There is a floating island in the sea where no explorer has set foot, or, setting foot, has returned to tell of what he saw. Lying at our very doors, in the direct path of every steamer from the Gulf1 of Mexico to Europe, it is less known than is the frozen pole. Encyclopedias2 pass over it lightly; atlases3 dismiss it with but a slight mention; maps do not attempt to portray4 its ever-shifting outlines; even the Sunday newspapers, so keen to grasp everything of interest, ignore it.
But on the decks of great ships in the long watches of the night, when the trade-wind snores through the rigging and the waves purr about the bows, the sailor tells strange tales of the spot where ruined ships, raked derelict from all the square miles of ocean, form a great[6] island, ever changing, ever wasting, yet ever lasting5; where, in the ballroom6 of the Atlantic, draped round with encircling weed, they drone away their lives, balancing slowly in a mighty7 tourbillion to the rhythm of the Gulf Stream.
Fanciful? Sailors’ tales? Stories fit only for the marines? Perhaps! Yet be not too sure! Jack8 Tar9, slow of speech, fearful of ridicule10, knows more of the sea than he will tell to the newspapers. Perhaps more than one has drifted to the isle11 of dead ships, and escaped only to be disbelieved in the maelstroms that await him in all the seaports12 of the world.
Facts are facts, none the less because passed on only by word of mouth, and this tale, based on matter gleaned13 beneath the tropic stars, may be truer than men are wont14 to think. Remember Longfellow’s words:
“Wouldst thou,” thus the steersman answered,
“Learn the secret of the sea?
Only those that brave its dangers
Comprehend its mystery.”
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1 gulf | |
n.海湾;深渊,鸿沟;分歧,隔阂 | |
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2 encyclopedias | |
n.百科全书, (某一学科的)专科全书( encyclopedia的名词复数 ) | |
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3 atlases | |
地图集( atlas的名词复数 ) | |
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4 portray | |
v.描写,描述;画(人物、景象等) | |
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5 lasting | |
adj.永久的,永恒的;vbl.持续,维持 | |
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6 ballroom | |
n.舞厅 | |
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7 mighty | |
adj.强有力的;巨大的 | |
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8 jack | |
n.插座,千斤顶,男人;v.抬起,提醒,扛举;n.(Jake)杰克 | |
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9 tar | |
n.柏油,焦油;vt.涂或浇柏油/焦油于 | |
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10 ridicule | |
v.讥讽,挖苦;n.嘲弄 | |
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11 isle | |
n.小岛,岛 | |
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12 seaports | |
n.海港( seaport的名词复数 ) | |
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13 gleaned | |
v.一点点地收集(资料、事实)( glean的过去式和过去分词 );(收割后)拾穗 | |
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14 wont | |
adj.习惯于;v.习惯;n.习惯 | |
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