For many days after this, Jack1 applied2 himself with unremitting assiduity to the construction of our boat, which at length began to look something like one. But those only who have had the thing to do can entertain a right idea of the difficulty involved in such an undertaking3, with no other implements4 than an axe5, a bit of hoop-iron, a sail-needle, and a broken penknife. But Jack did it. He was of that disposition6 which will not be conquered. When he believed himself to be acting7 rightly, he overcame all obstacles. I have seen Jack, when doubtful whether what he was about to do were right or wrong, as timid and vacillating as a little girl; and I honour him for it!
As this boat was a curiosity in its way, a few words here relative to the manner of its construction may not be amiss.
I have already mentioned the chestnut-tree with its wonderful buttresses8 or planks9. This tree, then, furnished us with the chief part of our material. First of all, Jack sought out a limb of a tree of such a form and size as, while it should form the keel, a bend at either end should form the stem and stern-posts. Such a piece, however, was not easy to obtain; but at last he procured11 it by rooting up a small tree which had a branch growing at the proper angle about ten feet up its stem, with two strong roots growing in such a form as enabled him to make a flat-sterned boat. This placed, he procured three branching roots of suitable size, which he fitted to the keel at equal distances, thus forming three strong ribs12. Now the squaring and shaping of these, and the cutting of the grooves13 in the keel, was an easy enough matter, as it was all work for the axe, in the use of which Jack was become wonderfully expert; but it was quite a different affair when he came to nailing the ribs to the keel, for we had no instrument capable of boring a large hole, and no nails to fasten them with. We were, indeed, much perplexed14 here; but Jack at length devised an instrument that served very well. He took the remainder of our hoop-iron and beat it into the form of a pipe or cylinder15, about as thick as a man’s finger. This he did by means of our axe and the old rusty16 axe we had found at the house of the poor man at the other side of the island. This, when made red hot, bored slowly through the timbers; and the better to retain the heat, Jack shut up one end of it and filled it with sand. True, the work was very slowly done; but it mattered not—we had little else to do. Two holes were bored in each timber, about an inch and a half apart, and also down into the keel, but not quite through. Into these were placed stout17 pegs18 made of a tree called iron-wood, and when they were hammered well home, the timbers were as firmly fixed19 as if they had been nailed with iron. The gunwales, which were very stout, were fixed in a similar manner. But besides the wooden nails, they were firmly lashed20 to the stem and stern-posts and ribs by means of a species of cordage which we had contrived21 to make out of the fibrous husk of the cocoa-nut. This husk was very tough, and when a number of the threads were joined together they formed excellent cordage. At first we tied the different lengths together; but this was such a clumsy and awkward complication of knots that we contrived, by careful interlacing of the ends together before twisting, to make good cordage of any size or length we chose. Of course it cost us much time and infinite labour; but Jack kept up our spirits when we grew weary, and so all that we required was at last constructed.
Planks were now cut off the chestnut-trees of about an inch thick. These were dressed with the axe—but clumsily, for an axe is ill-adapted for such work. Five of these planks on each side were sufficient; and we formed the boat in a very rounded, barrel-like shape, in order to have as little twisting of the planks as possible, for although we could easily bend them, we could not easily twist them. Having no nails to rivet22 the planks with, we threw aside the ordinary fashion of boat-building and adopted one of our own. The planks were therefore placed on each other’s edges, and sewed together with the tough cordage already mentioned; they were also thus sewed to the stem, the stern, and the keel. Each stitch or tie was six inches apart, and was formed thus: Three holes were bored in the upper plank10 and three in the lower, the holes being above each other—that is, in a vertical23 line. Through these holes the cord was passed, and when tied, formed a powerful stitch of three-ply. Besides this, we placed between the edges of the planks layers of cocoa-nut fibre, which, as it swelled24 when wetted, would, we hoped, make our little vessel25 water-tight. But in order further to secure this end, we collected a large quantity of pitch from the bread-fruit tree, with which, when boiled in our old iron pot, we paid the whole of the inside of the boat, and while it was yet hot, placed large pieces of cocoa-nut cloth on it, and then gave it another coat above that. Thus the interior was covered with a tough, water-tight material; while the exterior26, being uncovered, and so exposed to the swelling27 action of the water, was, we hoped, likely to keep the boat quite dry. I may add that our hopes were not disappointed.
While Jack was thus engaged, Peterkin and I sometimes assisted him; but as our assistance was not much required, we more frequently went a-hunting on the extensive mud-flats at the entrance of the long valley which lay nearest to our bower28. Here we found large flocks of ducks of various kinds, some of them bearing so much resemblance to the wild ducks of our own country that I think they must have been the same. On these occasions we took the bow and the sling29, with both of which we were often successful, though I must confess that I was the least so. Our suppers were thus pleasantly varied30, and sometimes we had such a profusion31 spread out before us that we frequently knew not with which of the dainties to begin.
