I now gave all up for lost, and waited, hardly breathing, for the crash of the end. The water on deck burst in through every crevice6, and rose upon the lee-side until I was obliged to climb up to the fast-clamped settees to windward to avoid being drowned. The uproar7 on deck was louder than ever, and I fancied83 that I could hear every now and then through the tumult8 the rending9 and crashing of spars, and feel the shattering blow of their great masses against the hull10 alongside. But still the vessel appeared staunch, although every inch of her framework visible in the cabin was all awork.
After what seemed like a whole day, but could only have been two or three hours, she began to right herself, and the din3 outside grew less deafening11. Rapidly the howl of the wind moderated, although the vessel still tossed and tumbled about in frantic12 fashion, until my anxiety to see daylight again got the better of my fears, and I painfully made my way up the companion, opened it, and stepped on to the poop. The sight I beheld13 took away my breath. The Blitzen was a complete wreck14. Not a stick was standing15 except the three jagged stumps16 of the lower masts; the bulwarks17 were stripped from her sides for their entire length, the house on deck had clean disappeared, and everything that could be torn from its fastenings about the decks had gone also. It was a clean sweep. A cold shiver went through me, such as one might feel upon awakening18 to find his house roofless and all his household goods exposed to the glare of day. But the sky was clear, the sea was going down, and we were still afloat. A great wave of thankfulness came over me, suddenly checked by the paralyzing thought that perhaps we had sprung a leak. I stood still for a moment while this latest fear soaked in; then, bracing20 myself up to learn the worst, I hurried forrard to try and find the rod to sound the well. But it had gone, among the84 rest of the carpenter’s gear, with the deck-house, and I was obliged to give up the idea. Returning aft, I uncovered the cabin skylight and went below, finding You Sing busy preparing some food. Then I suddenly remembered that I was ravenously21 hungry, and we all three sat down and ate our fill cheerfully and gladly. But while we were swallowing the last morsels22 of our meal, You Sing gravely lifted his hand and sat listening intently. There was a strange sound on deck, and it made me almost helpless with fear; for it sounded like the singing chatter23 of Chinese. We sat for a few moments as if suddenly frozen, listening with every faculty24, and hardly breathing. Then, ghost-like, You Sing rose, and, taking the two of us by the arms, gently persuaded us into one of the state-rooms at hand, and signed to us to keep close while he went to investigate. Noiselessly he glided25 away from us and was gone, leaving us a prey26 to the most harrowing sensations in the belief that all our cruel forebodings were about to be proved true. For some time not a sound could be heard in our hiding-place except the soothing27 creak of the timbers or the wash of the caressing28 waves outside the hull. Yet I remember curiously29 how even in that agony of suspense30 I noticed that the motion of the ship was changed. She no longer seemed to swing buoyantly from wave to wave, but solemnly, stolidly31, she rolled, as if the sea had taken possession of her, and bereft32 her of her own grace of mastery.
A confused thudding sound reached us from above, as if caused by the pattering of bare feet on deck;85 but there were no voices, nor, indeed, any other noises to give us a clue as to what was going on. Very soon even that slight sound ceased, and we were left again to the dumbness of our surroundings. The child went to sleep; and I, after perhaps half an hour of strained listening, felt that I could bear this condition of things no longer, for it had seemed like a whole day to my excited imaginings. So, as silently as had You Sing long ago, I stole from the little state-room and across the saloon. With all my terrors weighing me down, I crawled, worm-like, up the companion-ladder, and wriggled33 on to the deck on all-fours. The sea, and the sky, and the barren deck all lay in perfect silence, which pressed upon me like one of those nightmares in which you feel that unless you can scream you must die. After two or three attempts, I moistened my parched34 mouth and called, “You Sing!” There was no voice of any one that answered. But that I think the limit of my capacity for being terrified had been reached some time before, I believe this irresponsiveness, with its accompanying sensation of being utterly35 alone, would have made me an idiot. As it was, I only felt numbed36 and tired. Slowly I stood up upon my feet, and went forrard to the break of the poop, learning at once the reason of You Sing’s silence; for by the side of the after-hatch lay three Chinese, naked and dead, bearing on their bodies the grim evidences of the method of their ending. Close to the cabin door, as if he had dragged himself away from his late antagonists37 in the vain hope of reaching his friends again, lay You Sing. As I looked down upon him he86 moved slightly. In a moment, forgetting everything else, I was by his side, and lifted his head upon my knee. He opened his glazing38 eyes and looked up into my face with his old sweet smile, now with something of highest satisfaction in it. His dry lips opened, and he murmured, “’Ullo, Tommy; all litee.” Then the intelligence faded out of his eyes, and he left me.
