Thomas Mugridge was proving himself a sneak10, a spy, an informer. He attempted to curry11 favor and reinstate himself in the good graces of the captain by carrying tales of the men forward. He it was, I know, that carried some of Johnson's hasty talk to Wolf Larsen. Johnson, it seems, had bought a suit of oilskins from the slop-chest and found them to be of greatly inferior quality. Nor was he slow in advertising12 the fact. The slop-chest is a sort of miniature dry-goods store which is carried by all sealing-schooners and which is stocked with articles peculiar14 to the needs of the sailors. Whatever a sailor purchases is taken from his subsequent earnings15 on the sealing-grounds; for, as it is with the hunters, so it is with the boat-pullers and steerers: in the place of wages, they receive a 'lay,' a rate of so much per skin for every skin captured in their particular boat.
But of Johnson's grumbling16 at the slop-chest I knew nothing, so that what I witnessed came with the shock of sudden surprise. I had just finished sweeping17 the cabin, and had been inveigled18 by Wolf Larsen into a discussion of Hamlet, his favorite Shakespearean character, when Johansen descended19 the companion-stairs, followed by Johnson. The latter's cap came off, after the custom of the sea, and he stood respectfully in the middle of the cabin, swaying heavily and uneasily to the roll of the schooner13, and facing the captain.
'Shut the doors and draw the slide,' Wolf Larsen said to me.
I noticed an anxious light in Johnson's eyes, but mistook it for the native shyness and embarrassment21 of the man. The mate, Johansen, stood away several feet to the side of him, and fully20 three yards in front of him sat Wolf Larsen on one of the revolving22 cabin chairs. An appreciable23 pause fell after I had closed the doors and drawn24 the slide- a pause that must have lasted fully a minute. It was broken by Wolf Larsen.
'Yonson,' he began.
'My name is Johnson, sir,' the sailor boldly corrected.
'Well, Johnson, then,- you! Can you guess why I have sent for you?'
'Yes, and no, sir,' was the slow reply. 'My work is done well. The mate knows that, and you know it, sir. So there cannot be any complaint.'
'And is that all?' Wolf Larsen queried25, his voice soft and low and purring.
'I know you have it in for me,' Johnson continued with his unalterable and ponderous26 slowness. 'You do not like me. You- you-'
'Go on,' Wolf Larsen prompted. 'Don't be afraid of my feelings.'
'I am not afraid,' the sailor retorted, a slight angry flush rising through his sunburn. 'You do not like me because I am too much of a man, that is why, sir.'
'You are too much of a man for ship discipline, if that is what you mean, and if you know what I mean,' was Wolf Larsen's retort.
'I know English, and I know what you mean, sir,' Johnson answered, his flush deepening at the slur27 on his knowledge of the English language.
'Johnson,' Wolf Larsen said, with an air of dismissing all that had gone before as introductory to the main business in hand, 'I understand you're not quite satisfied with those oilskins.'
'No, I am not. They are no good, sir.'
'And you've been shooting off your mouth about them.'
'I say what I think, sir,' the sailor answered courageously28, not failing at the same time in ship courtesy, which demanded that 'sir' be appended to each speech he made.
It was at this moment that I chanced to glance at Johansen. His big fists were clenching29 and unclenching, and his face was positively30 fiendish, so malignantly31 did he look at Johnson. I noticed a black discoloration, still faintly visible, under Johansen's eye, a mark of the thrashing he had received a few nights before from the sailor. For the first time I began to divine that something terrible was about to be enacted- what, I could not imagine.
'Do you know what happens to men who say what you've said about my slop-chest and me?' Wolf Larsen was demanding.
'I know, sir,' was the answer.
'What?' Wolf Larsen demanded sharply and imperatively32.
'What you and the mate there are going to do to me, sir.'
At this Larsen sprang from the sitting posture33 like a wild animal, a tiger, and like a tiger covered the intervening space in an avalanche34 of fury that Johnson strove vainly to fend35 off. He threw one arm down to protect the stomach, the other arm up to protect the head; but Wolf Larsen's fist drove midway between, on the chest, with a crushing, resounding36 impact. Johnson's breath, suddenly expelled, shot from his mouth, and as suddenly checked, with the forced, audible expiration37 of a man wielding38 an ax. He almost fell backward, and swayed from side to side in an effort to recover his balance.