I must also add that the poor old cat which we had brought home had always a liberal share of our good things; and so well was it looked after, especially by Peterkin, that it recovered much of its former strength, and seemed to improve in sight as well as hearing.
The large flat stone, or rock of coral, which stood just in front of the entrance to our bower, was our table. On this rock we had spread out the few articles we possessed32 the day we were shipwrecked; and on the same rock, during many a day afterwards, we spread out the bountiful supply with which we had been blessed on our Coral Island. Sometimes we sat down at this table to a feast consisting of hot rolls—as Peterkin called the newly baked bread-fruit—a roast pig, roast duck, boiled and roasted yams, cocoa-nuts, taro33, and sweet potatoes; which we followed up with a dessert of plums, apples, and plantains—the last being a large-sized and delightful34 fruit, which grew on a large shrub35 or tree not more than twelve feet high, with light-green leaves of enormous length and breadth. These luxurious36 feasts were usually washed down with cocoa-nut lemonade.
Occasionally Peterkin tried to devise some new dish—“a conglomerate,” as he used to say; but these generally turned out such atrocious compounds that he was ultimately induced to give up his attempts in extreme disgust—not forgetting, however, to point out to Jack that his failure was a direct contradiction to the proverb which he (Jack) was constantly thrusting down his throat—namely, that “where there’s a will there’s a way.” For he had a great will to become a cook, but could by no means find a way to accomplish that end.
One day, while Peterkin and I were seated beside our table, on which dinner was spread, Jack came up from the beach, and flinging down his axe, exclaimed:
“There, lads, the boat’s finished at last! So we’ve nothing to do now but shape two pair of oars37, and then we may put to sea as soon as we like.”
This piece of news threw us into a state of great joy; for although we were aware that the boat had been gradually getting near its completion, it had taken so long that we did not expect it to be quite ready for at least two or three weeks. But Jack had wrought38 hard and said nothing, in order to surprise us.
“My dear fellow,” cried Peterkin, “you’re a perfect trump39! But why did you not tell us it was so nearly ready? Won’t we have a jolly sail to-morrow, eh?”
“Don’t talk so much, Peterkin,” said Jack; “and, pray, hand me a bit of that pig.”
“Certainly, my dear,” cried Peterkin, seizing the axe. “What part will you have? A leg, or a wing, or a piece of the breast—which?”
“With all my heart,” said Peterkin, exchanging the axe for his hoop-iron knife, with which he cut off the desired portion. “I’m only too glad, my dear boy, to see that your appetite is so wholesale41, and there’s no chance whatever of its dwindling42 down into re-tail again—at least, in so far as this pig is concerned.—Ralph, lad, why don’t you laugh, eh?” he added, turning suddenly to me with a severe look of inquiry43.
“Laugh!” said I. “What at, Peterkin? Why should I laugh?”
Both Jack and Peterkin answered this inquiry by themselves laughing so immoderately that I was induced to believe I had missed noticing some good joke, so I begged that it might be explained to me; but as this only produced repeated roars of laughter, I smiled and helped myself to another slice of plantain.
“Well, but,” continued Peterkin, “I was talking of a sail to-morrow. Can’t we have one, Jack?”
“No,” replied Jack, “we can’t have a sail; but I hope we shall have a row, as I intend to work hard at the oars this afternoon, and if we can’t get them finished by sunset, we’ll light our candle-nuts, and turn them out of hands before we turn into bed.”
“Very good,” said Peterkin, tossing a lump of pork to the cat, who received it with a mew of satisfaction. “I’ll help you, if I can.”
“Afterwards,” continued Jack, “we will make a sail out of the cocoa-nut cloth, and rig up a mast; and then we shall be able to sail to some of the other islands, and visit our old friends the penguins44.”
The prospect45 of being so soon in a position to extend our observations to the other islands, and enjoy a sail over the beautiful sea, afforded us much delight, and after dinner we set about making the oars in good earnest. Jack went into the woods and blocked them roughly out with the axe, and I smoothed them down with the knife, while Peterkin remained in the bower spinning, or rather twisting, some strong, thick cordage with which to fasten them to the boat.
We worked hard and rapidly, so that when the sun went down Jack and I returned to the bower with four stout oars, which required little to be done to them save a slight degree of polishing with the knife. As we drew near we were suddenly arrested by the sound of a voice. We were not a little surprised at this—indeed, I may almost say alarmed; for although Peterkin was undoubtedly46 fond of talking, we had never, up to this time, found him talking to himself. We listened intently, and still heard the sound of a voice as if in conversation. Jack motioned me to be silent, and advancing to the bower on tiptoe, we peeped in.
The sight that met our gaze was certainly not a little amusing. On the top of a log which we sometimes used as a table sat the black cat with a very demure47 expression on its countenance48, and in front of it, sitting on the ground with his legs extended on either side of the log, was Peterkin. At the moment we saw him he was gazing intently into the cat’s face, with his nose about four inches from it, his hands being thrust into his breeches pockets.
