A dozen quarts of champagne10 in conjunction with an informal sitting of the president and his cabinet led to the establishment of the navy and the appointment of Felipe Carrera as its admiral.
Next to the champagne the credit of the appointment belongs to Don Sabas Placido, the newly confirmed Minister of War.
The president had requested a convention of his cabinet for the discussion of questions politic8 and for the transaction of certain routine matters of state. The session had been signally tedious; the business and the wine prodigiously13 dry. A sudden, prankish14 humour of Don Sabas, impelling15 him to the deed, spiced the grave affairs of state with a whiff of agreeable playfulness.
In the dilatory16 order of business had come a bulletin from the coast department of Orilla del Mar17 reporting the seizure18 by the custom-house officers at the town of Coralio of the sloop19 Estrella del Noche and her cargo20 of drygoods, patent medicines, granulated sugar and three-star brandy. Also six Martini rifles and a barrel of American whisky. Caught in the act of smuggling21, the sloop with its cargo was now, according to law, the property of the republic.
The Collector of Customs, in making his report, departed from the conventional forms so far as to suggest that the confiscated22 vessel23 be converted to the use of the government. The prize was the first capture to the credit of the department in ten years. The collector took opportunity to pat his department on the back.
It often happened that government officers required transportation from point to point along the coast, and means were usually lacking. Furthermore, the sloop could be manned by a loyal crew and employed as a coast guard to discourage the pernicious art of smuggling. The collector also ventured to nominate one to whom the charge of the boat could be safely intrusted—a young man of Coralio, Felipe Carrera—not, be it understood, one of extreme wisdom, but loyal and the best sailor along the coast.
It was upon this hint that the Minister of War acted, executing a rare piece of drollery24 that so enlivened the tedium25 of executive session.
In the constitution of this small, maritime26 banana republic was a forgotten section that provided for the maintenance of a navy. This provision—with many other wiser ones—had lain inert27 since the establishment of the republic. Anchuria had no navy and had no use for one. It was characteristic of Don Sabas—a man at once merry, learned, whimsical and audacious—that he should have disturbed the dust of this musty and sleeping statute28 to increase the humour of the world by so much as a smile from his indulgent colleagues.
With delightful29 mock seriousness the Minister of War proposed the creation of a navy. He argued its need and the glories it might achieve with such gay and witty30 zeal31 that the travesty32 overcame with its humour even the swart dignity of President Losada himself.
The champagne was bubbling trickily33 in the veins34 of the mercurial35 statesmen. It was not the custom of the grave governors of Anchuria to enliven their sessions with a beverage36 so apt to cast a veil of disparagement37 over sober affairs. The wine had been a thoughtful compliment tendered by the agent of the Vesuvius Fruit Company as a token of amicable38 relations—and certain consummated39 deals—between that company and the republic of Anchuria.
The jest was carried to its end. A formidable, official document was prepared, encrusted with chromatic40 seals and jaunty41 with fluttering ribbons, bearing the florid signatures of state. This commission conferred upon el Señor Don Felipe Carrera the title of Flag Admiral of the Republic of Anchuria. Thus within the space of a few minutes and the dominion42 of a dozen "extra dry," the country took its place among the naval43 powers of the world, and Felipe Carrera became entitled to a salute44 of nineteen guns whenever he might enter port.
The southern races are lacking in that particular kind of humour that finds entertainment in the defects and misfortunes bestowed45 by Nature. Owing to this defect in their constitution they are not moved to laughter (as are their northern brothers) by the spectacle of the deformed46, the feeble-minded or the insane.
Felipe Carrera was sent upon earth with but half his wits. Therefore, the people of Coralio called him "El pobrecito loco"—"the poor little crazed one"—saying that God had sent but half of him to earth, retaining the other half.
A sombre youth, glowering47, and speaking only at the rarest times, Felipe was but negatively "loco." On shore he generally refused all conversation. He seemed to know that he was badly handicapped on land, where so many kinds of understanding are needed; but on the water his one talent set him equal with most men. Few sailors whom God had carefully and completely made could handle a sailboat as well. Five points nearer the wind than even the best of them he could sail his sloop. When the elements raged and set other men to cowering48, the deficiencies of Felipe seemed of little importance. He was a perfect sailor, if an imperfect man. He owned no boat, but worked among the crews of the schooners49 and sloops50 that skimmed the coast, trading and freighting fruit out to the steamers where there was no harbour. It was through his famous skill and boldness on the sea, as well as for the pity felt for his mental imperfections, that he was recommended by the collector as a suitable custodian51 of the captured sloop.
