- 6 months ago
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:00The Sea Wolf by Jack London
00:03Chapter One
00:06I scarcely know where to begin, though I sometimes facetiously place the cause of it all to Charlie Furuseth's credit.
00:17He kept a summer cottage in Mill Valley, under the shadow of Mount Tamalpais,
00:21and never occupied it except when he loafed through the winter months and read Nietzsche and Schopenhauer to rest his brain.
00:27When summer came on, he elected to sweat out a hot and dusty existence in the city, and to toil incessantly.
00:34Had it not been my custom to run up to see him every Saturday afternoon, and to stop over till Monday morning,
00:40this particular January Monday morning would not have found me afloat on San Francisco Bay.
00:47Not but that I was afloat in a safe craft, for the Martinez was a new ferry steamer,
00:52making her fourth or fifth trip on the run between Sausalito and San Francisco.
00:56The danger lay in the heavy fog which blanketed the bay, and of which, as a landsman, I had little apprehension.
01:03In fact, I remember the placid exultation with which I took up my position on the forward upper deck,
01:11directly beneath the pilot-house, and allowed the mystery of the fog to lay hold of my imagination.
01:16A fresh breeze was blowing, and for a time I was alone in the moist obscurity.
01:23Yet not alone, for I was dimly conscious of the presence of the pilot,
01:28and of what I took to be the captain in the glass house above my head.
01:32I remember thinking how comfortable it was, this division of labor which made it unnecessary for me to study fogs, winds, tides, and navigation
01:41in order to visit my friend, who lived across an arm of the sea.
01:46It was good that men should be specialists, I mused.
01:49The peculiar knowledge of the pilot and captain sufficed for many thousands of people,
01:55who knew no more of the sea and navigation than I knew.
01:58On the other hand, instead of having to devote my energy to the learning of a multitude of things,
02:03I concentrated it upon a few particular things,
02:07such as, for instance, the analysis of Poe's place in American literature.
02:11An essay of mine, by the way, in The Current Atlantic.
02:14Coming aboard as I passed through the cabin,
02:18I had noticed with greedy eyes a stout gentleman reading The Atlantic,
02:22which was open at my very essay.
02:25And there it was again, the division of labor,
02:28the special knowledge of the pilot and captain which permitted the stout gentleman
02:32to read my special knowledge on Poe,
02:34while they carried him safely from Sausalito to San Francisco.
02:40A red-faced man slamming the cabin door behind him and stumping out on the deck,
02:45interrupted my reflections,
02:47though I made a mental note of the topic for use in a projected essay
02:51which I had thought of calling
02:52The Necessity for Freedom, a plea for the artist.
02:57The red-faced man shot a glance up at the pilot house,
03:01gazed around at the fog,
03:02stumped across the deck and back,
03:04he evidently had artificial legs,
03:07and stood still by my side,
03:10legs wide apart,
03:11and with an expression of keen enjoyment on his face.
03:15I was not wrong when I decided that his days had been spent on the sea.
03:19It's nasty weather like this that turns heads gray before their time,
03:24he said with a nod toward the pilot house.
03:25I had not thought there was any particular strain,
03:29I answered.
03:30It seems as simple as ABC.
03:32They know the direction by compass,
03:34the distance,
03:34and the speed.
03:36I should not call it anything more than mathematical certainty.
03:39He seemed to brace himself up and lean backward against the air as he stared at me.
03:55How about this here tide that's rushing out through the golden gate?
03:59He demanded.
04:00Or bellowed, rather.
04:02How fast is she ebbing?
04:04What's the drift, eh?
04:05Listen to that, will you?
04:07A bell buoy, and we're atop of it.
04:10See a moulter in the course?
04:12From out of the fog came the mournful tolling of a bell,
04:16and I could hear the pilot turning the wheel with great rapidity.
04:20The bell which seemed straight ahead was now sounding from the side.
