CHAPTER XIX.

As long as the trade-wind lasted I managed to run the ship well enough with Brown’s help, for there was seldom much to do in the way of handling canvas, but as we neared the zone of variables things took a different turn. The third mate was not enough of a sailor to take advantage of the slants¹, and the heavy weather of the pampero was approaching. It made it necessary for me to be on deck most of the time, and even then I could not save some of the lighter² canvas which was caught in a squall. The strain was hard, but Benson, who kept strict watch with his mate, Johnson, called me at any sudden change and spared me not at all.

One morning it fell dead calm. The sun shone through a sort of haze³ and the day was cool. We had made thirty-three{221} degrees of southing and were about four hundred miles off the Plate. The swell⁴ ran smoothly⁵, but even through its oily surface one could see the swirls⁶ of the current from the great river. They formed tide rips which ridged the ocean for a space and then disappeared only to form again when a mass of water would force its way to the surface. The sea had lost its blue colour and it was dull. About eleven o’clock in the morning the sun broke through the haze and shone strongly. There was absolutely no wind and we lay drifting all around the compass. Suddenly, from a great distance, came the deep roll of thunder. The sky was now absolutely cloudless and the rolling crashes following each other at close intervals⁷ made an uncanny sound. Not a tip of cloud bank rose above the horizon, and the men about the deck gazed in some astonishment⁸ at the noise.

I knew it well, and knew it was the pampero from the River Plate. We would get a touch of it during the night and then{222} things would be somewhat mixed aboard the Arrow.

It started to breeze up gently from the westward⁹ about sundown, but not a cloud rose above the horizon. By nine o’clock that night it grew very dark. The blackness was most impenetrable. The wind came sighing over the smooth sea, and I began to strip the ship for the fracas¹⁰.

We carried no running lights, as Benson didn’t care to be seen at night, although, for that matter, he would have been much safer than in the daytime. His ideas upon nautical¹¹ subjects were at a variance¹² with my own, but I made no comment. We carried a light in the binnacle in order to steer¹³. Besides this single lamp there was never a light allowed aboard the ship except in the captain’s cabin.

I was very tired that evening, but stayed upon the poop watching the west on the lookout¹⁴ for the first signs of a squall. About ten o’clock there was sharp lightning to starboard. We were heading almost due south and our yards were sharp on the{223} starboard tack¹⁵. Suddenly the blackness grew denser¹⁶ to windward. A deep murmuring came over the inky sea. Then a puff¹⁷ of wind smote¹⁸ sharply.

“Hard up, hard up that wheel,” I bawled¹⁹, as the thrashing of the weather leech²⁰ of the maintopsail warned me. Brown sprang to the wheel and with the man already there rolled it hard up. Then with a rush and droning roar through the rigging the pampero struck us.

Luckily, we had steering-way, for if she had not answered her helm on the instant, the Arrow would have been taken flat aback and dismasted, which would have meant a terrible ending for the desperate rascals²¹. A dismasted ship in mid-ocean is usually a lost ship. The horrors of a boat cruise in overloaded²² small craft in that latitude²³ meant the worst that could happen to the seafarer.

With a heel to leeward²⁴ that brought the water well up on her deck, the Arrow paid off before the gale²⁵ and tore her way through a sea which now shone ghastly and white{224} with the phosphorescent foam²⁶. I looked aloft and saw that every yard-arm and truck held a ball of fire. The bellying²⁷ lower topsails of the heaviest double nought²⁸ canvas strained away like the wings of some giant bird in the night overhead. The roar of the wind rushing through the standing²⁹ rigging and pouring out under the foot of the canvas made the cries of the men sound faint and distant, those on the yard-arms rolling up the lighter canvas bawling³⁰ to those on deck in strained and frantic³¹ tones. None of the convicts had seen such weather before and the flare³² of the St. Elmo fires lent a ghastliness to the scene that might have made a sailor’s heart beat quicker. A man came close to me on the poop muttering curses and prayers and feeling about for something he probably did not want. A bright flash of lightning lit the scene, and I saw a crowd of men on the main-deck forward, huddled³³ under the port side of the forward house. They seemed absolutely panic-stricken. However, we had some sailor-men aboard, and they worked manfully{225} getting gaskets upon the yards and the gear cleared up after a fashion. Then I managed to get the yards squared and ran the ship dead before the blast, leaving a wake flashing and whitening a full hundred feet on either side.

A flash of lightning showed Benson standing near the break of the poop. He was straining his eyes to windward and holding on to a line, but he appeared little concerned. Close by, leaning against the mizzen with his arms folded and pipe stuck rakishly in his mouth, was Johnson. Whatever the two ruffians felt, I knew that fear found no place in their hearts. They were trusting me to see them safely through, and all the time, whether they knew it or not, the thought of the girl below in the scoundrel’s stateroom was the only thing that kept me from sending them to hell. A sudden swing into the wind and a couple of cast off braces³⁴, and the fate of the villains³⁵ would be as certain as death and suffering itself. Yet, there they stood, trusting me. I never could understand it, and I thought upon it{226} for some time that night in the black rush of the pampero. The futility³⁶ of their struggles, the absolute hopelessness of their case, were all plain before me, but they were unconcerned.

