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CHAPTER XXXI. THE VOYAGE.
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 Away, away over the wide waters; farewell, a long, a last farewell to the civilized1 world! Coldstream’s parting with Lawrence is over; both felt that they should never look on each other’s face on this side the grave, but that they should meet on the other side. The breeze fills out the swelling2 sails; the vessel3 bounds over the waves. The smell of the sea, the glitter on the waters, the sense of having only the blue sky above, exercised a sensible influence on both the Coldstreams. A slight tinge4 of colour came to Oscar’s pale, thin cheeks, and Io’s dark eyes brightened with something like pleasure.
“It is nice to be again on the free billows,” she said; and she mentally added, “These so-called black waters are wondrously5 blue.”
There were other convicts on board besides Coldstream, but with most of them no communication could be held, such a diversity of tongues is found in the vast extent of India. There were, however, one Burmese man, and a woman who was a Bengali. Some knowledge of the language of the latter Io had picked up during her weary stay in Calcutta.
The Burmese looked with curiosity on the fair, youthful lady, bound, like himself, to the Andaman Islands. Oscar heard the man muttering to himself, “I wonder what bad thing she has done? She doesn’t look like one of our sort.”
“The lady has done nothing bad,” said Coldstream; “she only goes into exile because she will not desert her husband.”
“My boy’s mother is not like that,” observed the Burmese with a gloomy smile; “she would never go across the black waters for me, though it was through her that I got into all this trouble.”
“What did you do?” asked Oscar, who saw that the manly-looking fellow seemed inclined for conversation.
“A rascally6 Mussulman pulled off the veil of my boy’s mother. I was not going to stand that, so I stuck my knife into him. But he did not die,” added the Burmese.
“Are you not glad that he did not die?” asked Oscar.
“Not I,” was the fierce reply. “I would as soon be hanged as sent across the black waters. If the thing came over again, I’d do just the same as I did.”
Io, in the meantime, had gone up to the Bengali woman, who, in her soiled sari, was crouching7 on the deck in an attitude of hopeless dejection.
Io made the most of her little stock of Bengali; her gentle, winning manner went further than her words. She at length made the convict look up, and, after a considerable time, drew from her something like the following tale:—
“The children’s father5 did not love me. He wanted a boy, and only girls came—one, two, three, four girls! The last was very little; I could carry her in my hand—like that. I could give her no nourishment8; baby was thin—you could count all her bones. She cried all day and all night. Baby’s father was angry at the crying; he said he would throw her into the Ganges. So I put her under water; and a sahib saw it, and gave me into the charge of the sepoys. If I had put a little poison into baby’s mouth, no one would have known anything about it.”
“How horrible!” exclaimed Io, intuitively drawing back. “How could you hurt your own baby?”
“I did not hurt her; I put her to rest,” said the woman, who was utterly9 unconscious of having committed a sin.
Io went and compared notes with her husband, who had had a long talk with the Burmese convict.
“Neither of these poor creatures has any sense of the heinousness10 of their guilt,” observed Oscar. “The man acted from an idea of honour; the woman thought it no cruelty to still the wailings of a miserable11, unwelcomed babe.”
“O Oscar, if these be specimens12 of our future companions in banishment13, you have a grand, a glorious work before you!”
The same thought had flashed across the mind of Coldstream. Was it not possible that the Lord was indeed guiding by His eye one unworthy of the least of all His mercies, and guiding to a position of greater usefulness than Coldstream had ever occupied before?
The Coldstreams, during the rest of the voyage, devoted14 much time to teaching their convict companions, and, both with Burmese and Bengali, the seed of the Word appeared to fall into ground softened15 by sorrow. Poor Lachmi, who had been down-trodden by man, and terrified by legends regarding demon-like deities16, clung to the thought that there was one religion of love. The Burmese received the truth in simplicity17, and rejoiced to hear that there was One who would stand his Friend, though the world had cast him off. Nor was this all. Coldstream found ready listeners in the Lascars who manned the vessel, and who had never before had any one to speak to them of a Saviour18. The captain, a rough, honest Englishman, watched with surprise the quiet but earnest work which was turning his ship into a floating Bethel.
“I don’t know how such as you ever found your way into a penal19 settlement,” observed Captain Partridge to Coldstream on the evening before they landed. “I think I’ve a Jonah on board.”
“One brought from lower depths than ever was Jonah,” was Oscar’s reply.
“And going to preach to worse sinners than those of old Nineveh,” said the captain. “I see that you’ve brought your gourd20 with you,” he added, as he glanced at Io, who was standing21 gazing in the direction of the land from which “the spicy22 breezes” were already wafted23 over the ocean.
“God grant that I may not love her too well or lose her too early,” thought Coldstream; “she is all that is left to me upon earth.”

