The word captivity1, even when it refers to civilised lands and peoples, conveys, we suspect, but a feeble and incorrect idea to the minds of those who have never been in a state of personal bondage2. Still less do we fully3 appreciate its dread4 significance when it refers to foreign lands and barbarous people.
It was not so much the indignities5 to which the captive Britons were subjected that told upon them ultimately, as the hard, grinding, restless toil6, and the insufficient7 food and rest—sometimes accompanied with absolute corporeal8 pain.
“A merciful man is merciful to his beast.” There is not much of mercy to his beast in an Arab. We have seen an Arab, in Algiers, who made use of a sore on his donkey’s back as a sort of convenient spur! It is exhausting to belabour a thick-skinned and obstinate9 animal with a stick. It is much easier, and much more effective, to tickle10 up a sore, kept open for the purpose, with a little bit of stick, while comfortably seated on the creature’s back. The fellow we refer to did that. We do not say or think that all Arabs are cruel; very far from it, but we hold that, as a race, they are so. Their great prophet taught them cruelty by example and precept11, and the records of history, as well as of the African slave-trade, bear witness to the fact that their “tender mercies” are not and never have been conspicuous12!
At first, as we have shown, indignities told pretty severely13 on the unfortunate Englishmen. But, as time went on, and they were taken further and further into the interior, and heavy burdens were daily bound on their shoulders, and the lash14 was frequently applied15 to urge them on, the keen sense of insult which had at first stirred them into wild anger became blunted, and at last they reached that condition of partial apathy16 which renders men almost indifferent to everything save rest and food. Even the submissive Stevenson was growing callous17. In short, that process had begun which usually ends in making men either brutes18 or martyrs19.
As before, we must remark that Jack20 Molloy was to some extent an exception. It did seem as if nothing but death itself could subdue21 that remarkable22 man. His huge frame was so powerful that he seemed to be capable of sustaining any weight his tyrants23 chose to put upon him. And the influence of hope was so strong within him that it raised him almost entirely24 above the region of despondency.
This was fortunate for his comrades in misfortune, for it served to keep up their less vigorous spirits.
There was one thing about the seaman25, however, which they could not quite reconcile with his known character. This was a tendency to groan26 heavily when he was being loaded. To be sure, there was not much reason for wonder, seeing that the Arabs forced the Herculean man to carry nearly double the weight borne by any of his companions, but then, as Miles once confidentially27 remarked to Armstrong, “I thought that Jack Molloy would rather have died than have groaned28 on account of the weight of his burden; but, after all, it is a tremendously heavy one—poor fellow!”
One day the Arabs seemed to be filled with an unusual desire to torment29 their victims. A man had passed the band that day on a fast dromedary, and the prisoners conjectured30 that he might have brought news of some defeat of their friends, which would account for their increased cruelty. They were particularly hard on Molloy that day, as if they regarded him as typical of British strength, and, therefore, an appropriate object of revenge. After the midday rest, they not only put on him his ordinary burden, but added to the enormous weight considerably31, so that the poor fellow staggered under it, and finally fell down beneath it, with a very dismal32 groan indeed!
Of course the lash was at once applied, and under its influence the sailor rose with great difficulty, and staggered forward a few paces, but only to fall again. This time, however, he did not wait for the lash, but made very determined33 efforts of his own accord to rise and advance, without showing the smallest sign of resentment34. Even his captors seemed touched, for one of them removed a small portion of his burden, so that, thereafter, the poor fellow proceeded with less difficulty, though still with a little staggering and an occasional groan.
That night they reached a village near the banks of a broad river, where they put up for the night. After their usual not too heavy supper was over, the prisoners were thrust into a sort of hut or cattle-shed, and left to make themselves as comfortable as they could on the bare floor.
“I don’t feel quite so much inclined for sleep to-night,” said Miles to Molloy.
“No more do I,” remarked the sailor, stretching himself like a wearied Goliath on the earthen floor, and placing his arms under his head for a pillow.
“I feel pretty well used up too,” said Simkin, throwing himself down with a sigh that was more eloquent35 than his tongue. He was indeed anything but Rattling36 Bill by that time.
Moses Pyne being, like his great namesake, a meek37 man, sympathised with the others, but said nothing about himself, though his looks betrayed him. Armstrong and Stevenson were silent. They seemed too much exhausted38 to indulge in speech.