When the outcome of Don Sabas' little pleasantry arrived in the form of the imposing52 and preposterous53 commission, the collector smiled. He had not expected such prompt and overwhelming response to his recommendation. He despatched a muchacho at once to fetch the future admiral.
The collector waited in his official quarters. His office was in the Calle Grande, and the sea breezes hummed through its windows all day. The collector, in white linen54 and canvas shoes, philandered55 with papers on an antique desk. A parrot, perched on a pen rack, seasoned the official tedium with a fire of choice Castilian imprecations. Two rooms opened into the collector's. In one the clerical force of young men of variegated56 complexions57 transacted58 with glitter and parade their several duties. Through the open door of the other room could be seen a bronze babe, guiltless of clothing, that rollicked upon the floor. In a grass hammock a thin woman, tinted59 a pale lemon, played a guitar and swung contentedly60 in the breeze. Thus surrounded by the routine of his high duties and the visible tokens of agreeable domesticity, the collector's heart was further made happy by the power placed in his hands to brighten the fortunes of the "innocent" Felipe.
Felipe came and stood before the collector. He was a lad of twenty, not ill-favoured in looks, but with an expression of distant and pondering vacuity62. He wore white cotton trousers, down the seams of which he had sewed red stripes with some vague aim at military decoration. A flimsy blue shirt fell open at his throat; his feet were bare; he held in his hand the cheapest of straw hats from the States.
"Señor Carrera," said the collector, gravely, producing the showy commission, "I have sent for you at the president's bidding. This document that I present to you confers upon you the title of Admiral of this great republic, and gives you absolute command of the naval forces and fleet of our country. You may think, friend Felipe, that we have no navy—but yes! The sloop the Estrella del Noche, that my brave men captured from the coast smugglers, is to be placed under your command. The boat is to be devoted63 to the services of your country. You will be ready at all times to convey officials of the government to points along the coast where they may be obliged to visit. You will also act as a coast-guard to prevent, as far as you may be able, the crime of smuggling. You will uphold the honour and prestige of your country at sea, and endeavour to place Anchuria among the proudest naval powers of the world. These are your instructions as the Minister of War desires me to convey them to you. Por Dios! I do not know how all this is to be accomplished64, for not one word did his letter contain in respect to a crew or to the expenses of this navy. Perhaps you are to provide a crew yourself, Señor Admiral—I do not know—but it is a very high honour that has descended65 upon you. I now hand you your commission. When you are ready for the boat I will give orders that she shall be made over into your charge. That is as far as my instructions go."
Felipe took the commission that the collector handed to him. He gazed through the open window at the sea for a moment, with his customary expression of deep but vain pondering. Then he turned without having spoken a word, and walked swiftly away through the hot sand of the street.
"Pobrecito loco!" sighed the collector; and the parrot on the pen racks screeched66 "Loco!—loco!—loco!"
The next morning a strange procession filed through the streets to the collector's office. At its head was the admiral of the navy. Somewhere Felipe had raked together a pitiful semblance67 of a military uniform—a pair of red trousers, a dingy68 blue short jacket heavily ornamented69 with gold braid, and an old fatigue70 cap that must have been cast away by one of the British soldiers in Belize and brought away by Felipe on one of his coasting voyages. Buckled71 around his waist was an ancient ship's cutlass contributed to his equipment by Pedro Lafitte, the baker72, who proudly asserted its inheritance from his ancestor, the illustrious buccaneer. At the admiral's heels tagged his newly-shipped crew—three grinning, glossy74, black Caribs, bare to the waist, the sand spurting75 in showers from the spring of their naked feet.
Briefly76 and with dignity Felipe demanded his vessel of the collector. And now a fresh honour awaited him. The collector's wife, who played the guitar and read novels in the hammock all day, had more than a little romance in her placid11, yellow bosom77. She had found in an old book an engraving78 of a flag that purported79 to be the naval flag of Anchuria. Perhaps it had so been designed by the founders80 of the nation; but, as no navy had ever been established, oblivion had claimed the flag. Laboriously81 with her own hands she had made a flag after the pattern—a red cross upon a blue-and-white ground. She presented it to Felipe with these words: "Brave sailor, this flag is of your country. Be true, and defend it with your life. Go you with God."
For the first time since his appointment the admiral showed a flicker82 of emotion. He took the silken emblem83, and passed his hand reverently84 over its surface. "I am the admiral," he said to the collector's lady. Being on land he could bring himself to no more exuberant85 expression of sentiment. At sea with the flag at the masthead of his navy, some more eloquent86 exposition of feelings might be forthcoming.
