CHAPTER XII.

It remained calm all that day, and the two vessels¹ were in close proximity³. Miss Waters sat aft under an awning⁴ rigged over the after part of the poop and gazed down at the smooth surface of the sea. Small objects went floating slowly downward through the clear medium, sending scintillating⁵ rays of light as they twisted with the motion. I found time to do some work upon the wheel gear, for the calm weather permitted the unreeving of the tackles as the vessel² would not steer⁶. Between times I had a small chance to sit upon the taffrail and answer certain questions that only a mate is expected to answer to passengers. Miss Waters seemed preoccupied⁷ and took more than usual interest in the movements of Brown, who seemed willing to aid me in my work by keeping as close to me as possible.{142} Twenty-five feet beneath the surface of the sea the keel of the Arrow showed above the void beneath all. Miss Waters was gazing down absently into the depths when she suddenly made out a vague form, brownish yellow in the light, as all objects appear at great depths. The form grew larger, undulating, waving, but steadily⁸ increasing in size. Then, at a depth of about fifty feet the shape of a giant turtle appeared.

“Look,” she cried, “what a monster! What can it be?”

Brown looked over the rail, but failed to make the animal out. I saw the turtle would come to the surface, and called two men to get a boat ready.

“Looks like a logger-head,” I said, “and, if you care to, you can have the sport of catching⁹ him.”

“I certainly will, then,” she cried, and sprang up ready to get into the small boat. Crojack hardly liked the proceedings¹⁰, but I made it all right with him by a promise of a fine turtle steak for supper. Then, getting the whale-irons, of which we had{143} two aboard, into the small boat, I called Brown and two men to get into her, and we were soon alongside the Arrow.

“Come,” I said to Miss Waters, “let us see what kind of a sailor you are, for, if you can get in and out of a small boat while the Arrow is rolling in this swell¹², you can prove yourself.”

She sprang instantly into the mizzen channels, disdaining¹³ the help offered by Crojack, and then dropped lightly into the small boat’s bottom. We were all ready and shoved clear of the ship’s side.

The turtle had risen to the surface of the sea about ten fathoms¹⁴ distant, but, on seeing the ship and hearing the noise, he had sounded again. However, I knew he would soon reappear, and I forthwith made my way forward and made an iron ready for him. We rowed silently over the oily ocean, keeping a sharp lookout¹⁵ for the game. The two ships seemed suddenly very small and distant, and the vastness of the sea became apparent. It is always that way, and when a person has never been upon the broad sea{144} in a small boat, the very greatness of the surrounding space affects one. Miss Waters seemed subdued¹⁶, and I noticed that she was gazing anxiously now and then at the Arrow that lay wallowing and rolling like a log.

“I don’t think we better go too far away, do you?” she asked.

“That turtle will take us a long way before we get him,” I answered. “If you are afraid, we will go back.”

She blushed a trifle at this.

“We’ll not go back until you show us whether you are able to get him or not,” she said, with some spirit.

That settled it. We would get him if there was any show. I liked the spirit of the girl. Brown said nothing.

“Aye tank dat’s him, sur, right over dere t’ starboard,” said the Swede pulling the stroke oar¹¹. The head of the turtle rose slowly above the surface and remained there. We stopped the boat, and waited for him to get quiet before starting to creep upon him. Then, with great caution, we sent the craft drifting slowly toward him, the oars¹⁷ making{145} no noise. I held the iron ready, and waited until we were within a couple of fathoms. Then I plunged¹⁸ the weapon through his forward flipper¹⁹, and it toggled fast. We had him.

But he was a determined²⁰ monster, and he weighed nearly five hundred pounds. He started off across the ocean, and, in spite of all our efforts, we could not stop him. Hauling the line short, we poked²¹ him and jabbed him with the boat-hook, but he heeded²² this very little, keeping his head well down and drawn²³ in out of the way. All the time he swam vigorously with his flippers, and we found that we were gradually getting a long way from the ship.

