There is something else in progress,— something Mason cannot quite confide2. Happen he's lost someone close? and recently enough to matter, aye,— for he's a way of pitching ever into the Hour, heedless, as Dixon remembers himself, after his father passed on— "I'll come along, if I may...?"
"Suture Self, as the Medical Students like to say."
They go out a back door, into the innyard. A leafless tree arches in the light of a single Lanthorn set above a taut3 gathering4 of card-players, their secret breathing visible for all to try to read, and Wigs6, white as the snow on the Roofslates, nodding in and out of the Shadows.
Sailors, mouths ajar, lope by in the lanes. Sailors in Slouch-Hats, Sailors with Queues, puffing7 on Pipes, eating Potatoes, some who'll be going back to the Ship, and some who won't, from old sea-wretches with too many Explosions in their Lives, to Child-Midshipmen who have yet to hear their first,— passing in and out the Doors of Ale-Drapers, Naval9 Tailors, Sweet-shops, Gaming-Lairs, upstart Chapels11, calling, singing Catches, whistling as if Wind had never paid a Visit, vomiting12 as the Sea has never caus'd them to.
"Happen his Dressing-Room's close by," Dixon suggests, "? - in with the Horses, maybe...?"
"No one would keep a talking Dog in with Horses, it'd drive them mad inside of a Minute."
"Occurs often, does it, where you come from?"
"Gentlemen," in a whisper out of a dark corner. "If you'll keep your voices down, I'll be with you in a trice." Slowly into their shifting spill of lantern-light, tongue a-loll, comes the Dog, who pauses to yawn, nods, "Good evening to ye," and leads them at a trot13 out of the stables, out of the courtyard, and down the street, pausing now and then for nasal inquiries14.
"Where are we going?" Mason asks.
"This seems to be all right." The Learned English Dog stops and pisses.
"This dog," Mason singing sotto voce, "is causing me ap-pre-hen-sion,— surely creatures of miracle ought not to, I mean,...Flying horses? None of them ever—
"The Sphinx...?" adds Dixon.
"My Thought precisely15."
"Now, Gents!" 'Tis a sudden, large Son of Neptune16, backed by an uncertain number of comparably drunken Shipmates. "You've an inter18?est in this Dog here?"
"Wish'd a word with him only," Mason's quick to assure them.
"Hey! I know you two,— ye're the ones with all the strange Machin?ery, sailing in the Seahorse. Well,— ye're in luck, for we're all Seahorses here, I'm Fender-Belly Bodine, Captain of the Foretop, and these are my Mates,— " Cheering. " - But you can call me Fender. Now,— our plan, is to snatch this Critter, and for you Gents to then keep it in with your own highly guarded Cargo20, out of sight of the Master-at-Arms, until we reach a likely Island,—
"Island..." "Snatch..." both Surveyors a bit in a daze21.
"I've been out more than once to the Indies,— there's a million islands out there, each more likely than the last, and I tell you a handful of Sailors with their wits about them, and that talking Dog to keep the Savages23 amused, why, we could be kings."
"Long life to Kings!" cry several sailors.
"Aye and to Cooch Girls!"
"— and Coconut-Ale!"
"Hold," cautions Mason. "I've heard they eat dogs out there."
"Wrap 'em in palm leaves," Dixon solemnly, "and bake 'em on the beach...?"
"First time you turn your back," Mason warns, "that Dog's going to be some Savage22's Luncheon24."
"Rrrrrraahff! Excuse me?" says the Learned D., "as I seem to be the Topick here, I do feel impelled25, to make an Observation?"
"That's all right, then, Fido," Bodine making vague petting motions,
- trust us, there's a good bow-wow...."
A small, noisy party of Fops, Macaronis, or Lunarians,— it is difficult quite to distinguish which,— has been working its way up the street and into Ear-shot. Thro' several window-panes, moving candlelight appears. Hostlers roll about disgruntled upon feed-sack Pillows and beds. Unen?gaged Glim-jacks look in, to see if they can cast any light on matters.
The Dog pushes Mason's Leg with his Head. "We may not have another chance to chat, even upon the Fly.”
"There is something I must know," Mason hoarsely27 whispers, in the tone of a lover tormented29 by Doubts, "- - Have you a soul,— that is, are you a human Spirit, re-incarnate as a Dog?"
The L.E.D. blinks, shivers, nods in a resign'd way. "You are hardly the first to ask. Travelers return'd from the Japanese Islands tell of certain religious Puzzles known as Koan, perhaps the most fam'd of which con1?cerns your very Question,— whether a Dog hath the nature of the divine Buddha30. A reply given by a certain very wise Master is, 'Mu!''
" 'Mu,' " repeats Mason, thoughtfully.
"It is necessary for the Seeker to meditate32 upon the Koan until driven to a state of holy Insanity,— and I would recommend this to you in par17?ticular. But please do not come to the Learned English Dog if it's reli?gious Comfort you're after. I may be preternatural, but I am not supernatural. 'Tis the Age of Reason, rrrf? There is ever an Explanation at hand, and no such thing as a Talking Dog,— Talking Dogs belong with Dragons and Unicorns33. What there are, however, are Provisions for Sur?vival in a World less fantastick.
"Viz.— Once, the only reason Men kept Dogs was for food. Noting that among Men no crime was quite so abhorr'd as eating the flesh of another human, Dog quickly learn'd to act as human as possible,— and to pass this Ability on from Parents to Pups. So we know how to evoke34 from you, Man, one day at a time, at least enough Mercy for one day more of Life. Nonetheless, however accomplish'd, our Lives are never settled,— we go on as tail-wagging Scheherazades, ever a step away from the dread35 Palm Leaf, nightly delaying the Blades of our Masters by telling back to them tales of their humanity. I am but an extreme Expression of this Process,—
"Oh I say, Dog in Palm Leaf, what nonsense," comments one of the Lunarians, " - really, far too sensitive, I mean really, Dog? In Palm Leaf? Civiliz'd Humans have better things to do than go about drooling after Dog in Palm Leaf or whatever, don't we Algernon?"
"Could you possibly," inquired the Terrier, head cocked in some Annoyance36, "not keep saying that? / do not say things like, 'Macaroni Italian Style,' do I, nor 'Fop Fricasee,'—
"Why, you beastly little— "
"Grrrr! and your deliberate use of 'drooling,' Sir, is vile37.”
The Lunarian reaches for his Hanger38. "Perhaps we may settle this upon the spot, Sir."
"Derek? You're talking to a D-O-G?"
"Tho' your weapon put me under some Handicap," points out the Dog, "in fairness, I should mention my late feelings of Aversion to water? Which may, as you know, signal the onset39 of the Hydrophobia. Yes! The Great H. And should I get in past your Blade for a few playful nips, and manage to, well, break the old Skin,— why, then you should soon have caught the same, eh?" Immediately 'round the Dog develops a circle of Absence, of about a fathom's radius41, later recall'd by both Astronomers42 as remarkably43 regular in shape. "Nice doggie!" " 'Ere,— me last iced Cake, that me Mum sent me all 'e way from Bahf. You take i'." "What think yese? I'll give two to one the Fop's Blood'll be first to show."
