The sun had set. And when, after drilling a deep hole with his stick, he moved from that spot the night had massed its army of shadows under the trees. They filled the eastern ends of the avenues as if only waiting the signal for a general advance upon the open spaces of the world; they were gathering1 low between the deep stone-faced banks of the canal. The Malay prau, half-concealed under the arch of the bridge, had not altered its position a quarter of an inch. For a long time Captain Whalley stared down over the parapet, till at last the floating immobility of that beshrouded thing seemed to grow upon him into something inexplicable3 and alarming. The twilight4 abandoned the zenith; its reflected gleams left the world below, and the water of the canal seemed to turn into pitch. Captain Whalley crossed it.
The turning to the right, which was his way to his hotel, was only a very few steps farther. He stopped again (all the houses of the sea-front were shut up, the quayside was deserted7, but for one or two figures of natives walking in the distance) and began to reckon the amount of his bill. So many days in the hotel at so many dollars a day. To count the days he used his fingers: plunging8 one hand into his pocket, he jingled9 a few silver coins. All right for three days more; and then, unless something turned up, he must break into the five hundred — Ivy’s money — invested in her father. It seemed to him that the first meal coming out of that reserve would choke him — for certain. Reason was of no use. It was a matter of feeling. His feelings had never played him false.
He did not turn to the right. He walked on, as if there still had been a ship in the roadstead to which he could get himself pulled off in the evening. Far away, beyond the houses, on the slope of an indigo10 promontory11 closing the view of the quays6, the slim column of a factory-chimney smoked quietly straight up into the clear air. A Chinaman, curled down in the stern of one of the half-dozen sampans floating off the end of the jetty, caught sight of a beckoning12 hand. He jumped up, rolled his pigtail round his head swiftly, tucked in two rapid movements his wide dark trousers high up his yellow thighs13, and by a single, noiseless, finlike stir of the oars14, sheered the sampan alongside the steps with the ease and precision of a swimming fish.
“Sofala,” articulated Captain Whalley from above; and the Chinaman, a new emigrant15 probably, stared upwards16 with a tense attention as if waiting to see the queer word fall visibly from the white man’s lips. “Sofala,” Captain Whalley repeated; and suddenly his heart failed him. He paused. The shores, the islets, the high ground, the low points, were dark: the horizon had grown somber17; and across the eastern sweep of the shore the white obelisk18, marking the landing-place of the telegraph-cable, stood like a pale ghost on the beach before the dark spread of uneven19 roofs, intermingled with palms, of the native town. Captain Whalley began again.
“Sofala. Savee So-fa-la, John?”
This time the Chinaman made out that bizarre sound, and grunted20 his assent21 uncouthly22, low down in his bare throat. With the first yellow twinkle of a star that appeared like the head of a pin stabbed deep into the smooth, pale, shimmering23 fabric24 of the sky, the edge of a keen chill seemed to cleave25 through the warm air of the earth. At the moment of stepping into the sampan to go and try for the command of the Sofala Captain Whalley shivered a little.
When on his return he landed on the quay5 again Venus, like a choice jewel set low on the hem26 of the sky, cast a faint gold trail behind him upon the roadstead, as level as a floor made of one dark and polished stone. The lofty vaults27 of the avenues were black — all black overhead — and the porcelain28 globes on the lamp-posts resembled egg-shaped pearls, gigantic and luminous29, displayed in a row whose farther end seemed to sink in the distance, down to the level of his knees. He put his hands behind his back. He would now consider calmly the discretion30 of it before saying the final word to-morrow. His feet scrunched31 the gravel32 loudly — the discretion of it. It would have been easier to appraise33 had there been a workable alternative. The honesty of it was indubitable: he meant well by the fellow; and periodically his shadow leaped up intense by his side on the trunks of the trees, to lengthen34 itself, oblique35 and dim, far over the grass — repeating his stride.
The discretion of it. Was there a choice? He seemed already to have lost something of himself; to have given up to a hungry specter something of his truth and dignity in order to live. But his life was necessary. Let poverty do its worst in exacting36 its toll37 of humiliation38. It was certain that Ned Eliott had rendered him, without knowing it, a service for which it would have been impossible to ask. He hoped Ned would not think there had been something underhand in his action. He supposed that now when he heard of it he would understand — or perhaps he would only think Whalley an eccentric old fool. What would have been the good of telling him — any more than of blurting40 the whole tale to that man Massy? Five hundred pounds ready to invest. Let him make the best of that. Let him wonder. You want a captain — I want a ship. That’s enough. B-r-r-r-r. What a disagreeable impression that empty, dark, echoing steamer had made upon him . . . .