Abruptly87 the admiral departed with his crew. For the next three days they were busy giving the Estrella del Noche a new coat of white paint trimmed with blue. And then Felipe further adorned88 himself by fastening a handful of brilliant parrot's plumes89 in his cap. Again he tramped with his faithful crew to the collector's office and formally notified him that the sloop's name had been changed to El Nacional.
During the next few months the navy had its troubles. Even an admiral is perplexed90 to know what to do without any orders. But none came. Neither did any salaries. El Nacional swung idly at anchor.
When Felipe's little store of money was exhausted91 he went to the collector and raised the question of finances.
"Salaries!" exclaimed the collector, with hands raised; "Valgame Dios! not one centavo of my own pay have I received for the last seven months. The pay of an admiral, do you ask? Quién sabe? Should it be less than three thousand pesos? Mira! you will see a revolution in this country very soon. A good sign of it is when the government calls all the time for pesos, pesos, pesos, and pays none out."
Felipe left the collector's office with a look almost of content on his sombre face. A revolution would mean fighting, and then the government would need his services. It was rather humiliating to be an admiral without anything to do, and have a hungry crew at your heels begging for reales to buy plantains and tobacco with.
When he returned to where his happy-go-lucky Caribs were waiting they sprang up and saluted92, as he had drilled them to do.
"Come, muchachos," said the admiral; "it seems that the government is poor. It has no money to give us. We will earn what we need to live upon. Thus will we serve our country. Soon"—his heavy eyes almost lighted up—"it may gladly call upon us for help."
Thereafter El Nacional turned out with the other coast craft and became a wage-earner. She worked with the lighters93 freighting bananas and oranges out to the fruit steamers that could not approach nearer than a mile from the shore. Surely a self-supporting navy deserves red letters in the budget of any nation.
After earning enough at freighting to keep himself and his crew in provisions for a week Felipe would anchor the navy and hang about the little telegraph office, looking like one of the chorus of an insolvent94 comic opera troupe95 besieging96 the manager's den6. A hope for orders from the capital was always in his heart. That his services as admiral had never been called into requirement hurt his pride and patriotism97. At every call he would inquire, gravely and expectantly, for despatches. The operator would pretend to make a search, and then reply:
"Not yet, it seems, Señor el Almirante—poco tiempo!"
Outside in the shade of the lime-trees the crew chewed sugar cane73 or slumbered98, well content to serve a country that was contented61 with so little service.
One day in the early summer the revolution predicted by the collector flamed out suddenly. It had long been smouldering. At the first note of alarm the admiral of the navy force and fleet made all sail for a larger port on the coast of a neighbouring republic, where he traded a hastily collected cargo of fruit for its value in cartridges99 for the five Martini rifles, the only guns that the navy could boast. Then to the telegraph office sped the admiral. Sprawling100 in his favourite corner, in his fast-decaying uniform, with his prodigious12 sabre distributed between his red legs, he waited for the long-delayed, but now soon expected, orders.
"Not yet, Señor el Almirante," the telegraph clerk would call to him—"poco tiempo!"
At the answer the admiral would plump himself down with a great rattling101 of scabbard to await the infrequent tick of the little instrument on the table.
"They will come," would be his unshaken reply; "I am the admiral."