04:24Our own whistle was blowing hoarsely,
04:26and from time to time the sound of other whistles came to us,
04:30from out of the fog.
04:33That's a ferry boat of some sort.
04:35The newcomer said, indicating a whistle off to the right.
04:38And there, did you hear that?
04:40Blown by mouth.
04:42Some scow schooner, most likely.
04:44Better watch out, Mr. Schooner Man.
04:47I thought so.
04:50Now hell's a-poppin' for somebody.
04:53The unseen ferry boat was blowing,
04:56blast after blast,
04:57and the mouth-blown horn was tooting in terror-stricken fashion.
05:02And now they're paying their respects to each other and trying to get clear,
05:05the red-faced man went on,
05:08as the hurried whistling ceased.
05:11His face was shining,
05:13his eyes flashing with excitement as he translated
05:16into articulate language the speech of the horns and the sirens.
05:19That's a steam siren-a-goin' it over there to the left,
05:23and you hear that fellow with a frog in his throat,
05:26a steam schooner as near as I can judge,
05:28crawling in from the heads against the tide.
05:30A shrill little whistle,
05:33piping as if gone mad,
05:36came from directly ahead and from very near at hand.
05:39Gong sounded on the Martinez.
05:41Our paddle wheels stopped.
05:42Their pulsing beat died away,
05:44and then they started again.
05:46The shrill little whistle,
05:47like the chirping of a cricket amid the cries of great beasts,
05:53shot through the fog more to the side
05:55and swiftly grew faint and fainter.
05:57I looked to my companion for enlightenment.
06:01One of them daredevil launches, he said.
06:04I almost wished we'd sunk in the little rip.
06:06They're the cause of more trouble.
06:08And what good are they?
06:09Any jackass gets aboard one
06:10and runs it from hell to breakfast,
06:12blowing his whistle to beat the band
06:13and telling the rest of the world to look out after him
06:16because he's coming and can't look after himself.
06:19Because he's coming.
06:21And you've got to look out too, right of way.
06:23Common decency.
06:24They don't know the meaning of it.
06:28I felt quite amused at his unwarranted color,
06:31and while he stumped indignantly up and down
06:34and fell to dwelling upon the romance of the fog,
06:36and romantic it certainly was,
06:39the fog like the gray shadow of infinite mystery
06:42brooding over the whirling speck of earth,
06:45and then mere moats of light and sparkle
06:48cursed with an insane relish for work,
06:52riding their steeds of wood and steel,
06:54through the heart of the mystery,
06:56groping their way blindly through the unseen,
06:59and clamoring and clanging in confident speech,
07:03the while their hearts are heavy with incertitude and fear.
07:08The voice of my companion brought me back to myself with a laugh.
07:13I'd been groping and floundering,
07:14the while I thought I rode clear-eyed through the mystery.
07:18Hello?
07:19Somebody coming our way?
07:20He was saying.
07:21And did you hear that?
07:23He's coming fast.
07:24Walk right along.
07:27Guess you don't hear us yet.
07:29Wind's in the wrong direction.
07:30The fresh breeze was blowing right down upon us,
07:35and I could hear the whistle plainly off to one side and a little ahead.
07:40Fairy boat?
07:41I asked.
07:42He nodded, then added,
07:43or he wouldn't be keeping up such a clip.
07:46He gave a short chuckle.
07:47They're getting anxious up there.
07:50I glanced up.
07:52The captain had thrust his head and shoulders out of the pilot house
07:55and was staring intently into the fog,
07:58as though by sheer force of will he could penetrate it.
08:02His face was anxious,
08:04as was the face of my companion,
08:06who had stumped over to the rail
08:07and was gazing with a like intentness
08:10in the direction of the invisible danger.
08:12Then, everything happened,
08:17and with inconceivable rapidity.
08:20The fog seemed to break away as though split by a wedge,
08:23and the bow of the steamboat emerged,
08:25trailing fog wreaths on either side,
08:27like seaweed on the snout of Leviathan.