“Poor fellow!” said Moses to Molloy, “I don’t wonder you are tired, for you not only carried twice as much as any of us, but you took part of my load. Indeed he did, comrades,” added Moses, turning to his friends with an apologetic air. “I didn’t want him to do it, but he jerked part o’ my load suddenly out o’ my hand an’ wouldn’t give it up again; an’, you know, I didn’t dare to make a row, for that would have brought the lash down on both of us. But I didn’t want him to carry so much, an’ him so tired.”
“Tired!” exclaimed the sailor, with a loud laugh. “Why, I warn’t tired a bit. An’, you know, you’d have dropped down, Moses, if I hadn’t helped ye at that time.”
“Well, I confess I was ready to drop,” returned Moses, with a humbled39 look; “but I would much rather have dropped than have added to your burden. How can you say you wasn’t tired when you had fallen down only five minutes before, an’ groaned heavily when you rose, and your legs trembled so? I could see it!”
To this the seaman’s only reply was the expansion of his huge but handsome mouth, the display of magnificent teeth, the disappearance40 of both eyes, and a prolonged quiet chuckle41.
“Why, what’s the matter with you, Jack?” asked Stevenson.
“Nothin’s the matter wi’ me, old man—’cept—”
Here he indulged in another chuckle.
“Goin’ mad, with over-fatigue,” said Simkin, looking suspiciously at him.
“Ay, that’s it, messmate, clean mad wi’ over-fatigue.”
He wiped his eyes with the hairy back of his hand, for the chuckling42, being hearty43, had produced a few tears.
“No, but really, Jack, what is it you’re laughing at?” asked Armstrong. “If there is a joke you might as well let us have the benefit of laughing along wi’ you, for we stand much in need of something to cheer us here.”
“Well, Billy boy, I may as well make a clean breast of it,” said Molloy, raising himself on one elbow and becoming grave. “I do confess to feelin’ raither ashamed o’ myself, but you mustn’t be hard on me, lads, for circumstances alters cases, you know, as Solomon said—leastwise if it warn’t him it was Job or somebody else. The fact is, I’ve bin45 shammin’, mates!”
“Ay, shammin’ weak. Purtendin’ that I was shaky on the legs, an’ so not quite up to the cargo47 they were puttin’ aboard o’ me.”
“If what you’ve been doing means shamming weak, I’d like to see you coming out strong,” observed Miles, with a short laugh.
“But do you really mean that all that groaning—which I confess to have been surprised at—was mere49 pretence50?”
“All sham44. Downright sneakin’!” said Molloy. “The short an’ the long of it is, that I see’d from the first the on’y way to humbug51 them yellow-faced baboons52 was to circumwent ’em. So I set to work at the wery beginnin’.”
“Ah, by takin’ a header,” said Simkin, “into one o’ their bread-baskets!”
“No, no!” returned the seaman, “that, I confess, was a mistake. But you’ll admit, I’ve made no more mistakes o’ the same sort since then. You see, I perceived that, as my strength is considerable above the average, the baboons would be likely to overload53 me, so, arter profound excogitation wi’ myself, I made up my mind what to do, an’ when they had clapped on a little more than the rest o’ you carried I began to groan, then I began to shake a bit in my timbers, an’ look as if I was agoin’ to founder54. It didn’t check ’em much, for they’re awful cruel, so I went fairly down by the head. I had a pretty fair guess that this would bring the lash about my shoulders, an’ I was right, but I got up wery slowly an’ broken-down-like, so that the baboons was fairly humbugged, and stopped loadin’ of me long afore I’d taken in a full cargo—so, you see, boys, I’ve bin sailin’ raither light than otherwise.”
“But do you mean to tell me that the load you’ve bin carryin’ is not too heavy for you?” asked Moses.
“That’s just what I does mean to tell you, lad. I could carry a good deal more, an’ dance with it. You see, they ain’t used to men o’ my size, so I was able to humbug ’em into a miscalkilation. I on’y wish I could have helped you all to do the same, but they’re too ’cute, as the Yankees say. Anyway, Moses, you don’t need to trouble your head when I gives you a helpin’ hand again.”
“Ah, that expression, ‘a helping55 hand,’ sounds familiar in my ears,” said Stevenson, in a sad tone.
“Yes, what do it recall, lad?” asked Molloy, extending himself again on his broad back.
