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Journal of A Voyage to Lisbon-Part8_HENRY FIELDING(1707-1754)_English Literature(文学名著)-第2页

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returned with most of the articles I sent for, and I now thought



myself in a condition of living a week on my own provisions. I

therefore ordered my own dinner, which I wanted nothing but a



cook to dress and a proper fire to dress it at; but those were

not to be had, nor indeed any addition to my roast mutton, except



the pleasure of the captain's company, with that of the other

passengers; for my wife continued the whole day in a state of



dozing, and my other females, whose sickness did not abate by the

rolling of the ship at anchor, seemed more inclined to empty



their stomachs than to fill them. Thus I passed the whole day

(except about an hour at dinner) by myself, and the evening



concluded with the captain as the preceding one had done; one

comfortable piece of news he communicated to me, which was, that



he had no doubt of a prosperous wind in the morning; but as he

did not divulge the reasons of this confidence, and as I saw none



myself besides the wind being directly opposite, my faith in this

prophecy was not strong enough to build any great hopes upon.



Thursday, July 4.--This morning, however, the captain seemed

resolved to fulfill his own predictions, whether the wind would



or no; he accordingly weighed anchor, and, taking the advantage

of the tide when the wind was not very boisterous, he hoisted his



sails; and, as if his power had been no less absolute over Aeolus

than it was over Neptune, he forced the wind to blow him on in



its own despite.

But as all men who have ever been at sea well know how weak such



attempts are, and want no authorities of Scripture to prove that

the most absolute power of a captain of a ship is very contemptible



in the wind's eye, so did it befall our noble commander, who,

having struggled with the wind three or four hours, was obliged



to give over, and lost in a few minutes all that he had been

so long a-gaining; in short, we returned to our former station,



and once more cast anchor in the neighborhood of Deal.

Here, though we lay near the shore, that we might promise



ourselves all the emolument which could be derived from it, we

found ourselves deceived; and that we might with as much



conveniency be out of the sight of land; for, except when the

captain launched forth his own boat, which he did always with



great reluctance, we were incapable of procuring anything from

Deal, but at a price too exorbitant, and beyond the reach even of



modern luxury--the fare of a boat from Deal, which lay at two

miles' distance, being at least three half-crowns, and, if we had



been in any distress for it, as many half-guineas; for these good

people consider the sea as a large common appendant to their



manor; in which when they find any of their fellow-creatures

impounded, they conclude that they have a full right of making



them pay at their own discretion for their deliverance: to say

the truth, whether it be that men who live on the sea-shore are



of an amphibious kind, and do not entirely partake of human

nature, or whatever else may be the reason, they are so far from



taking any share in the distresses of mankind, or of being moved

with any compassion for them, that they look upon them as



blessings showered down from above, and which the more they

improve to their own use, the greater is their gratitude and



piety. Thus at Gravesend a sculler requires a shilling for going

less way than he would row in London for threepence; and at Deal



a boat often brings more profit in a day than it can produce in

London in a week, or perhaps in a month; in both places the owner



of the boat founds his demand on the necessity and distress of

one who stands more or less in absolute want of his assistance,



and with the urgency of these always rises in the exorbitancy of

his demand, without ever considering that, from these very



circumstances, the power or ease of gratifying such demand is in

like proportion lessened. Now, as I am unwilling that some



conclusions, which may be, I am aware, too justly drawn from

these observations, should be imputed to human nature in general,



I have endeavored to account for them in a way more consistent




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