On arriving at the chief, indeed the only, inn of the place, we discovered the reason of all the bustle. A strange ship had arrived the night before—a large ship, fitted out for an expedition to some distant part of the world. She had come to complete her supply of provisions and to engage a few extra hands.
Here then was a fortunate opportunity! We asked at once where we could find the captain. He was in the bar-room of the inn. We entered it and found him there, standing6 with his back to the fire and a coat-tail under each arm. He was a big fat man, with a savage7 expression of countenance8, and ragged9 head and beard, and a red nose.
“Sir,” said Jack, “we wish to ship with you.”
The captain stared, took a pencil-case out of his pocket, picked his teeth therewith, and surveyed us from head to foot.
“Oh, you do, do you? You wish to ship with me?”
“Yes.”
“Suppose I don’t want you.”
“Then we shall have to try elsewhere.”
The captain smiled grimly, shut up the pencil-case, and said—
“What can ye do?”
“We can read, and write, and count,” said I, taking the words out of Jack’s mouth; for I felt that his brusque manner of replying was not calculated to commend us to the captain.
“Oh, you can read, and write, and count, can ye?” repeated the captain, with deep sarcasm10. “If ye had said ye could feed, and fight, and shout, it would have bin11 more to the purpose.”
“Perhaps we can do a little of that sort of thing, too,” suggested Jack, with a broad grin.
“Hah?” ejaculated the captain. “Wot else can ye do?”
“Oh, anything,” said Jack.
“I gin’rally find,” observed the captain, “that w’en a boy says he can do anything, he very soon proves that he can do nothing.”
“Well, I don’t mean that exactly,” rejoined Jack; “I mean we can try anything.”
We looked at each other. “That,” said I, “is a matter of no importance to any one but ourselves. We have run away from home, and we want to go to sea as fast as possible. If you are willing to take us, we are willing to go. What say you?”
“Run away! ho! ho!—run away!” said the captain, chuckling13; “you are just the lads I want. Nothing like runaway14 boys for me. I wouldn’t give a pinch of snuff for your good boys that do wot they’re bid. Commend me to the high-spirited fellers that runs away, and that folk are so wicked as to call bad boys. That’s the sort o’ stuff that suits our service.”
I did not by any means relish15 the manner and tone in which all this was said: so I asked him what particular service he belonged to.
“You’ll know that time enough,” he replied, laughing; “but after all, why shouldn’t I tell ye? there’s nothing to conceal16. We’re a discovery-ship; we’re goin’ to look for Sir John Franklin’s expedition, and after we’ve found it we’re going to try the North Pole, and then go right through the Nor’-west passage, down by Behring’s Straits, across the Pacific, touchin’ at the Cannibal Islands in passin’, and so on to China. Havin’ revictualled there, we’ll bear away for Japan, Haustralia, Cape17 o’ Good Hope, and the West Indies, and come tearin’ across the Atlantic with the Gulf-stream to England! Will that suit ye?”
It may seem strange, and the reader will hardly believe me when I say, that, transparently18 absurd though this statement was, nevertheless I believed every word of it—and so did Jack. I saw that by his glowing eye and heightened colour.
“In half an hour; so get aboard, boys, and don’t give so much tongue. I’ve other matters to mind just now. Come, be off!”
We retreated precipitately20 to the door.
“What’s her name?” inquired Jack, looking back.
“‘The Ring-tailed Smasher,’” cried the captain, fiercely.
“The what?”
We vanished. In five minutes we were on board the ship. To this hour I have no remembrance of how we got on board. My brain swam with intense excitement. I felt as if I were flying, not walking, as I ran about the deck and clambered up the rigging.
Shortly after the captain came aboard. The rope that attached the vessel22 to the quay23 was cast off, the sails flew out as if by magic, and the shore began to fall rapidly astern.
It was now, for the first time, that a full sense of what I had done came over me. I leaned over the stern of the ship, and gazed at my native shore as it grew fainter in the distance, until the familiar hills became a mere24 line of blue on the horizon, and were finally blotted25 from my view by the blinding tears that sprang suddenly to my eyes. Oh! the agony of that moment I shall never forget. The words that Jack had quoted to me the night before—“Honour thy father and thy mother”—seemed to be stamped in letters of fire within my brain. I felt keenly that, in a moment of passionate26 self-will, I had done that which would cause me the deepest sorrow all my life.
In that dark hour I forgot all my romantic notions of travel in foreign lands; I cared not a straw for hunting, or fighting, or wild adventures. I would have cheerfully given worlds, had I possessed27 them, to be permitted to undo28 the past—to hasten to my dear father’s feet, and implore29 forgiveness of the evil that I had done. But regret was now unavailing. The land soon sank below the horizon, and, ere many hours had passed, our ship was scudding30 before a stiff breeze and leaping wildly over the waves of the Atlantic Ocean.
点击收听单词发音
1 bustle | |
v.喧扰地忙乱,匆忙,奔忙;n.忙碌;喧闹 | |
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2 seaport | |
n.海港,港口,港市 | |
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3 bustling | |
adj.喧闹的 | |
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4 jack | |
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克 | |
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5 affected | |
adj.不自然的,假装的 | |
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6 standing | |
n.持续,地位;adj.永久的,不动的,直立的,不流动的 | |
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7 savage | |
adj.野蛮的;凶恶的,残暴的;n.未开化的人 | |
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8 countenance | |
n.脸色,面容;面部表情;vt.支持,赞同 | |
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9 ragged | |
adj.衣衫褴褛的,粗糙的,刺耳的 | |
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10 sarcasm | |
n.讥讽,讽刺,嘲弄,反话 (adj.sarcastic) | |
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11 bin | |
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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12 pint | |
n.品脱 | |
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13 chuckling | |
轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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14 runaway | |
n.逃走的人,逃亡,亡命者;adj.逃亡的,逃走的 | |
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15 relish | |
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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16 conceal | |
v.隐藏,隐瞒,隐蔽 | |
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17 cape | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
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18 transparently | |
明亮地,显然地,易觉察地 | |
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19 joyfully | |
adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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20 precipitately | |
adv.猛进地 | |
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21 poker | |
n.扑克;vt.烙制 | |
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22 vessel | |
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管 | |
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23 quay | |
n.码头,靠岸处 | |
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24 mere | |
adj.纯粹的;仅仅,只不过 | |
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25 blotted | |
涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 ); (用吸墨纸)吸干 | |
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26 passionate | |
adj.热情的,热烈的,激昂的,易动情的,易怒的,性情暴躁的 | |
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27 possessed | |
adj.疯狂的;拥有的,占有的 | |
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28 undo | |
vt.解开,松开;取消,撤销 | |
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29 implore | |
vt.乞求,恳求,哀求 | |
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30 scudding | |
n.刮面v.(尤指船、舰或云彩)笔直、高速而平稳地移动( scud的现在分词 ) | |
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