“It recalls places and friends in Portsmouth, Jack, that we may never again set eyes on. You remember the Institoot? Well, they’ve got a new branch o’ the work there for the surrounding civilian56 poor, called the Helping Hand. You see, Miss Robinson understands us soldiers out and out. She knew that those among us who gave up drink and sin, and put on the blue-ribbon, were not goin’ to keep all the benefit to ourselves. She knew that we understood the meaning of the word ‘enlist’ That we’d think very little o’ the poor-spirited fellow who’d take the Queen’s shillin’ and put on her uniform, and then shirk fightin’ her battles and honouring her flag. So when some of us put on the Lord’s uniform—which, like that of the Austrians, is white—and unfurled His flag, she knew we’d soon be wantin’ to fight His battles against sin—especially against drink; so instead of lookin’ after our welfare alone, she encouraged us to hold out a helpin’ hand to the poorest and most miserable57 people in Portsmouth, an’ she found us ready to answer to the call.”
“Ah, they was grand times, these,” continued the marine58, with kindly59 enthusiasm, as he observed that his comrades in sorrow were becoming interested, and forgetting for the moment their own sorrows and sufferings. “The Blue-Ribbon move was strong in Portsmouth at the time, and many of the soldiers and sailors joined it. Some time after we had held out a helping hand to the poor civilians60, we took it into our heads to invite some of ’em to a grand tea-fight in the big hall, so we asked a lot o’ the poorest who had faithfully kept the pledge through their first teetotal Christmas; and it was a scrimmage, I can tell you. We got together more than forty of ’em, men and women, and there were about three hundred soldiers and sailors, and their wives to wait on ’em an’ keep ’em company!”
“Capital!” exclaimed Miles, who had a sympathetic spirit—especially for the poor.
“Good—good!” said Molloy, nodding his head. “That was the right thing to do, an’ I suppose they enjoyed theirselves?”
“Enjoyed themselves!” exclaimed the marine, with a laugh. “I should just think they did. Trust Miss Robinson for knowin’ how to make poor folk enjoy themselves—and, for the matter of that, rich folk too! How they did stuff, to be sure! Many of ’em, poor things, hadn’t got such a blow-out in all their lives before. You see, they was the very poorest of the poor. You may believe what I say, for I went round myself with one o’ the Institoot ladies to invite ’em, and I do declare to you that I never saw even pigs or dogs in such a state of destitootion—nothin’ whatever to lie on but the bare boards.”
“You don’t say so?” murmured Moses, with deep commiseration61, and seemingly oblivious62 of the fact that he was himself pretty much in similar destitution63 at that moment.
“Indeed I do. Look here,” continued the marine, becoming more earnest as he went on; “thousands of people don’t know—can’t understand—what misery64 and want and suffering is going on around ’em. City missionaries65 and the like tell ’em about it, and write about it, but telling and writin’ don’t make people know some things. They must see, ay, sometimes they must feel, before they can rightly understand.
“One of the rooms we visited,” continued Stevenson, in pathetic tones, “belonged to a poor old couple who had been great drinkers, but had been induced to put on the blue-ribbon. It was a pigeon-hole of a room, narrow, up a dark stair. They had no means of support. The room was empty. Everything had been pawned66. The last thing given up was the woman’s shawl to pay the rent, and they were starving.”
“Why didn’t they go to the work’us?” asked Simkin.
“’Cause the workhouse separates man and wife, in defiance67 of the Divine law—‘Whom God hath joined together let no man put asunder68.’ They was fond of each other, was that old man and woman, and had lived long together, an’ didn’t want to part till death. So they had managed to stick to the old home, ay, and they had stuck to their colours, for the bit o’ blue was still pinned to the tattered69 coat o’ the man and the thin gown o’ the woman, (neither coat nor gown would fetch anything at the pawn-shop!) and there was no smell o’ drink in the room. Well, that old couple went to the tea-fight. It was a bitter cold night, but they came all the same, with nothing to cover the woman’s thin old arms.
“The moment they appeared, away went one o’ Miss Robinson’s workers to the room where they keep chests full of clothes sent by charitable folk to the Institoot, an’ you should have seen that old woman’s wrinkled face when the worker returned wi’ the thickest worsted shawl she could lay hold of, an’ put it on her shoulders as tenderly as if the old woman had been her own mother! At the same time they gave a big-coat to the old man.”
