章节正文
on the storms there."
This was true. He had been reading the chapter on the storms.
When he had entered the chart-room, it was with no intention of
taking the book down. Some influence in the air -- the same
influence, probably, that caused the steward to bring without
orders the Captain's sea-boots and oilskin coat up to the
chart-room -had as it were guided his hand to the shelf; and
without taking the time to sit down he had waded with a conscious
effort into the terminology of the subject. He lost himself
amongst advancing semi-circles, left- and right-hand quadrants,
the curves of the tracks, the probablebearing of the centre, the
shifts of wind and the readings of barometer. He tried to bring
all these things into a definite relation to himself, and ended
by becoming contemptuously angry with such a lot of words, and
with so much advice, all head-work and supposition, without a
glimmer of certitude.
"It's the damnedest thing, Jukes," he said. "If a fellow was to
believe all that's in there, he would be running most of his time
all over the sea trying to get behind the weather."
Again he slapped his leg with the book; and Jukes opened his
mouth, but said nothing.
"Running to get behind the weather! Do you understand that, Mr.
Jukes? It's the maddest thing!" ejaculated Captain MacWhirr,
with pauses, gazing at the floor profoundly. "You would think an
old woman had been writing this. It passes me. If that thing
means anything useful, then it means that I should at once alter
the course away, away to the devil somewhere, and come booming
down on Fu-chau from the northward at the tail of this dirty
weather that's supposed to be knocking about in our way. From
the north! Do you understand, Mr. Jukes? Three hundred extra
miles to the distance, and a pretty coal bill to show. I
couldn't bring myself to do that if every word in there was
gospel truth, Mr. Jukes. Don't you expect me. . . ."
And Jukes, silent, marvelled at this display of feeling and
loquacity.
"But the truth is that you don't know if the fellow is right,
anyhow. How can you tell what a gale is made of till you get it?
He isn't aboard here, is he? Very well. Here he says that the
centre of them things bears eight points off the wind; but we
haven't got any wind, for all the barometer falling. Where's his
centre now?"
"We will get the wind presently," mumbled Jukes.
"Let it come, then," said Captain MacWhirr, with dignified
indignation. "It's only to let you see, Mr. Jukes, that you
don't find everything in books. All these rules for dodging
breezes and circumventing the winds of heaven, Mr. Jukes, seem to
me the maddest thing, when you come to look at it sensibly."
He raised his eyes, saw Jukes gazing at him dubiously, and tried
to illustrate his meaning.
"About as queer as your extraordinary notion of dodging the ship
head to sea, for I don't know how long, to make the Chinamen
comfortable; whereas all we've got to do is to take them to
Fu-chau, being timed to get there before noon on Friday. If the
weather delays me -- very well. There's your log-book to talk
straight about the weather. But suppose I went swinging off my
course and came in two days late, and they asked me: 'Where have
you been all that time, Captain?' What could I say to that?
'Went around to dodge the bad weather,' I would say. 'It must've
been dam' bad,' they would say. 'Don't know,' I would have to
say; 'I've dodged clear of it.' See that, Jukes? I have been
thinking it all out this afternoon."
He looked up again in his unseeing, unimaginative way. No one
had ever heard him say so much at one time. Jukes, with his arms
open in the doorway, was like a man invited to behold a miracle.
Unbounded wonder was the intellectual meaning of his eye, while
incredulity was seated in his whole countenance.
"A gale is a gale, Mr. Jukes," resumed the Captain, "and a
full-powered steam-ship has got to face it. There's just so much
dirty weather knocking about the world, and the proper thing is
to go through it with none of what old Captain Wilson of the
Melita calls 'storm strategy.' The other day ashore I heard him
hold forth about it to a lot of shipmasters who came in and sat
at a table next to mine. It seemed to me the greatest nonsense.
He was telling them how he outman艙uvred, I think he said, a
terrific gale, so that it never came nearer than fifty miles to
him. A neat piece of head-work he called it. How he knew there
was a terrific gale fifty miles off beats me altogether. It was
like listening to a crazy man. I would have thought Captain
Wilson was old enough to know better."
Captain MacWhirr ceased for a moment, then said, "It's your watch
below, Mr. Jukes?"
Jukes came to himself with a start. "Yes, sir."