"Sounds fair," says Fender Bodine. "I fancy the Dog,— anyone else?"
"Oughtn't we to summon the Owners...?" suggests Mr. Dixon.
The Dog has begun to pace back and forth44. "I am a British Dog, Sir. No one owns me."
"Who're the Gentleman and Lady who were with you in the Assembly Room?" inquires Mason.
"You mean the Fabulous45 Jellows? Here they come now."
"Protect you from sailors?" wails46 Mrs. Jellow, approaching at a dead run over the treacherous47 Cobbles of the Lane, "Oh, no, thank you, that was not in our Agreement." Her husband, pulling on his Breeches, Wig5 a-lop, follows at a sleepy Amble48. "Now you apologize for whatever it was you did, and get back in that Stable in your lovely straw Bed."
"We were wondering, Ma'am," Bodine with his hat off, quavering angelically, "would the li'oo Doggie be for sale?"
"Not at any price, Topman, and be off wi' you, and your rowdy-dowing Flock as well." At her Voice, a number of Sailors in whose Flexibility49 lies their Preservation50 from the Hazards of Drink, are seen to freeze.
"Do not oppose her," Jellow advises, "for she is a first-rate of an hun?dred Guns, and her Broadside is Annihilation."
"Thankee, Jellow,— slow again, I see."
"Oh dear," Bodine putting his hat back on and sighing. "Apologies, Sir and Madam, and much Happiness of your Dog."
"You are the owners of this Marvel51?" inquires Mason.
"We prefer 'Exhibitors,' " says Mr. Jellow.
"Damme, they'd better," grumphs the Dog, as if to himself.
"Why, here is The Pearl of Sumatra!" calls Dixon, who for some while has been growing increasingly desperate for a Drink, "And a jolly place it seems."
"Fender-Belly is buying!" shouts some mischievous52 Sailor, forever unidentified amid the eager Rush for the Entry of this fifth- or sixth-most-notorious sailors' Haunt upon the Point, even in whose Climate of general Iniquity53 The Pearl distinguishes itself, much as might one of its Eponyms, shining 'midst the decadent54 Flesh of some Oyster55 taken from the Southern Sea.
"How about a slug into y'r Breadroom, there, Fido?"
"Pray you, call me Fang56— Well, and yes I do like a drop of Roll-me-in-the-Kennel now and then...."
Inside, seamen57 of all ranks and ratings mill slowly in a murk of pipe-smoke and soot58 from cheap candles, whilst counter-swirling go a choice assortment59 of Portsmouth Polls in strip'd and floral Gowns whose bold reds, oranges, and purples are taken down in this light, bruised60, made oily and worn, with black mix'd in everywhere, colors turning ever toward Night. Both Surveyors note, after a while, that the net Motion of the Company is away from the Street-Doors and toward the back of the Establishment, where, upon a length of turf fertiliz'd with the blood and the droppings of generations of male Poultry61, beneath a bright inverted62 Cone63 of Lanthorn Light striking blue a great ever-stirring Knot of Smoke, and a Defaulter merry beyond the limits of cock-fight etiquette64 sus?pended in a basket above the Pit, a Welsh Main is in progress. Beyond this, a Visto of gaming tables may be made out, and further back a rick?ety Labyrinth65 of Rooms for sleeping or debauchery, all receding66 like headlands into a mist.
The Learned D., drawn67 by the smell of Blood in the Cock-Pit, tries to act nonchalant, but what can they expect of him? How is he supposed to ignore this pure Edge of blood-love? Oh yawn yes of course, seen it all before, birds slashing68 one another to death, sixteen go in, one comes out alive, indeed mm-hmm, and a jolly time betwixt, whilst the Substance we are not supposed to acknowledge drips and flies ev'rywhere— "'There, Learnèd," calls Mrs. Jellow brusquely, "we must leave the birds to their Work." Beneath the swaying Gamester, the general pace of the Room keeps profitably hectic69. From the Labyrinth in back come assorted70 sounds of greater and lesser71 Ecstasy72, along with percussions upon Flesh, laughter more and less feign'd, furniture a-thump, some Duetto of Viol and Chinese Flute73, the demented crowing of fighting-cocks waiting their moment, cries in Concert at some inaudible turn of a card or roll of the Fulhams high and low, calls for Bitter and Three-Threads rising ever hopeful, like ariettas in the shadow'd Wilderness75 of Rooms, out where the Lamps are fewer, and the movements deeper with at least one more Grade of Intent...At length the Dog halts, having led them to where, residing half out of doors, fram'd in cabl'd timbers wash'd in from a wreck76 of long ago, an old piece of awning77 held by a gnaw'd split, ancient Euphroe between her and the sky with its varied78 Menace, sits Dark Hepsie, the Pythoness of the Point.
"Here," the Dog butting79 at Mason, "here is the one you must see."
Instantly, Mason concludes (as he will confess months later to Dixon) that it all has to do with Rebekah, his wife, who died two years ago this February next. Unable to abandon her, Mason is nonetheless eager to be aboard a ship, bound somewhere impossible,— long Voyages by sea being thought to help his condition, describ'd to him as Hyperthrenia, or "Excess in Mourning." Somehow the Learned Dog has led him to pre?sume there exist safe-conduct Procedures for the realm of Death,— that through this Dog-reveal'd Crone, he will be allow'd at last to pass over, and find, and visit her, and come back, his Faith resurrected. That is as much of a leap as can be expected of a melancholick heart. At the same time, he smokes that the Learned English D.,— or Fang, as now he apparently80 wishes to be known,— in introducing them thus, is pursuing an entirely81 personal End.
"Angelo said there'd be a Package for me?"
"Quotha! Am I the Evening Coach?" The two rummage82 about in the Shadows. "Look ye, I'll be seeing him later, and I'll be sure to ask,—
"Just what you said last time," the Dog shaking his head reprovingly.
"Here, then,— a Sacrifice, direct from me own meager83 Mess, a bit of stew'd Hen,— 'tis the best I can do for ye today.”
"Peace, Grandam,— reclaim84 thy Ort. The Learned One has yet to sink quite that low." The Dog, with an expressive85 swing of his Head, makes a dignified86 Exit, no more than one wag of the Tail per step.
"Your ship will put to Sea upon a Friday," Hepsie greets Mason and Dixon, "- - would that be a Boatswain's Pipe into the Ear of either of you Gents?"
"Why, the Collier Sailors believe 'tis bad luck...?" Dixon replies, as if back at Woolwich before his Examiners, "it being the day of Christ's Execution."