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1 civilized UwRzDg     
a.有教养的,文雅的
参考例句:
  • Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
  • rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为
2 swelling OUzzd     
n.肿胀
参考例句:
  • Use ice to reduce the swelling. 用冰敷消肿。
  • There is a marked swelling of the lymph nodes. 淋巴结处有明显的肿块。
3 vessel 4L1zi     
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管
参考例句:
  • The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
  • You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。
4 tinge 8q9yO     
vt.(较淡)着色于,染色;使带有…气息;n.淡淡色彩,些微的气息
参考例句:
  • The maple leaves are tinge with autumn red.枫叶染上了秋天的红色。
  • There was a tinge of sadness in her voice.她声音中流露出一丝忧伤。
5 wondrously 872e321e19f87f0c81ab2b66f27747d0     
adv.惊奇地,非常,极其
参考例句:
  • She grow wondrously fond of stealing off to corners by herself. 她变得出奇地喜欢独自躲在角落里。 来自辞典例句
  • If you but smile, spring zephyrs blow through my spirits, wondrously. 假使你只是仅仅对我微笑,春天的和风就会惊奇的吹过我的心灵间。 来自互联网
6 rascally rascally     
adj. 无赖的,恶棍的 adv. 无赖地,卑鄙地
参考例句:
  • They said Kelso got some rascally adventurer, some Belgian brute, to insult his son-in-law in public. 他们说是凯尔索指使某个下贱的冒险家,一个比利时恶棍,来当众侮辱他的女婿。
  • Ms Taiwan: Can't work at all, but still brag and quibble rascally. 台湾小姐:明明不行,还要硬拗、赖皮逞强。
7 crouching crouching     
v.屈膝,蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 )
参考例句:
  • a hulking figure crouching in the darkness 黑暗中蹲伏着的一个庞大身影
  • A young man was crouching by the table, busily searching for something. 一个年轻人正蹲在桌边翻看什么。 来自汉英文学 - 散文英译
8 nourishment Ovvyi     
n.食物,营养品;营养情况
参考例句:
  • Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
  • He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。
9 utterly ZfpzM1     
adv.完全地,绝对地
参考例句:
  • Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民,把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
  • I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。
10 heinousness 1a7030de7c1cc96d854f51157f1b5393     
参考例句:
11 miserable g18yk     
adj.悲惨的,痛苦的;可怜的,糟糕的
参考例句:
  • It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他,这是可耻的。
  • Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。
12 specimens 91fc365099a256001af897127174fcce     
n.样品( specimen的名词复数 );范例;(化验的)抽样;某种类型的人
参考例句:
  • Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
  • The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》
13 banishment banishment     
n.放逐,驱逐
参考例句:
  • Qu Yuan suffered banishment as the victim of a court intrigue. 屈原成为朝廷中钩心斗角的牺牲品,因而遭到放逐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • He was sent into banishment. 他被流放。 来自辞典例句
14 devoted xu9zka     
adj.忠诚的,忠实的,热心的,献身于...的
参考例句:
  • He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
  • We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
15 softened 19151c4e3297eb1618bed6a05d92b4fe     
(使)变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 ); 缓解打击; 缓和; 安慰
参考例句:
  • His smile softened slightly. 他的微笑稍柔和了些。
  • The ice cream softened and began to melt. 冰淇淋开始变软并开始融化。
16 deities f904c4643685e6b83183b1154e6a97c2     
n.神,女神( deity的名词复数 );神祗;神灵;神明
参考例句:
  • Zeus and Aphrodite were ancient Greek deities. 宙斯和阿佛洛狄是古希腊的神。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • Taoist Wang hesitated occasionally about these transactions for fearof offending the deities. 道士也有过犹豫,怕这样会得罪了神。 来自汉英文学 - 现代散文
17 simplicity Vryyv     
n.简单,简易;朴素;直率,单纯
参考例句:
  • She dressed with elegant simplicity.她穿着朴素高雅。
  • The beauty of this plan is its simplicity.简明扼要是这个计划的一大特点。
18 saviour pjszHK     
n.拯救者,救星
参考例句:
  • I saw myself as the saviour of my country.我幻想自己为国家的救星。
  • The people clearly saw her as their saviour.人们显然把她看成了救星。
19 penal OSBzn     
adj.刑罚的;刑法上的
参考例句:
  • I hope you're familiar with penal code.我希望你们熟悉本州法律规则。
  • He underwent nineteen years of penal servitude for theft.他因犯了大窃案受过十九年的苦刑。
20 gourd mfWxh     
n.葫芦
参考例句:
  • Are you going with him? You must be out of your gourd.你和他一块去?你一定是疯了。
  • Give me a gourd so I can bail.把葫芦瓢给我,我好把水舀出去。
21 standing 2hCzgo     
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的
参考例句:
  • After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
  • They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。
22 spicy zhvzrC     
adj.加香料的;辛辣的,有风味的
参考例句:
  • The soup tasted mildly spicy.汤尝起来略有点辣。
  • Very spicy food doesn't suit her stomach.太辣的东西她吃了胃不舒服。
23 wafted 67ba6873c287bf9bad4179385ab4d457     
v.吹送,飘送,(使)浮动( waft的过去式和过去分词 )
参考例句:
  • The sound of their voices wafted across the lake. 他们的声音飘过湖面传到了另一边。
  • A delicious smell of freshly baked bread wafted across the garden. 花园中飘过一股刚出炉面包的香味。 来自《简明英汉词典》


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