“I must beg your pardon, Sir;” said the Captain, quite
[Pg 434]
solemnly. “But it is my firm opinion that you are ‘going across.’”
“Poo, poo! all gammon.—I till you I am going back to Dublin.”
“Upon my soul, then,” said the Skipper, rather briskly, “you must swim back like a grampus, or borrow a pair of wings from the gulls1.”
The man at the helm grinned his broadest at what he thought a good joke of his officer’s—while the Original turned sharply round, parodied2 a hyena’s laugh at the fellow, and then returned to the charge.
“Come, come, Skipper—it’s quite as far out as I care for—if you want to treat me to a sail!”
“Treat you to a sail!” roared the indignant officer. “Zounds! Sir, I’m in earnest—as much in earnest as ever I was in my life.”
“So much the better,” answered the Original. “I’m not joking myself, and I have no right to be joked upon.”
“Joke or no joke,” said the Captain—“all I know is this. The mail bags are on board—and it’s more than my post is worth to put back.”
“Eh? What? How?” exclaimed the Oddity, with a sort of nervous dance. “You astonish me! Do—you—really—mean to say—I’m obligated to go—whether I’ve a right or not?”
“I do indeed, Sir—I’m sorry for it, but it can’t be helped. My orders are positive. The moment the mail is on board I must cast off.”
“Indeed!—well—but you know—why, that’s your duty, not mine. I have no right to be cast off! I’ve no right to be here at all. I’ve no right to be anywhere—except in Merrion Square!”
The Captain was bothered. He shrugged3 up his shoulders, then
[Pg 435]
gave a low whistle, then plunged4 his hands in his pockets—then gave a loud order to somebody, to do something, somewhere or other; and then began to walk short turns on the deck. His Captive, in the meantime, made hasty strides towards the stern, as if intending to leap overboard; but he suddenly stopped short, and took bewildered look at the receding5 coast. The original wrong was visibly increasing in length, breadth, and depth, every minute; and he again confronted the Captain.
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1 gulls | |
n.鸥( gull的名词复数 )v.欺骗某人( gull的第三人称单数 ) | |
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2 parodied | |
v.滑稽地模仿,拙劣地模仿( parody的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3 shrugged | |
vt.耸肩(shrug的过去式与过去分词形式) | |
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4 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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5 receding | |
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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