Johnson fought bravely enough, but he was no match for Wolf Larsen, much less for Wolf Larsen and the mate. It was frightful39. I had not imagined a human being could endure so much and still live and struggle on. And struggle on Johnson did. Of course there was no hope for him, not the slightest, and he knew it as well as I, but by the manhood that was in him he could not cease from fighting for that manhood.
It was too much for me to witness. I felt that I should lose my mind, and I ran up the companion-stairs to open the doors and escape on deck. But Wolf Larsen, leaving his victim for the moment, and with one of his tremendous springs, gained my side, and flung me into the far corner of the cabin.
'The phenomenon of life, Hump,' he girded at me. 'Stay and watch it. You may gather data on the immortality40 of the soul. Besides, you know, we can't hurt Johnson's soul. It's only the fleeting41 form we may demolish42.'
It seemed centuries, possibly it was no more than ten minutes, that the beating continued. And when Johnson could no longer rise, they still continued to beat and kick him where he lay.
'Easy, Johansen; easy as she goes,' Wolf Larsen finally said.
But the beast in the mate was up and rampant43, and Wolf Larsen was compelled to brush him away with a back-handed sweep of the arm, gentle enough, apparently44, but which hurled45 Johansen back like a cork46, driving his head against the wall with a crash. He fell to the floor, half stunned47 for the moment, breathing heavily and blinking his eyes in a stupid sort of way.
'Jerk open the doors, Hump,' Larsen commanded.
I obeyed, and the two brutes48 picked up the senseless man like a sack of rubbish and hove him clear up the companion-stairs, through the narrow doors, and out on deck. Louis, his boat-mate, gave a turn of the wheel and gazed imperturbably49 into the binnacle.
Not so George Leach50, the erstwhile cabin-boy. Fore3 and aft there was nothing that could have surprised us more than his consequent behavior. He it was that came up on the poop, without orders, and dragged Johnson forward, where he set about dressing51 his wounds as well as he could and making him comfortable.
I had come up on deck for a breath of fresh air and to try to get some repose52 for my overwrought nerves. Wolf Larsen was smoking a cigar and examining the patent log which the Ghost usually towed astern, but which had been hauled in for some purpose. Suddenly Leach's voice came to my ears. It was tense and hoarse53 with an overmastering rage. I turned and saw him standing54 just beneath the break of the poop on the port side of the galley55. His face was convulsed and white, his eyes were flashing, his clenched56 fists raised overhead, as the boy hurled his imprecations recklessly full in the face of the captain, who had sauntered slowly forward to the break of the poop, and leaning his elbow on the corner of the cabin, gazed down thoughtfully and curiously57 at the excited boy.
Leach went on, indicting58 Wolf Larsen as he had never been indicted59 before. The sailors assembled in a fearful group just outside the forecastle scuttle60, and watched and listened. The hunters piled pell-mell out of the steerage, but as Leach's tirade61 continued I saw that there was no levity62 in their faces. Even they were frightened, not at the boy's terrible words, but at his terrible audacity63. It did not seem possible that any living creature could thus beard Wolf Larsen to his teeth. I know for myself that I was shocked into admiration64 of the boy, and I saw in him the splendid invincibleness of immortality rising above the flesh and the fears of the flesh, as in the prophets of old, to condemn65 unrighteousness.
And such condemnation66! He haled forth67 Wolf Larsen's soul naked to the scorn of men. He rained upon it curses from God and high heaven, and withered68 it with a heat of invective69 that savored70 of a medieval excommunication of the Catholic Church. He ran the gamut71 of denunciation, rising to heights of wrath72, and from sheer exhaustion73 sinking to the most indecent abuse.
Everybody looked for Larsen to leap upon the boy and destroy him. But it was not his whim74. His cigar went out, and he continued to gaze silently and curiously.
Leach had worked himself into an ecstasy75 of impotent rage.