It must have been hours afterwards when I again realized my surroundings. Elsie was sitting by the piece of yellow clay that had been You Sing, perfectly39 still, but with an occasional tearing sob40. She must have been crying for a long time. Gradually the whole of the past came back to me, and I saw how our dead friend had indeed paid in full what he considered to be his debt to us; although how that mild and gentle creature, in whom I never saw even so much as a shade of vexation, much less anger, could have risen to such a height of fighting valour as to slay41 three men in our defence was utterly beyond my powers of comprehension. For, without attempting any eloquence42 of panegyric43, that was precisely44 what he had done, and with his opponent’s own weapons, too. To say that I had not really felt lonely and helpless until now only faintly conveys the appalling45 sense of loss that had come upon me. As for the poor child, she crouched46 by the side of the corpse47, scarcely more alive than it was, manifesting no fear or repugnance48 at the presence of death; indeed, she appeared unable to realize the great fact in its full terror.
How long we both sat in this dazed condition it is impossible to say with any definiteness. No doubt it87 was for several hours, for we both seemed only partially49 alive; and, for my part, the only impression left was that all besides ourselves were dead. That feeling carried with it a dim anticipation50 that we too might expect to find our turn to depart confronting us at any moment; but in this thought there was no fear, rather relief.
How often, I wonder, has it been noted51 that in times of deep mental distress52, when the mind appears to have had a mortal blow, and all those higher faculties53 which are our peculiar54 possession are so numbed that they give no definite assistance to the organism, the animal needs of the body have instinctively55 asserted themselves, and thus saved the entire man or woman from madness or death? It must surely be one of the commonest of experiences, although seldom formulated56 in so many words. At any rate, this was now the case with me. Gradually the fact that I was parched with thirst became the one conscious thing; and, without thinking about it, without any definite idea even, I found myself on my feet, swaying and staggering as I crossed the bare deck to where the scuttle-butt used to be lashed57. Finding it gone, I stood helplessly staring at the ends of the lashings that had secured it, with a dull, stupid anger of disappointment. Then I began to think; I had to, for my need was imperative58. I remembered that You Sing had brought into the cabin before the typhoon a store of water sufficient for days. This mental effort was bracing, doing much to restore me again to some show of usefulness. I soon found the water, and hurried on deck once more, for88 the cabin was no place to stay in now. It was tenanted by shapes of dread59, full of inaudible signs of woe60; and right glad was I to regain61 the side of the little girl for living companionship. I offered her some water. She looked at it dully, as if unable to attach any idea to it; and it was only by repeatedly rousing her that I managed to awaken19 any reason in her injured mind at all. In the absence of any such compulsion, I think she would have just sat still and ceased to live, painlessly and unconsciously.