"Nicely, Sir. Thus does your Captain Smith disrespect Christ, Fate, Saint Peter, and the god Neptune,— and withal there's not an insurancer in the Kingdom, from Lloyd's on down, who'll touch your case for less than a sum you can never, as Astronomers, possibly afford."
"Yet if we be dead," Dixon points out, "the Royal Navy absorbing the cost of a burial at sea, what further Expenses might there be?"
"You are independent of a Family, Sir."
"Incredible! Why, you must be a very Scryeress...?" Dixon having already spied, beneath her layers of careful Decrepitude87 (as he will later tell Mason), a shockingly young Woman hard at work,— with whom, country Lout88 that he is, he can't keep from flirting90.
But Mason is now growing anxious. "Are we in danger, then? What have you heard?"
Silently she passes him a soil'd Broadside Sheet, upon which are printed descriptions of varied Services, and the Fees therefor. "What's this? You won't do Curses?"
"My Insurance? Prohibitive," she cackles, as the young fancy the old to cackle. "I believe what you seek is under 'Intelligence, Naval.''
"Half a Crown?"
"If you insist."
"Ehm... Dixon?"
"What? You want me to put in half of thah'?"
"We can't very well charge.. .this.. .to the Society, can we?"
"Do I shame you, Sir?" Hepsie too 'pert by Decades.
"Oh, all right," Mason digging laboriously92 into his Purse, sorting out Coins and mumbling93 the Amounts.
Dixon looks on in approval. "You spend money like a very Geordie. He means no harm, lass... ?" beaming, nudging Mason urgently with his Toe, as Bullies94 shift about in the Dark, and Boats wait with muffl'd Oars28 to ferry them against their will over to a Life they may not return from. The smell of the great Anchorage,— smoke, Pitch, salt and decay,— sweeps in fitfully.
"Sirs, attend me," the coins having silently vanish'd, " - Since last year, the Year of Marvels95, when Hawke drove Conflans upon that lee shore at Quiberon Bay, the remnants of the Brest fleet have been under?standably short of Elan, or Esprit, or whatever they style that stuff over there,— excepting, now and then, among the Captains of smaller Frigates96, souls as restless to engage in personal Tactics as dispos'd to sniff98 at national Strategy. Mortmain, Le Chisel99, St.-Foux,— mad dogs all,— any of them, and others, likely at any time to sail out from Brest, indifferent to Risk, tSte-a-tete as ever with the end of the World, seeking new Objects of a Resentment100 inexhaustible."
"Oh dear," Mason clutching his head. "Suppose...we sail upon some other Day, then?"
"Mason, pray You,— 'tis the Age of Reason," Dixon reminds him, "we're Men of Science. To huz must all days run alike, the same number of identical Seconds, each proceeding101 in but one Direction, irreclaimable...? If we would have Omens102, why, let us recall that the Astronomer's Symbol for Friday is also that of the planet Venus herself,— a good enough Omen74, surely... ?"
"I tell you," the young Impostress merrily raising a Finger, "French Frigates will be where they will be, day of the week be damn'd,— espe?cially St.-Foux, with La Changhaienne. You know of the Ecole de Pira-terie at Toulon? Famous. He has lately been appointed to the Kiddean Chair."
Mason and Dixon would like to stay, the one to fuss and the other to flirt89, but as they now notice, a considerable Queue has form'd behind them. There are
Gamesters in Trouble, Sweet-Hearts untrue, Sailors with no one to bid them adieu,
Roistering Fops and the Mast-Pond Brigade, all Impatient to chat with the Sibylline104 Maid, singing,
Let us go down, to Hepsie's tonight, Maybe tonight, she'll show us the Light,— Maybe she'll cackle, and maybe she'll cry, But for two and a kick she won't spit in your Eye.
She warn'd Ramillies sailors, Beware of the Bolt,
And the Corsica-bound of Pa-oli's Revolt,—
From lottery105 Tickets to History's End,
She's the mis'rable, bug-bitten sailor's best friend, singing,
Let us go down, &c.
"Nice doing Business with you, Boys, hope I see yese again," with an amiable106 Nod for Dixon.
Back at the Cock-fights, Fender-Belly Bodine comes lurching across their bow, curious. "So what'd she have to say?"
Something about crazy Frigate97 Captains sailing out of Brest, is all either of them can remember by now.
"Just what she told my Mauve, and for free. Good. We'll have a fight, Gents. And if it's Le Chisel, we'll have a Stern-chase, too. Back on old H.M.S. Inconvenience, we wasted many a Day and Night watching that fancy Counter get smaller by the minute. And when he'd open'd far enough from us, it pleas'd him to put out the Lanthorn in his Cabin, as if to say, 'Toot fini, time to frappay le Sack.' Skipper saw that light go out, he always mutter'd the same thing,— 'The Dark take you, Le Chisel, and might you as readily vanish from my Life,'— and then we'd slacken Sail, and come about, and the real Work would begin,— beating away, unsat?isfied once more, against the Wind." Foretopman Bodine pausing to squeeze the nearest Rondures of a young Poll who has shimmer'd in from some Opium107 Dream in the Vicinity. Like Hepsie, Mauve is far from what she pretends. Most men are fool'd into seeing a melancholy108 Waif, when in reality she's the most cheerful of little Butter-Biscuits, who has escap'd looking matronly only thanks to that constant Exertion109 demanded by the company of Sailors. She and Hepsie in fact share quar?ters in Portsea, as well as a Wardrobe noted110, even here upon the Point, for its unconsider'd use of Printed Fabricks.
"She's a wonderful old woman, 's Hepsie," says Mauve. "Fortunes have been won heeding111 her advice, as lost ignoring it. She tells you beware, why, she has reckon'd your Odds112 and found them long— She is Lloyd's of Portsmouth. Believe her."
Later, around Dawn, earnestly needing a further Word with Hepsie or the Dog, Mason can find no trace of either, search as he may. Nor will anyone admit to knowing of them at all, let alone their Whereabouts. He will continue to search, even unto scanning the shore as the Seahorse gets under way at last, on Friday, 9 January 1761.
Had it proved of any help that the Revd had tried to follow the advice of Epictetus, to keep before him every day death, exile, and loss, believing it a condition of his spiritual Contract with the world as given? When the French sail came a-twinkling,— with never-quite-invisible death upon the Whir fore19 and aft, with no place at all safe and only the unhelpful sea for escape, amid the soprano cries of the powder-monkeys, the smell of charr'd wood, the Muzzle's iron breath,— how had these daily devotions, he now wondered, ultimately ever been of use, how, in the snug114 Sham91?bles of the Seahorse?
To the children, he remarks aloud, "Of course, Prayer was what got us through."
"I should have pray'd," murmurs115 Cousin Ethelmer, to Tenebras's mild astonishment116. Since appearing in the Doorway117 during a difficult bit of double-Back-stitch Filling two Days ago, return'd from College in the Jerseys118, he has been otherwise all Boldness.
