It was with feelings of awe1, not unmingled with fear, that I now seated myself on the cabin skylight and gazed upon the rigid2 features of my late comrade, while my mind wandered over his past history and contemplated3 with anxiety my present position. Alone in the midst of the wide Pacific, having a most imperfect knowledge of navigation, and in a schooner4 requiring at least eight men as her proper crew! But I will not tax the reader’s patience with a minute detail of my feelings and doings during the first few days that followed the death of my companion. I will merely mention that I tied a cannon-ball to his feet, and with feelings of the deepest sorrow, consigned6 him to the deep.
For fully7 a week after that a steady breeze blew from the east, and as my course lay west and by north, I made rapid progress towards my destination. I could not take an observation, which I very much regretted, as the captain’s quadrant was in the cabin; but from the day of setting sail from the island of the savages8 I had kept a dead reckoning, and as I knew pretty well now how much leeway the schooner made, I hoped to hit the Coral Island without much difficulty. In this I was the more confident that I knew its position on the chart—which, I understood, was a very good one—and so had its correct bearings by compass.
As the weather seemed now quite settled and fine, and as I had got into the trade-winds, I set about preparations for hoisting10 the topsails. This was a most arduous11 task, and my first attempts were complete failures, owing, in a great degree, to my reprehensible12 ignorance of mechanical forces. The first error I made was in applying my apparatus13 of blocks and pulleys to a rope which was too weak, so that the very first heave I made broke it in two, and sent me staggering against the after-hatch, over which I tripped, and striking against the main-boom, tumbled down the companion-ladder into the cabin. I was much bruised14 and somewhat stunned15 by this untoward16 accident. However, I considered it fortunate that I was not killed. In my next attempt I made sure of not coming by a similar accident, so I unreeved the tackling and fitted up larger blocks and ropes. But although the principle on which I acted was quiet correct, the machinery17 was now so massive and heavy that the mere5 friction18 and stiffness of the thick cordage prevented me from moving it at all. Afterwards, however, I came to proportion things more correctly; but I could not avoid reflecting at the time how much better it would have been had I learned all this from observation and study, instead of waiting till I was forced to acquire it through the painful and tedious lessons of experience.
After the tackling was prepared and in good working order, it took me the greater part of a day to hoist9 the main topsail. As I could not steer19 and work at this at the same time, I lashed20 the helm in such a position that, with a little watching now and then, it kept the schooner in her proper course. By this means I was enabled, also, to go about the deck and down below for things that I wanted as occasion required; also to cook and eat my victuals21. But I did not dare to trust to this plan during the three hours of rest that I allowed myself at night, as the wind might have shifted, in which case I should have been blown far out of my course ere I awoke. I was, therefore, in the habit of heaving-to during those three hours—that is, fixing the rudder and the sails in such a position as that, by acting23 against each other, they would keep the ship stationary24. After my night’s rest, therefore, I had only to make allowance for the leeway she had made, and so resume my course.
Of course I was, to some extent, anxious lest another squall should come; but I made the best provision I could in the circumstances, and concluded that by letting go the weather-braces of the topsails and the topsail halyards at the same time, I should thereby25 render these sails almost powerless. Besides this, I proposed to myself to keep a sharp lookout26 on the barometer27 in the cabin; and if I observed at any time a sudden fall in it, I resolved that I would instantly set about my multiform appliances for reducing sail, so as to avoid being taken unawares. Thus I sailed prosperously for two weeks, with a fair wind, so that I calculated I must be drawing near to the Coral Island, at the thought of which my heart bounded with joyful28 expectation.
The only book I found on board, after a careful search, was a volume of Captain Cook’s voyages. This, I suppose, the pirate captain had brought with him in order to guide him, and to furnish him with information regarding the islands of these seas. I found this a most delightful29 book indeed; and I not only obtained much interesting knowledge about the sea in which I was sailing, but I had many of my own opinions, derived30 from experience, corroborated31, and not a few of them corrected. Besides the reading of this charming book, and the daily routine of occupations, nothing of particular note happened to me during this voyage—except once, when on rising one night, after my three hours’ nap, while it was yet dark, I was amazed and a little alarmed to find myself floating in what appeared to be a sea of blue fire! I had often noticed the beautiful appearance of phosphorescent light, but this far exceeded anything of the sort I ever saw before. The whole sea appeared somewhat like milk, and was remarkably32 luminous33.
