CHAPTER XXVI SKELETON ISLAND

Then Gaspard came on deck. He had spoken his mind and he felt easier. He had tried to dissuade¹ Sagesse from disturbing this resting-place of bones and possible treasure, Sagesse would not be dissuaded², all the same Gaspard felt easier. He had, in plain English, a holy terror of Simon Serpente. His sufferings on the island, his ill-luck in killing³ Yves and betraying himself to Sagesse, the horrible personality of Serpente and the fact that he had seen and handled his bones just before the tragedy of Yves, all these things combined with superstition⁴ to make this monster-man, dead long years ago, a living, and vital personality to Gaspard. He feared him a great deal more than he feared the devil. He was not sure at all that the devil had existence or power over man, but he was sure that Serpente had acted as an excellent substitute for the devil in life and that in death he was still harmful.

For Gaspard the Ka of Simon Serpente existed on that island, guarding the bones it had once surrounded and the treasure it had once amassed⁵; in trying to dissuade Sagesse from the expedition, he felt he had propitiated⁶ this Ka, the wrath⁷ of the thing he fancied would fall on Sagesse, and as he leaned on the bulwark⁸ rail thinking over the situation and the forthcoming expedition, an unholy curiosity awoke in his mind as to the upshot of the affair.

I doubt if he would have drawn⁹ back from it now, even183 if he could; curiosity, whose hold upon the superstitious¹⁰ mind is profound, had him in her grip.

“Wait,” said Curiosity, “I will show you something strange.”

As he gazed across the blue water of the harbour at the coloured town, the palms, the high woods, leaping green against the blue sky, he remembered Marie. Simon Serpente had driven her for a moment from his mind. He was to meet her this evening, two hours before sunset, on the road to Morne Rouge¹¹.

Contrasted with his gloomy thoughts, how bright seemed that faithful figure, contrasted with the demon¹² picture of Serpente, how lovely was this form! From where he stood he could see, or thought he could see, the beginning of the road to Morne Rouge, up there where the houses fell away and the palms took the place of buildings.

His heart leaped to the spot.

As he was leaning on the rail and looking, Sagesse came out of the deck-house. The negroes at work on the cargo¹³ had knocked off for a spell, boats had come alongside with the wives of the stevedores¹⁴, bringing their food; each woman had with her a basket covered with a white cloth and each basket was divided into compartments¹⁵ containing fruit, fish—generally sádines—and bread.

As the men chattered¹⁶ with their wives, Sagesse and Gaspard went round the decks; the cargo was half out; it was a very light cargo and it was easy to see that La Belle¹⁷ Arlésienne would be clear of it and in ballast by Friday morning. Having satisfied himself on this point, Gaspard went to the little cabin that had been allotted¹⁸ to him and began turning out the rubbish with which it was encumbered¹⁹, old bottles and cigar boxes, bundles of old newspapers, all sorts of useless raffle²⁰; when the place was clear,184 déjeuner was ready, corossoles, chicken and rice, fruit, and the inevitable²¹ rum. The negro cook placed the things on the table and retired²².

Sagesse was cheerful during the meal, even friendly; never would you have thought that this man had only a short time ago held out threats against his table companion. I doubt, even, if his cheerfulness was assumed or his friendliness²³ false; he had the art, almost a horrible art, of packing away in his mind ill feeling, distrust, suspicion, against a man, keeping them cool and fresh till they were wanted. He was almost certain that Gaspard had betrayed the secret of the island to Seguin, but he shewed nothing of it in his manner, felt, perhaps, nothing of it in his mind, as he enjoyed the excellent food before him and talked of trade, of the cargo, of the customs—and the hundred and one things that are bound up with trade, the tropics, and the sea.

After déjeuner, Gaspard lit a pipe and lay down in his cabin for a siesta²⁴; he kept the door open for coolness and he could see out beyond the cave-like twilight²⁵ of the deck-house a glimpse of the sun-smitten deck; then he fell asleep, and when he awoke it was three o’clock.

He turned out of the bunk²⁶ and came on deck. The winches were still going; Sagesse was nowhere to be seen; Jules, who was superintending the unloading of the cargo, said that Missie Sagesse had gone ashore²⁷ an hour ago.

He was very friendly, Jules, and anxious to please, and leaving the hands to look after themselves for a moment, he called a shore boat that was hanging about the ship and with his own hands dropped the rope ladder for Gaspard.

In a few minutes the boat had landed Gaspard at the harbour steps; he paid the man, and taking his way up the185 Passage Bartine, made for the Rue²⁸ Victor Hugo. He did not know that one of the boatmen was following him.

As he entered the Rue Victor Hugo he met M. Seguin, who had just returned from Grand Anse; it was one of those accidental meetings that Fate arranges. M. Seguin shook hands with his preserver, then, taking him by the arm, led him across the way to the Café Palmiste.

An hour later, the news was brought to Sagesse that Gaspard had met M. Seguin, evidently by appointment, in the Rue Victor Hugo, and that both men had entered a café.

This confirmation²⁹ of his suspicions was the only thing wanted to fix in Sagesse’s mind the certainty that he was betrayed.