"Not seiz'd a Match? Not gone running up and down the Decks screaming and lighting119 Guns as you went? Cousin." The Twins consult each the other's Phiz, pretending to be stricken.
Ethelmer smiles and amiably120 pollicates the Revd, and less certainly Mr. LeSpark, his own Uncle, as if to say, "We are surrounded by the Pious121, and their well-known wish never to hear of anything that sets the Blood a-racing.”
Brae looks away, but keeps him in the corner of her eye, as if to reply, "Boy, Blood may 'race' as quietly as it must...."
Mr. LeSpark made his Fortune years before the War, selling weapons to French and British, Settlers and Indians alike,— Knives, Tomahawks, Rifles, Hand-Cannons in the old Dutch Style, Grenades, small Bombs. "Trouble yourself not," he lik'd to assure his Customers, "over Diame?ter." If there are Account-books in which Casualties are the Units of Exchange, then, so it seems to Ethelmer, his Uncle is deeply in Arrears123. Ethelmer has heard tales of past crimes, but can hardly assault his Host with accusations124. Ev'ryone "knows,"— that is, considering Uncle Wade125 as some collection of family stories, ev'ryone remembers. Some Adven?tures have converg'd into a Saga126 that is difficult to reconcile with the liv?ing Uncle, who sends him bank-drafts on Whims127 inscrutable that catch the Nephew ever by surprise, frequents the horse-races in Maryland, actually once fed apples to the great Selim, and these days doesn't mind if Ethelmer comes along to visit the Stables. At the late Autumn Meet, gaily128 dress'd young women, fancier than he thought possible, had wav'd and smil'd, indeed come over bold as city Cats to engage Ethelmer in conversation. Tho' young, he was shrewd enough to smoak that what they were after was his Plainness, including an idea of his Innocence129, which they fail'd to note was long, even enjoyably, departed.
"He wants whah'?"
Mason nodding with a sour Smile.
"Out of our Expenses? shall it leave us enough for Candles and Soahp, do You guess?"
"No one's sure, Captain Smith having not himself appear'd before the Council,— rather, his Brother came, and read them the Captain's Letter."
"An hundred pounds,— apiece...?"
"An hundred Guineas."
"Eeh...that suggests they expect someone to come back with a counter-offer...? As it isn't huz, who would thah' be?"
"It comes down to the Royal Soc. or the Royal N." As Mason has heard it, the Council mill'd all about, like Domestick Fowl130 in Perplexity, repeating, "Proportional Share!" in tones of Outrage132, "— Pro-portional? Sha-a-are?"
"Leaving this, this Post-Captain the right to Lay it Out, as he calls it, at his Pleasure."
"Some Captain!— step away from a Privateer, by G-d." Aggriev'd voices echoing in the great stairwell, Silver ringing upon Silver,— sugar-Loaves and assorted Biscuits, French Brandy in Coffee,— Stick-Flourishes, motes133 of wig-powder jigging134 by the thousands in the candle-light.
"Immediately raising a particular Suspicion,— unworthy of this Cap?tain, goes without saying, and yet,—
- not to be easily distinguish'd from petty Extortion."
"Quite the sort of behavior Lord Anson's forever on about eradicat-ing...."
"...and other remarks in the same Line," reports Mason. "They were just able at last to appoint a Committee of Two to wait upon Lord Anson himself, who took the time to inform them that in the Royal Navy, a Ship of War's Captain is expected to pay for his own victualing."
"Really," said Mr. Mead135, "I didn't know that, m'Lord,— are you quite— I didn't mean that,— of course you're sure,— but rather,—
"His Thought being," endeavored Mr. White, "that all this time, we'd rather imagin'd that the Navy—
"Alas136, Gentlemen, one of Many Sacrifices necessary to that strange Servitude we style 'Command,' " replied the First Lord. "Howbeit, 'twill depend largely on how much your Captain plans to drink, and how many livestock137 he may feel comfortable living among,— hardly do to be slip?ping in goat shit whilst trying to get ten or twelve Guns off in proper Sequence, sort of thing. At the same time, we cannot have our Frigate Captains adopting the ways of Street Bullies, and this Approach to one's guests, mm, it does seem a bit singular. We'll have Stephens or someone send Captain Smith a note, shall we,— invoking138 gently my own pois'd Thunderbolt, of course."
"Oh Dear," Capt. Smith upon the Quarter-deck in the Winter's grudg'd Sunlight, the Letter fluttering in the Breeze,— from the direc?tion of London, somewhere among a peak'd Convoy139 of Clouds, a steady Mutter as of Displeasure on High, "and yet I knew it. Didn't I. Ah,— misunderstood!”
Far from any Extortion-scheme, it had rather been the Captain's own
Expectation,— the fancy of a Heart unschool'd in Guile,— that they
would of course all three be messing together, Day upon Day, the voyage
long, in his Quarters, drinking Madeira, singing Catches, exchanging
Sallies of Wit and theories about the Stars,— how else?— he being of
such a philosophickal leaning, and so starv'd for Discourse140, it never
occurr'd to him that other Arrangements were even possible
"I assum'd, foolishly, that we'd go in equal Thirds, and meant to ask but your Share of what I hop'd to be spending, out of my personal Funds, upon your behalf,— not to mention that buying for three, at certain Chandleries, would've got me a discount,— Ah! What matter? Best of intentions, Gentlemen, no wish to offend the First Lord,— our Great Cir40?cumnavigator, after all, my Hero as a Lad...."
"We regret it, Sir," Dixon offers, "— far too much Whim-Wham."
Mason brings his Head up with a surpris'd look. "Saintly of you, con?sidering your Screams could be heard out past the Isle141 of Wight? Now, previously142 unconsulted, / am expected to join this Love-Feast?"
Dixon and the Captain, as if in Conspiracy143, beam sweetly back till Mason can abide144 no more. "Very well,— tho' someone ought to have told you, Captain, of that Rutabageous Anemia145 which afflicts146 Lensmen as a Class,— the misunderstanding then should never have arisen."
"Gracious of You, Mr. Mason," cries Dixon, heartily147.
"Most generous," adds the Captain.
Tis arrang'd at last that they will be put in the Lieutenant148's Mess, which is financ'd out of the Ship's Account,— that is, by the Navy,— and take their turns with the other principal Officers in dining with the Cap?tain, whose dreams of a long, uneventful Voyage and plenty of Philo-sophick Conversation would thus have been abridg'd even had the l'Grand never emerg'd above the Horizon.
On the eighth of December the Captain has an Express from the Admiralty, ordering him not to sail. "Furthermore," he informs Mason and Dixon, "Bencoolen is in the hands of the French. I see no mention of any plans to re-take the place soon. I am sorry."
"I knew it... ?" Dixon walking away shaking his head.
"We may still make the Cape113 of Good Hope in time," says Capt. Smith. "That'll likely be our destination, if and when they cut the Orders.”
"No one else is going there to observe," Mason says. "Odd, isn't it? You'd think there'd be a Team from somewhere."