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1
treasury
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| n.宝库；国库，金库；文库 | |
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patriots
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| 爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 ) | |
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philosophically
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| adv.哲学上；富有哲理性地；贤明地；冷静地 | |
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patriotic
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| adj.爱国的，有爱国心的 | |
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reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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den
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| n.兽穴；秘密地方；安静的小房间，私室 | |
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ousted
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| 驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺 | |
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politic
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| adj.有智虑的；精明的；v.从政 | |
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serial
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| n.连本影片，连本电视节目；adj.连续的 | |
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champagne
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| n.香槟酒；微黄色 | |
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placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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prodigious
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| adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的 | |
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prodigiously
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| adv.异常地，惊人地，巨大地 | |
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prankish
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| adj.爱开玩笑的，恶作剧的；开玩笑性质的 | |
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impelling
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| adj.迫使性的，强有力的v.推动、推进或敦促某人做某事( impel的现在分词 ) | |
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dilatory
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| adj.迟缓的，不慌不忙的 | |
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mar
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| vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟 | |
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seizure
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| n.没收；占有；抵押 | |
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sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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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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smuggling
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| n.走私 | |
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confiscated
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| 没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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drollery
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| n.开玩笑，说笑话；滑稽可笑的图画（或故事、小戏等） | |
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tedium
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| n.单调；烦闷 | |
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maritime
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| adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的 | |
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inert
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| adj.无活动能力的，惰性的；迟钝的 | |
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statute
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| n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例 | |
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delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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witty
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| adj.机智的，风趣的 | |
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zeal
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| n.热心，热情，热忱 | |
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travesty
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| n.歪曲，嘲弄，滑稽化 | |
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trickily
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| adv.欺骗着，用奸计 | |
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veins
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| n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理 | |
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mercurial
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| adj.善变的，活泼的 | |
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beverage
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| n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料 | |
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disparagement
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| n.轻视，轻蔑 | |
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amicable
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| adj.和平的，友好的；友善的 | |
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consummated
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| v.使结束( consummate的过去式和过去分词 )；使完美；完婚；（婚礼后的）圆房 | |
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chromatic
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| adj.色彩的，颜色的 | |
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jaunty
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| adj．愉快的，满足的；adv.心满意足地，洋洋得意地；n.心满意足；洋洋得意 | |
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dominion
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| n.统治，管辖，支配权；领土，版图 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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salute
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| vi.行礼，致意，问候，放礼炮；vt.向…致意，迎接，赞扬；n.招呼，敬礼，礼炮 | |
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bestowed
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| 赠给，授予( bestow的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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deformed
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| adj.畸形的；变形的；丑的，破相了的 | |
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glowering
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| v.怒视( glower的现在分词 ) | |
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cowering
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| v.畏缩，抖缩( cower的现在分词 ) | |
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schooners
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| n.（有两个以上桅杆的）纵帆船( schooner的名词复数 ) | |
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sloops
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| n.单桅纵帆船( sloop的名词复数 ) | |
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custodian
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| n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守 | |
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imposing
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| adj.使人难忘的，壮丽的，堂皇的，雄伟的 | |
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53
preposterous
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| adj.荒谬的，可笑的 | |
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54
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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55
philandered
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| v.调戏，玩弄女性( philander的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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56
variegated
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| adj.斑驳的，杂色的 | |
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57
complexions
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| 肤色( complexion的名词复数 )； 面色； 局面； 性质 | |
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transacted
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| v.办理（业务等）( transact的过去式和过去分词 )；交易，谈判 | |
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59
tinted
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| adj. 带色彩的 动词tint的过去式和过去分词 | |
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60
contentedly
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| adv.心满意足地 | |
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contented
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| adj.满意的，安心的，知足的 | |
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62
vacuity
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| n.(想象力等)贫乏，无聊，空白 | |
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devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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64
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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66
screeched
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| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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ornamented
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| adj.花式字体的v.装饰，点缀，美化( ornament的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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70
fatigue
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| n.疲劳，劳累 | |
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71
buckled
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| a. 有带扣的 | |
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72
baker
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| n.面包师 | |
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73
cane
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| n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的 | |
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74
glossy
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| adj.平滑的；有光泽的 | |
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75
spurting
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| （液体，火焰等）喷出，（使）涌出( spurt的现在分词 )； （短暂地）加速前进，冲刺； 溅射 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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engraving
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| n.版画；雕刻（作品）；雕刻艺术；镌版术v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的现在分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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purported
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| adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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80
founders
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| n.创始人( founder的名词复数 ) | |
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81
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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flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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83
emblem
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| n.象征，标志；徽章 | |
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84
reverently
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| adv.虔诚地 | |
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85
exuberant
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| adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的 | |
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86
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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88
adorned
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| [计]被修饰的 | |
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89
plumes
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| 羽毛( plume的名词复数 )； 羽毛饰； 羽毛状物； 升上空中的羽状物 | |
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perplexed
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| adj.不知所措的 | |
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exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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lighters
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| n.打火机，点火器( lighter的名词复数 ) | |
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insolvent
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| adj.破产的，无偿还能力的 | |
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troupe
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| n.剧团，戏班；杂技团；马戏团 | |
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96
besieging
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| 包围，围困，围攻( besiege的现在分词 ) | |
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patriotism
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| n.爱国精神，爱国心，爱国主义 | |
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98
slumbered
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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cartridges
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| 子弹( cartridge的名词复数 )； （打印机的）墨盒； 录音带盒； （唱机的）唱头 | |
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100
sprawling
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| adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着） | |
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101
rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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