So that now, having said what I pleased, and having well remembered Grandfather Nat, and slept and woke and dozed and woke again, I took solace4 from his authority and whispered many things to my little dead brother, whom I could never play with: of the little ship in the glass case, and the pictures, and of how I was going to the London Dock to-morrow; and so at last fell asleep soundly till morning.
Grandfather Nat was astir early, and soon I was looking from the window by his bed at the ships that lay so thick in the Pool, tier on tier. Below me I could see the water that washed between the slimy piles on which the house rested, and to the left were the narrow stairs that terminated the passage at the side. Several boats were moored5 about these stairs, and a waterman was already looking out for a fare. Out in the Pool certain other boats caught the eye as they dodged6 about among the colliers, because each carried a bright fire amidships, in a brazier, beside a man, two small barrels of beer, and a very large handbell. The men were purlmen, Grandfather Nat told me, selling liquor—hot beer chiefly, in the cold mornings—to the men on the colliers, or on any other craft thereabout. It struck me that the one thing lacking for perfect bliss7 in most rowing boats was just such a brazier of cosy8 fire as the purl-boat carried; so that after very little consideration I resolved that when I grew up I would not be a sailor, nor an engine-driver, nor any one of a dozen other things I had thought of, but a purlman.
The staircase would have landed one direct into the bar-parlour but for an enclosing door, which strangers commonly mistook for that of a cupboard. A step as light as mine was possibly a rarity on this staircase; for, coming down before my grandfather, I startled a lady in the bar-parlour who had been doing something with a bottle which involved the removal of the cork10; which cork she snatched hastily from a shelf and replaced, with no very favourable11 regard to myself; and straightway dropped on her knees and went to work with a brush and a dustpan. She was scarce an attractive woman, I thought, being rusty12 and bony, slack-faced and very red-nosed. She swept the carpet and dusted the shelves with an air of angry contempt for everything she touched, and I got into the bar out of her way as soon as I could. The potman was flinging sawdust about the floor, and there, in the same corner, sat the same pale, ragged13 man that was there last night, with the same full glass of liquor—or one like it—by his side: like a trade fixture14 that had been there all night.
When Grandfather Nat appeared, I learned the slack-faced woman's name. "This here's my little gran'son, Mrs. Grimes," he said, "as is goin' to live here a bit, 'cordin' as I mentioned yesterday."
"Hindeed?" said Mrs. Grimes, with a glance that made me feel more contemptible15 than the humblest article she had dusted that morning. "Hindeed? Then it'll be more work more pay, Cap'en Kemp."
"Very well, mum," my grandfather replied. "If you reckon it out more work——"
"Ho!" interjected Mrs. Grimes, who could fill a misplaced aspirate with subtle offence; "reckon or not, I s'pose there's another bed to be made? An' buttons to be sewed? An' plates for to be washed? An' dirt an' litter for to be cleared up everywhere? To say nothink o' crumbs—which the biscuit-crumbs in the bar-parlour this mornin' was thick an' shameful16!"
I had had biscuits, and I felt a reprobate17. "Very well, mum," Grandfather Nat said, peaceably; "we'll make out extry damages, mum. A few days'll give us an idea. Shall we leave it a week an' see how things go?"
"Ham I to consider that a week's notice, Captain Kemp?" Mrs. Grimes demanded, with a distinct rise of voice. "Ham I or ham I not?"
"Notice!" My grandfather was puzzled, and began to look a trifle angry. "Why, damme, who said notice? What——"
"Because notice is as easy give as took, Cap'en Kemp, as I'd 'ave you remember. An' slave I may be though better brought up than slave-drivers any day, but swore at vulgar I won't be, nor trampled18 like dirt an' litter beneath the feet, an' will not endure it neither!" And with a great toss of the head Mrs. Grimes flounced through the staircase door, and sniffed19 and bridled20 her way to the upper rooms.
Her exit relieved my mind; first, because I had a wretched consciousness that I was causing all the trouble, and a dire9 fear that Grandfather Nat might dislike me for it; and second, because when he looked angry I had a fearful foreboding vision of Mrs. Grimes being presently whirled round by the ear and flung into the street, as Jim Crute had been. But it was not long ere I learned that Mrs. Grimes was one of those persons who grumble21 and clamour and bully22 at everything and everybody on principle, finding that, with a concession23 here and another there, it pays very well on the whole; and so nag24 along very comfortably through life. As for herself, as I had seen, Mrs. Grimes did not lack the cunning to carry away any fit of virtuous25 indignation that seemed like to push her employer out of his patience.