Capt. Smith looks away, as if embarrass'd. "Perhaps there is?" he sug?gests, as gently as possible.
As they proceed down the Channel, "Aye, and that's the Tail of the Bolt," a sailor informs them, "where the Ramillies went down but the year Feb?ruary, losing seven hundred Souls. They were in south-west Weather, the sailing-master could not see,— he gambl'd as to which Headland it was, mistaking the Bolt for Rome Head and lost all."
"This is League for League the most dangerous Body of Water in the world," complains another. "Sands and Streams, Banks and Races, I've no Peace till we're past the Start Point and headed for the Sea."
"Can this Lad get us out all right?"
"Oh, young Smith's been around forever. Collier Sailor. If he's alive, he must have learn'd somewhat."
Passing the Start-Point at last, the cock's-comb of hilltops to star?board, the Ship leaning in the up-Channel wind, the late sun upon the heights,— more brilliant gold and blue than either Landsman has ever seen,— the Cold of approaching Night carrying an edge, the possibility that by Morning the Weather will be quite brisk indeed..."Su-ma-tra," sing the sailors of the Seahorse,
"Where girls all look like Cleo-
Pat-tra,
And when you're done you'll simply
Barter149 'er,
For yet another twice as
Hot, tra-
La la-la la-la la-la la—
La la la, la..."
From the day he assum'd command of the Seahorse, Capt. Smith has lived in a tidy corner of Hell previously unfamiliar150 to him. Leaving the rainswept landing, rowed out into the wet heaving Groves151 of masts and spars upon Spithead, 'mid8 sewage and tar10 and the Breath of the Wind,
he had searched, with increasing desperation, for some encouraging first sight of his new command, till oblig'd at last to accept the remote scruffy152 Sixth Rate throwing itself like a tether'd beast against its anchor-cables. Yet, yet,...through the crystalline spray, how gilded153 comes she,— how corposantly edg'd in a persisting and, if Glories there be, glorious light...and he knows her, it must be from a Dream, how could it be other? A Light in which all Pain and failure, all fear, are bleach'd away....
He'd been greeted at the Quarter-deck by a Youth of loutish154 and ungather'd appearance, recruited but recently in a press-gang sweep of Wapping, who exclaim'd, "Damme! Look at this, Boys! An officer wha' knows enough to come in out of the rain!"
Trying not to bark, Capt. Smith replied, "What's your name, sailor?" "By some I be styl'd, 'Blinky.' And who might you be?" "Attend me, Blinky,— I am the Captain of this Vessel155." "Well," advised the young salt, "you've got a good job,— don't fuck up."
Steady advice. He haunts his little Raider like a nearly unsensed ghost, now silent upon his side of the Quarter-deck, now bending late and dutifully over the lunar-distance forms. "He wishes to be taken as a man of Science," opines the Revd upon first meeting the Astronomers, - perhaps he even seeks your own good opinion. Mention'd in a report to the Royal Society? However you do that sort of thing." Choos?ing to stand with the ingenious and Philosophickal wing of the Naval profession rather than its Traditional and bloody156-minded one, though he would fight honorably, Capt. Smith does not consider his best game to be war.
The Vessel herself, however, enjoys a Reputation for Nerve, having proved it at Quebec, fearless under the French batteries of Beauport, part of a Diversion whilst the real assault proceeded quite upon the other flank, out of the troop-cariying ships that had sailed past the city, further upstream. Thenceforward is her Glory assur'd. She has done her duty in the service of a miracle in that year of miracles, 1759, upon whose Ides of March Dr. Johnson happen'd to remark, "No man will be a sailor who has contrivance enough to get himself into a jail; for being in a ship is being in a jail, with the chance of being drowned.”
Some would call her a Frigate, though officially she is a couple of guns shy, causing others to add the prefix157 "Jackass,"— a nautical158 term. Neither Names nor modest throw-weights have kept her from mixing it up with bigger ships. Capt. Smith has long understood that tho' a Sea Horse may be born in spirit an Arab stallion, sometimes must it also function as a Jackass,— a Creature known, that is, as much for its obsti?nacy in an argument as for its trick of turning and using its hind103 legs as a weapon. "Therefore I want the best gun crew for the Stern Cannon122. Let this Jackass show them a deadly kick."
When the l'Grand comes a-looming, nevertheless, the Captain is more than a little surprised. Why should Monsieur be taking the trouble?— knowing the answer to be "Frigate Business," built into the definition of the command. In return for freedom to range upon the Sea, one was bound by a Code as strict as that of any ancient Knight159. The Seahorse's Motto, lovingly embroider'd by a certain Needlewoman of Southsea, and nail'd above the Bed in his Cabin, reads Eques Sit Mquus.
"Now, Eques," according to the helpful young Revd Wicks Cherry-coke, "means 'an arm'd Horseman.''
"Ranging the Land," Dixon suggests, "as a Frigate-Sailor the Sea."
"Later, in old Rome, it came to mean a sort of Knight,— a Gentleman, somewhere between the ordinary People and the Senate. Sit is 'may he be,' and ?quus means 'just,'— also, perhaps, 'even-temper'd.' So we might take your ship's Motto to mean, 'Let the Sea-Knight who would command this Sea-Horse be ever fair-minded,'—
"— trying not to lose his Temper, even with boil-brain'd subordi?nates?" the Captain growling160 thus at Lieutenant Unchleigh, who stands timidly signaling for his attention.
"Um, what appears to be a Sail, South-Southwest,— although there is
faction161 upon the question, others insisting 'tis a Cloud "
"Damnation, Unchleigh," Capt. Smith in a low Voice, reaching for his Glass. "Hell-fire, too. If it's a Frenchman, he's seen us, and is making all sail."
"I knew that," says the Lieutenant.
"Here. Don't drop this. Get up the Mast and tell me exactly what and where it is. Take Bodine up with you, with a watch and compass,— and if it proves to be a sail, do try to obtain a few nicely spac'd magnetickal Bearings, there's a good Lieutenant. You'll note how very Scientifick we are here, Gentlemen. Yet," turning to a group of Sailors holystoning the deck, "ancient Beliefs will persist. Here then, Bongo! Yes! Yes, Captain wishes Excellent Bongo smell Wind!"
The Lascar so address'd, crying, "Aye, aye, Cap'n!," springs to the windward side, up on a rail, and, grasping some Armful of the Fore-Shrouds, presses himself far into the Wind, head-rag a-fluttering,— almost immediately turning his Head, with a look of Savage Glee,— "Frenchies!"
"Hard a-port," calls the Captain, as down from the Maintop comes word that the object does rather appear to be a Sail, at least so far unac?companied, and is withal running express, making to intercept162 the Sea?horse. "Gentlemen, 'twould oblige me if you'd find ways to be useful below." The Drum begins its Beat. They have grown up, English Boys never far from the Sea, with Tales of its Battles and Pirates and Isles163 just off the Coasts of Paradise. They know what "below" promises.