Benson was a fatalist of the most pronounced type. He dealt only and simply with the present. The past was irrevocably dead, blotted³⁷ out. The future was a mystery, absolute and unyielding to even the subtlest mind. He dealt with what matter he had in hand nor worried himself the least with that he held in no control.

On and on into the blackness ahead we tore at the rate of fifteen knots an hour with the wind upon our starboard taffrail. No one went on lookout, although I ordered a man to do so. Whoever went forward was probably swallowed in the crowd of frightened convicts, or took advantage of the panic to turn in and get some much needed rest. I knew we were entering the zone of commerce and would probably sight some vessel³⁸ soon, and the thought of tearing away into the night at the wild rate{227} we were going without a light made me strain every nerve for something ahead.

It was about midnight that I thought I saw a light ahead. I called Benson and asked him to look, for my eyes were raw from the salt spume and want of rest. The fellow saw nothing, and we stood together gazing into the blackness beyond the jib-boom end. Then I suddenly made out a green light close aboard and to port, and I knew we were upon a vessel hove to in the storm.

We had been running with the wind drawing more and more upon the starboard quarter and I saw that it would not do to luff any further and cross the stranger’s bow. Besides, he might be going ahead some in spite of the sea which was now running heavily. There was not a second to lose, and I sprang to the wheel and rolled it up to pass his stern. Almost before the lubber’s mark began to shift, the green light disappeared and the blackness ahead took form. Right in front of us lay an immense ship{228} wallowing along under short canvas and not fifty fathoms³⁹ distant.

Not a word had come from forward. Not a soul had seen her. Before any one on the main-deck knew of her whereabouts we were grinding along her stern, our yard-arms hooking into the vang of her spankergaff and tearing that spar out of her while our mainbrace bumkin tore away a piece of her taffrail. Hoarse⁴⁰ yells came from her quarter-deck, and I heard distinctly a deep voice asking, “What ship is that?” but we went rushing onward⁴¹ without a word and disappeared. It was a close call. Benson turned his face toward me and I tried to catch the look of his eye, but it was too dark.

“I reckon we’ll not hit anything more to-night,” I said. “I’m about tired out and will leave Brown on deck to call me if there is any change.”

“All right,” he answered, coolly.

And I went below.

1 slants   

（使）倾斜，歪斜( slant的第三人称单数 )； 有倾向性地编写或报道

参考例句：

• Most handwriting slants to the right. 大多数字体是向右倾斜的。
• That tree slants to one side because of the heavy winds. 因为刮大风，那棵树歪倒一边去了。

2 lighter   

n.打火机，点火器；驳船；v.用驳船运送；light的比较级

参考例句：

• The portrait was touched up so as to make it lighter.这张画经过润色，色调明朗了一些。
• The lighter works off the car battery.引燃器利用汽车蓄电池打火。

3 haze   

n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊

参考例句：

• I couldn't see her through the haze of smoke.在烟雾弥漫中，我看不见她。
• He often lives in a haze of whisky.他常常是在威士忌的懵懂醉意中度过的。

4 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。

5 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

6 swirls   

n.旋转( swirl的名词复数 )；卷状物；漩涡；尘旋v.旋转，打旋( swirl的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Swirls of smoke rose through the trees. 树林中升起盘旋的青烟。 来自辞典例句
• On reaching the southeast corner of Himalaya-Tibet, It'swirls cyclonically across the Yunnan Plateau. 在到达喜马拉雅--西藏高原东南角处，它作气旋性转向越过云南高原。 来自辞典例句

7 intervals   

n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息

参考例句：

• The forecast said there would be sunny intervals and showers. 预报间晴，有阵雨。
• Meetings take place at fortnightly intervals. 每两周开一次会。

8 astonishment   

n.惊奇，惊异

参考例句：

• They heard him give a loud shout of astonishment.他们听见他惊奇地大叫一声。
• I was filled with astonishment at her strange action.我对她的奇怪举动不胜惊异。

9 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

10 fracas   

n.打架；吵闹

参考例句：

• A couple of mobsters were rubbed out in a fracas with the law.几个暴徒在与警方喧闹的斗争中丧命。
• The police were called in to stop the fracas.警察奉命去制止骚乱。

11 nautical   

adj.海上的，航海的，船员的

参考例句：

• A nautical mile is 1,852 meters.一海里等于1852米。
• It is 206 nautical miles from our present location.距离我们现在的位置有206海里。

12 variance   

n.矛盾，不同

参考例句：

• The question of woman suffrage sets them at variance. 妇女参政的问题使他们发生争执。
• It is unnatural for brothers to be at variance. 兄弟之间不睦是不近人情的。

