful introduction to the eastern hemisphere; fairly robbed before striking soundings. This trick upon experienced travelers certainly beat all I had ever heard about the wooden nutmegs and bass-wood pumpkin12 seeds of Connecticut. And I thought if there were any more Hibernians like our friend Pat, the Yankee peddlers might as well give it up.
The next land we saw was Wales. It was high noon, and a long line of purple mountains lay like banks of clouds against the east.
Could this be really Wales?—Wales?—and I thought of the Prince of Wales.
And did a real queen with a diadem13 reign2 over that very land I was looking at, with the identical eyes in my own head?—And then I thought of a grandfather of mine, who had fought against the ancestor of this queen at Bunker's Hill.
But, after all, the general effect of these mountains was mortifyingly14 like the general effect of the Kaatskill Mountains on the Hudson River.
With a light breeze, we sailed on till next day, when we made Holyhead and Anglesea. Then it fell almost calm, and what little wind we had, was ahead; so we kept tacking15 to and fro, just gliding16 through the water, and always hovering17 in sight of a snow-white tower in the distance, which might have been a fort, or a light-house. I lost myself in conjectures18 as to what sort of people might be tenanting that lonely edifice19, and whether they knew any thing about us.
The third day, with a good wind over the taffrail, we arrived so near our destination, that we took a pilot at dusk.
He, and every thing connected with him were very different from our New York pilot. In the first place, the pilot boat that brought him was a plethoric20 looking sloop-rigged boat, with flat bows, that went wheezing21 through the water; quite in contrast to the little gull22 of a schooner23, that bade us adieu off Sandy Hook. Aboard of her were ten or twelve other pilots, fellows with shaggy brows, and muffled24 in shaggy coats, who sat grouped together on deck like a fire-side of bears, wintering in Aroostook. They must have had fine sociable25 times, though, together; cruising about the Irish Sea in quest of Liverpool-bound vessels26; smoking cigars, drinking brandy-and-water, and spinning yarns27; till at last, one by one, they are all scattered28 on board of different ships, and meet again by the side of a blazing sea-coal fire in some Liverpool taproom, and prepare for another yachting.
Now, when this English pilot boarded us, I stared at him as if he had been some wild animal just escaped from the Zoological Gardens; for here was a real live Englishman, just from England. Nevertheless, as he soon fell to ordering us here and there, and swearing vociferously30 in a language quite familiar to me; I began to think him very common-place, and considerable of a bore after all.
After running till about midnight, we "hove-to" near the mouth of the Mersey; and next morning, before day-break, took the first of the flood; and with a fair wind, stood into the river; which, at its mouth, is quite an arm of the sea. Presently, in the misty31 twilight32, we passed immense buoys33, and caught sight of distant objects on shore, vague and shadowy shapes, like Ossian's ghosts.
As I stood leaning over the side, and trying to summon up some image of Liverpool, to see how the reality would answer to my conceit34; and while the fog, and mist, and gray dawn were investing every thing with a mysterious interest, I was startled by the doleful, dismal35 sound of a great bell, whose slow intermitting tolling36 seemed in unison37 with the solemn roll of the billows. I thought I had never heard so boding38 a sound; a sound that seemed to speak of judgment39 and the resurrection, like belfry-mouthed Paul of Tarsus.
It was not in the direction of the shore; but seemed to come out of the vaults40 of the sea, and out of the mist and fog.
Who was dead, and what could it be?
I soon learned from my shipmates, that this was the famous Bett-Buoy, which is precisely41 what its name implies; and tolls42 fast or slow, according to the agitation43 of the waves. In a calm, it is dumb; in a moderate breeze, it tolls gently; but in a gale44, it is an alarum like the tocsin, warning all mariners45 to flee. But it seemed fuller of dirges46 for the past, than of monitions for the future; and no one can give ear to it, without thinking of the sailors who sleep far beneath it at the bottom of the deep.
As we sailed ahead the river contracted. The day came, and soon, passing two lofty land-marks on the Lancashire shore, we rapidly drew near the town, and at last, came to anchor in the stream.