At first it seems but a Toy ship, a Toy Destiny.... T'gallants and stay?sails go crowding on, but the wind is obstinate164 at SSW, the Seahorse may but ever beat against it, in waters treacherous of stream, whilst the l'Grand is fresh out from Brest, with the wind on her port quarter.
' 'Twas small work to come up with us, get to leeward,— from which the French prefer to engage,— and commence her broadsides, the Seahorse responding in kind, for an hour and a half of blasting! and smashing! and masts falling down!"
"Blood flowing in the scuppers!" cries Pitt.
"Did you swing on a rope with a knife in your teeth?" asks Pliny.
"Of course. And a pistol in me boot."
"Uncle." Brae disapproves165.
The Revd only beams. One reason Humans remain young so long, compar'd to other Creatures, is that the young are useful in many ways, among them in providing daily, by way of the evil Creatures and Slaugh?ter they love, a Denial of Mortality clamorous166 enough to allow their Elders release, if only for moments at a time, from Its Claims upon the Attention. "Sad to say, Boys, I was well below, and preoccupied167 with sea-
surgery, learning what I needed to know of it upon the Spot. By the end of the Engagement I was left with nothing but my Faith between me and absolute black Panic. Afterward168, from whatever had happen'd upon that patch of secular169 Ocean, I went on to draw Lessons more abstract.
"Watching helplessly as we closed with the l'Grand, I felt that with each fraction of a second, Death was making itself sensible in new
ways We were soon close enough to hear the creak and jingling170 of the
gun tackle and the rumble171 of trucks upon the deck, then to see the ends
of the rammers backing through the gun-ports, and vanishing as car?
tridges and wads were pushed into place, and the high-pitch'd foreign
jabbering172 as we lean'd ever closer
"Broadsides again and again, punctuated173 by tacking174 so as to present the Guns of the other Side,— ringing cessations in which came the Thumps175 of re-loading, the cries of the injur'd and dying, nausea176, Speech-lessness, Sweat pouring,— then broadsides once more. Each time the firing stopp'd, there seem'd hope, for a Minute, that we'd got away and it was over,.. .until we'd hear the Gun-Tackle being shifted, and feel in the dark the deck trying to tilt177 us over, charg'd with the moments, upon the downward Roll, just before the Guns, vibrating in a certain way we had come to expect,— and when it came no more, we stood afraid to breathe, because of what might be next.
"The Astronomers and I meanwhile endur'd intestinal178 agonies so as not to be the first to foul179 his breeches in front of the others, as the Spars came crashing from above, and the cannon sent sharp Thuds thro' the Ship like cruel fists boxing our ears, knocking cockroaches180 out of the overhead,— Blows whose personal Malevolence181 was more frightening even than their Scale,— the Ship's hoarse26 Shrieking182, a great Sea-animal in pain, the textures183 of its Cries nearly those of the human Voice when under great Stress."
Altho' Dixon is heading off to Sumatra with a member of the Church of England,— that is, the Ancestor of Troubles,— a stranger with whom he moreover but hours before was carousing184 exactly like Sailors, shameful185 to say, yet, erring186 upon the side of Conviviality187, will he decide to follow Fox's Advice, and answer "that of God" in Mason, finding it soon enough
with the Battle on all 'round them, when both face their equal chances of imminent188 Death.
Dissolution, Noise, and Fear. Below-decks, reduced to nerves, given in to the emprise of Forces invisible yet possessing great Weight and Speed, which contend in some Phantom189 realm they have had the bad luck to blunder into, the Astronomers abide, willing themselves blank yet active. Casualties begin to appear in the Sick Bay, the wounds inconceivable, from Oak-Splinters and Chain and Shrapnel, and as Blood creeps like Evening to Dominion190 over all Surfaces, so grows the Ease of giving in to Panic Fear. It takes an effort to act philosophickal, or even to find ways to be useful,— but a moment's re-focusing proves enough to show them each how at least to keep out of the way, and presently to save steps for the loblolly boy, or run messages to and from other parts of the ship.
After the last of the Gun-Fire, Oak Beams shuddering191 with the Chase, the Lazarette is crowded and pil'd with bloody Men, including Capt. Smith with a great Splinter in his Leg, his resentment especially powerful,— "I'll have lost thirty of my Crew. Are you two really that important?" Above, on deck, corpses192 are steaming, wreckage193 is ev'ry-where, shreds194 of charr'd sail and line clatter195 in the Wind that is taking the Frenchman away.
What conversation may have passed between the Post-Captain and the Commandant? He wore the Order of the Holy Ghost, the white Dove plainly visible thro' the Glass,— St.-Foux, almost certainly, yet com?manding a different Ship. What was afoot here? Had the Frenchman really signal'd, "France is not at war with the~~sciences"? Words so mag?nanimous, and yet..."Went poohpooh, he did. Sort of flicking196 his gloves about. Tm westing my time,' he says, 'You are leetluh meennow,— I throw you back. Perhaps someday we meet when you are biggair Feesh, like me. Meanwhile, I sail away. Poohpooh! Adieu!''
"Nevertheless," Capt. Smith had replied, "I must give chase." One of those French shrugs197. "You must, and of course, may." But she is too wounded. They watch the perfect ellipse of the l'Grand's stern dwindle198 into the dark. At last, well before the midwatch, Captain Smith calls off the Chase, and they come about again, the wind remain?ing as it has been, and with what sail they have, they return to the Ply31?mouth Dockyard.
Some at the time said there had been another sail, and that the Frenchman, assuming it to be a British Man o' War, had in fact broken off, and headed back in to Brest as speedily as her condition would allow. Some on the Seahorse thought they'd seen it,— most had not. ("Perhaps our guardian199 Angel," the Revd comments, "— instead of Wings, Topgallants.")
A Year before, Morale200 aboard the l'Grand, never that high to begin with, had seem'd to suffer an all but mortal blow with news of the disaster to the Brest fleet at Quiberon Bay. In calculating her odds vis-a-vis the Seahorse, the Invisible Gamesters who wager201 daily upon the doings of Commerce and Government must have discounted her advantage in guns and broadside weight, noting that a crew so melancholick is not the surest guarantee of prevailing202 in a Naval Dispute. Yet, considered as a sentient203 being, the French Ship continued to display the attitude of an undersiz'd but bellicose204 Sailor in a Wine-shop, always upon the qui vive for a scrap205, never quite reaching the level of Glory it desir'd, always téton dernier of the Squadron, ever chosen for the least hopeful Missions, from embargo206 patrols off steaming red-dawn coasts below the Equator to rescue attempts beneath the Shadows of the mountainous Waves of winter storms in the Atlantic,— forever unthank'd, disrespected, laboring207 on, beating now alone at night back into Brest for new spars and rigging and lives.
"Ooh, La,
Fran...