13 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。

14 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。

15 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。

16 denser   

adj. 不易看透的, 密集的, 浓厚的, 愚钝的

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• As Tito entered the neighbourhood of San Martino, he found the throng rather denser. 蒂托走近圣马丁教堂附近一带时，发现人群相当密集。

17 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

18 smote   

v.猛打，重击，打击( smite的过去式 )

参考例句：

• Figuratively, he could not kiss the hand that smote him. 打个比方说，他是不能认敌为友。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• \"Whom Pearl smote down and uprooted, most unmercifully.\" 珠儿会毫不留情地将这些\"儿童\"踩倒，再连根拔起。 来自英汉 - 翻译样例 - 文学

19 bawled   

v.大叫，大喊( bawl的过去式和过去分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物）

参考例句：

• She bawled at him in front of everyone. 她当着大家的面冲他大喊大叫。
• My boss bawled me out for being late. 我迟到，给老板训斥了一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 leech   

n.水蛭，吸血鬼，榨取他人利益的人；vt.以水蛭吸血；vi.依附于别人

参考例句：

• A leech is a small blood-sucking worm and usually lives in water.水蛭是一种小型吸血虫，通常生活在水中。
• One-side love like a greedy leech absorbed my time and my mirth.单相思如同一只贪婪的水蛭，吸走了我的时间和欢笑。

21 rascals   

流氓( rascal的名词复数 )； 无赖； （开玩笑说法）淘气的人（尤指小孩）； 恶作剧的人

参考例句：

• "Oh, but I like rascals. "唔，不过我喜欢流氓。
• "They're all second-raters, black sheep, rascals. "他们都是二流人物，是流氓，是恶棍。

22 overloaded   

a.超载的，超负荷的

参考例句：

• He's overloaded with responsibilities. 他担负的责任过多。
• She has overloaded her schedule with work, study, and family responsibilities. 她的日程表上排满了工作、学习、家务等，使自己负担过重。

23 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

24 leeward   

adj.背风的；下风的

参考例句：

• The trees all listed to leeward.树木统统向下风方向倾。
• We steered a course to leeward.我们向下风航驶。

25 gale   

n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等）

参考例句：

• We got our roof blown off in the gale last night.昨夜的大风把我们的房顶给掀掉了。
• According to the weather forecast,there will be a gale tomorrow.据气象台预报，明天有大风。

26 foam   

v./n.泡沫，起泡沫

参考例句：

• The glass of beer was mostly foam.这杯啤酒大部分是泡沫。
• The surface of the water is full of foam.水面都是泡沫。

27 bellying   

鼓出部；鼓鼓囊囊

参考例句：

28 nought   

n.／adj.无，零

参考例句：

• We must bring their schemes to nought.我们必须使他们的阴谋彻底破产。
• One minus one leaves nought.一减一等于零。

29 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

30 bawling   

v.大叫，大喊( bawl的现在分词 )；放声大哭；大声叫出；叫卖（货物）

参考例句：

• We heard the dulcet tones of the sergeant, bawling at us to get on parade. 我们听到中士用“悦耳”的声音向我们大喊，让我们跟上队伍。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• "Why are you bawling at me? “你向我们吼啥子？ 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

31 frantic   

adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的

参考例句：

• I've had a frantic rush to get my work done.我急急忙忙地赶完工作。
• He made frantic dash for the departing train.他发疯似地冲向正开出的火车。

32 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

33 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

34 braces   

n.吊带，背带；托架( brace的名词复数 )；箍子；括弧；（儿童）牙箍v.支住( brace的第三人称单数 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来

参考例句：

• The table is shaky because the braces are loose. 这张桌子摇摇晃晃，因为支架全松了。
• You don't need braces if you're wearing a belt! 要系腰带，就用不着吊带了。

35 villains   

n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼

参考例句：

• The impression of villains was inescapable. 留下恶棍的印象是不可避免的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some villains robbed the widow of the savings. 有几个歹徒将寡妇的积蓄劫走了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

36 futility   

n.无用

参考例句：

• She could see the utter futility of trying to protest. 她明白抗议是完全无用的。
• The sheer futility of it all exasperates her. 它毫无用处，这让她很生气。

37 blotted   

涂污( blot的过去式和过去分词 )； （用吸墨纸）吸干

参考例句：

• She blotted water off the table with a towel. 她用毛巾擦干桌上的水。
• The blizzard blotted out the sky and the land. 暴风雪铺天盖地而来。

38 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。

39 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。

40 hoarse   

adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的

参考例句：

• He asked me a question in a hoarse voice.他用嘶哑的声音问了我一个问题。
• He was too excited and roared himself hoarse.他过于激动，嗓子都喊哑了。

41 onward   

adj.向前的，前进的；adv.向前，前进，在先

参考例句：

• The Yellow River surges onward like ten thousand horses galloping.黄河以万马奔腾之势滚滚向前。
• He followed in the steps of forerunners and marched onward.他跟随着先辈的足迹前进。