Now that the needs of another were laid upon me, I began to move about a little more briskly, and to notice our condition with returning interest. For some time the strange steadiness of the ship had puzzled me without arousing any definite inquiry62 in my mind as to the cause of it. But in crossing the deck to re-enter the cabin the true significance of that want of motion suddenly burst upon me, for I saw the calm face of the water only a few inches from the deck-line. The Blitzen was sinking. During the typhoon she must have received tremendous injuries from the wreckage63 of her top-hamper, that, floating alongside, entangled64 in the web of its rigging, was as dangerous as so many rocks would have been. There was urgent need now for thought and action also, for there was nothing of any kind on deck floatable. Boats, spars, hen-coops, all had gone. A thousand futile65 thoughts chased one another through my throbbing66 brain, but they ran in circles that led nowhere. There seemed to be no possible means of escape. Yet somehow I was not hopeless. I felt a curious reliance upon89 the fact that we two small people had come through so much unhurt in any way, and this baseless unreasoning faith in our good (?) fortune forbade me to despair. So that I cannot say I felt greatly surprised when I presently saw on the starboard side forrard a small sampan floating placidly68, its grass painter made fast to the fore-chains. There was no mystery about its appearance. It had brought those awful visitors whose defeat caused You Sing his life, and was probably the only surviving relic69 of some junk that had foundered70 in the storm. The sight of it did me a world of good. Rushing to Elsie, I pointed71 out the fact of our immediate72 danger, and of the hope left us, and after some little difficulty succeeded in getting her into the sampan. The Blitzen was now so low in the water that my remaining time was countable73 by seconds. I flew into the cabin, snatched up a few biscuits and the large can of water that stood in the bathroom, and rushed for the boat. As I scrambled74 into her with my burden I noticed shudderingly75 that the ship was beginning to move, but with such a motion! It was like the death-throe of a man—a physical fact with which of late I had been well acquainted. Every plank76 of her groaned77 as if in agony; she gave a quivering sideway stagger. My fingers trembled so that I could hardly cast adrift the painter, which I was compelled to do, having no knife. I got the clumsy hitches78 adrift at last, and with one of the rough oars79 gave our frail80 craft a vigorous shove off, Elsie staring all the while at the huge hull with dilating81 eyes and drawn82 white face. Presently the Blitzen seemed to stumble; a wave upreared itself out of the smooth brightness of the placid67 sea and embraced her bows, drawing them gently down. So gently, like a tired woman sinking to rest, did the Blitzen leave the light, and only a few foam-flecked whorls and spirals on the surface marked for a minute or two the spot where she had been.
Happily for us who were left, our troubles were nearly at an end. One calm night of restless dozing83 under the warm sky, trying not to think of what a tiny bubble we made on the wide sea, we passed not uncomfortably. Just before dawn I felt rather than heard a throbbing, its regular pulsations beating steadily84 as if inside my head. But they had not lasted one minute before I knew them for the propeller-beat of a steamer, and strained my eyes around through the departing darkness for a sight of her. Straight for us she came, the watchful85 officer on the bridge having seen us more than a mile off. In the most matter-of-fact way we were taken on board, and Elsie was soon mothered by the skipper’s wife, while I was being made much of by the men. And that was all. Of all that mass of treasure that had caused the sacrifice of so many lives not one atom remained where it could ever again raise the demon86 of murder in human breasts. And although I could not realize all this, I really did not feel sorry that I had not succeeded in saving the slightest portion of it, my thankfulness at being spared alive being so great.
There were no passengers on board to make a fuss, so none was made. Three days afterwards we were at Hong Kong, and Elsie was handed over to the German91 Consul87, who gravely took down my story, but I could see did not believe half of it. I bade good-bye to Elsie, having elected to remain by the steamer, where I was being well treated, and in due time reached England again, a step nearer to becoming a full-fledged seaman88.