"Leave orders to call me at the slightest change," said the
Captain. He reached up to put the book away, and tucked his legs
upon the couch. "Shut the door so that it don't fly open, will
you? I can't stand a door banging. They've put a lot of
rubbishy locks into this ship, I must say."
Captain MacWhirr closed his eyes.
He did so to rest himself. He was tired, and he experienced that
state of mental vacuity which comes at the end of an exhaustive
discussion that has liberated some belief matured in the course
of meditative years. He had indeed been making his confession of
faith, had he only known it; and its effect was to make Jukes, on
the other side of the door, stand scratching his head for a good
while.
Captain MacWhirr opened his eyes.
He thought he must have been asleep. What was that loud noise?
Wind? Why had he not been called? The lamp wriggled in its
gimbals, the barometer swung in circles, the table altered its
slant every moment; a pair of limp sea-boots with collapsed tops
went sliding past the couch. He put out his hand instantly" target="_blank" title="ad.立即，立刻">instantly, and
captured one.
Jukes' face appeared in a crack of the door: only his face, very
red, with staring eyes. The flame of the lamp leaped, a piece of
paper flew up, a rush of air enveloped Captain MacWhirr.
Beginning to draw on the boot, he directed an expectant gaze at
Jukes' swollen, excited features.
"Came on like this," shouted Jukes, "five minutes ago . . . all
of a sudden."
The head disappeared with a bang, and a heavy splash and patter
of drops swept past the closed door as if a pailful of melted
lead had been flung against the house. A whistling could be
heard now upon the deep vibrating noise outside. The stuffy
chart-room seemed as full of draughts as a shed. Captain
MacWhirr collared the other sea-boot on its violent passage along
the floor. He was not flustered, but he could not find at once
the opening for inserting his foot. The shoes he had flung off
were scurrying from end to end of the cabin, gambolling playfully
over each other like puppies. As soon as he stood up he kicked
at them viciously, but without effect.
He threw himself into the attitude of a lunging fencer, to reach
after his oilskin coat; and afterwards he staggered all over the
confined space while he jerked himself into it. Very grave,
straddling his legs far apart, and stretching his neck, he
started to tie deliberately the strings of his sou'-wester under
his chin, with thick fingers that trembled slightly. He went
through all the movements of a woman putting on her bonnet before
a glass, with a strained, listening attention, as though he had
expected every moment to hear the shout of his name in the
confused clamour that had suddenly beset his ship. Its increase
filled his ears while he was getting ready to go out and confront
whatever it might mean. It was tumultuous and very loud -- made
up of the rush of the wind, the crashes of the sea, with that
prolonged deep vibration of the air, like the roll of an immense
and remote drum beating the charge of the gale.
He stood for a moment in the light of the lamp, thick, clumsy,
shapeless in his panoply of combat, vigilant and red-faced.
"There's a lot of weight in this," he muttered.
As soon as he attempted to open the door the wind caught it.
Clinging to the handle, he was dragged out over the doorstep, and
at once found himself engaged with the wind in a sort of personal
scuffle whose object was the shutting of that door. At the last
moment a tongue of air scurried in and licked out the flame of
the lamp.
Ahead of the ship he perceived a great darkness lying upon a
multitude of white flashes; on the starboard beam a few amazing
stars drooped, dim and fitful, above an immense waste of broken
seas, as if seen through a mad drift of smoke.
On the bridge a knot of men, indistinct and toiling, were making
great efforts in the light of the wheelhouse windows that shone
mistily on their heads and backs. Suddenly darkness closed upon
one pane, then on another. The voices of the lost group reached
him after the manner of men's voices in a gale, in shreds and
fragments of forlorn shouting snatched past the ear. All at once
Jukes appeared at his side, yelling, with his head down.
"Watch -- put in -- wheelhouse shutters -- glass -afraid -- blow
in."
Jukes heard his commander upbraiding.
"This -- come -- anything -- warning -- call me."
He tried to explain, with the uproar pressing on his lips.
"Light air -- remained -- bridge -- sudden -- north-east -- could
turn -- thought -- you -- sure -- hear."
They had gained the shelter of the weather-cloth, and could
converse with raised voices, as people quarrel.
