All that I had hoped to find aboard of her in the way of comforts and luxuries was there, and more too. Indeed, if a good bed, and the best of food, and excellent wines and tobacco, had been all that I wanted I very well might have settled myself on the Ville de Saint Remy for the balance of my days. But I almost resented the luck which had brought me all these things—for which I had been longing3 so keenly but a few hours before—because I did not find with them what I desired still more earnestly: the means that would enable me to get away seaward and leave them all behind. What such means would be, it is only fair to add, I could not imagine; at least, I could not imagine anything at all reasonable—for the only thing I could think of that would carry me out across that weed-covered ocean to open water was a balloon.
And so, although I fed daintily and drank of the best, and had good tobacco to cheer me after my meals, my first day aboard the Ville de Saint Remy was as sad a one as any that I had passed since I had come into my sea-prison; for while the daylight lasted, and I wandered about her decks looking always at the barrier of weed which held me there, I had clearly before me the impossibility of ever getting away. Only when darkness came, hiding my prison walls from me, did I become a little more cheerful—as the very human disposition4 to make light of difficulties when they no longer are visible began to assert itself in my mind.
Down in the comfortable cabin, well lighted and airy, I had a capital dinner—and a bottle of sound Bordeaux with it that no doubt added a good deal to my sanguine5 cheerfulness; and to end with I made myself some delicious coffee—over a spirit-lamp that I found in the pantry—and had with it a glass of Benedictine and a very choice cigar. And all of these luxurious6 refreshments7 of the flesh—which set me to smiling a little as I thought of the contrast that they made to my surroundings—so comforted my spirit that my gloomy thoughts left me, and I began to plan airily how I would start off in a boat well loaded with provisions and somehow or another push my way through the weed. I even got along to details: deciding that it would be quite an easy matter to open a way through the tangle8 over the bows of my boat with an oar—or with an axe9, if need be—and then press forward by poling against the weed on each side; which seemed so feasible a method that I concluded I could accomplish readily at least a mile a day. And so, with these fine fancies dancing in my brain, I settled myself into a delightful10 bed; and as I drowsed off deliciously I had the comforting conviction that in a little while longer all my difficulties would be conquered and all my troubles at an end.
With the return of daylight, giving me an outlook over the weed-covered water again, most of my hopefulness left me along with most of my faith in my airily-made plan; but even in this colder mood it did seem to me that there was at least a chance of my pulling through—and my slim courage was strengthened by the feeling within me that unless I threw myself with all my energy into work of some sort I presently would find myself going melancholy11 mad. And so, but only half-heartedly, I mustered12 up resolution to make a trial of my poor project for getting away.
On board the Ville de Saint Remy there was nothing to be done. The corner-stone of my undertaking13 was finding a boat and launching it, and the Frenchmen—in their panic-stricken scamper14 from a danger that was mainly in their own lively imaginations—had carried all their boats away. It was necessary, therefore, that I should go on a cruise among the other wrecks lying around me in search of a boat still in a condition to swim; but I was very careful this time—profiting by my rough experience—to make sure before I started of my safe return. Fortunately the stern of the steamer was so high out of the water that it rose conspicuously15 above the wrecks lying thereabouts; but to make her still more conspicuous16 I roused out a couple of French flags and an American flag from her signal-chest and set them at her three mastheads—giving to our own colors the place of honor on the mainmast—and so made her quite unmistakable from as far off as I could see her through the haze17. And as a still farther precaution against losing myself I hunted up a hatchet18 to take along with me to blaze my way. All of which matters being attended to, I made a rope fast to the rail—knotting it at intervals19, so that I could climb it again easily—and so slipped down the steamer's side.
