We depart for Europe — a misunderstanding arises between the Captain and the Surgeon, through the scandalous aspersions of Crampley — the Captain dies — Crampley tyrannises over the surgeon, who falls a Victim for his Cruelty — I am also ill-used — the Ship strikes — the behaviour of Crampley and the Seamen1 on that occasion — -I get on shore, challenge the Captain to single combat — am treacherously2 knocked down, wounded, and robbed
Now that I could return to my native country in a creditable way, I felt excessive pleasure in finding myself out of sight of that fatal island, which has been the grave of so many Europeans: and, as I was accommodated with everything to make the passage agreeable, I resolved to enjoy myself as much as the insolence3 of Crampley would permit. This insidious4 slanderer5 had found means already to cause a misunderstanding between the surgeon and captain, who, by his age and infirmities, was rendered intolerably peevish6, his disposition7 having also been soured by a long course of disappointments. He had a particular aversion to all young men, especially to surgeons, whom he considered unnecessary animals on board of a ship; and, in consequence of these sentiments, never consulted the doctor, notwithstanding his being seized with a violent fit of the gout and gravel8, but applied9 to a cask of Holland gin, which was his sovereign prescription10 against all distempers: whether he was at this time too sparing, or took an overdose of his cordial, certain it is, he departed in the night, without any ceremony, which indeed was a thing he always despised, and was found stiff next morning, to the no small satisfaction of Crampley, who succeeded to the command of the vessel11. For that very reason, Mr. Tomlins and I had no cause to rejoice at this event, fearing that the tyranny of our new commander would now be as unlimited12 as his power. The first day of his command justified13 our apprehensions14: for, on pretence15 that the decks were too much crowded, he ordered the surgeon’s hencoops, with all his fowls16, to be thrown overboard; and at the same time prohibited him and me from walking on the quarter-deck.
Mr. Tomlins could not help complaining of these injuries, and in the course of his expostulation dropped some hasty words, of which Crampley taking hold, confined him to his cabin, where, in a few days, for want of air he was attacked by a fever, which soon put an end to his life, after he had made his will, by which he bequeathed all his estate, personal and real, to his sister, and left to me his watch and instruments as memorials of his friendship. I was penetrated17 with grief on this melancholy18 occasion; the more because there was nobody on board to whom I could communicate my sorrows, or of whom I could receive the least consolation19 or advice. Crampley was so far from discovering the least remorse20 for his barbarity, at the news of the surgeon’s death, that he insulted his memory in the most abusive manner, and affirmed he had poisoned himself out of pure fear, dreading21 to be brought to a court-martial for mutiny; for which reason he would not suffer the service of the dead to be read over his body before it was thrown overboard.
Nothing but a speedy deliverance could have supported me under the brutal22 sway of this bashaw, who, to render my life more irksome, signified to my messmates a desire that I should be expelled from their society. This was no sooner hinted, than they granted his request; and I was fain to eat in a solitary23 manner by myself during the rest of the passage, which, however, soon drew to a period.
We had been seven weeks at sea, when the gunner told the captain that, by his reckoning, we must be in soundings, and desired he would order the lead to be heaved. Crampley swore he did not know how to keep the ship’s way, for we were not within a hundred leagues of soundings, and therefore he would not give himself the trouble to cast the lead. Accordingly we continued our course all that afternoon and night, without shortening sail, although the gunner pretended to discover Scilly light; and next morning protested in form against the captain’s conduct, for which he was put in confinement24, We discovered no land all that day, and Crampley was still so infatuated as to neglect sounding; but at three o’clock in the morning the ship struck, and remained fast on a sand-bank. This accident alarmed the whole crew; the boat was immediately hoisted25 out, but as we could not discern which way the shore lay, we were obliged to wait for daylight. In the meantime, the wind increased, and the waves beat against the sloop26 with such violence, that we expected she would have gone to pieces. The gunner was released and consulted: he advised the captain to cut away the mast, in order to lighten her; this expedient27 was performed without success: the sailors, seeing things in a desperate situation, according to custom, broke up the chests belonging to the officers, dressed themselves in their clothes, drank their liquors without ceremony, and drunkenness, tumult28, and confusion ensued.
In the midst of this uproar29, I went below to secure my own effects, and found the carpenter’s mate hewing30 down the purser’s cabin with his hatchet31, whistling all the while with great composure. When I asked his intention in so doing, he replied, very calmly, “I only want to taste the purser’s rum, that’s all, master.” At that instant the purser coming down, and seeing his effects going to wreck32, complained bitterly of the injustice33 done to him, and asked the fellow what occasion he had for liquor when, in all likelihood, he would be in eternity34 in a few minutes. “All’s one for that,” said plunderer35, “let us live while we can.” “Miserable36 wretch37 that thou art!” cried the purser, “what must be thy lot in another world, if thou diest in the commission of robbery?” “Why, hell, I suppose,” replied the other, with great deliberation, while the purser fell on his knees, and begged of Heaven that we might not all perish for the sake of Jonas.