"I got the hands along to cover up all the ventilators. Good job
I had remained on deck. I didn't think you would be asleep, and
so . . . What did you say, sir? What?"
"Nothing," cried Captain MacWhirr. "I said -- all right."
"By all the powers! We've got it this time," observed Jukes in a
howl.
"You haven't altered her course?" inquired Captain MacWhirr,
straining his voice.
"No, sir. Certainly not. Wind came out right ahead. And here
comes the head sea."
A plunge of the ship ended in a shock as if she had landed her
forefoot upon something solid. After a moment of stillness a
lofty flight of sprays drove hard with the wind upon their faces.
"Keep her at it as long as we can," shouted Captain MacWhirr.
Before Jukes had squeezed the salt water out of his eyes all the
stars had disappeared.
III
JUKES was as ready a man as any half-dozen young mates that may
be caught by casting a net upon the waters; and though he had
been somewhat taken aback by the startling viciousness of the
first squall, he had pulled himself together on the instant, had
called out the hands and had rushed them along to secure such
openings about the deck as had not been already battened down
earlier in the evening. Shouting in his fresh, stentorian voice,
"Jump, boys, and bear a hand!" he led in the work, telling
himself the while that he had "just expected this."
But at the same time he was growing aware that this was rather
more than he had expected. From the first stir of the air felt
on his cheek the gale seemed to take upon itself the accumulated
impetus of an avalanche. Heavy sprays enveloped the Nan-Shan
from stem to stern, and instantly" target="_blank" title="ad.立即，立刻">instantly in the midst of her regular
rolling she began to jerk and plunge as though she had gone mad
with fright.
Jukes thought, "This is no joke." While he was exchanging
explanatory yells with his captain, a sudden lowering of the
darkness came upon the night, falling before their vision like
something palpable. It was as if the masked lights of the world
This was true. He had been reading the chapter on the storms.
When he had entered the chart-room, it was with no intention of
taking the book down. Some influence in the air -- the same
influence, probably, that caused the steward to bring without
orders the Captain's sea-boots and oilskin coat up to the
chart-room -had as it were guided his hand to the shelf; and
without taking the time to sit down he had waded with a conscious
effort into the terminology of the subject. He lost himself
amongst advancing semi-circles, left- and right-hand quadrants,
the curves of the tracks, the probablebearing of the centre, the
shifts of wind and the readings of barometer. He tried to bring
all these things into a definite relation to himself, and ended
by becoming contemptuously angry with such a lot of words, and
with so much advice, all head-work and supposition, without a
glimmer of certitude.
"It's the damnedest thing, Jukes," he said. "If a fellow was to
believe all that's in there, he would be running most of his time
all over the sea trying to get behind the weather."
Again he slapped his leg with the book; and Jukes opened his
mouth, but said nothing.
"Running to get behind the weather! Do you understand that, Mr.
Jukes? It's the maddest thing!" ejaculated Captain MacWhirr,
with pauses, gazing at the floor profoundly. "You would think an
old woman had been writing this. It passes me. If that thing
means anything useful, then it means that I should at once alter
the course away, away to the devil somewhere, and come booming
down on Fu-chau from the northward at the tail of this dirty
weather that's supposed to be knocking about in our way. From
the north! Do you understand, Mr. Jukes? Three hundred extra
miles to the distance, and a pretty coal bill to show. I
couldn't bring myself to do that if every word in there was
gospel truth, Mr. Jukes. Don't you expect me. . . ."
And Jukes, silent, marvelled at this display of feeling and
loquacity.
"But the truth is that you don't know if the fellow is right,
anyhow. How can you tell what a gale is made of till you get it?
He isn't aboard here, is he? Very well. Here he says that the
centre of them things bears eight points off the wind; but we
haven't got any wind, for all the barometer falling. Where's his
centre now?"
"We will get the wind presently," mumbled Jukes.
"Let it come, then," said Captain MacWhirr, with dignified
indignation. "It's only to let you see, Mr. Jukes, that you
don't find everything in books. All these rules for dodging
breezes and circumventing the winds of heaven, Mr. Jukes, seem to
me the maddest thing, when you come to look at it sensibly."
He raised his eyes, saw Jukes gazing at him dubiously, and tried
to illustrate his meaning.