'Pig! Pig! Pig!' he was reiterating76 at the top of his lungs. 'Why don't you come down and kill me, you murderer? You can do it. I ain't afraid. There's no one to stop you! Come on, you coward! Kill me! Kill me! Kill me!'
It was at this stage that Thomas Mugridge's erratic77 soul brought him into the scene. He had been listening at the galley door, but he now came out, ostensibly to fling some scraps78 over the side, but obviously to see the killing79 he was certain would take place. He smirked80 greasily81 up into the face of Wolf Larsen, who seemed not to see him. But the Cockney was unabashed, and turned to Leach, saying:
'Such language! Shockin'!'
Leach's rage was no longer impotent. Here at last was something ready to hand, and for the first time since the stabbing the Cockney had appeared outside the galley without his knife. The words had barely left his mouth when he was knocked down by Leach. Three times he struggled to his feet, striving to gain the galley, and each time was knocked down.
'Oh, Lord!' he cried. ''Elp! 'Elp! Tyke 'im aw'y, carn't yer? Tyke 'im aw'y!'
The hunters laughed from sheer relief. Tragedy had dwindled82, the farce83 had begun. The sailors now crowded boldly aft, grinning and shuffling84, to watch the pommeling of the hated Cockney. And even I felt a great joy surge up within me. I confess that I delighted in this beating Leach was giving to Thomas Mugridge, though it was as terrible, almost, as the one Mugridge had caused to be given to Johnson. But the expression of Wolf Larsen's face did not change,- nor did his position. For all his pragmatic certitude, it seemed as if he watched the play and movement of life in the hope of discovering something more about it. And no one interfered85. Leach could have killed the Cockney, but, having evidently filled the measure of his vengeance86, he drew away from his prostrate87 foe88, who was whimpering and wailing89 in a puppyish sort of way, and walked forward.
But these two affairs were only the opening events of the day's program. In the afternoon Smoke and Henderson fell foul90 of each other, and a fusillade of shots came up from the steerage, followed by a stampede of the other four hunters for the deck. A column of thick, acrid91 smoke, the kind always made by black powder, was arising through the open companion-way, and down through it leaped Wolf Larsen. The sound of blows and scuffling came to our ears. Both men were wounded, and he was thrashing them both for having disobeyed his orders and crippled themselves in advance of the hunting season. In fact, they were badly wounded, and, having thrashed them, he proceeded to operate upon them in a rough surgical92 fashion and to dress their wounds. I served as assistant while he probed and cleansed93 the passages made by the bullets, and I saw the two men endure his crude surgery without anesthetics and with no more to uphold them than a stiff tumbler of whiskey.
Then, in the first dog-watch, trouble came to a head in the forecastle. It took its rise out of the tittle-tattle and tale-bearing that had been the cause of Johnson's beating, and from the noise we heard, and from the sight of the bruised94 men next day, it was patent that half the forecastle had soundly drubbed the other half.
The second dog-watch and the day wound up with a fight between Johansen and the lean, Yankee-looking hunter, Latimer. It was caused by some remarks of Latimer's concerning the noises made by the mate in his sleep, and though Johansen was whipped, he kept the steerage awake for the rest of the night while he blissfully slumbered95 and fought the fight over and over again.