He had no fear of Seguin stealing a march on him, for La Belle Arlésienne would be away long before Seguin could commission a ship.

But he swore a frightful³⁰ oath to be even with Gaspard when the moment arrived—and the place.

1 dissuade   

v.劝阻，阻止

参考例句：

• You'd better dissuade him from doing that.你最好劝阻他别那样干。
• I tried to dissuade her from investing her money in stocks and shares.我曾设法劝她不要投资于股票交易。

2 dissuaded   

劝（某人）勿做某事，劝阻( dissuade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was easily dissuaded from going. 他很容易就接受劝告不走了。
• Ulysses was not to be dissuaded from his attempt. 尤利西斯想前去解救的决心不为所动。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 superstition   

n.迷信，迷信行为

参考例句：

• It's a common superstition that black cats are unlucky.认为黑猫不吉祥是一种很普遍的迷信。
• Superstition results from ignorance.迷信产生于无知。

5 amassed   

v.积累，积聚( amass的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He amassed a fortune from silver mining. 他靠开采银矿积累了一笔财富。
• They have amassed a fortune in just a few years. 他们在几年的时间里就聚集了一笔财富。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 propitiated   

v.劝解，抚慰，使息怒( propitiate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

7 wrath   

n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒

参考例句：

• His silence marked his wrath. 他的沉默表明了他的愤怒。
• The wrath of the people is now aroused. 人们被激怒了。

8 bulwark   

n.堡垒，保障，防御

参考例句：

• That country is a bulwark of freedom.那个国家是自由的堡垒。
• Law and morality are the bulwark of society.法律和道德是社会的防御工具。

9 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

10 superstitious   

adj.迷信的

参考例句：

• They aim to deliver the people who are in bondage to superstitious belief.他们的目的在于解脱那些受迷信束缚的人。
• These superstitious practices should be abolished as soon as possible.这些迷信做法应尽早取消。

11 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

12 demon   

n.魔鬼，恶魔

参考例句：

• The demon of greed ruined the miser's happiness.贪得无厌的恶习毁掉了那个守财奴的幸福。
• He has been possessed by the demon of disease for years.他多年来病魔缠身。

13 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

14 stevedores   

n.码头装卸工人，搬运工( stevedore的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The stevedores' work is to load and unload ships. 装卸工人的工作是装卸船只。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The stevedores will see to that. 搬运工会格外注意。 来自商贸英语会话

15 compartments   

n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层

参考例句：

• Your pencil box has several compartments. 你的铅笔盒有好几个格。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The first-class compartments are in front. 头等车室在前头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 chattered   

（人）喋喋不休( chatter的过去式 )； 唠叨； （牙齿）打战； （机器）震颤

参考例句：

• They chattered away happily for a while. 他们高兴地闲扯了一会儿。
• We chattered like two teenagers. 我们聊着天，像两个十多岁的孩子。

17 belle   

n.靓女

参考例句：

• She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
• She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。

18 allotted   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
• Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。

19 encumbered   

v.妨碍，阻碍，拖累( encumber的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The police operation was encumbered by crowds of reporters. 警方的行动被成群的记者所妨碍。
• The narrow quay was encumbered by hundreds of carts. 狭窄的码头被数百辆手推车堵得水泄不通。 来自辞典例句

20 raffle   

n.废物，垃圾，抽奖售卖；v.以抽彩出售

参考例句：

• The money was raised by the sale of raffle tickets.这笔款子是通过出售购物彩券筹集的。
• He won a car in the raffle.他在兑奖售物活动中赢得了一辆汽车。

21 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

22 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

23 friendliness   

n.友谊，亲切，亲密

参考例句：

• Behind the mask of friendliness,I know he really dislikes me.在友善的面具后面，我知道他其实并不喜欢我。
• His manner was a blend of friendliness and respect.他的态度友善且毕恭毕敬。

24 siesta   

n.午睡

参考例句：

• Lots of people were taking a short siesta in the shade.午后很多人在阴凉处小睡。
• He had acquired the knack of snatching his siesta in the most unfavourable circumstance.他学会了在最喧闹的场合下抓紧时间睡觉的诀窍。

25 twilight   

n.暮光，黄昏；暮年，晚期，衰落时期

参考例句：

• Twilight merged into darkness.夕阳的光辉融于黑暗中。
• Twilight was sweet with the smell of lilac and freshly turned earth.薄暮充满紫丁香和新翻耕的泥土的香味。

26 bunk   

n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话

参考例句：

• He left his bunk and went up on deck again.他离开自己的铺位再次走到甲板上。
• Most economists think his theories are sheer bunk.大多数经济学家认为他的理论纯属胡说。

27 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

28 rue   

n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔

参考例句：

• You'll rue having failed in the examination.你会悔恨考试失败。
• You're going to rue this the longest day that you live.你要终身悔恨不尽呢。

29 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

30 frightful   

adj.可怕的；讨厌的

参考例句：

• How frightful to have a husband who snores!有一个发鼾声的丈夫多讨厌啊！
• We're having frightful weather these days.这几天天气坏极了。