Part 4: Cobwebs and Gossamer Chapter XII

So sail did get shortened more or less in time even in that ship, and her tall spars never went overboard while I served in her. However, all the time I was with them, Captain S—— and Mr. P—— did not get on very well together. If P—— carried on “like the very devil” because he was too deaf to know how much wind there was, Captain S—— (who, as I have said, seemed constitutionally incapable¹ of ordering one of his officers to shorten sail) resented the necessity forced upon him by Mr. P——’s desperate goings on. It was in Captain S——’s tradition rather to reprove his officers for not carrying on quite enough — in his phrase “for not taking every ounce of advantage of a fair wind.” But there was also a psychological motive² that made him extremely difficult to deal with on board that iron clipper. He had just come out of the marvellous Tweed, a ship, I have heard, heavy to look at but of phenomenal speed. In the middle sixties she had beaten by a day and a half the steam mail-boat from Hong Kong to Singapore. There was something peculiarly lucky, perhaps, in the placing of her masts — who knows? Officers of men-of-war used to come on board to take the exact dimensions of her sail-plan. Perhaps there had been a touch of genius or the finger of good fortune in the fashioning of her lines at bow and stern. It is impossible to say. She was built in the East Indies somewhere, of teak-wood throughout, except the deck. She had a great sheer, high bows, and a clumsy stern. The men who had seen her described her to me as “nothing much to look at.” But in the great Indian famine of the seventies that ship, already old then, made some wonderful dashes across the Gulf³ of Bengal with cargoes⁴ of rice from Rangoon to Madras.

She took the secret of her speed with her, and, unsightly as she was, her image surely has its glorious place in the mirror of the old sea.

The point, however, is that Captain S— — who used to say frequently, “She never made a decent passage after I left her,” seemed to think that the secret of her speed lay in her famous commander. No doubt the secret of many a ship’s excellence⁵ does lie with the man on board, but it was hopeless for Captain S—— to try to make his new iron clipper equal the feats⁶ which made the old Tweed a name of praise upon the lips of English-speaking seamen⁷. There was something pathetic in it, as in the endeavour of an artist in his old age to equal the masterpieces of his youth — for the Tweed’s famous passages were Captain S——’s masterpieces. It was pathetic, and perhaps just the least bit dangerous. At any rate, I am glad that, what between Captain S——’s yearning⁸ for old triumphs and Mr. P——’s deafness, I have seen some memorable⁹ carrying on to make a passage. And I have carried on myself upon the tall spars of that Clyde shipbuilder’s masterpiece as I have never carried on in a ship before or since.

The second mate falling ill during the passage, I was promoted to officer of the watch, alone in charge of the deck. Thus the immense leverage¹⁰ of the ship’s tall masts became a matter very near my own heart. I suppose it was something of a compliment for a young fellow to be trusted, apparently¹¹ without any supervision¹², by such a commander as Captain S——; though, as far as I can remember, neither the tone, nor the manner, nor yet the drift of Captain S——’s remarks addressed to myself did ever, by the most strained interpretation¹³, imply a favourable¹⁴ opinion of my abilities. And he was, I must say, a most uncomfortable commander to get your orders from at night. If I had the watch from eight till midnight, he would leave the deck about nine with the words, “Don’t take any sail off her.” Then, on the point of disappearing down the companion-way, he would add curtly¹⁵: “Don’t carry anything away.” I am glad to say that I never did; one night, however, I was caught, not quite prepared, by a sudden shift of wind.

There was, of course, a good deal of noise — running about, the, shouts of the sailors, the thrashing of the sails — enough, in fact, to wake the dead. But S—— never came on deck. When I was relieved by the chief mate an hour afterwards, he sent for me. I went into his stateroom; he was lying on his couch wrapped up in a rug, with a pillow under his head.

“What was the matter with you up there just now?” he asked.

“Wind flew round on the lee quarter, sir,” I said.

“Couldn’t you see the shift coming?”

“Yes, sir, I thought it wasn’t very far off.”

“Why didn’t you have your courses hauled up at once, then?” he asked in a tone that ought to have made my blood run cold.

But this was my chance, and I did not let it slip.

“Well, sir,” I said in an apologetic tone, “she was going eleven knots very nicely, and I thought she would do for another half-hour or so.”

He gazed at me darkly out of his head, lying very still on the white pillow, for a time.

“Ah, yes, another half-hour. That’s the way ships get dismasted.”

And that was all I got in the way of a wigging¹⁶. I waited a little while and then went out, shutting carefully the door of the state-room after me.

Well, I have loved, lived with, and left the sea without ever seeing a ship’s tall fabric¹⁷ of sticks, cobwebs and gossamer¹⁸ go by the board. Sheer good luck, no doubt. But as to poor P— — I am sure that he would not have got off scot-free like this but for the god of gales¹⁹, who called him away early from this earth, which is three parts ocean, and therefore a fit abode²⁰ for sailors. A few years afterwards I met in an Indian port a man who had served in the ships of the same company. Names came up in our talk, names of our colleagues in the same employ, and, naturally enough, I asked after P——. Had he got a command yet? And the other man answered carelessly:

“No; but he’s provided for, anyhow. A heavy sea took him off the poop in the run between New Zealand and the Horn.”