"About as queer as your extraordinary notion of dodging the ship
head to sea, for I don't know how long, to make the Chinamen
comfortable; whereas all we've got to do is to take them to
Fu-chau, being timed to get there before noon on Friday. If the
weather delays me -- very well. There's your log-book to talk
straight about the weather. But suppose I went swinging off my
course and came in two days late, and they asked me: 'Where have
you been all that time, Captain?' What could I say to that?
'Went around to dodge the bad weather,' I would say. 'It must've
been dam' bad,' they would say. 'Don't know,' I would have to
say; 'I've dodged clear of it.' See that, Jukes? I have been
thinking it all out this afternoon."
He looked up again in his unseeing, unimaginative way. No one
had ever heard him say so much at one time. Jukes, with his arms
open in the doorway, was like a man invited to behold a miracle.
Unbounded wonder was the intellectual meaning of his eye, while
incredulity was seated in his whole countenance.
"A gale is a gale, Mr. Jukes," resumed the Captain, "and a
full-powered steam-ship has got to face it. There's just so much
dirty weather knocking about the world, and the proper thing is
to go through it with none of what old Captain Wilson of the
Melita calls 'storm strategy.' The other day ashore I heard him
hold forth about it to a lot of shipmasters who came in and sat
at a table next to mine. It seemed to me the greatest nonsense.
He was telling them how he outman艙uvred, I think he said, a
terrific gale, so that it never came nearer than fifty miles to
him. A neat piece of head-work he called it. How he knew there
was a terrific gale fifty miles off beats me altogether. It was
like listening to a crazy man. I would have thought Captain
Wilson was old enough to know better."
Captain MacWhirr ceased for a moment, then said, "It's your watch
below, Mr. Jukes?"
Jukes came to himself with a start. "Yes, sir."
"Leave orders to call me at the slightest change," said the
Captain. He reached up to put the book away, and tucked his legs
upon the couch. "Shut the door so that it don't fly open, will
you? I can't stand a door banging. They've put a lot of
rubbishy locks into this ship, I must say."
Captain MacWhirr closed his eyes.
He did so to rest himself. He was tired, and he experienced that
state of mental vacuity which comes at the end of an exhaustive
discussion that has liberated some belief matured in the course
of meditative years. He had indeed been making his confession of
faith, had he only known it; and its effect was to make Jukes, on
the other side of the door, stand scratching his head for a good
while.
Captain MacWhirr opened his eyes.
He thought he must have been asleep. What was that loud noise?
Wind? Why had he not been called? The lamp wriggled in its
gimbals, the barometer swung in circles, the table altered its
slant every moment; a pair of limp sea-boots with collapsed tops
went sliding past the couch. He put out his hand instantly" target="_blank" title="ad.立即，立刻">instantly, and
captured one.
Jukes' face appeared in a crack of the door: only his face, very
red, with staring eyes. The flame of the lamp leaped, a piece of
paper flew up, a rush of air enveloped Captain MacWhirr.
Beginning to draw on the boot, he directed an expectant gaze at
Jukes' swollen, excited features.
"Came on like this," shouted Jukes, "five minutes ago . . . all
of a sudden."
The head disappeared with a bang, and a heavy splash and patter
of drops swept past the closed door as if a pailful of melted
lead had been flung against the house. A whistling could be
heard now upon the deep vibrating noise outside. The stuffy
chart-room seemed as full of draughts as a shed. Captain
MacWhirr collared the other sea-boot on its violent passage along
the floor. He was not flustered, but he could not find at once
the opening for inserting his foot. The shoes he had flung off
were scurrying from end to end of the cabin, gambolling playfully
over each other like puppies. As soon as he stood up he kicked
at them viciously, but without effect.
He threw himself into the attitude of a lunging fencer, to reach
after his oilskin coat; and afterwards he staggered all over the
confined space while he jerked himself into it. Very grave,
straddling his legs far apart, and stretching his neck, he
started to tie deliberately the strings of his sou'-wester under
his chin, with thick fingers that trembled slightly. He went
through all the movements of a woman putting on her bonnet before
a glass, with a strained, listening attention, as though he had
expected every moment to hear the shout of his name in the
confused clamour that had suddenly beset his ship. Its increase
filled his ears while he was getting ready to go out and confront
whatever it might mean. It was tumultuous and very loud -- made
up of the rush of the wind, the crashes of the sea, with that
prolonged deep vibration of the air, like the roll of an immense
and remote drum beating the charge of the gale.
