After a while the door of my state-room was opened a little and a man peeped in; and when he saw my open eyes looking at him he came in altogether, giving me a nod and a smile. He was a tall fellow in a blue uniform, with a face that I liked the looks of; and when he spoke5 to me I liked the sound of his voice.
"You must be after being own cousin to all the Seven Sleepers7 of Ephesus and the dog too, my big young man," he said, holding fast to the upper berth8 to steady himself. "You've put in ten solid hours, so far, and you don't seem to be over wide awake yet. Faith, I'd be after backing you to sleep standing9, like Father O'Rafferty's old dun cow!"
I did not feel up to answering him, but I managed to grin a little, and he went on: "I'm for thinking that I'd better let that broken head of yours alone till this fool of a ship is sitting still again—instead of trying to teach the porpoises11 such tricks of rolling and pitching as never entered into their poor brute12 minds. But you'll do without doctoring for the present, myself having last night sewed up all right and tight for you the bit of your scalp that had fetched away. How does it feel?"
"It hurts," was all that I could answer.
"And small blame to it," said the doctor, and went on: "It's a well-made thick head you have, and it's tough you are, my son, not to be killed entirely13 by such a whack14 as you got on your brain-box—to say nothing of your fancy for trying to cure it hydropathically by taking it into the sea with you when you were for crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the fag-end of a mast. It's much indeed that you have to learn, I am thinking, both about surgery and about taking care of yourself. But in the former you'll now do well, being in the competent hands of a graduate of Dublin University; and in regard to your incompetence15 in the latter good reason have you for being thankful that the Hurst Castle happened to be travelling in these parts last night, and that her third officer is blessed with a pair of extra big ears and so happened to hear you talking to him from out of the depths of the sea.
"But talking isn't now the best thing for you, and some more of the sleep that you're so fond of is—if only the tumbling of the ship will let you have it; so take this powder into that mouth of yours which you opened so wide when you were conversing16 with us as we went sailing past you, and then stop your present chattering17 and take all the sleep that you can hold."
With that he put a bitter powder into my mouth, and gave me a drink of water after it—raising me up with a wonderful deftness18 and gentleness that I might take it, and settling me back again on the pillow in just the way that I wanted to lie. "And now be off again to your friends the Ephesians," he said; "only remember that if you or they—or their dog either, poor beasty—wants anything, it's only needed to touch this electric bell. As to the doggy," he added, with his hand on the door-knob, "tell him to poke6 at the button with the tip of his foolish nose." And with that he opened the door and went away. All this light friendly talk was such a comfort to me—showing, as it did, along with the good care that I was getting, what kindly19 people I had fallen among—that in my weak state I cried a little because of my happy thankfulness; and then, my weakness and the powder acting20 together to lull21 me, in spite of the ship's sharp motion I went off again to sleep.
But that time my sleep did not last long. In less than an hour, I suppose, the motion became so violent as to shake me awake again—and to give me all that I could do to keep myself from being shot out of my berth upon the floor. Presently the doctor came again, fetching with him one of the cabin stewards22 to rig the storm-board at the side of my berth and some extra pillows with which to wedge me fast. But though he gave me a lot more of his pleasant chaff24 to cheer me I could see that his look was anxious, and it seemed to me that the steward23 was badly scared. Between them they managed to stow me pretty tight in my berth and to make me as comfortable as was possible while everything was in such commotion—with the ship bouncing about like a pea on a hot shovel25 and all the wood-work grinding and creaking with the sudden lifts and strains.
"It's a baddish gale26 that's got hold of the old Hurst Castle, and that's a fact," the doctor said, when they had finished with me, in answer to the questioning look that he saw in my eyes. "But it's nothing to worry about," he went on; "except that it's hard on you, with that badly broken head of yours, to be tumbled about worse than Mother O'Donohue's pig when they took it to Limerick fair in a cart. So just lie easy there among your pillows, my son; and pretend that it's exercise that you are taking for the good of your liver—which is a torpid27 and a sluggish28 organ in the best of us, and always the better for such a shaking as the sea is giving us now. And be remembering that the Hurst Castle is a Clyde-built boat, with every plate and rivet29 in her as good as a Scotsman knows how to make it—and in such matters it's the Sandies who know more than any other men alive. In my own ken10 she's pulled through storms fit to founder30 the Giant's Causeway and been none the worse for 'em, and so it's herself that's certain to weather this bit of a gale—which has been at its worst no less than two times this same morning, and therefore by all rule and reason must be for breaking soon.