08:31I could see the pilot house and a white-bearded man
08:33leaning partly out of it on his elbows.
08:37He was clad in a blue uniform,
08:38and I remember noting how trim and quiet he was.
08:43His quietness under the circumstances was terrible.
08:46He accepted destiny,
08:48marched hand in hand with it,
08:50and coolly measured the stroke.
08:52As he leaned there,
08:54he ran a calm and speculative eye over us,
08:58as though to determine the precise point of collision,
09:02and took no notice, whatever,
09:05when our pilot, white with rage, shouted,
09:07Now you've done it!
09:10On looking back,
09:11I realized that the remark was too obvious to make rejoiner necessary.
09:16Grab hold of something and hang on,
09:18the red-faced man said to me.
09:20All his bluster had gone,
09:21and he seemed to have caught the contagion of preternatural calm.
09:24And listen to the women scream,
09:27he said grimly,
09:28almost bitterly,
09:30I thought,
09:30as though he had been through the experience before.
09:34The vessels came together before I could follow his advice.
09:37We must have been struck squarely amid ships,
09:39for I saw nothing,
09:40the strange steamboat having passed beyond my line of vision.
09:44The Martinez heeled over sharply,
09:46and there was a crashing and rending of timber.
09:49I was thrown flat on the wet deck,
09:51and before I could scramble to my feet,
09:54I heard the scream of the women.
09:57This it was, I am certain,
09:59the most indescribable of blood-curdling sounds
10:03that threw me into a panic.
10:05I remember the life preservers stored in the cabin,
10:10but was met at the door and swept backward
10:11by a wild rush of men and women.
10:15What happened in the next few minutes,
10:16I do not recollect,
10:18though I have a clear remembrance
10:19of pulling down life preservers from the overhead racks
10:22while the red-faced man fastened them
10:24about the bodies of an hysterical group of women.
10:27This memory is as distinct and sharp as that
10:30of any picture I have seen.
10:32It is a picture,
10:33and I can see it now.
10:34The jagged edges of the hole in the side of the cabin,
10:39through which the grey fog swirled and eddied.
10:42The empty upholstered seats,
10:45littered with all the evidences of sudden flight,
10:48such as packages, hand satchels, umbrellas, and wraps.
10:52The stout gentleman,
10:53who had been reading my essay,
10:55encased in cork and canvas,
10:57the magazine still in his hand,
10:59and asking me with monotonous insistence
11:02if I thought there was any danger.
11:04The red-faced man stumping gallantly around
11:08on his artificial legs
11:09and buckling life preservers on all comers.
11:11And finally,
11:14the screaming bedlam of women.
11:16This it was,
11:18the screaming of the women,
11:20that tried my nerves most.
11:22It must have tried, too,
11:24the nerves of the red-faced man,
11:25for I have another picture,
11:27which will never fade from my mind.
11:29The stout gentleman,
11:30stuffing the magazine into his overcoat pocket,
11:33and looking uncuriously,
11:34a tangled mass of women with drawn white faces
11:39and open mouths,
11:41is shrieking like a chorus of lost souls.
11:45And the red-faced man,
11:47his face now purplish with wrath,
11:49and with arms extended overhead,
11:51as in the act of hurling thunderbolts,
11:53his shouting,
11:54Shut up!
11:55Oh, shut up!
11:56I remember the scene impelled me
12:00to sudden laughter,
12:02and in the next instant,
12:04I realized I was becoming hysterical myself.
12:08For these were women of my own kind,
12:11like my mother and sister,
12:13with the fear of death upon them
12:15and unwilling to die.
12:17And I remember that the sounds they made
12:18reminded me of the squealing of pigs
12:21under the knife of the butcher.
12:24And I was struck with horror.
12:26At the vividness of the analogy.
12:29These women,
12:31capable of the most sublime emotions,
12:34of the tenderest sympathies,
12:37were open-mouthed and screaming.
12:41They wanted to live.