He stood for a moment in the light of the lamp, thick, clumsy,
shapeless in his panoply of combat, vigilant and red-faced.
"There's a lot of weight in this," he muttered.
As soon as he attempted to open the door the wind caught it.
Clinging to the handle, he was dragged out over the doorstep, and
at once found himself engaged with the wind in a sort of personal
scuffle whose object was the shutting of that door. At the last
moment a tongue of air scurried in and licked out the flame of
the lamp.
Ahead of the ship he perceived a great darkness lying upon a
multitude of white flashes; on the starboard beam a few amazing
stars drooped, dim and fitful, above an immense waste of broken
seas, as if seen through a mad drift of smoke.
On the bridge a knot of men, indistinct and toiling, were making
great efforts in the light of the wheelhouse windows that shone
mistily on their heads and backs. Suddenly darkness closed upon
one pane, then on another. The voices of the lost group reached
him after the manner of men's voices in a gale, in shreds and
fragments of forlorn shouting snatched past the ear. All at once
Jukes appeared at his side, yelling, with his head down.
"Watch -- put in -- wheelhouse shutters -- glass -afraid -- blow
in."
Jukes heard his commander upbraiding.
"This -- come -- anything -- warning -- call me."
He tried to explain, with the uproar pressing on his lips.
"Light air -- remained -- bridge -- sudden -- north-east -- could
turn -- thought -- you -- sure -- hear."
They had gained the shelter of the weather-cloth, and could
converse with raised voices, as people quarrel.
"I got the hands along to cover up all the ventilators. Good job
I had remained on deck. I didn't think you would be asleep, and
so . . . What did you say, sir? What?"
"Nothing," cried Captain MacWhirr. "I said -- all right."
"By all the powers! We've got it this time," observed Jukes in a
howl.
"You haven't altered her course?" inquired Captain MacWhirr,
straining his voice.
"No, sir. Certainly not. Wind came out right ahead. And here
comes the head sea."
A plunge of the ship ended in a shock as if she had landed her
forefoot upon something solid. After a moment of stillness a
lofty flight of sprays drove hard with the wind upon their faces.
"Keep her at it as long as we can," shouted Captain MacWhirr.
Before Jukes had squeezed the salt water out of his eyes all the
stars had disappeared.
III
JUKES was as ready a man as any half-dozen young mates that may
be caught by casting a net upon the waters; and though he had
been somewhat taken aback by the startling viciousness of the
first squall, he had pulled himself together on the instant, had
called out the hands and had rushed them along to secure such
openings about the deck as had not been already battened down
earlier in the evening. Shouting in his fresh, stentorian voice,
"Jump, boys, and bear a hand!" he led in the work, telling
himself the while that he had "just expected this."
But at the same time he was growing aware that this was rather
more than he had expected. From the first stir of the air felt
on his cheek the gale seemed to take upon itself the accumulated
impetus of an avalanche. Heavy sprays enveloped the Nan-Shan
from stem to stern, and instantly" target="_blank" title="ad.立即，立刻">instantly in the midst of her regular
rolling she began to jerk and plunge as though she had gone mad
with fright.
