Again and again would I stand watching him till the tears flowed from my eyes. The sailors called him Old Jacob, dimly conceiving that was a good name for anything with a white beard. But alas9! the ocean had marked him for her own, and poor Old Jacob did not live to see land again. His death was very tragical10, and the manner in which I was startled by it leaves the incident, to this moment, very clear in my memory.
We had run out of the north-east trades, and were sweeping11 along over a high sea before a strong breeze of wind. We had met with a bothersome spell of baffling weather north of the equator, and the captain was now “cracking on,” as the term goes, to make up for lost time, carrying a main-royal, when, at an earlier season, he would have been satisfied with a furled topgallant sail, and through it the Lady Violet was thundering with foam12 to the hawse-pipe, the weather-clew of her mainsail up, and the foretop-mast staysail and jibs flapping and banging in the air over the forecastle, where they were becalmed by the forecourse and topsail.
There was a sailor at work on the rigging low down on the fore-shrouds. I had been watching him for some minutes, observing the carelessness[247] of his pose as he stood poised13 on a ratline, whilst I thought how utterly14 hopeless would be the look-out of a man who should fall overboard into the white smother16 roaring alongside; and I turned my back to walk aft, when I heard a loud cry of “Man overboard!”
I looked; the fellow I had been watching had disappeared! I rushed to the side and saw poor Old Jacob skimming along astern! He had his spectacles and his cap on, and he was swimming like a man, striking out with vigour17. He swept to the height of a sea, and his poor white-whiskered face most tragically18 comical with its spectacles stood out clear as a cameo for a breath, ere it vanished in the hollow. It then disappeared for good.
I glanced forward again and perceived the man whom I thought had fallen into the sea climbing out of the forechains to the part of the rigging where he had been at work.
The mate, coming forward, cried, “Who was it that sang out man overboard?”
“I did, sir,” answered the sailor.
“Step aft!” said the mate.
The fellow dropped on to the deck and approached the officer.
“What do you mean,” cried the mate in a passion, “by raising over a monkey such an alarm as man overboard?”
[248]
“I thought it was a man, sir,” answered the sailor. “I had caught sight of him on the jibboom, and believed it was Bill Heenan.”
“What!” shouted the mate, “with those spectacles on?”
“I didn’t notice the spectacles, sir,” said the man; “I see a figure out on the jibboom, and whilst I was looking the jib-sheet chucked him overboard, and that’s why I sung out.”
The mate stared hard at the man, but seemed to think he was telling the truth, on which he told him to go forward and get on with his work, biting his underlip to conceal19 an expression of laughter, as he walked towards the wheel.
That evening, in the second dog-watch, there was a fight between the sailor, whose name was Jim Honeyball, and Bill Heenan. Bill had heard that Jim had mistaken him for Old Jacob, and had told the mate so; and thereupon challenged him to stand up like a man. There was a deal of pummeling, much rolling about, encouraging cheers from the sailors, and “language,” as it is called, on the part of the combatants; but neither was much hurt.
Such was the end of the poor monkey; yet he seemed to have found a successor in Bill Heenan, for, to the end of the voyage, the Irishman was always called Old Jacob.
We were talking in the midshipmen’s berth20 over[249] the loss of the monkey, when Poole, the long midshipman, who was in my watch, spun21 us the following yarn:—“I made my first voyage,” said he, “in a ship called the Sweepstakes, to Madras, Calcutta, and Hong Kong. On our way home we brought up off Singapore for a day on some business of cargo22, of which I forget the nature. I was standing23 at the gangway, my duty as midshipman being to keep the ship’s side clear of loafers, when I saw a large boat heading for us. She was like one of those surf-boats you see at Madras. There were five fellows rowing her, and one chap steered25 with a long oar15. They were all darkies, naked to the waist. I was struck by the manner in which one of them, as the boat approached, looked over the shoulder at our ship. The others kept their eyes on their oars26 or gazed over the stern; but this chap stared continuously behind him as the boat advanced; by which I mean that he looked ahead, for of course a fellow rows with his back upon the bow of a boat. They came alongside, and I found that the men had a great number of monkeys to sell. I looked hard at the fellow whose chin had been upon his shoulder as he rowed, and was wondering what on earth sort of native he was, when, on a sudden, I caught sight of his tail! He was a huge ape, of the size of a man—at all events, of the size of his shipmates. He so much resembled the others at a little distance that there[250] was nothing wonderful in my not having distinguished27 him quickly. He had pulled his oar with fine precision, keeping time like one of the University Eight, and there had been nothing odd about him at all, saving his manner of looking over his shoulder. The others held up monkeys to show us, and, I tell you, I burst into a roar of laughter when I saw this great ape pick up a bit of a marmozette and flourish it up at me as if he would have me buy. In a very little while the ship was full of monkeys. Almost every man amongst us bought one. I chose a pretty little creature that slept in the clews of my hammock all the way home; but he grew so tall and quarrelsome that my mother, when I was absent last year, gave him away to an old gentleman, who shortly afterwards, in the most mysterious manner, disappeared, together with the monkey.”