-Ce-euh! [with a certain debonair208 little Mordant209 upon "euh"], Ne
Fait-pas-la-Guerre, Con-truh les Sci--en-
ceuhs!"
- sung incessantly210 till the Ship made Port, and then by the Working-Parties at the Quai, with the sour cadences211 of Sailors in a Distress212 not altogether bodily,— humiliated213, knowing better, yet unable to keep from humming the catchy214 fragment, its text instantly having join'd the Com?pany of great Humorous Naval Quotations215, which would one day also include, "I have not yet begun to fight," and, "There's something wrong with our damn'd ships today, Chatfield."
Long after Nightfall, Mason and Dixon, officially reliev'd of their Medical Duties, reluctant to part company, go lurching up on Deck, exhausted216, laughing at nothing,— or at ev'rything, being alive when they could as easily be dead. Despite the salt rush of Wind, they can no more here, than Below, escape caught in the Drape of the damag'd Sails, the Reek217 of the Battle past,— the insides of Trees, and of Men— They have to prop131 each other up till one of them finds something to lean against. "Well, what's this, then?" inquires Mason.
"More like a Transit218 of Mars...?"
"With us going 'cross its Face."
"Were I less of a cheery Lad, why, I'd almost think..."
"It has occurr'd to me."
"They knew the French had Bencoolen,— what else did they know? Thah's what I'd like to know."
"Are you appropriating that Bottle for reasons I may not wish to hear, or,— ah. Thankee." They pass the Bottle back and forth, and when it is empty, they throw it in the Sea, and open another.
收听单词发音 |
1
con
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| n.反对的观点，反对者，反对票，肺病；vt.精读，学习，默记；adv.反对地，从反面；adj.欺诈的 | |
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confide
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| v.向某人吐露秘密 | |
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taut
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| adj.拉紧的，绷紧的，紧张的 | |
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gathering
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| n.集会，聚会，聚集 | |
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wig
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| n.假发 | |
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wigs
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| n.假发，法官帽( wig的名词复数 ) | |
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puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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mid
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| adj.中央的，中间的 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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tar
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| n.柏油，焦油；vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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chapels
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| n.小教堂， （医院、监狱等的）附属礼拜堂( chapel的名词复数 )；（在小教堂和附属礼拜堂举行的）礼拜仪式 | |
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vomiting
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| 吐 | |
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trot
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| n.疾走，慢跑；n.老太婆；现成译本；(复数）trots:腹泻（与the 连用）；v.小跑，快步走，赶紧 | |
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inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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15
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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Neptune
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| n.海王星 | |
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par
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| n.标准，票面价值，平均数量；adj.票面的，平常的，标准的 | |
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inter
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| v.埋葬 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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daze
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| v.(使)茫然，(使)发昏 | |
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22
savage
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| adj.野蛮的；凶恶的，残暴的；n.未开化的人 | |
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savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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luncheon
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| n.午宴，午餐，便宴 | |
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impelled
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| v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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27
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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28
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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29
tormented
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| 饱受折磨的 | |
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30
Buddha
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| n.佛；佛像；佛陀 | |
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31
ply
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| v.(搬运工等)等候顾客，弯曲 | |
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32
meditate
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| v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想 | |
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33
unicorns
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| n.（传说中身体似马的）独角兽( unicorn的名词复数 )；一角鲸；独角兽标记 | |
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34
evoke
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| vt.唤起，引起，使人想起 | |
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35
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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36
annoyance
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| n.恼怒，生气，烦恼 | |
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37
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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38
hanger
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| n.吊架，吊轴承；挂钩 | |
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onset
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| n.进攻，袭击，开始，突然开始 | |
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40
cir
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| abbr.circular 通知；circulation （货币，货物等的）流通；circle 圆；circa (Latin=about) （拉丁语）大约 | |
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41
radius
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| n.半径，半径范围；有效航程，范围，界限 | |
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42
astronomers
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| n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 ) | |
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43
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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fabulous
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| adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的 | |
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wails
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| 痛哭，哭声( wail的名词复数 ) | |
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47
treacherous
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| adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的 | |
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amble
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| vi.缓行，漫步 | |
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flexibility
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| n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性 | |
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preservation
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| n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持 | |
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51
marvel
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| vi.(at)惊叹vt.感到惊异；n.令人惊异的事 | |
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52
mischievous
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| adj.调皮的，恶作剧的，有害的，伤人的 | |
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53
iniquity
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| n.邪恶；不公正 | |
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decadent
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| adj.颓废的，衰落的，堕落的 | |
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55
oyster
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| n.牡蛎；沉默寡言的人 | |
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56
fang
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| n.尖牙，犬牙 | |
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57
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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soot
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| n.煤烟，烟尘；vt.熏以煤烟 | |
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assortment
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| n.分类，各色俱备之物，聚集 | |
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60
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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61
poultry
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| n.家禽，禽肉 | |
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inverted
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| adj.反向的，倒转的v.使倒置，使反转( invert的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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cone
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| n.圆锥体，圆锥形东西，球果 | |
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64
etiquette
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| n.礼仪，礼节；规矩 | |
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labyrinth
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| n.迷宫；难解的事物；迷路 | |
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66
receding
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| v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题 | |
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67
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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slashing
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| adj.尖锐的；苛刻的；鲜明的；乱砍的v.挥砍( slash的现在分词 )；鞭打；割破；削减 | |
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69
hectic
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| adj.肺病的；消耗热的；发热的；闹哄哄的 | |
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70
assorted
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| adj.各种各样的，各色俱备的 | |
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71
lesser
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| adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地 | |
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72
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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73
flute
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| n.长笛；v.吹笛 | |
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74
omen
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| n.征兆，预兆；vt.预示 | |
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75
wilderness
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| n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠 | |
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76
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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77
awning
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| n.遮阳篷；雨篷 | |
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78
varied
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| adj.多样的，多变化的 | |
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79
butting
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| 用头撞人（犯规动作） | |
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80
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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81
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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82
rummage
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| v./n.翻寻，仔细检查 | |
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83
meager
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| adj.缺乏的，不足的，瘦的 | |
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84
reclaim
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| v.要求归还，收回；开垦 | |
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85
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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86
dignified
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| a.可敬的，高贵的 | |
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87
decrepitude
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| n.衰老；破旧 | |
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88
lout
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| n.粗鄙的人；举止粗鲁的人 | |
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89
flirt
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| v.调情，挑逗，调戏；n.调情者，卖俏者 | |
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90
flirting
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| v.调情，打情骂俏( flirt的现在分词 ) | |
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91
sham
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| n./adj.假冒(的)，虚伪(的) | |
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92
laboriously
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| adv.艰苦地；费力地；辛勤地；（文体等）佶屈聱牙地 | |
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93
mumbling
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的现在分词 ) | |
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94
bullies
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| n.欺凌弱小者, 开球 vt.恐吓, 威胁, 欺负 | |
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95
marvels
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| n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 ) | |
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96
frigates
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| n.快速军舰( frigate的名词复数 ) | |
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97
frigate
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| n.护航舰，大型驱逐舰 | |
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98
sniff
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| vi.嗅…味道；抽鼻涕；对嗤之以鼻，蔑视 | |
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99
chisel
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| n.凿子；v.用凿子刻，雕，凿 | |
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100
resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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101
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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102
omens
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| n.前兆，预兆( omen的名词复数 ) | |
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103
hind
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| adj.后面的，后部的 | |
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104
sibylline
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| adj.预言的；神巫的 | |
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105
lottery
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| n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事 | |
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106
amiable
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| adj.和蔼可亲的，友善的，亲切的 | |
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107
opium
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| n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的 | |