12:43They were helpless,
12:45like rats in a trap.
12:47And they screamed.
12:50The horror of it drove me out on deck.
12:53I was feeling sick and squeamish
12:55and sat down on a bend.
12:56In a hazy way,
12:57I saw unheard men rushing and shouting,
13:00as they strove to lower the boats.
13:02It was just as I had read
13:03descriptions of such scenes in books.
13:06The tackles jammed.
13:07Nothing worked.
13:09One boat lowered away with the plugs out,
13:12filled with women and children,
13:13and then with water and capsized.
13:17Another boat had been lowered by one end
13:20and still hung in the tackle by the other end,
13:22where it had been abandoned.
13:24Nothing was to be seen of the strange steamboat
13:26which had caused the disaster,
13:29though I heard men saying that she would undoubtedly
13:31send boats to our assistance.
13:33I descended to the lower deck.
13:37The Martinez was sinking fast,
13:38for the water was very near.
13:41Numbers of the passengers were leaping overboard.
13:45Others in the water were clamoring to be taking aboard again.
13:47No one heeded them.
13:51A cry arose that we were sinking.
13:53I was seized by the consequent panic
13:55and went over the side in a surge of bodies.
13:58How I went over I do not know,
14:01though I did know and instantly
14:03why those in the water were so desirous
14:05of getting back on the steamer.
14:07The water was cold,
14:09so cold that it was painful.
14:12The pang as I plunged into it
14:14was as quick and sharp as that of fire.
14:18It bit to the marrow.
14:19It was like the grip of death.
14:22I gasped with the anguish and shock of it,
14:25filling my lungs before the life preserver
14:26popped me to the surface.
14:28The taste of the salt was strong in my mouth,
14:31and I was strangling with the awkward stuff
14:33in my throat and lungs.
14:35But it was the cold that was most distressing.
14:38I felt that I could survive but a few minutes.
14:42People were struggling and floundering
14:43in the water about me.
14:45I could hear them crying out to one another,
14:47and I heard also the sound of oars.
14:51Evidently, the strange steamboat
14:52had lowered its boats.
14:54As the time went by,
14:56I marveled that I was still alive.
14:58I had no sensation whatever in my lower limbs,
15:01while a chilling numbness was wrapping around my heart
15:04and creeping into it.
15:06Small waves with spiteful foaming crests
15:10continually broke over me and into my mouth,
15:13sending me into more strangling paroxysms.
15:17The noises grew indistinct,
15:20though I heard a final and despairing chorus of screams
15:23in the distance,
15:26and I knew that the Martinez had gone down.
15:30Later,
15:31how much later I have no knowledge,
15:33I came to myself with a start of fear.
15:36I was alone.
15:38I could hear no calls or cries,
15:40only the sound of the waves,
15:42made weirdly hollow and reverberant by the fog.
15:47A panic in a crowd which partakes
15:48of a sort of community of interest
15:50is not so terrible
15:52as panic when one is by oneself,
15:54and such a panic I now suffered.
15:57Whither was I drifting?
15:58The red-faced man had said
15:59that the tide was ebbing toward the golden gate.
16:03Was I then being carried out to sea?
16:06And the life preserver in which I floated,
16:08was it not liable to go to pieces at any moment?
16:11And I had heard of such things being made of paper
16:13and hollow rushes,
16:14which quickly became saturated
16:15and lost all buoyancy.
16:17And I could not swim a stroke.
16:22And I was alone,
16:24floating,
16:25apparently,
16:26in the midst of a grey primordial vastness.
16:31I confess
16:32that a madness seized me,
16:34that I shrieked aloud as the women had tricked,
16:37and beat the water with my numb hands.
16:40How long this lasted,
16:41I have no conception,
16:43for a blankness intervened,
16:45of which I remember
16:45no more than one remembers
16:47of troubled and painful sleep.