“Where wath the mythtery?” asked Kennet.
“Well,” said Poole, “the notion was that the monkey had eaten up the old gentleman, dressed himself up in his clothes, and gone to London to consult a solicitor28, with a view of contesting the old man’s will, as being next of kin7.”
We were gradually now drawing near home. The English Channel was no longer so far off but that we could think of it as something within reach of us. All my clothes had shrunk upon me, whence I might know that I had grown much[251] taller and broader than I was when I left England. My face was dark with weather, the palms of my hands hard as horn with pulling and hauling. I had the deep-sea rolling gait that is peculiar29 to sailors, and, indeed, I had been transformed during the months I had been away into as thorough a little “shellback” as was ever made of a boy by old ocean. I was wonderfully hearty30 besides—had the appetite of a wolf and the spirits of a young spaniel. I was equal to doing “my bit” on board ship, whatever might be the job I was set to. I could put as neat a bunt to the furl of the mizzen-royal as any lad aboard, knew how to send the yard down, how to pass an earing—though I was too small, and without sufficient strength, to jockey the yard-arm in reefing—was well acquainted with all the parts of the rigging, and the various uses of the complicated gear; could steer24, make knots of twenty different kinds—in short, I had picked up a great deal of sea knowledge of a working sort; but I knew nothing of navigation beyond the art of bringing the sun down to the horizon through a sextant, and working out a simple proposition of latitude31, for which I had to thank Mr. Cock; Captain Tempest taught me nothing.
I was very eager to get home; I had never before been so long absent from my parents. I was pining, too, for comforts which when at home I had made nothing of, but which I would now[252] think upon as the highest luxuries. How often when hacking32 with a black-handled knife at a piece of iron-hard salt junk and rapping the table with a biscuit to free the mouthful of any stray weevil which might be lurking33 in the honeycombed fragment—how often, I say, has the vision of my father’s table arisen before my eyes: the basin of soup at which I have known myself to sometimes impatiently turn up my nose; the fried sole or delicious morsel34 of salmon35; the roast leg of mutton or sirloin of beef, with its attendant vegetables—things not to be dreamt of at sea—the jam tarts36, the apple pies, the custards, not to mention the dessert! Oh, how often has the lump of cold salt fat pork or the mouthful of nauseous soup and bouilli come near to choking me with those thoughts of breakfast, dinner, and supper at home, which the odious37 nature of the food on our cabin table has excited in my hungry imagination!
After we had crossed the parallels of the Horse Latitudes38, as they are called, we met with some strange weather: thick skies with a look of smoke hanging about the horizon, sometimes the sun showing as a shapeless oozing39, like a rotten orange, a dusky green swell40 rolling up out of two or three quarters at once, as it seemed, and shouldering one another into a jumble41 of liquid hills which strained the ship severely42 with rolling, making every tree-nail, bolt, and strong fastening cry aloud with a[253] voice of its own, whilst the masts were so wrung43 that you would have expected them any minute to snap and fall away overboard.
Some of our passengers whom the mountainous seas of the Horn had not in the least degree affected44 were now sea-sick; in fact, I heard of one lady as lying below dangerously ill with nausea45. The men declared it made them feel squeamish to go aloft. I should have laughed at this in such salt toughened Jacks as they but for an experience of my own; for being sent to loose the mizzen topgallant sail, I was so oppressed with nausea on my arrival at the cross-trees, that it was as much as I could do to get upon the yard and cast the gaskets adrift. This was owing to the monstrous46 inequalities of the ship’s movements, to the swift jerks and staggering recoveries which seemed to displace one’s very stomach in one; added to which was the close oppressive temperature, a thickness of atmosphere that corresponded well with the pease-soup-like appearance of the ocean, and that seemed to be explained by the sulphur-coloured, smoky sort of sky that ringed the horizon.
It was on this same day, or rather in the night of it, during the first watch, from eight o’clock to midnight, that a strange thing happened. It was very dark, so black indeed that though you stood shoulder to shoulder with a man you could see nothing of him. There was no wind, but a heavy[254] swell was running on whose murky47, invisible coils the ship was violently rolling. There was not a break of faintness, not the minutest spot of light in the sky, whose countenance48, with a scowl49 of thunder upon it, seemed to press close to our wildly sheering mast-heads.
There was something so subduing50 in the impenetrable gloom, something that lay with so heavy a weight upon the spirits, that the noisiest amongst us insensibly softened51 his voice to a whisper when he had occasion to speak. I particularly noticed this when some of the watch came aft to clew up the main topgallant sail and snug52 the main sail with its gear; there was no singing out at the ropes; instead of the hoarse53 peculiar songs sailors are wont54 to deliver when they drag, the men pulled silently as ghosts, and not a syllable55 fell from them that was audible to us when they were upon the yard rolling the sail up.