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108
melancholy
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| n.忧郁，愁思；adj.令人感伤（沮丧）的，忧郁的 | |
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109
exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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110
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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111
heeding
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| v.听某人的劝告，听从( heed的现在分词 ) | |
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112
odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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113
cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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114
snug
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| adj.温暖舒适的，合身的，安全的；v.使整洁干净，舒适地依靠，紧贴；n.（英）酒吧里的私房 | |
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115
murmurs
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| n.低沉、连续而不清的声音( murmur的名词复数 )；低语声；怨言；嘀咕 | |
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116
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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117
doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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118
jerseys
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| n.运动衫( jersey的名词复数 ) | |
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119
lighting
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| n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光 | |
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120
amiably
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| adv.和蔼可亲地，亲切地 | |
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121
pious
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| adj.虔诚的；道貌岸然的 | |
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122
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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123
arrears
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| n.到期未付之债，拖欠的款项；待做的工作 | |
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124
accusations
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| n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名 | |
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125
wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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126
saga
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| n.(尤指中世纪北欧海盗的)故事，英雄传奇 | |
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127
WHIMS
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| 虚妄，禅病 | |
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128
gaily
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| adv.欢乐地，高兴地 | |
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129
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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130
fowl
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| n.家禽，鸡，禽肉 | |
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131
prop
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| vt.支撑；n.支柱，支撑物；支持者，靠山 | |
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132
outrage
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| n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒 | |
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133
motes
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| n.尘埃( mote的名词复数 )；斑点 | |
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134
jigging
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| n.跳汰选，簸选v.（使）上下急动( jig的现在分词 ) | |
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135
mead
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| n.蜂蜜酒 | |
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136
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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137
livestock
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| n.家畜，牲畜 | |
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138
invoking
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| v.援引( invoke的现在分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求 | |
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139
convoy
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| vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队 | |
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140
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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141
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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142
previously
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| adv.以前，先前（地） | |
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143
conspiracy
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| n.阴谋，密谋，共谋 | |
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144
abide
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| vi.遵守；坚持；vt.忍受 | |
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145
anemia
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| n.贫血，贫血症 | |
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146
afflicts
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| 使受痛苦，折磨( afflict的名词复数 ) | |
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147
heartily
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| adv.衷心地，诚恳地，十分，很 | |
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148
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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149
barter
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| n.物物交换，以货易货，实物交易 | |
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150
unfamiliar
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| adj.陌生的，不熟悉的 | |
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151
groves
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| 树丛，小树林( grove的名词复数 ) | |
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152
scruffy
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| adj.肮脏的，不洁的 | |
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153
gilded
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| a.镀金的，富有的 | |
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154
loutish
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| adj.粗鲁的 | |
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155
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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156
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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157
prefix
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| n.前缀；vt.加…作为前缀；置于前面 | |
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158
nautical
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| adj.海上的，航海的，船员的 | |
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159
knight
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| n.骑士，武士；爵士 | |
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160
growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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161
faction
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| n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争 | |
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162
intercept
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| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
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163
isles
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| 岛( isle的名词复数 ) | |
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164
obstinate
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| adj.顽固的，倔强的，不易屈服的，较难治愈的 | |
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165
disapproves
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| v.不赞成( disapprove的第三人称单数 ) | |
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166
clamorous
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| adj.吵闹的，喧哗的 | |
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167
preoccupied
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| 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) | |
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168
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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169
secular
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| n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的 | |
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170
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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171
rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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172
jabbering
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| v.急切而含混不清地说( jabber的现在分词 )；急促兴奋地说话；结结巴巴 | |
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173
punctuated
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| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
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174
tacking
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| （帆船）抢风行驶，定位焊[铆]紧钉 | |
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175
thumps
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| n.猪肺病；砰的重击声( thump的名词复数 )v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的第三人称单数 ) | |
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176
nausea
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| n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶) | |
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177
tilt
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| v.(使)倾侧；(使)倾斜；n.倾侧；倾斜 | |
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178
intestinal
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| adj.肠的；肠壁；肠道细菌 | |
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179
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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180
cockroaches
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| n.蟑螂( cockroach的名词复数 ) | |
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181
malevolence
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| n.恶意，狠毒 | |
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182
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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183
textures
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| n.手感( texture的名词复数 )；质感；口感；（音乐或文学的）谐和统一感 | |
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184
carousing
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| v.痛饮，闹饮欢宴( carouse的现在分词 ) | |
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185
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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186
erring
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| 做错事的，错误的 | |
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187
conviviality
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| n.欢宴，高兴，欢乐 | |
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188
imminent
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| adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的 | |
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189
phantom
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| n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的 | |
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190
dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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191
shuddering
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|
| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
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192
corpses
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| n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 ) | |
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193
wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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194
shreds
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| v.撕碎，切碎( shred的第三人称单数 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件） | |
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195
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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196
flicking
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的现在分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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197
shrugs
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| n.耸肩（以表示冷淡，怀疑等）( shrug的名词复数 ) | |
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198
dwindle
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| v.逐渐变小（或减少） | |
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199
guardian
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| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
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200
morale
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| n.道德准则，士气，斗志 | |
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201
wager
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| n.赌注；vt.押注，打赌 | |
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202
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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203
sentient
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| adj.有知觉的，知悉的；adv.有感觉能力地 | |
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204
bellicose
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| adj.好战的；好争吵的 | |
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205
scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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206
embargo
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| n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商） | |
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207
laboring
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| n.劳动，操劳v.努力争取(for)( labor的现在分词 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转 | |
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208
debonair
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| adj.殷勤的，快乐的 | |
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209
mordant
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| adj.讽刺的；尖酸的 | |
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210
incessantly
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| ad.不停地 | |
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211
cadences
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| n.（声音的）抑扬顿挫( cadence的名词复数 )；节奏；韵律；调子 | |
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212
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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213
humiliated
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| 感到羞愧的 | |
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214
catchy
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| adj.易记住的，诡诈的，易使人上当的 | |
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215
quotations
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| n.引用( quotation的名词复数 )；[商业]行情（报告）；（货物或股票的）市价；时价 | |
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216
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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217
reek
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| v.发出臭气；n.恶臭 | |
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218
transit
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| n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过 | |
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