My grandfather looked at the bottle that Mrs. Grimes had recorked.
"That rum shrub," he said, "ain't properly mixed. It works in the bottle when it's left standing26, an' mounts to the cork. I notice it almost every morning."
The day was bright, and I resigned myself with some impatience27 to wait for an hour or two till we could set out for the docks. It was a matter of business, my grandfather explained, that he must not leave the bar till a fixed28 hour—ten o'clock; and soon I began to make a dim guess at the nature of the business, though I guessed in all innocence29, and suspected not at all.
Contrary to my evening observation, at this early hour the larger bar was mostly empty, while the obscure compartment30 at the side was in far greater use than it had been last night. Four or five visitors must have come there, one after another: perhaps half a dozen. And they all had things to sell. Two had watches—one of them was a woman; one had a locket and a boatswain's silver call; and I think another had some silver spoons. Grandfather Nat brought each article into the bar-parlour, to examine, and then returned it to its owner; which behaviour seemed to surprise none of them as it had surprised the man last night; so that doubtless he was a stranger. To those with watches my grandfather said nothing but "Yes, that seems all right," or "Yes, it's a good enough watch, no doubt." But to the man with the locket and the silver call he said, "Well, if ever you want to sell 'em you might get eight bob; no more"; and much the same to him with the spoons, except that he thought the spoons might fetch fifteen shillings.
Each of the visitors went out with no more ado; and as each went, the pale man in the larger bar rose, put his drink safely on the counter, just beyond the partition, and went out too; and presently he came back, with no more than a glance at Grandfather Nat, took his drink, and sat down again.
At ten o'clock my grandfather looked out of the bar and said to the pale man: "All right—drink up."
Whereupon the pale man—who would have been paler if his face had been washed—swallowed his drink at last, flat as it must have been, and went out; and Grandfather Nat went out also, by the door into the passage. He was gone scarce two minutes, and when he returned he unlocked a drawer below the shelf on which the little ship stood, and took from it the cash box I had seen last night. His back was turned toward me, and himself was interposed between my eyes and the box, which he rested on the shelf; but I heard a jingling31 that suggested spoons.
So I said, "Did the man go to buy the spoons for you, Gran'fa' Nat?"
My grandfather looked round sharply, with something as near a frown as he ever directed on me. Then he locked the box away hastily, with a gruff laugh. "You won't starve, Stevy," he said, "as long as wits finds victuals32. But see here," he went on, becoming grave as he sat and drew me to his knee; "see here, Stevy. What you see here's my business, private business; understand? You ain't a tell-tale, are you? Not a sneak33?"
I repudiated34 the suggestion with pain and scorn; for I was at least old enough a boy to see in sneakery the blackest of crimes.
"No, no, that you ain't, I know," Grandfather Nat went on, with a pinch of my chin, though he still regarded me earnestly. "A plucked 'un's never a sneak. But there's one thing for you to remember, Stevy, afore all your readin' an' writin' an' lessons an' what not. You must never tell of anything you see here, not to a soul—that is, not about me buyin' things. I'm very careful, but things don't always go right, an' I might get in trouble. I'm a straight man, an' I pay for all I have in any line o' trade; I never stole nor cheated not so much as a farden all my life, nor ever bought anything as I knew was stole. See?"
I nodded gravely. I was trying hard to understand the reason for all this seriousness and secrecy35, but at any rate I was resolved to be no tale-bearer; especially against Grandfather Nat.
"Why," he went on, justifying36 himself, I fancy, more for his own satisfaction than for my information; "why, even when it's on'y just suspicious I won't buy—except o' course through another party. That's how I guard myself, Stevy, an' every man has a right to buy a thing reasonable an' sell at a profit if he can; that's on'y plain trade. An' yet nobody can't say truthful37 as he ever sold me anything over that there counter, or anywhere else, barrin' what I have reg'lar of the brewer38 an' what not. I may look at a thing or pass an opinion, but what's that? Nothin' at all. But we've got to keep our mouths shut, Stevy, for fear o' danger; see? You wouldn't like poor old Grandfather Nat to be put in gaol39, would ye?"