A laid-up steamer was a dead thing and no mistake; a sailing-ship somehow seems always ready to spring into life with the breath of the incorruptible heaven; but a teamer, thought Captain Whalley, with her fires out, without the warm whiffs from below meeting you on her decks, without the hiss42 of steam, the clangs of iron in her breast — lies there as cold and still and pulseless as a corpse43.
In the solitude44 of the avenue, all black above and lighted below, Captain Whalley, considering the discretion of his course, met, as it were incidentally, the thought of death. He pushed it aside with dislike and contempt. He almost laughed at it; and in the unquenchable vitality45 of his age only thought with a kind of exultation46 how little he needed to keep body and soul together. Not a bad investment for the poor woman this solid carcass of her father. And for the rest — in case of anything — the agreement should be clear: the whole five hundred to be paid back to her integrally within three months. Integrally. Every penny. He was not to lose any of her money whatever else had to go — a little dignity — some of his self-respect. He had never before allowed anybody to remain under any sort of false impression as to himself. Well, let that go — for her sake. After all, he had never SAID anything misleading — and Captain Whalley felt himself corrupt41 to the marrow47 of his bones. He laughed a little with the intimate scorn of his worldly prudence48. Clearly, with a fellow of that sort, and in the peculiar49 relation they were to stand to each other, it would not have done to blurt39 out everything. He did not like the fellow. He did not like his spells of fawning50 loquacity52 and bursts of resentfulness. In the end — a poor devil. He would not have liked to stand in his shoes. Men were not evil, after all. He did not like his sleek53 hair, his queer way of standing54 at right angles, with his nose in the air, and glancing along his shoulder at you. No. On the whole, men were not bad — they were only silly or unhappy.
Captain Whalley had finished considering the discretion of that step — and there was the whole long night before him. In the full light his long beard would glisten55 like a silver breastplate covering his heart; in the spaces between the lamps his burly figure passed less distinct, loomed56 very big, wandering, and mysterious. No; there was not much real harm in men: and all the time a shadow marched with him, slanting57 on his left hand — which in the East is a presage58 of evil.
. . . . . . .
“Can you make out the clump59 of palms yet, Serang?” asked Captain Whalley from his chair on the bridge of the Sofala approaching the bar of Batu Beru.
“No, Tuan. By-and-by see.” The old Malay, in a blue dungaree suit, planted on his bony dark feet under the bridge awning51, put his hands behind his back and stared ahead out of the innumerable wrinkles at the corners of his eyes.
Captain Whalley sat still, without lifting his head to look for himself. Three years — thirty-six times. He had made these palms thirty-six times from the southward. They would come into view at the proper time. Thank God, the old ship made her courses and distances trip after trip, as correct as clockwork. At last he murmured again —
“In sight yet?”
“The sun makes a very great glare, Tuan.”
“Watch well, Serang.”
“Ya, Tuan.”
A white man had ascended60 the ladder from the deck noiselessly, and had listened quietly to this short colloquy61. Then he stepped out on the bridge and began to walk from end to end, holding up the long cherry-wood stem of a pipe. His black hair lay plastered in long lanky62 wisps across the bald summit of his head; he had a furrowed63 brow, a yellow complexion64, and a thick shapeless nose. A scanty65 growth of whisker did not conceal2 the contour of his jaw66. His aspect was of brooding care; and sucking at a curved black mouth-piece, he presented such a heavy overhanging profile that even the Serang could not help reflecting sometimes upon the extreme unloveliness of some white men.
Captain Whalley seemed to brace67 himself up in his chair, but gave no recognition whatever to his presence. The other puffed68 jets of smoke; then suddenly —
“I could never understand that new mania69 of yours of having this Malay here for your shadow, partner.”
Captain Whalley got up from the chair in all his imposing70 stature71 and walked across to the binnacle, holding such an unswerving course that the other had to back away hurriedly, and remained as if intimidated72, with the pipe trembling in his hand. “Walk over me now,” he muttered in a sort of astounded73 and discomfited74 whisper. Then slowly and distinctly he said —
“I— am — not — dirt.” And then added defiantly75, “As you seem to think.”
The Serang jerked out —
“See the palms now, Tuan.”
Captain Whalley strode forward to the rail; but his eyes, instead of going straight to the point, with the assured keen glance of a sailor, wandered irresolutely76 in space, as though he, the discoverer of new routes, had lost his way upon this narrow sea.