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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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outrageous
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| adj.无理的，令人不能容忍的 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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lurch
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| n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行 | |
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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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crevice
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| n.(岩石、墙等)裂缝；缺口 | |
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uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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rending
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| v.撕碎( rend的现在分词 )；分裂；（因愤怒、痛苦等而）揪扯（衣服或头发等）；（声音等）刺破 | |
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hull
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| n.船身；(果、实等的)外壳；vt.去(谷物等)壳 | |
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deafening
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| adj. 振耳欲聋的, 极喧闹的 动词deafen的现在分词形式 | |
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12
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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13
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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14
wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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15
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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16
stumps
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| （被砍下的树的）树桩( stump的名词复数 )； 残肢； （板球三柱门的）柱； 残余部分 | |
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bulwarks
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| n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙 | |
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awakening
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| n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的 | |
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awaken
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| vi.醒，觉醒；vt.唤醒，使觉醒，唤起，激起 | |
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bracing
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| adj.令人振奋的 | |
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ravenously
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| adv.大嚼地，饥饿地 | |
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morsels
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| n.一口( morsel的名词复数 )；（尤指食物）小块，碎屑 | |
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chatter
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| vi.／n.喋喋不休；短促尖叫；(牙齿)打战 | |
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faculty
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| n.才能；学院，系；(学院或系的)全体教学人员 | |
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glided
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| v.滑动( glide的过去式和过去分词 )；掠过；（鸟或飞机 ） 滑翔 | |
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prey
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| n.被掠食者，牺牲者，掠食；v.捕食，掠夺，折磨 | |
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soothing
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| adj.慰藉的；使人宽心的；镇静的 | |
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caressing
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| 爱抚的，表现爱情的，亲切的 | |
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curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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suspense
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| n.（对可能发生的事）紧张感，担心，挂虑 | |
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stolidly
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| adv.迟钝地，神经麻木地 | |
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bereft
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| adj.被剥夺的 | |
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wriggled
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| v.扭动，蠕动，蜿蜒行进( wriggle的过去式和过去分词 )；（使身体某一部位）扭动；耍滑不做，逃避（应做的事等） | |
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parched
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| adj.焦干的；极渴的；v.（使）焦干 | |
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utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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numbed
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| v.使麻木，使麻痹( numb的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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antagonists
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| 对立[对抗] 者，对手，敌手( antagonist的名词复数 )； 对抗肌； 对抗药 | |
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38
glazing
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| n.玻璃装配业；玻璃窗；上釉；上光v.装玻璃( glaze的现在分词 )；上釉于，上光；（目光）变得呆滞无神 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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40
sob
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| n.空间轨道的轰炸机；呜咽，哭泣 | |
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41
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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42
eloquence
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| n.雄辩；口才，修辞 | |
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panegyric
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| n.颂词，颂扬 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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45
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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46
crouched
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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corpse
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| n.尸体，死尸 | |
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48
repugnance
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| n.嫌恶 | |
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49
partially
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| adv.部分地，从某些方面讲 | |
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50
anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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51
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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52
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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53
faculties
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| n.能力( faculty的名词复数 )；全体教职员；技巧；院 | |
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54
peculiar
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| adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的 | |
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instinctively
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| adv.本能地 | |
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56
formulated
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| v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示 | |
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57
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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60
woe
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| n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌 | |
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61
regain
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| vt.重新获得，收复，恢复 | |
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62
inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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63
wreckage
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| n.（失事飞机等的）残骸，破坏，毁坏 | |
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64
entangled
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| adj.卷入的；陷入的；被缠住的；缠在一起的v.使某人（某物/自己）缠绕，纠缠于（某物中），使某人（自己）陷入（困难或复杂的环境中）( entangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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65
futile
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| adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的 | |
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66
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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67
placid
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| adj.安静的，平和的 | |
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placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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relic
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| n.神圣的遗物，遗迹，纪念物 | |
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70
foundered
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| v.创始人( founder的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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71
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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immediate
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| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
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countable
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| adj.可数的，可以计算的 | |
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74
scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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75
shudderingly
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76
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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77
groaned
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| v.呻吟( groan的过去式和过去分词 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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78
hitches
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| 暂时的困难或问题( hitch的名词复数 )； 意外障碍； 急拉； 绳套 | |
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79
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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80
frail
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| adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的 | |
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81
dilating
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| v.（使某物）扩大，膨胀，张大( dilate的现在分词 ) | |
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82
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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83
dozing
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| v.打瞌睡,假寐 n.瞌睡 | |
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84
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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85
watchful
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| adj.注意的，警惕的 | |
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86
demon
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| n.魔鬼，恶魔 | |
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87
consul
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| n.领事；执政官 | |
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88
seaman
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| n.海员，水手，水兵 | |
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