16:50When I aroused,
16:51it was as after centuries of time,
16:54and I saw almost above me
16:55and emerging from the fog
16:57the bow of a vessel
16:59and three triangular sails,
17:02each shrewdly lapping the other
17:03and filled with wind.
17:06Where the bow cut the water,
17:07there was a great foaming and gurgling,
17:10and I seemed directly in its path.
17:12I tried to cry out,
17:13but I was too exhausted.
17:15The bow plunged down,
17:16just missing me,
17:18and sending a swash of water
17:19clear over my head.
17:21Then the long,
17:22black side of the vessel
17:24began slipping past,
17:26so near that I could have touched it
17:28with my hands.
17:29I tried to reach it
17:30in a mad resolve
17:31to claw into the wood
17:32with my nails,
17:34but my arms were heavy
17:36and lifeless.
17:38Again,
17:39I strove to call out,
17:41but made no sound.
17:44The stern of the vessel
17:45shot by,
17:47dropping as it did so
17:48into a hollow
17:49between the waves,
17:50and I caught a glimpse
17:52of a man standing at the wheel,
17:54and of another man
17:55who seemed to be doing
17:55little else than smoke a cigar.
17:57I saw the smoke issuing
17:59from his lips
18:00as he softly turned his head
18:02and glanced out
18:03over the water
18:04in my direction.
18:06It was a careless,
18:08unpremeditated glance,
18:09one of those
18:10haphazard things men do
18:11when they have no immediate call
18:13to do anything in particular,
18:14but act because they are alive
18:16and must do something.
18:18But life and death
18:20were in that glance.
18:21I could see the vessel
18:22being swallowed up
18:23in the fog.
18:24I saw the back
18:25of the man at the wheel
18:26and the head
18:27of the other man
18:27turning,
18:29slowly turning,
18:30as his gaze
18:31struck the water
18:31and casually lifted
18:33along it,
18:34toward me.
18:36His face wore
18:36an absent expression
18:37as of deep thought,
18:39and I became afraid
18:41that if his eyes
18:41did light upon me,
18:43he would nevertheless
18:44not see me.
18:45But his eyes
18:46did light upon me
18:47and looked squarely
18:48into mine,
18:48and he did see me,
18:50for he sprang
18:50to the wheel
18:51thrusting the other man aside
18:52and whirled it
18:53round and round,
18:54hand over hand,
18:55at the same time
18:56shouting orders
18:56of some sort.
18:58The vessel seemed
18:58to go off
18:59at a tangent
18:59to its former course
19:00and leapt almost instantly
19:02from view
19:03into the fog.
19:05I felt myself
19:06slipping into unconsciousness
19:07and tried with all
19:09the power of my will
19:10to fight above
19:11this suffocating
19:12blankness
19:12and darkness
19:14that was rising
19:14around me.
19:16A little later,
19:18I heard the stroke
19:19of oars
19:20growing nearer
19:21and nearer,
19:22and the calls
19:23of a man.
19:25When he was
19:25very near,
19:26I heard him
19:27crying in vexed fashion.
19:29Why in hell
19:30don't you sing out?
19:33This meant me,
19:35I thought.
19:37And then,
19:38the blankness
19:39and darkness
19:40rose over me.
19:43Chapter 2
19:44I seemed swinging
19:46in a mighty rhythm
19:47through orbit vastness.
19:50Sparkling points
19:50of light
19:51sputtered
19:51and shot past me.
19:54They were stars
19:55I knew,
19:56and flaring comets,
19:57that peopled
19:58my flight
19:58among the suns.
20:00As I reached
20:01the limit of my swing
20:02and prepared
20:02to rush back,
20:03on the counterswing,
20:05a great gong
20:06struck and thundered,
20:08for an immeasurable period
20:10lapped in the rippling
20:11of placid centuries.
20:14I enjoyed
20:14and pondered
20:15my tremendous flight.
20:17But a change
20:18came over the face
20:18of the dream,
20:19for a dream
20:19I told myself
20:20it must be.