"And be thinking, too," he added as he was leaving me, "that I'll be coming in to look after you now and then when I have a spare minute—for there are some others, I'm sorry to say, who are after needing me; and as soon as the gale goes down a bit I'll overhaul31 again that cracked head of yours, and likely be singing you at the same time for your amusement a real Irish song." But not much was there of singing, nor of any other show of lightheartedness, aboard the Hurst Castle during the next twelve hours. So far from breaking, the gale—as the doctor had called it, although in reality it was a hurricane—got worse steadily32; with only a lull now and then, as though for breath-taking, and then a fiercer rush of wind—before which the ship would reel and shiver, while the grinding of her iron frame and the crunching33 of her wood-work made a sort of wild chorus of groans34 and growls35. For all my wedging of pillows I was near to flying over the storm-board out of my berth with some of the plunges36 that she took; and very likely I should have had such a tumble had not the doctor returned again in a little while and with the mattress37 from the upper berth so covered me as to jam me fast—and how he managed to do this, under the circumstances, I am sure I don't know.
When he had finished my packing he bent38 down over me—or I could not have heard him—and said: "It's sorry I am for you, my poor boy, for you're getting just now more than your full share of troubles. But we're all in a pickle39 together, and that's a fact, and the choice between us is small. And I'd be for suggesting that if you know such a thing as a prayer or two you'll never have a finer opportunity for saying them than you have now." And by that, and by the friendly sorrowful look that he gave me, I knew that our peril40 must be extreme.
I don't like to think of the next few hours; while I lay there packed tight as any mummy, and with no better than a mummy's chances, as it seemed to me, of ever seeing the live world again—terrified by the awful war of the storm and by the confusion of wild noises, and every now and then sharply startled by hearing on the deck above me a fierce crash as something fetched away. It was a bad time, Heaven knows, for everybody; but for me I thought that it was worst of all. For there I was lying in utter helplessness, with the certainty that if the ship foundered41 there was not a chance for me—since I must drown solitary42 in my state-room, like a rat drowned in a hole.
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1
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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2
barometer
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| n.气压表，睛雨表，反应指标 | |
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3
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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4
doze
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| v.打瞌睡；n.打盹，假寐 | |
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5
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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6
poke
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| n.刺，戳，袋；vt.拨开，刺，戳；vi.戳，刺，捅，搜索，伸出，行动散慢 | |
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7
sleepers
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| n.卧铺（通常以复数形式出现）；卧车( sleeper的名词复数 )；轨枕；睡觉（呈某种状态）的人；小耳环 | |
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8
berth
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| n.卧铺，停泊地，锚位；v.使停泊 | |
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9
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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10
ken
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| n.视野，知识领域 | |
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11
porpoises
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| n.鼠海豚( porpoise的名词复数 ) | |
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12
brute
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| n.野兽，兽性 | |
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13
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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14
whack
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| v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份 | |
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15
incompetence
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| n.不胜任，不称职 | |
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16
conversing
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| v.交谈，谈话( converse的现在分词 ) | |
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17
chattering
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| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
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18
deftness
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19
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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20
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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21
lull
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| v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇 | |
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22
stewards
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| （轮船、飞机等的）乘务员( steward的名词复数 )； （俱乐部、旅馆、工会等的）管理员； （大型活动的）组织者； （私人家中的）管家 | |
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23
steward
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| n.乘务员，服务员；看管人；膳食管理员 | |
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24
chaff
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| v.取笑，嘲笑；n.谷壳 | |
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25
shovel
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| n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出 | |
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26
gale
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| n.大风，强风，一阵闹声（尤指笑声等） | |
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27
torpid
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| adj.麻痹的，麻木的，迟钝的 | |
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28
sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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29
rivet
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| n.铆钉；vt.铆接，铆牢；集中(目光或注意力) | |
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30
Founder
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| n.创始者，缔造者 | |
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31
overhaul
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| v./n.大修，仔细检查 | |
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32
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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33
crunching
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| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的现在分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
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34
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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35
growls
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| v.（动物）发狺狺声， （雷）作隆隆声( growl的第三人称单数 )；低声咆哮着说 | |
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36
plunges
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| n.跳进，投入vt.使投入，使插入，使陷入vi.投入，跳进，陷入v.颠簸( plunge的第三人称单数 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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37
mattress
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| n.床垫，床褥 | |
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38
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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39
pickle
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| n.腌汁，泡菜；v.腌，泡 | |
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40
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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41
foundered
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| v.创始人( founder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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42
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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