I rose in haste, and letting down a bucket into the sea, brought some of the water on board and took it down to the cabin to examine it; but no sooner did I approach the light than the strange appearance disappeared, and when I removed the cabin lamp the luminous light appeared again. I was much puzzled with this, and took up a little of the water in the hollow of my hand and then let it run off, when I found that the luminous substance was left behind on my palm. I ran with it to the lamp, but when I got there it was gone. I found, however, that when I went into the dark my hand shone again; so I took the large glass of the ship’s telescope and examined my hand minutely, when I found that there were on it one or two small patches of a clear, transparent34 substance like jelly, which were so thin as to be almost invisible to the naked eye. Thus I came to know that the beautiful phosphoric light, which I had so often admired before, was caused by animals; for I had no doubt that these were of the same kind as the medusa or jelly-fish, which are seen in all parts of the world.
On the evening of my fourteenth day I was awakened35 out of a nap into which I had fallen by a loud cry, and starting up, I gazed around me. I was surprised and delighted to see a large albatross soaring majestically36 over the ship. I immediately took it into my head that this was the albatross I had seen at Penguin37 Island. I had, of course, no good reason for supposing this; but the idea occurred to me, I know not why, and I cherished it, and regarded the bird with as much affection as if he had been an old friend. He kept me company all that day, and left me as night fell.
Next morning, as I stood motionless and with heavy eyes at the helm—for I had not slept well—I began to weary anxiously for daylight, and peered towards the horizon, where I thought I observed something like a black cloud against the dark sky. Being always on the alert for squalls, I ran to the bow. There could be no doubt it was a squall, and as I listened I thought I heard the murmur38 of the coming gale39. Instantly I began to work might and main at my cumbrous tackle for shortening sail, and in the course of an hour and a half had the most of it reduced—the topsail yards down on the caps, the topsails clewed up, the sheets hauled in, the main and fore22 peaks lowered, and the flying-jib down. While thus engaged, the dawn advanced, and I cast an occasional furtive40 glance ahead in the midst of my labour. But now that things were prepared for the worst, I ran forward again and looked anxiously over the bow. I now heard the roar of the waves distinctly; and as a single ray of the rising sun gleamed over the ocean, I saw—what! could it be that I was dreaming?—that magnificent breaker with its ceaseless roar—that mountain-top! Yes, once more I beheld41 the Coral Island!
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1
awe
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| n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧 | |
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rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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6
consigned
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| v.把…置于（令人不快的境地）( consign的过去式和过去分词 )；把…托付给；把…托人代售；丟弃 | |
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7
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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8
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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hoist
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| n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起 | |
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hoisting
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| 起重，提升 | |
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11
arduous
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| adj.艰苦的，费力的，陡峭的 | |
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reprehensible
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| adj.该受责备的 | |
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apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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14
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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15
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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16
untoward
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| adj.不利的，不幸的，困难重重的 | |
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machinery
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| n.(总称)机械，机器；机构 | |
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friction
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| n.摩擦，摩擦力 | |
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steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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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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victuals
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| n.食物；食品 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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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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stationary
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| adj.固定的，静止不动的 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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barometer
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| n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标 | |
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joyful
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| adj.欢乐的，令人欢欣的 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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30
derived
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| vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取 | |
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corroborated
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| v.证实，支持（某种说法、信仰、理论等）( corroborate的过去式 ) | |
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remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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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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transparent
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| adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的 | |
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awakened
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| v.（使）醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）觉醒；弄醒；（使）意识到 | |
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majestically
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| 雄伟地； 庄重地； 威严地； 崇高地 | |
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penguin
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| n.企鹅 | |
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murmur
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| n.低语，低声的怨言；v.低语，低声而言 | |
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39
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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40
furtive
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| adj.鬼鬼崇崇的，偷偷摸摸的 | |
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41
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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