Jukes thought, "This is no joke." While he was exchanging
explanatory yells with his captain, a sudden lowering of the
darkness came upon the night, falling before their vision like
something palpable. It was as if the masked lights of the world
- reading [´ri:diŋ]
n.(阅)读；朗读；读物 (初中英语单词) - intention [in´tenʃən] n.意图；打算；意义 (初中英语单词)
- probable [´prɔbəbəl] a.大概的n.很可能的事 (初中英语单词)
- definite [´definit] a.确定的，明确的 (初中英语单词)
- running [´rʌniŋ] a.奔跑的；流动的 (初中英语单词)
- writing [´raitiŋ] n.书写；写作；书法 (初中英语单词)
- supposed [sə´pəuzd] a.想象的；假定的 (初中英语单词)
- aboard [ə´bɔ:d] ad.&prep.在...上 (初中英语单词)
- illustrate [´iləstreit] vt.加插图；举例说明 (初中英语单词)
- extraordinary [ik´strɔ:dinəri] a.非常的；额外的 (初中英语单词)
- whereas [weər´æz] conj.鉴于；因此；而 (初中英语单词)
- doorway [´dɔ:wei] n.门口 (初中英语单词)
- ashore [ə´ʃɔ:] ad.向岸上 (初中英语单词)
- altogether [,ɔ:ltə´geðə] ad.完全；总而言之 (初中英语单词)
- mental [´mentl] a.精神的；心理的 (初中英语单词)
- belief [bi´li:f] n.相信；信仰，信条 (初中英语单词)
- instantly [´instəntli] ad.立即，立刻 (初中英语单词)
- splash [splæʃ] v.&n.溅水声；涉水而进 (初中英语单词)
- violent [´vaiələnt] a.强暴的；猛烈的 (初中英语单词)
- opening [´əupəniŋ] n.开放；开端 a.开始的 (初中英语单词)
- slightly [´slaitli] ad.轻微地；细长的 (初中英语单词)
- remote [ri´məut] a.遥远的；偏僻的 (初中英语单词)
- charge [tʃɑ:dʒ] v.收费；冲锋 n.费用 (初中英语单词)
- immense [i´mens] a.广大的，无限的 (初中英语单词)
- commander [kə´mɑ:ndə] n.指挥员，司令员 (初中英语单词)
- plunge [plʌndʒ] v.插进 n.投入；冲击 (初中英语单词)
- flight [flait] n.逃走；飞行；班机 (初中英语单词)
- instant [´instənt] a.立即的 n.紧迫；瞬间 (初中英语单词)
- vision [´viʒən] n.视觉；想象力；幻影 (初中英语单词)
- steward [´stju:əd] n.管家；服务员 (高中英语单词)
- bearing [´beəriŋ] n.举止；忍耐；关系 (高中英语单词)
- northward [´nɔ:θwəd] ad.&a.向北(的) n.北 (高中英语单词)
- intellectual [,inti´lektʃuəl] n.知识分子 (高中英语单词)
- terrific [tə´rifik] a.可怕的；极大的 (高中英语单词)
- confession [kən´feʃən] n.招供；认错；交待 (高中英语单词)
- deliberately [di´libərətli] ad.故意地；慎重地 (高中英语单词)
- bonnet [´bɔnit] n.无边女帽；童帽 (高中英语单词)
- combat [´kɔmbæt] v.&n.斗争；战斗；争斗 (高中英语单词)
- forlorn [fə´lɔ:n] a.被遗弃的；绝望的 (高中英语单词)
- stillness [´stilnis] n.不动；无声，寂静 (高中英语单词)
- startling [´stɑ:tliŋ] a.惊人的 (高中英语单词)
- right-hand [´rait´hænd] a.右手的，右边的 (英语四级单词)
- trying [´traiiŋ] a.难堪的；费劲的 (英语四级单词)
- profoundly [prə´faundli] ad.深深地 (英语四级单词)
- experienced [ik´spiəriənst] a.有经验的；熟练的 (英语四级单词)
- swollen [´swəulən] swell的过去分词 (英语四级单词)
- vibration [vai´breiʃən] n.颤动；振动；摇动 (英语四级单词)
- bridge [bridʒ] n.桥(梁)；鼻梁；桥牌 (英语四级单词)
- warning [´wɔ:niŋ] n.警告；前兆 a.预告的 (英语四级单词)
- uproar [´ʌprɔ:] n.喧嚣；骚动；轰鸣，轰动 (英语四级单词)
- taking [´teikiŋ] a.迷人的 n.捕获物 (英语六级单词)
- contemptuously [kən´temptjuəsli] ad.蔑视地；傲慢地 (英语六级单词)
- expectant [ik´spektənt] a.期待的，预期的 (英语六级单词)
- beating [´bi:tiŋ] n.敲；搅打；失败 (英语六级单词)
- doorstep [´dɔ:step] n.门阶 (英语六级单词)
- squall [skwɔ:l] n.&v.啼哭 n.暴风，飑 (英语六级单词)
- avalanche [´ævəlɑ:nʃ] n.雪崩 (英语六级单词)
文章标签:名著
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