My business was only with the wrecks lying along the extreme outer edge of the pack—from which alone it would be possible for me to launch a boat in the event of my finding one—but in order to get from one to the other of them I had to make so many long detours20 that my progress was very slow. Indeed, by the time that noon came, and I stopped to eat my dinner—which I had brought along with me, that I need not have to hunt for it—I had made less than half a mile in a straight line. And in none of the vessels21 that I had crossed—except on one lying so far in the pack as to be of no use to me—had I found a single boat that would swim. Nor had I any better luck when I went on with my search again in the afternoon. As it had been in the case of the Hurst Castle so it had been, I suppose, in the case of all the wrecks which I examined that day: either their boats had been staved-in or washed overboard by tempest, or else had served to carry away their crews. But what had become of them, so far as I was concerned, made no difference—the essential matter was that they were gone. And so, toward evening, I turned backward from my fruitless journey and headed for the Ville de Saint Remy again—for I had found no other ship so comfortable in the course of my explorations—and got safe aboard of her just as the sun was going down.
That night I had not much comfort in the good dinner that I set out for myself—though I was glad enough to get it, being both hungry and tired—and I only half plucked up my spirits over my coffee and cigar. But still, as the needs of my body were gratified, my mind got so far soothed22 and refreshed that I held to my purpose—which had been pretty much given over when I came back tired and hungry after my vain search—and I went to bed resolute23 to begin again my explorations on the following day.
But when the morning came and I set off—though I had a good breakfast inside of me, and such a store of food by me as fairly would have set me dancing with delight only a week before—I was in low spirits and went at my work rather because I was resolved to push through with it than because I had any strong hope that it would give me what I desired.
This time—having already examined the wrecks for near a mile northward24 along the edge of the pack—I set my course for the south; and again, until late in the afternoon, I worked my way from ship to ship—with long detours inland from time to time in order to get around some break in the coast-line—and on all of them the result was the same: not a boat did I find anywhere that was not so riven and shattered as to be beyond all hope of repair. And at nightfall I came back once more to the Ville de Saint Remy wearied out in body and utterly25 dispirited in mind.
Even after I had eaten my dinner and was smoking at my ease in the cheerfully lighted cabin, sitting restfully in a big arm-chair and with every sort of material comfort at hand, I could not whip myself up to hoping again. It was true that I had not exhausted26 the possibilities of finding the boat that I desired so eagerly, for my search along the coast-line had extended for only about a mile each way; but in my down-hearted state it seemed to me that my search had gone far enough to settle definitely that what I wanted was not to be found. And this brought down on me heavily the conviction that my prison—though it was the biggest, I suppose, that ever a man was shut up in—must hold me fast always: and with that feeling in it there no longer was room for hope also in my heart.
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1
snugly
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| adv.紧贴地；贴身地；暖和舒适地；安适地 | |
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2
wrecks
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| n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 )；（事故中）遭严重毁坏的汽车（或飞机等）；（身体或精神上）受到严重损伤的人；状况非常糟糕的车辆（或建筑物等）v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 )；使（船舶）失事，使遇难，使下沉 | |
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3
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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4
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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6
luxurious
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| adj.精美而昂贵的；豪华的 | |
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7
refreshments
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| n.点心,便餐;(会议后的)简单茶点招 待 | |
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8
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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9
axe
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| n.斧子；v.用斧头砍，削减 | |
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10
delightful
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| adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的 | |
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11
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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12
mustered
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的过去式和过去分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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13
undertaking
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| n.保证，许诺，事业 | |
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14
scamper
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| v.奔跑，快跑 | |
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15
conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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16
conspicuous
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| adj.明眼的，惹人注目的；炫耀的，摆阔气的 | |
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17
haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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18
hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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19
intervals
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| n.[军事]间隔( interval的名词复数 )；间隔时间；[数学]区间；（戏剧、电影或音乐会的）幕间休息 | |
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20
detours
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| 绕行的路( detour的名词复数 )； 绕道，兜圈子 | |
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21
vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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22
soothed
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| v.安慰( soothe的过去式和过去分词 )；抚慰；使舒服；减轻痛苦 | |
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23
resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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24
northward
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| adv.向北；n.北方的地区 | |
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25
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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26
exhausted
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| adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的 | |
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