The prospect40 was terrible, and I put my hands about my grandfather's neck and vowed41 I would never whisper a word.
"That's right, Stevy," the old man answered, "I know you won't if you don't forget yourself—so don't do that. Don't take no notice, not even to me."
There was a knock at the back door, which opened, and disclosed one of the purlmen, who had left his boat in sight at the stairs, and wanted a quart of gin in the large tin can he brought with him. He was a short, red-faced, tough-looking fellow, and he needed the gin, as I soon learned, to mix with his hot beer to make the purl. He had a short conversation with my grandfather when the gin was brought, of which I heard no more than the words "high water at twelve." But as he went down the passage he turned, and sang out: "You got the news, Cap'en, o' course?"
"What? Viney and Marr?"
The man nodded, with a click and a twitch42 of the mouth. Then he snapped his fingers, and jerked them expressively43 upward. After which he ejaculated the single word "Marr," and jerked his thumb over his shoulder. By which I understood him to repeat, with no waste of language, the story that it was all up with the firm, and the junior partner had bolted.
"That," said Grandfather Nat, when the man was gone—"that's Bill Stagg, an' he's the on'y purlman as don't come ashore44 to sleep. Sleeps in his boat, winter an' summer, does Bill Stagg. How'd you like that, Stevy?"
I thought I should catch cold, and perhaps tumble overboard, if I had a bad dream; and I said so.
"Ah well, Bill Stagg don't mind. He was A.B. aboard o' me when Mr. Viney was my mate many years ago, an' a good A.B. too. Bill Stagg, he makes fast somewhere quiet at night, an' curls up snug45 as a weevil. Mostly under the piles o' this here house, when the wind ain't east. Saves him rent, ye see; so he does pretty well."
And with that my grandfather put on his coat and reached the pilot cap that was his everyday wear.
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收听单词发音
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1
discordant
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| adj.不调和的 | |
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dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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3
hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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4
solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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5
moored
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| adj. 系泊的 动词moor的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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6
dodged
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| v.闪躲( dodge的过去式和过去分词 )；回避 | |
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7
bliss
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| n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福 | |
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8
cosy
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| adj.温暖而舒适的，安逸的 | |
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9
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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10
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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11
favourable
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| adj.赞成的，称赞的，有利的，良好的，顺利的 | |
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12
rusty
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| adj.生锈的；锈色的；荒废了的 | |
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13
ragged
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| adj.衣衫褴褛的，粗糙的，刺耳的 | |
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14
fixture
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| n.固定设备；预定日期；比赛时间；定期存款 | |
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15
contemptible
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| adj.可鄙的，可轻视的，卑劣的 | |
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16
shameful
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| adj.可耻的，不道德的 | |
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17
reprobate
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| n.无赖汉；堕落的人 | |
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18
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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19
sniffed
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| v.以鼻吸气，嗅，闻( sniff的过去式和过去分词 )；抽鼻子（尤指哭泣、患感冒等时出声地用鼻子吸气）；抱怨，不以为然地说 | |
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20
bridled
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的过去式和过去分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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21
grumble
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| vi.抱怨；咕哝；n.抱怨，牢骚；咕哝，隆隆声 | |
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22
bully
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| n.恃强欺弱者，小流氓；vt.威胁，欺侮 | |
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23
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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24
nag
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| v.(对…)不停地唠叨；n.爱唠叨的人 | |
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25
virtuous
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| adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的 | |
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26
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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27
impatience
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| n.不耐烦，急躁 | |
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28
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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29
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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30
compartment
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| n.卧车包房，隔间；分隔的空间 | |
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31
jingling
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| 叮当声 | |
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32
victuals
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| n.食物；食品 | |
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33
sneak
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| vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行 | |
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34
repudiated
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| v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务） | |
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35
secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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36
justifying
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| 证明…有理( justify的现在分词 )； 为…辩护； 对…作出解释； 为…辩解（或辩护） | |
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37
truthful
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| adj.真实的，说实话的，诚实的 | |
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38
brewer
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| n. 啤酒制造者 | |
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39
gaol
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| n.(jail)监狱；(不加冠词)监禁；vt.使…坐牢 | |
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40
prospect
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| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
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41
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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42
twitch
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| v.急拉，抽动，痉挛，抽搐；n.扯，阵痛，痉挛 | |
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43
expressively
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| ad.表示(某事物)地；表达地 | |
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44
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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45
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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