20:21My rhythm
20:22grew shorter
20:23and shorter.
20:24I was jerked
20:24from swing
20:25to counterswing
20:26with irritating haste.
20:28I could scarcely
20:29catch my breath
20:29so fiercely
20:30was I impelled
20:31through the heavens.
20:32The gong
20:33thundered more frequently
20:34and more furiously.
20:35I grew to await it
20:37with a nameless dread.
20:39Then,
20:40it seemed as though
20:41I were being dragged
20:42over rasping sands
20:44white and hot
20:45in the sun.
20:47This gave place
20:48to a sense
20:48of intolerable anguish.
20:51My skin was scorching
20:53in the torment of fire.
20:55The gong
20:56clanged and knelled.
20:57The sparkling points
20:58of light
20:59flashed past me
21:00in an interminable stream,
21:03as though the whole
21:04side-reel system
21:05were dropping
21:06into the void.
21:07I gasped,
21:09caught my breath painfully,
21:12and opened my eyes.
21:14Two men were kneeling
21:15beside me,
21:16working over me.
21:17My mighty rhythm
21:18was the lift
21:19and forward plunge
21:20of a ship on the sea.
21:21The terrific gong
21:23was a frying pan
21:24hanging on the wall
21:25that rattled and clattered
21:26with each leap
21:27of the ship.
21:29The rasping,
21:30scorching sands
21:31were a man's
21:32hard hands,
21:33chafing my naked chest.
21:35I squirmed
21:36under the pain of it,
21:37half-lifted my head.
21:39My chest was raw
21:40and red,
21:42and I could see
21:42tiny blood globules
21:44starting through
21:45the torn
21:46and inflamed cuticle.
21:48That'll do,
21:49Janssen,
21:50one of the men said.
21:52Can't you see
21:53you're blooming well
21:53rubbing the gent's skin off?
21:57The man,
21:58dressed as Janssen,
22:00a man of heavy
22:01Scandinavian type,
22:02ceased chafing me
22:03and rose awkwardly
22:05to his feet.
22:06The man who had spoken
22:07to him
22:07was clearly a cockney,
22:09with the clean lines
22:10and weakly pretty,
22:11almost effeminate,
22:13face of the man
22:13who absorbed
22:14the sound of bow bells
22:16with his mother's milk.
22:19A dragged muslin cap
22:21on his head
22:21and a dirty gunny sack
22:23about his slim hips
22:24proclaimed him
22:25cook of the decidedly
22:27dirty ship's galley
22:28in which I found myself.
22:30And how you feeling
22:33now, sir?
22:34He asked
22:35with a subservient smirk,
22:37which comes only
22:37of generations
22:38of tip-seeking ancestors.
22:41For reply,
22:41I twisted weakly
22:43into a sitting posture
22:44and was helped
22:45by Janssen
22:46to my feet.
22:48The rattle and bang
22:49of the frying pan
22:50was grating horribly
22:51on my nerves.
22:53I could not collect
22:54my thoughts.
22:55Clutching the woodwork
22:56of the galley
22:56for support,
22:57and I confess
22:58the grease
22:58with which it was scum
22:59to put my teeth on edge.
23:01I reached across
23:02a hot cooking range
23:03to the offending utensil,
23:05unhooked it,
23:06and wedged it securely
23:07into the coal box.
23:09The cook grinned
23:09at my exhibition
23:10of nerves
23:11and thrust into my hand
23:12a steaming mug
23:13with,
23:13Eh,
23:14this'll do you good.
23:15It was a nauseous mess,
23:18ship's coffee,
23:19but the heat of it
23:20was revivifying.
23:23Between gulps
23:24of the molten stuff,
23:25I glanced down
23:26at my raw and bleeding chest
23:28and turned to the Scandinavian.
23:30Thank you,
23:31Mr. Janssen,
23:32I said,
23:33but don't you think
23:33your measures
23:34were rather heroic?