“If we only had something to kill him with,” said Brown.

“Aye tank I do it, den,” said the Swede, who had been most interested in the affair; “I catch ’em in de old country—so.”

He drew his sheath-knife and lashed²⁴ it firmly upon the butt-end of the boat-hook. Then he went forward and leaned over the bow, while we hauled the boat as close to{146} the turtle as we could. Watching his chance, the sailor made a lunge, and drove his blade through the creature’s neck. This had the effect of slowing down his efforts, although it far from finished him. Wounded and harassed²⁵ as he now was, we gained upon him, and in ten minutes had him landed safely in the bottom of the boat, although he almost swamped the craft in his final struggles.

“He’s big and ugly enough for anything,” said Miss Waters. “Do you mean to eat the monster?”

“He will make excellent steak for all hands,” I answered. “However, if you don’t like him, we might swap²⁶ some of him for a piece of fresh pork. They have pigs aboard the Countess of Warwick, and Garnett told me they would probably kill one to-day. What do you say, shall we go aboard of her?”

“By all means. I would like nothing better,” she answered.

I looked at the cloudless sky. There was not the slightest sign of a breeze. I determined to risk old man Crojack’s wrath²⁷.{147} Then I remembered that I was responsible for the young woman. I had taken her out upon the open ocean almost without her uncle’s consent. We had drifted over a mile from the ship, and, although the weather promised to remain calm and clear, we were on the edge of the equatorial belt, and squalls would soon be of hourly occurrence.

“I reckon we better not go aboard her without first getting the captain’s permission,” I said.

“I suppose you are afraid to,” she answered. “Two officers in one small boat, and not able to do things without permission.”

“I take no responsibility at all,” said Brown, “but I think Mr. Gore²⁸ is right. Better keep on the good side of the old man, and we may be able to go again to-morrow.”

“A man who is good because afraid to be bad is a mighty²⁹ mean fellow, I allow,” I said; “but that isn’t the nature of the emotion which governs me in this case.”

“You have so many queer emotions, I hardly know what to think at times,” she{148} answered; “but, if you want to go back aboard the Arrow, why, go ahead. I’m simply a passenger. And then, I’m not especially fond of pork, even if we haven’t had fresh meat for a month or two.”

“Nevertheless, you shall have some to-morrow, if they do their killing,” said Brown. “As for me, I’ll eat turtle. One don’t get good fresh turtle every day. Besides, the day after to-morrow is Thanksgiving Day.”

“The pig is the turkey of the seamen,” I said, and I noticed the face of the Swede pulling the stroke oar beam in anticipation³⁰. “They’ll certainly kill pork soon on board that ‘Johnny Bull.’ It’s a pity the old man didn’t bring something besides those stringy fowls³¹ along with him.”

“It seems so funny to have Thanksgiving with a temperature of ninety, and with thin linen³² clothes,” said Miss Waters. “I’d forgotten all about it.”

We came alongside the Arrow, and a line of heads poked over the waist, for the men had seen our catch and were curious. A{149} tackle soon heaved the turtle on deck and then we followed, but I left the small boat to tow astern in a most unseamanlike manner, for I had plans for the morrow.

1 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 vessel   

n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管

参考例句：

• The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
• You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。

3 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

4 awning   

n.遮阳篷；雨篷

参考例句：

• A large green awning is set over the glass window to shelter against the sun.在玻璃窗上装了个绿色的大遮棚以遮挡阳光。
• Several people herded under an awning to get out the shower.几个人聚集在门栅下避阵雨

5 scintillating   

adj．才气横溢的,闪闪发光的; 闪烁的

参考例句：

• Statistics on unemployment levels hardly make for scintillating reading. 失业统计数据读来不大会有趣味。
• You were scintillating on TV last night. 您昨晚在电视上妙语如珠。

6 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

7 preoccupied   

adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)

参考例句：

• He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。
• The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