Another white man, the mate, came up on the bridge. He was tall, young, lean, with a mustache like a trooper, and something malicious77 in the eye. He took up a position beside the engineer. Captain Whalley, with his back to them, inquired —
“What’s on the log?”
“Eighty-five,” answered the mate quickly, and nudged the engineer with his elbow.
Captain Whalley’s muscular hands squeezed the iron rail with an extraordinary force; his eyes glared with an enormous effort; he knitted his eyebrows78, the perspiration79 fell from under his hat,— and in a faint voice he murmured, “Steady her, Serang — when she is on the proper bearing.”
The silent Malay stepped back, waited a little, and lifted his arm warningly to the helmsman. The wheel revolved80 rapidly to meet the swing of the ship. Again the made nudged the engineer. But Massy turned upon him.
“Mr. Sterne,” he said violently, “let me tell you — as a shipowner — that you are no better than a confounded fool.”
收听单词发音 |
1
gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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inexplicable
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| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
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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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quay
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| n.码头，靠岸处 | |
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quays
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| 码头( quay的名词复数 ) | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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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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jingled
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| 喝醉的 | |
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indigo
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| n.靛青，靛蓝 | |
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promontory
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| n.海角；岬 | |
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beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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thighs
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| n.股，大腿( thigh的名词复数 )；食用的鸡（等的）腿 | |
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oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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emigrant
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| adj.移居的，移民的；n.移居外国的人，移民 | |
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upwards
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| adv.向上，在更高处...以上 | |
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somber
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| adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的 | |
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obelisk
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| n.方尖塔 | |
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uneven
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| adj.不平坦的，不规则的，不均匀的 | |
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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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assent
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| v.批准，认可；n.批准，认可 | |
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uncouthly
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shimmering
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| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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fabric
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| n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织 | |
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cleave
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| v．(clave；cleaved)粘着，粘住；坚持；依恋 | |
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hem
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| n.贴边，镶边；vt.缝贴边；(in)包围，限制 | |
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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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porcelain
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| n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的 | |
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luminous
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| adj.发光的，发亮的；光明的；明白易懂的；有启发的 | |
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discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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31
scrunched
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| v.发出喀嚓声( scrunch的过去式和过去分词 )；蜷缩；压；挤压 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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appraise
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| v.估价，评价，鉴定 | |
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34
lengthen
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| vt.使伸长，延长 | |
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oblique
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| adj.斜的，倾斜的，无诚意的，不坦率的 | |
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exacting
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| adj.苛求的，要求严格的 | |
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toll
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| n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟) | |
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humiliation
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| n.羞辱 | |
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blurt
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| vt.突然说出，脱口说出 | |
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40
blurting
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| v.突然说出，脱口而出( blurt的现在分词 ) | |
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41
corrupt
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| v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的 | |
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hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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solitude
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| n. 孤独; 独居,荒僻之地,幽静的地方 | |
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vitality
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| n.活力，生命力，效力 | |
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46
exultation
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| n.狂喜，得意 | |
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marrow
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| n.骨髓；精华；活力 | |
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48
prudence
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| n.谨慎，精明，节俭 | |
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49
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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50
fawning
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| adj.乞怜的，奉承的v.（尤指狗等）跳过来往人身上蹭以示亲热( fawn的现在分词 )；巴结；讨好 | |
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51
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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52
loquacity
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| n.多话，饶舌 | |
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53
sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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54
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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55
glisten
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| vi.（光洁或湿润表面等）闪闪发光，闪闪发亮 | |
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56
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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57
slanting
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| 倾斜的，歪斜的 | |
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58
presage
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| n.预感，不祥感；v.预示 | |
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59
clump
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| n.树丛，草丛；vi.用沉重的脚步行走 | |
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60
ascended
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| v.上升，攀登( ascend的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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61
colloquy
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| n.谈话，自由讨论 | |
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62
lanky
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| adj.瘦长的 | |
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furrowed
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| v.犁田，开沟( furrow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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64
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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scanty
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| adj.缺乏的，仅有的，节省的，狭小的，不够的 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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67
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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69
mania
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| n.疯狂；躁狂症，狂热，癖好 | |
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70
imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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stature
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| n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材 | |
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72
intimidated
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| v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的 | |
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astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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74
discomfited
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| v.使为难( discomfit的过去式和过去分词)；使狼狈；使挫折；挫败 | |
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75
defiantly
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| adv.挑战地，大胆对抗地 | |
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76
irresolutely
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| adv.优柔寡断地 | |
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77
malicious
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| adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的 | |
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78
eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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79
perspiration
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| n.汗水；出汗 | |
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revolved
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| v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想 | |
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