23:36It was because
23:36he understood
23:37the reproof
23:38of my action
23:39rather than of my words
23:40that he held up
23:41his palm for inspection.
23:42It was remarkably calloused.
23:46I passed my hand
23:48over the horny projections
23:49and my teeth
23:50went on edge
23:51once more
23:51from the horrible
23:52rasping sensation
23:53produced.
23:55My name is Janssen,
23:57he said,
23:58not Janssen.
24:00He said in very good English,
24:02though slow,
24:03English with no more
24:05than a shade of accent
24:06to it.
24:07There was a mild protest
24:08in his pale blue eyes
24:10and with all the timid frankness
24:12and manliness
24:12that quite won
24:14me to him.
24:15Thank you,
24:16Mr. Johnson,
24:17I corrected
24:18and reached out
24:19my hand for his.
24:20He hesitated,
24:21awkward and bashful,
24:22shifted his weight
24:23from one leg
24:24to the other,
24:25then blunderingly
24:26gripped my hand
24:27in a hearty handshake.
24:29Have you any clothes
24:30I may put on?
24:31I asked the cook.
24:32Yes, sir,
24:34he answered
24:34with cheerful lacrity.
24:36I'll run down
24:37and take a look
24:38over my kid.
24:39If you've no objection,
24:42sir,
24:43to wearing my things.
24:45He dived out
24:46of the galley door,
24:47rather glided,
24:50with a swiftness
24:51and smoothness
24:51of gait
24:52that struck me
24:53as being not so much
24:55cat-like as oily.
24:57In fact,
24:57this oiliness
24:58or greasiness,
24:59as I was later to learn,
25:00was probably
25:01the most salient expression
25:02of his personality.
25:03And where am I?
25:06I asked Johnson,
25:07whom I took,
25:07and rightly,
25:08to be one of the sailors.
25:09What vessel is this
25:10and where is she bound?
25:12Off the Farolands,
25:14headed about
25:15south-west,
25:17he answered
25:17slowly and methodically,
25:19as though groping
25:20for his best English
25:21and rigidly observing
25:22the order of my queries.
25:24The schooner ghost,
25:26bound seal-hunting
25:28to Japan.
25:30And who is the captain?
25:32And I must see him
25:33as soon as I'm dressed.
25:35Johnson looked puzzled
25:36and embarrassed.
25:38He hesitated
25:39while he groped
25:40in his vocabulary
25:41and framed
25:42a complete answer.
25:44The captain
25:44is Wolf Larson,
25:47or so men call him.
25:49I never heard
25:50his other name,
25:51but you better
25:51speak soft with him.
25:53He is mad
25:54this morning.
25:56The mate,
25:57but he did not finish.
25:58The cook
25:59had glided in.
26:01Better sing,
26:01you hook out of here,
26:02Johnson,
26:03he said.
26:03The old man
26:04will be wanting you
26:05on deck,
26:05and this ain't no die
26:06to fall foul of him.
26:09Johnson turned
26:10obediently to the door
26:11at the same time
26:13over the cook's shoulder,
26:14favoring me
26:15with an amazingly
26:16solemn and portentous wink,
26:18as though to emphasize
26:19his interrupted remark
26:21and the need for me
26:21to be soft-spoken
26:22with the captain.
26:25Hanging over
26:25the cook's arm
26:26was a loose
26:27and crumpled array
26:27of evil-looking
26:28and sour-smelling garments.
26:33They was put away
26:34wet, sir,
26:35he vouchsafed explanation.
26:37But you'll have
26:38to make them do
26:40till I dry yours
26:42out by the fire.
26:45Clinging to the woodwork,
26:46staggering with the roll
26:47of the ship
26:48and aided by the cook,
26:49I managed to slip
26:50into a rough,
26:51woolen undershirt.
26:53On the instant
26:53my flesh was creeping
26:54and crawling
26:55from the harsh contact,
26:56he noticed my involuntary
26:58twitching and grimacing
26:59and smirked.