I was holding on to a belaying pin to steady myself when there suddenly shone out a light upon the boom iron at the extremity56 of the main-yard. It was of a greenish hue57, sickly somewhat, so as to make one think of a corpse-candle or a graveyard58 Jack-o’-lantern. It swayed as a bladder would or as a soap-bubble might ere it soars from the pipe out of which it is blown. It had some power of illuminating59 in spite of its wan60 complexion61, for I observed that it threw a very feeble light[257] upon the clew of the sail, and that, as the ship rolled the yard-arm on which it shone towards the sea, the huge, round, ebony black swell mirrored it in the shape of a dull star like a phosphoric jelly-fish.
I had never seen such a sight before, nor indeed had I ever heard of the like of such a thing. I was standing close to Poole at the time, and he said to me—
“What do you think it?”
“Why, but what is it?” I responded.
“A spirit of the sea!” he exclaimed in a sepulchral62 voice; “the ghost of a dead sailor who has grown tired with flying and is resting himself on the yard-arm. The souls of dead seamen63 always carry lanterns with them to show them the road on dark nights after this pattern.”
“Ha! he’s started again!” cried Poole. “He’ll meet with another ship presently and take another spell of rest.”
“A very good explanation, Mr. Poole,” exclaimed the voice of the mate, “but not strictly66 scientific, sir.”
He had been standing within earshot of us, yet was utterly indistinguishable in the blackness.
“The light, Rockafellar,” continued the officer, “is what is called by sailors a corposant. It is supposed that the points of iron on board a ship[258] kindle67 into a flame some quality of electricity in the air. I daresay it will show again in a minute. Yes, as I thought.... It is on the topsail yard-arm now.”
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1
abounding
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| adj.丰富的，大量的v.大量存在，充满，富于( abound的现在分词 ) | |
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2
jacks
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| n.抓子游戏；千斤顶( jack的名词复数 )；（电）插孔；[电子学]插座；放弃 | |
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3
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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4
feign
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| vt.假装，佯作 | |
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5
lather
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| n.(肥皂水的)泡沫，激动 | |
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6
fiddle
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| n.小提琴；vi.拉提琴；不停拨弄，乱动 | |
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7
kin
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| n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的 | |
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8
exquisite
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| adj.精美的；敏锐的；剧烈的，感觉强烈的 | |
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9
alas
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| int.唉(表示悲伤、忧愁、恐惧等) | |
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10
tragical
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| adj. 悲剧的, 悲剧性的 | |
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11
sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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12
foam
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| v./n.泡沫，起泡沫 | |
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13
poised
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| a.摆好姿势不动的 | |
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14
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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15
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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16
smother
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| vt./vi.使窒息；抑制；闷死；n.浓烟；窒息 | |
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17
vigour
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| （=vigor）n.智力，体力，精力 | |
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18
tragically
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| adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地 | |
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19
conceal
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| v.隐藏，隐瞒，隐蔽 | |
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20
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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21
spun
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| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
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22
cargo
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| n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物 | |
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23
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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24
steer
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| vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶 | |
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25
steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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26
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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27
distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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28
solicitor
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| n.初级律师，事务律师 | |
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29
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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30
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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31
latitude
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| n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区 | |
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32
hacking
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| n.非法访问计算机系统和数据库的活动 | |
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33
lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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34
morsel
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| n.一口，一点点 | |
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35
salmon
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| n.鲑，大马哈鱼，橙红色的 | |
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36
tarts
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| n.果馅饼( tart的名词复数 )；轻佻的女人；妓女；小妞 | |
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37
odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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38
latitudes
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| 纬度 | |
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39
oozing
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| v.（浓液等）慢慢地冒出，渗出( ooze的现在分词 )；使（液体）缓缓流出；（浓液）渗出，慢慢流出 | |
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40
swell
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| vi.膨胀，肿胀；增长，增强 | |
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41
jumble
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| vt.使混乱，混杂；n.混乱；杂乱的一堆 | |
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42
severely
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| adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地 | |
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43
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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44
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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45
nausea
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| n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶) | |
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46
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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47
murky
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| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
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48
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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49
scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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50
subduing
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| 征服( subdue的现在分词 )； 克制； 制服； 色变暗 | |
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51
softened
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| （使）变软( soften的过去式和过去分词 )； 缓解打击； 缓和； 安慰 | |
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52
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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53
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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54
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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55
syllable
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| n.音节；vt.分音节 | |
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56
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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57
hue
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| n.色度；色调；样子 | |
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58
graveyard
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| n.坟场 | |
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59
illuminating
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| a.富于启发性的，有助阐明的 | |
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60
wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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61
complexion
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| n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格 | |
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62
sepulchral
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| adj.坟墓的，阴深的 | |
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63
seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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64
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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65
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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66
strictly
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| adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地 | |
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67
kindle
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| v.点燃，着火 | |
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