Looking shoreward, I beheld47 lofty ranges of dingy48 warehouses49, which seemed very deficient50 in the elements of the marvelous; and bore a most unexpected resemblance to the ware-houses along South-street in New York. There was nothing strange; nothing extraordinary about them. There they stood; a row of calm and collected ware-houses; very good and substantial edifices51, doubtless, and admirably adapted to the ends had in view by the builders; but plain, matter-of-fact ware-houses, nevertheless, and that was all that could be said of them.
To be sure, I did not expect that every house in Liverpool must be a Leaning Tower of Pisa, or a Strasbourg Cathedral; but yet, these edifices I must confess, were a sad and bitter disappointment to me.
But it was different with Larry the whaleman; who to my surprise, looking about him delighted, exclaimed, "Why, this 'ere is a considerable place—I'm dummed if it ain't quite a place.—Why, them 'ere houses is considerable houses. It beats the coast of Afriky, all hollow; nothing like this in Madagasky, I tell you;—I'm dummed, boys if Liverpool ain't a city!"
Upon this occasion, indeed, Larry altogether forgot his hostility52 to civilization. Having been so long accustomed to associate foreign lands with the savage53 places of the Indian Ocean, he had been under the impression, that Liverpool must be a town of bamboos, situated54 in some swamp, and whose inhabitants turned their attention principally to the cultivation55 of log-wood and curing of flying-fish. For that any great commercial city existed three thousand miles from home, was a thing, of which Larry had never before had a "realizing sense." He was accordingly astonished and delighted; and began to feel a sort of consideration for the country which could boast so extensive a town. Instead of holding Queen Victoria on a par29 with the Queen of Madagascar, as he had been accustomed to do; he ever after alluded56 to that lady with feeling and respect.
As for the other seamen57, the sight of a foreign country seemed to kindle58 no enthusiasm in them at all: no emotion in the least. They looked around them with great presence of mind, and acted precisely as you or I would, if, after a morning's absence round the corner, we found ourselves returning home. Nearly all of them had made frequent voyages to Liverpool.
Not long after anchoring, several boats came off; and from one of them stept a neatly-dressed and very respectable-looking woman, some thirty years of age, I should think, carrying a bundle. Coming forward among the sailors, she inquired for Max the Dutchman, who immediately was forthcoming, and saluted59 her by the mellifluous60 appellation61 of Sally.
Now during the passage, Max in discoursing62 to me of Liverpool, had often assured me, that that city had the honor of containing a spouse63 of his; and that in all probability, I would have the pleasure of seeing her. But having heard a good many stories about the bigamies of seamen, and their having wives and sweethearts in every port, the round world over; and having been an eye-witness to a nuptial64 parting between this very Max and a lady in New York; I put down this relation of his, for what I thought it might reasonably be worth. What was my astonishment65, therefore, to see this really decent, civil woman coming with a neat parcel of Max's shore clothes, all washed, plaited, and ironed, and ready to put on at a moment's warning.
They stood apart a few moments giving loose to those transports of pleasure, which always take place, I suppose, between man and wife after long separations.
At last, after many earnest inquiries66 as to how he had behaved himself in New York; and concerning the state of his wardrobe; and going down into the forecastle, and inspecting it in person, Sally departed; having exchanged her bundle of clean clothes for a bundle of soiled ones, and this was precisely what the New York wife had done for Max, not thirty days previous.
So long as we laid in port, Sally visited the Highlander daily; and approved herself a neat and expeditious67 getter-up of duck frocks and trowsers, a capital tailoress, and as far as I could see, a very well-behaved, discreet68, and reputable woman.
But from all I had seen of her, I should suppose Meg, the New York wife, to have been equally well-behaved, discreet, and reputable; and equally devoted69 to the keeping in good order Max's wardrobe.
And when we left England at last, Sally bade Max good-by, just as Meg had done; and when we arrived at New York, Meg greeted Max precisely as Sally had greeted him in Liverpool. Indeed, a pair of more amiable70 wives never belonged to one man; they never quarreled, or had so much as a difference of any kind; the whole broad Atlantic being between them; and Max was equally polite and civil to both. For many years, he had been going Liverpool and New York voyages, plying71 between wife and wife with great regularity72, and sure of receiving a hearty73 domestic welcome on either side of the ocean.