During this dialogue I clothed myself in my bed apparel, girded on my hanger38, stuck my pistols, loaded, in my belt, disposed of all my valuable moveables about my person, and came upon deck with a resolution of taking the first opportunity to get on shore, which, when the day broke, appeared at the distance of three miles ahead. Crampley, finding his efforts to get the ship off ineffectual, determined39 to consult his own safety, by going into the boat, which he had no sooner done, than the ship’s company followed so fast, that she would have sunk alongside, had not some one wiser than the rest cut the rope and put off. But before this happened, I had made several attempts to get in, and was always balked40 by the captain, who was so eager in excluding me, that he did not mind the endeavours of any other body. Enraged41 at this inhuman42 partiality, and seeing the rope cut, I pulled one of my pistols from my belt, and cocking it, swore I would shoot any man who would presume to obstruct43 my entrance. So saying, I leaped with my full exertion44, and got on board of the boat with the loss of the skin of my shins. I chanced in my descent to overturn Crampley, who no sooner got up than he struck at me several times with a cutlass, and ordered the men to throw me overboard; but they were too anxious about their own safety to mind what he said. Though the boat was very deeply loaded, and the sea terribly high, we made shift to get upon dry land in less than an hour after we parted from the sloop. As soon as I set my foot on terra firma, my indignation, which bad boiled so long within me, broke out against Crampley, whom I immediately challenged to single combat, presenting my pistols, that he might take his choice: he took one without hesitation45, and, before I could cock the other, fired in my face, throwing the pistol after the shot. I felt myself stunned46, and imagining the bullet had entered my brain, discharged mine as quick as possible, that I might not die unrevenged: then flying upon my antagonist47, knocked out several of his fore-teeth with the butt-end of the piece, and would certainly have made an end of him with that instrument, had he not disengaged himself, and seized his cutlass, which he had given to his servant when he received the pistol. Seeing him armed in this manner, I drew my hanger, and, having flung my pistol at his head, closed with him in a transport of fury, and thrust my weapon into his mouth, which it enlarged on one side to his ear. Whether the smart of this wound disconcerted him, or the unevenness48 of the ground made him reel, I know not, but he staggered some paces back: I followed close, and with one stroke cut the tendons of the back of his hand, Upon which his cutlass dropped, and he remained defenceless. I know not with what cruelty my rage might have inspired me, if I had not at that instant been felled to the ground by a blow on the back part of my head, which deprived me of all sensation. In this deplorable situation, exposed to the rage of an incensed49 barbarian50, and the rapine of an inhuman crew, I remained for some time; and whether any disputes arose among them during the state of my annihilation, I cannot pretend to determine; but in one particular they seemed to have been unanimous, and acted with equal dexterity51 and dispatch; for when I recovered the use of my understanding, I found myself alone in a desolate52 place, stripped of my clothes, money, watch, buckles53, and everything but my shoes, stockings, breeches and shirt. What a discovery must this have been to me, who, but an hour before, was worth sixty guineas in cash! I cursed the hour of my birth, the parents that gave me being, the sea that did not swallow me up, the poniard of the enemy, which could not find the way to my heart, the villainy of those who had left me in that miserable condition; and in the ecstacy of despair resolved to be still where I was, and perish.
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seamen
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| n.海员 | |
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treacherously
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| 背信弃义地； 背叛地； 靠不住地； 危险地 | |
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insolence
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| n.傲慢；无礼；厚颜；傲慢的态度 | |
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insidious
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| adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧 | |
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slanderer
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| 造谣中伤者 | |
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peevish
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| adj.易怒的，坏脾气的 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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gravel
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| n.砂跞；砂砾层；结石 | |
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applied
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| adj.应用的；v.应用，适用 | |
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prescription
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| n.处方，开药；指示，规定 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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unlimited
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| adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的 | |
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justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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apprehensions
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| 疑惧 | |
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pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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fowls
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| 鸟( fowl的名词复数 )； 禽肉； 既不是这； 非驴非马 | |
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penetrated
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| adj. 击穿的，鞭辟入里的 动词penetrate的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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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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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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dreading
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| v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的现在分词 ) | |
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brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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hoisted
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| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sloop
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| n.单桅帆船 | |
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expedient
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| adj.有用的，有利的；n.紧急的办法，权宜之计 | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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uproar
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| n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸 | |
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hewing
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| v.（用斧、刀等）砍、劈( hew的现在分词 )；砍成；劈出；开辟 | |
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hatchet
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| n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀 | |
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wreck
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| n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难 | |
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injustice
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| n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利 | |
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eternity
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| n.不朽，来世；永恒，无穷 | |
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plunderer
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| 掠夺者 | |
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miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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wretch
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| n.可怜的人，不幸的人；卑鄙的人 | |
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hanger
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| n.吊架，吊轴承；挂钩 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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balked
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| v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑 | |
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enraged
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| 使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤 | |
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inhuman
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| adj.残忍的，不人道的，无人性的 | |
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obstruct
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| v.阻隔，阻塞(道路、通道等)；n.阻碍物，障碍物 | |
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exertion
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| n.尽力，努力 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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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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antagonist
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| n.敌人，对抗者，对手 | |
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unevenness
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| n. 不平坦，不平衡，不匀性 | |
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incensed
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| 盛怒的 | |
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barbarian
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| n.野蛮人；adj.野蛮(人)的；未开化的 | |
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dexterity
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| n.(手的)灵巧，灵活 | |
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desolate
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| adj.荒凉的，荒芜的；孤独的，凄凉的；v.使荒芜，使孤寂 | |
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buckles
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| 搭扣，扣环( buckle的名词复数 ) | |
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