“But, I say,” interrupted Simkin, “that Christmas feed an’ shawl an’ coat wouldn’t keep the couple for a twel’month, if they was sent home to starve as before, would it?”
“Of course not,” returned the marine, “but they wasn’t sent off to starve; they was looked after. Ay, an’ the people o’ the whole neighbourhood are now looked after, for Miss Robinson has bought up a grog-shop in Nobbs Lane—one o’ the worst places in Portsmouth—an’ converted it into a temperance coffee-house, wi’ lots of beds to send people to when the Institoot overflows70, an’ a soup-kitchen for the destitoot poor, an’ a wash’us for them and the soldiers’ wives, an’, in short, it has changed the whole place; but if I go on like this I’ll send Moses to sleep, for I’ve heard ’im smotherin’ his yawns more than once a’ready!”
“It’s not for want of interest in what you’re sayin’ though, old man,” returned Moses, with a tremendous unsmothered yawn, which of course set all his comrades off, and confirmed them in the belief that it was time to seek repose71.
Scarcely a single comment was made on the narrative72, as each laid his weary head on his arm or on a folded garment, and stretched himself out on the hard ground, in nearly as destitute73 a condition as the poor folk about whom they had been hearing; for while their bed was as hard as theirs, and the covering as scant74, the meal they had recently consumed was by no means what hungry men would call satisfying.
There is reason to believe, however, that their consideration of the sad lot of “the poor” at home did not render less profound or sweet that night’s repose in the great African wilderness75.
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1
captivity
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| n.囚禁；被俘；束缚 | |
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bondage
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| n.奴役，束缚 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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indignities
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| n.侮辱，轻蔑( indignity的名词复数 ) | |
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toil
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| vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事 | |
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insufficient
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| adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的 | |
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corporeal
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| adj.肉体的，身体的；物质的 | |
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obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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tickle
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| v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒 | |
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precept
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| n.戒律；格言 | |
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conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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apathy
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| n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡 | |
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callous
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| adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的 | |
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brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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martyrs
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| n.martyr的复数形式；烈士( martyr的名词复数 )；殉道者；殉教者；乞怜者（向人诉苦以博取同情） | |
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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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subdue
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| vt.制服，使顺从，征服；抑制，克制 | |
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remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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tyrants
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| 专制统治者( tyrant的名词复数 )； 暴君似的人； （古希腊的）僭主； 严酷的事物 | |
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entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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confidentially
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| ad.秘密地，悄悄地 | |
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groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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torment
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| n.折磨；令人痛苦的东西(人)；vt.折磨；纠缠 | |
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conjectured
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| 推测，猜测，猜想( conjecture的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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considerably
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| adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上 | |
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dismal
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| adj.阴沉的，凄凉的，令人忧郁的，差劲的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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meek
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| adj.温顺的，逆来顺受的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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humbled
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| adj. 卑下的，谦逊的，粗陋的 vt. 使 ... 卑下，贬低 | |
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disappearance
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| n.消失，消散，失踪 | |
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chuckle
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| vi.／n.轻声笑，咯咯笑 | |
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chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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shamming
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| 假装，冒充( sham的现在分词 ) | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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humbug
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| n.花招，谎话，欺骗 | |
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baboons
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| n.狒狒( baboon的名词复数 ) | |
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overload
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| vt.使超载；n.超载 | |
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Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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civilian
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| adj.平民的，民用的，民众的 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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marine
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| adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵 | |
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kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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civilians
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| 平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓 | |
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commiseration
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| n.怜悯，同情 | |
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oblivious
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| adj.易忘的，遗忘的，忘却的，健忘的 | |
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destitution
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| n.穷困，缺乏，贫穷 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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65
missionaries
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| n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 ) | |
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66
pawned
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| v.典当，抵押( pawn的过去式和过去分词 )；以（某事物）担保 | |
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67
defiance
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| n.挑战，挑衅，蔑视，违抗 | |
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68
asunder
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| adj.分离的，化为碎片 | |
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69
tattered
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| adj.破旧的，衣衫破的 | |
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70
overflows
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| v.溢出，淹没( overflow的第三人称单数 )；充满；挤满了人；扩展出界，过度延伸 | |
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71
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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72
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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73
destitute
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| adj.缺乏的；穷困的 | |
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74
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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75
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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