Thinking this conduct of his, however, altogether wrong and every way immoral74, I once ventured to express to him my opinion on the subject. But I never did so again. He turned round on me, very savagely75; and after rating me soundly for meddling76 in concerns not my own, concluded by asking me triumphantly77, whether old King Sol, as he called the son of David, did not have a whole frigate-full of wives; and that being the case, whether he, a poor sailor, did not have just as good a right to have two? "What was not wrong then, is right now," said Max; "so, mind your eye, Buttons, or I'll crack your pepper-box for you!"
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收听单词发音
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1
highlander
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| n.高地的人，苏格兰高地地区的人 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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shipwreck
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| n.船舶失事，海难 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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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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7
severed
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| v.切断，断绝( sever的过去式和过去分词 )；断，裂 | |
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fathoms
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| 英寻( fathom的名词复数 ) | |
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hemp
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| n.大麻；纤维 | |
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receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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amazement
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| n.惊奇，惊讶 | |
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pumpkin
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| n.南瓜 | |
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diadem
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| n.王冠，冕 | |
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mortifyingly
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| adj.抑制的，苦修的v.使受辱( mortify的现在分词 )；伤害（人的感情）；克制；抑制（肉体、情感等） | |
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tacking
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| （帆船）抢风行驶，定位焊[铆]紧钉 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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hovering
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| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
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conjectures
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| 推测，猜想( conjecture的名词复数 ) | |
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edifice
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| n.宏伟的建筑物(如宫殿，教室) | |
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plethoric
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| adj.过多的，多血症的 | |
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wheezing
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| v.喘息，发出呼哧呼哧的喘息声( wheeze的现在分词 )；哮鸣 | |
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gull
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| n.鸥；受骗的人；v.欺诈 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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sociable
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| adj.好交际的，友好的，合群的 | |
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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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yarns
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| n.纱( yarn的名词复数 )；纱线；奇闻漫谈；旅行轶事 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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vociferously
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| adv.喊叫地，吵闹地 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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twilight
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| n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期 | |
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buoys
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| n.浮标( buoy的名词复数 )；航标；救生圈；救生衣v.使浮起( buoy的第三人称单数 )；支持；为…设浮标；振奋…的精神 | |
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conceit
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| n.自负，自高自大 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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tolling
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| [财]来料加工 | |
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unison
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| n.步调一致，行动一致 | |
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boding
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| adj.凶兆的，先兆的n.凶兆，前兆，预感v.预示，预告，预言( bode的现在分词 )；等待，停留( bide的过去分词 )；居住；（过去式用bided）等待 | |
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judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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vaults
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| n.拱顶( vault的名词复数 )；地下室；撑物跳高；墓穴 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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tolls
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| （缓慢而有规律的）钟声( toll的名词复数 )； 通行费； 损耗； （战争、灾难等造成的）毁坏 | |
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agitation
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| n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动 | |
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gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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mariners
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| 海员，水手（mariner的复数形式） | |
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dirges
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| n.挽歌( dirge的名词复数 )；忧伤的歌，哀歌 | |
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beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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warehouses
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| 仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 ) | |
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deficient
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| adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的 | |
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edifices
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| n.大建筑物( edifice的名词复数 ) | |
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hostility
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| n.敌对，敌意；抵制［pl.］交战，战争 | |
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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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situated
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| adj.坐落在...的，处于某种境地的 | |
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cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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alluded
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| 提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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kindle
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| v.点燃，着火 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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mellifluous
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| adj.（音乐等）柔美流畅的 | |
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appellation
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| n.名称，称呼 | |
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discoursing
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| 演说（discourse的现在分词形式） | |
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spouse
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| n.配偶(指夫或妻) | |
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nuptial
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| adj.婚姻的，婚礼的 | |
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astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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expeditious
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| adj.迅速的，敏捷的 | |
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discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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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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plying
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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regularity
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| n.规律性，规则性；匀称，整齐 | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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immoral
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| adj.不道德的，淫荡的，荒淫的，有伤风化的 | |
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savagely
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| adv. 野蛮地，残酷地 | |
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meddling
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| v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 ) | |
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triumphantly
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| ad.得意洋洋地；得胜地；成功地 | |
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