Thus P—— passed away from amongst the tall spars of ships that he had tried to their utmost in many a spell of boisterous²¹ weather. He had shown me what carrying on meant, but he was not a man to learn discretion²² from. He could not help his deafness. One can only remember his cheery temper, his admiration²³ for the jokes in PUNCH, his little oddities — like his strange passion for borrowing looking-glasses, for instance. Each of our cabins had its own looking-glass screwed to the bulkhead, and what he wanted with more of them we never could fathom²⁴. He asked for the loan in confidential²⁵ tones. Why? Mystery. We made various surmises²⁶. No one will ever know now. At any rate, it was a harmless eccentricity²⁷, and may the god of gales, who took him away so abruptly²⁸ between New Zealand and the Horn, let his soul rest in some Paradise of true seamen, where no amount of carrying on will ever dismast a ship!

1 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

2 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

3 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

4 cargoes   

n.（船或飞机装载的）货物( cargo的名词复数 )；大量，重负

参考例句：

• This ship embarked cargoes. 这艘船装载货物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The crew lashed cargoes of timber down. 全体船员将木材绑牢。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

6 feats   

功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He used to astound his friends with feats of physical endurance. 过去，他表现出来的惊人耐力常让朋友们大吃一惊。
• His heroic feats made him a legend in his own time. 他的英雄业绩使他成了他那个时代的传奇人物。

7 seamen   

n.海员

参考例句：

• Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather. 有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
• In the storm, many seamen wished they were on shore. 在暴风雨中，许多海员想，要是他们在陆地上就好了。

8 yearning   

a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的

参考例句：

• a yearning for a quiet life 对宁静生活的向往
• He felt a great yearning after his old job. 他对过去的工作有一种强烈的渴想。

9 memorable   

adj.值得回忆的，难忘的，特别的，显著的

参考例句：

• This was indeed the most memorable day of my life.这的确是我一生中最值得怀念的日子。
• The veteran soldier has fought many memorable battles.这个老兵参加过许多难忘的战斗。

10 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

11 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

12 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

13 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

14 favourable   

adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的

参考例句：

• The company will lend you money on very favourable terms.这家公司将以非常优惠的条件借钱给你。
• We found that most people are favourable to the idea.我们发现大多数人同意这个意见。

15 curtly   

adv.简短地

参考例句：

• He nodded curtly and walked away. 他匆忙点了一下头就走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The request was curtly refused. 这个请求被毫不客气地拒绝了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 wigging   

n.责备，骂，叱责

参考例句：

• He got a wigging for being out late last night. 他昨晚因回来太迟而被骂了一顿。 来自互联网

17 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

18 gossamer   

n.薄纱，游丝

参考例句：

• The prince helped the princess,who was still in her delightful gossamer gown.王子搀扶着仍穿著那套美丽薄纱晚礼服的公主。
• Gossamer is floating in calm air.空中飘浮着游丝。

19 gales   

龙猫

参考例句：

• I could hear gales of laughter coming from downstairs. 我能听到来自楼下的阵阵笑声。
• This was greeted with gales of laughter from the audience. 观众对此报以阵阵笑声。

20 abode   

n.住处，住所

参考例句：

• It was ten months before my father discovered his abode.父亲花了十个月的功夫，才好不容易打听到他的住处。
• Welcome to our humble abode!欢迎光临寒舍！

21 boisterous   

adj.喧闹的，欢闹的

参考例句：

• I don't condescend to boisterous displays of it.我并不屈就于它热热闹闹的外表。
• The children tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play.孩子们经常是先静静地聚集在一起，不一会就开始吵吵嚷嚷戏耍开了。

22 discretion   

n.谨慎；随意处理

参考例句：

• You must show discretion in choosing your friend.你择友时必须慎重。
• Please use your best discretion to handle the matter.请慎重处理此事。

23 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

24 fathom   

v.领悟，彻底了解

参考例句：

• I really couldn't fathom what he was talking about.我真搞不懂他在说些什么。
• What these people hoped to achieve is hard to fathom.这些人希望实现些什么目标难以揣测。

25 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

26 surmises   

v.臆测，推断( surmise的第三人称单数 )；揣测；猜想

参考例句：

• The detective is completely correct in his surmises. 这个侦探所推测的完全正确。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• As the reader probably surmises, a variety of interest tables exists. 正如读者可能推测的那样，存在着各种各样的利息表。 来自辞典例句

27 eccentricity   

n.古怪，反常，怪癖

参考例句：

• I can't understand the eccentricity of Henry's behavior.我不理解亨利的古怪举止。
• His eccentricity had become legendary long before he died.在他去世之前他的古怪脾气就早已闻名遐尔了。

28 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。