9 catching   

adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住

参考例句：

• There are those who think eczema is catching.有人就是认为湿疹会传染。
• Enthusiasm is very catching.热情非常富有感染力。

10 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

11 oar   

n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行

参考例句：

• The sailors oar slowly across the river.水手们慢慢地划过河去。
• The blade of the oar was bitten off by a shark.浆叶被一条鲨鱼咬掉了。

12 swell   

vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强

参考例句：

• The waves had taken on a deep swell.海浪汹涌。
• His injured wrist began to swell.他那受伤的手腕开始肿了。

13 disdaining   

鄙视( disdain的现在分词 )； 不屑于做，不愿意做

参考例句：

14 fathoms   

英寻( fathom的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The harbour is four fathoms deep. 港深为四英寻。
• One bait was down forty fathoms. 有个鱼饵下沉到四十英寻的深处。

15 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

16 subdued   

adj. 屈服的，柔和的，减弱的 动词subdue的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He seemed a bit subdued to me. 我觉得他当时有点闷闷不乐。
• I felt strangely subdued when it was all over. 一切都结束的时候，我却有一种奇怪的压抑感。

17 oars   

n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He pulled as hard as he could on the oars. 他拼命地划桨。
• The sailors are bending to the oars. 水手们在拼命地划桨。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 plunged   

v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• The train derailed and plunged into the river. 火车脱轨栽进了河里。
• She lost her balance and plunged 100 feet to her death. 她没有站稳，从100英尺的高处跌下摔死了。

19 flipper   

n. 鳍状肢，潜水用橡皮制鳍状肢

参考例句：

• The seal's flipper is homologous with the human arm. 海豹的鳍肢与人类的手臂同源。
• It's almost like a flipper action as she kicks down. 她向下踢腿时有鱼鳍的效果。

20 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

21 poked   

v.伸出( poke的过去式和过去分词 )；戳出；拨弄；与（某人）性交

参考例句：

• She poked him in the ribs with her elbow. 她用胳膊肘顶他的肋部。
• His elbow poked out through his torn shirt sleeve. 他的胳膊从衬衫的破袖子中露了出来。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 heeded   

v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的过去式和过去分词 )；变平，使（某物）变平( flatten的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She countered that her advice had not been heeded. 她反驳说她的建议未被重视。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I heeded my doctor's advice and stopped smoking. 我听从医生的劝告，把烟戒了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

23 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。

24 lashed   

adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥

参考例句：

• The rain lashed at the windows. 雨点猛烈地打在窗户上。
• The cleverly designed speech lashed the audience into a frenzy. 这篇精心设计的演说煽动听众使他们发狂。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 harassed   

adj. 疲倦的，厌烦的 动词harass的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He has complained of being harassed by the police. 他投诉受到警方侵扰。
• harassed mothers with their children 带着孩子的疲惫不堪的母亲们

26 swap   

n.交换；vt.交换，用...作交易

参考例句：

• I will swap you my bicycle for your radio.我想拿我的自行车换你的收音机。
• This comic was a swap that I got from Nick.这本漫画书是我从尼克那里换来的。

27 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。

28 gore   

n.凝血，血污；v.（动物）用角撞伤，用牙刺破；缝以补裆；顶

参考例句：

• The fox lay dying in a pool of gore.狐狸倒在血泊中奄奄一息。
• Carruthers had been gored by a rhinoceros.卡拉瑟斯被犀牛顶伤了。

29 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

30 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

31 fowls   

鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马

参考例句：

• A great number of water fowls dwell on the island. 许多水鸟在岛上栖息。
• We keep a few fowls and some goats. 我们养了几只鸡和一些山羊。

32 linen   

n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的

参考例句：

• The worker is starching the linen.这名工人正在给亚麻布上浆。
• Fine linen and cotton fabrics were known as well as wool.精细的亚麻织品和棉织品像羊毛一样闻名遐迩。