“Cat,” said Peterkin, turning his head a little on one side, “I love you!”
There was a pause, as if Peterkin awaited a reply to this affectionate declaration. But the cat said nothing.
“Do you hear me?” cried Peterkin sharply. “I love you—I do! Don’t you love me?”
“Ah, that’s right! You’re a jolly old rascal50! Why did you not speak at once, eh?” and Peterkin put forward his mouth and kissed the cat on the nose!
“Yes,” continued Peterkin after a pause, “I love you. D’you think I’d say so if I didn’t, you black villain51? I love you because I’ve got to take care of you, and to look after you, and to think about you, and to see that you don’t die—”
“Mew, me-a-w!” said the cat.
“Very good,” continued Peterkin; “quite true, I have no doubt. But you’ve no right to interrupt me, sir. Hold your tongue till I have done speaking. Moreover, cat, I love you because you came to me the first time you ever saw me, and didn’t seem to be afraid, and appeared to be fond of me, though you didn’t know that I wasn’t going to kill you. Now that was brave, that was bold, and very jolly, old boy, and I love you for it—I do!”
Again there was a pause of a few minutes, during which the cat looked placid52, and Peterkin dropped his eyes upon its toes as if in contemplation. Suddenly he looked up.
“Well, cat, what are you thinking about now? Won’t speak, eh? Now tell me: don’t you think it’s a monstrous53 shame that those two scoundrels, Jack and Ralph, should keep us waiting for our supper so long?”
Here the cat arose, put up its back and stretched itself, yawned slightly, and licked the point of Peterkin’s nose!
“Just so, old boy; you’re a clever fellow.—I really do believe the brute54 understands me!” said Peterkin, while a broad grin overspread his face as he drew back and surveyed the cat.
At this point Jack burst into a loud fit of laughter. The cat uttered an angry fuff and fled, while Peterkin sprang up and exclaimed:
“Bad luck to you, Jack! You’ve nearly made the heart jump out of my body, you have!”
“Perhaps I have,” replied Jack, laughing, as we entered the bower; “but as I don’t intend to keep you or the cat any longer from your supper, I hope that you’ll both forgive me.”
Peterkin endeavoured to turn this affair off with a laugh. But I observed that he blushed very deeply at the time we discovered ourselves, and he did not seem to relish55 any allusion56 to the subject afterwards; so we refrained from remarking on it ever after, though it tickled57 us not a little at the time.
After supper we retired58 to rest, and to dream of wonderful adventures in our little boat and distant voyages upon the sea.
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1
jack
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| n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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4
implements
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| n.工具( implement的名词复数 )；家具；手段；[法律]履行（契约等）v.实现( implement的第三人称单数 )；执行；贯彻；使生效 | |
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axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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buttresses
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| n.扶壁，扶垛( buttress的名词复数 )v.用扶壁支撑，加固( buttress的第三人称单数 ) | |
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9
planks
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| （厚）木板( plank的名词复数 )； 政纲条目，政策要点 | |
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plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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procured
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| v.（努力）取得， （设法）获得( procure的过去式和过去分词 )；拉皮条 | |
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ribs
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| n.肋骨( rib的名词复数 )；（船或屋顶等的）肋拱；肋骨状的东西；（织物的）凸条花纹 | |
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13
grooves
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| n.沟( groove的名词复数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏v.沟( groove的第三人称单数 )；槽；老一套；（某种）音乐节奏 | |
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14
perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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cylinder
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| n.圆筒，柱(面)，汽缸 | |
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rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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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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fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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20
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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contrived
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| adj.不自然的，做作的；虚构的 | |
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rivet
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| n.铆钉；vt.铆接，铆牢；集中(目光或注意力) | |
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vertical
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| adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置 | |
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swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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25
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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exterior
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| adj.外部的，外在的；表面的 | |
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swelling
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| n.肿胀 | |
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bower
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| n.凉亭，树荫下凉快之处；闺房；v.荫蔽 | |
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29
sling
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| vt.扔；悬挂；n.挂带；吊索，吊兜；弹弓 | |
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30
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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profusion
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| n.挥霍；丰富 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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taro
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| n.芋，芋头 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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shrub
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| n.灌木，灌木丛 | |
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luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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37
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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38
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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39
trump
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| n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭 | |
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40
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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wholesale
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| n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售 | |
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42
dwindling
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| adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 ) | |
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43
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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44
penguins
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| n.企鹅( penguin的名词复数 ) | |
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45
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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46
undoubtedly
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| adv.确实地，无疑地 | |
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47
demure
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| adj.严肃的；端庄的 | |
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48
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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49
touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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50
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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51
villain
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| n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因 | |
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52
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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53
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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54
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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55
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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56
allusion
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| n.暗示，间接提示 | |
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57
tickled
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| （使）发痒( tickle的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）愉快，逗乐 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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