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1
carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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brutality
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| n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮 | |
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fore
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| adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部 | |
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contagion
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| n.(通过接触的疾病)传染；蔓延 | |
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feuds
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| n.长期不和，世仇( feud的名词复数 ) | |
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grudges
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| 不满，怨恨，妒忌( grudge的名词复数 ) | |
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7
unstable
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| adj.不稳定的，易变的 | |
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equilibrium
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| n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静 | |
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9
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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10
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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11
curry
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| n.咖哩粉，咖哩饭菜；v.用咖哩粉调味，用马栉梳，制革 | |
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12
advertising
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| n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的 | |
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13
schooner
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| n.纵帆船 | |
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peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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15
earnings
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| n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得 | |
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grumbling
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| adj. 喃喃鸣不平的, 出怨言的 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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inveigled
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| v.诱骗，引诱( inveigle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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embarrassment
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| n.尴尬；使人为难的人(事物)；障碍；窘迫 | |
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22
revolving
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| adj.旋转的，轮转式的；循环的v.（使）旋转( revolve的现在分词 )；细想 | |
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23
appreciable
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| adj.明显的，可见的，可估量的，可觉察的 | |
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24
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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25
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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26
ponderous
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| adj.沉重的，笨重的，(文章)冗长的 | |
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27
slur
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| v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音 | |
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28
courageously
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| ad.勇敢地，无畏地 | |
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29
clenching
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的现在分词 ) | |
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30
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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malignantly
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| 怀恶意地； 恶毒地； 有害地； 恶性地 | |
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imperatively
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| adv.命令式地 | |
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posture
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| n.姿势，姿态，心态，态度；v.作出某种姿势 | |
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avalanche
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| n.雪崩，大量涌来 | |
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fend
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| v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开 | |
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36
resounding
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| adj. 响亮的 | |
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expiration
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| n.终结，期满，呼气，呼出物 | |
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38
wielding
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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39
frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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40
immortality
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| n.不死，不朽 | |
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41
fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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42
demolish
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| v.拆毁(建筑物等)，推翻(计划、制度等) | |
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43
rampant
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| adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的 | |
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44
apparently
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| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
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45
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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46
cork
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| n.软木，软木塞 | |
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47
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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48
brutes
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| 兽( brute的名词复数 )； 畜生； 残酷无情的人； 兽性 | |
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49
imperturbably
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| adv.泰然地，镇静地，平静地 | |
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50
leach
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| v.分离，过滤掉；n.过滤；过滤器 | |
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51
dressing
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| n.(食物)调料；包扎伤口的用品，敷料 | |
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52
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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53
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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54
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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55
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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56
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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57
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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58
indicting
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| 控告，起诉( indict的现在分词 ) | |
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59
indicted
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| 控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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60
scuttle
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| v.急赶，疾走，逃避；n.天窗；舷窗 | |
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61
tirade
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| n.冗长的攻击性演说 | |
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62
levity
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| n.轻率，轻浮，不稳定，多变 | |
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63
audacity
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| n.大胆，卤莽，无礼 | |
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64
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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65
condemn
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| vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑 | |
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66
condemnation
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| n.谴责; 定罪 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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68
withered
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| adj. 枯萎的，干瘪的，（人身体的部分器官）因病萎缩的或未发育良好的 动词wither的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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69
invective
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| n.痛骂，恶意抨击 | |
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70
savored
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| v.意味，带有…的性质( savor的过去式和过去分词 )；给…加调味品；使有风味；品尝 | |
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71
gamut
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| n.全音阶，(一领域的)全部知识 | |
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72
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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73
exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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74
whim
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| n.一时的兴致，突然的念头；奇想，幻想 | |
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75
ecstasy
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| n.狂喜，心醉神怡，入迷 | |
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76
reiterating
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的现在分词 ) | |
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77
erratic
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| adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的 | |
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78
scraps
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| 油渣 | |
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79
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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80
smirked
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| v.傻笑( smirk的过去分词 ) | |
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81
greasily
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| adv.多脂，油腻，滑溜地 | |
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82
dwindled
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| v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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83
farce
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| n.闹剧，笑剧，滑稽戏；胡闹 | |
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84
shuffling
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| adj. 慢慢移动的, 滑移的 动词shuffle的现在分词形式 | |
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85
interfered
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| v.干预( interfere的过去式和过去分词 )；调停；妨碍；干涉 | |
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86
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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87
prostrate
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| v.拜倒，平卧，衰竭；adj.拜倒的，平卧的，衰竭的 | |
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88
foe
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| n.敌人，仇敌 | |
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89
wailing
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| v.哭叫，哀号( wail的现在分词 )；沱 | |
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90
foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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91
acrid
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| adj.辛辣的，尖刻的，刻薄的 | |
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92
surgical
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| adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的 | |
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93
cleansed
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| 弄干净，清洗( cleanse的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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94
bruised
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| [医]青肿的，瘀紫的 | |
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95
slumbered
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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