27:00I only hope
27:01you never don't
27:03ever have to get used
27:05to such as that
27:06in this life,
27:07cause you've got
27:08a bloomin' soft skin
27:09that you have,
27:10more like a lady's
27:11than any I know of.
27:13And was bloomin'
27:14well, sure,
27:15you was a gentleman
27:16as soon as I set eyes
27:17on you.
27:19I'd taken a dislike
27:20to him at first,
27:21and as he helped
27:22address me,
27:22this dislike increased.
27:24There was something
27:25repulsive about his touch.
27:27I shrank from his hand,
27:29my flesh revolted,
27:30and between this
27:31and the smells arising
27:32from the various pots
27:33boiling and bubbling
27:34on the galley fire,
27:36I was in haste
27:37to get out
27:37into the fresh air.
27:39Further,
27:39there was the need
27:40of seeing the captain
27:41about what arrangements
27:42could be made
27:43for getting me ashore.
27:45A cheap cotton shirt
27:46with frayed color
27:47and a bosom discolored
27:49with what I took
27:50to be ancient bloodstains
27:51was put on me
27:53amid a running
27:53and apologetic fire
27:54of comment.
27:56A pair of workman's
27:57brogans encased
27:58my feet,
27:59and for trousers
27:59I was furnished
28:00with a pair
28:01of pale blue
28:01washed-out overalls,
28:03one leg of which
28:04was fully ten inches
28:05shorter than the other.
28:07The abbreviated leg
28:08looked as though
28:09the devil had been
28:10clutched there
28:10for the cockney soul
28:11in mistlet's shadow
28:12for the substance.
28:16And whom have I to thank
28:18for this kindness,
28:19I asked.
28:19When I stood
28:20completely arrayed,
28:21a tiny boy's cap
28:22on my head
28:23and for a coat
28:23a dirty striped
28:25cotton jacket
28:25which ended
28:26at the small
28:27of my back
28:27and the sleeves
28:28of which just
28:29reached below
28:30my elbows.
28:33The cook drew himself
28:34up in a smugly
28:35humble fashion,
28:37a deprecating smirk
28:38on his face.
28:39Out of my experience
28:40with stewards
28:40on the Atlantic liners
28:42at the end
28:42of the voyage,
28:43I could have sworn
28:44he was waiting
28:45for his tip.
28:46From my fuller knowledge
28:47of the creature
28:48I now know
28:49that the posture
28:49was unconscious,
28:51a hereditary servility
28:52no doubt
28:53was responsible.
28:56Mugridge, sir,
28:58he fond,
28:58his effeminate features
28:59running into
29:00a greasy smile.
29:02Thomas Mugridge, sir,
29:04and at your service.
29:07All right, Thomas,
29:08I said,
29:08I shall not forget you
29:10when my clothes are dry.
29:12A soft light
29:13suffused his face
29:14and his eyes glistened
29:15as though somewhere
29:17in the deeps
29:18of his being
29:18his ancestors
29:19had quickened
29:21and stirred
29:21with dim memories
29:22of tips received
29:23in former lives.
29:25Thank you, sir,
29:26he said very gratefully
29:27and very humbly indeed.
29:31Precisely in the way
29:32that the door slid back
29:33he slid aside
29:33and I stepped out on deck.
29:36I was still weak
29:37for my prolonged immersion.
29:38A puff of wind
29:39caught me
29:40and I staggered
29:40across the moving deck
29:42to a corner of the cabin
29:43to which I clung
29:44for support.
29:45The schooner
29:45heeled over far out
29:47from the perpendicular
29:47was bowing
29:49and plunging
29:49into the long Pacific roll.
29:52If she were heading southwest
29:53as Johnson had said,
29:54the wind, then I calculated,
29:56was blowing nearly
29:56from the south.
29:58The fog was gone
29:59and in its place
30:00the sun sparkled crisply
30:02on the surface
30:03of the water.
30:05I turned to the east
30:06where I knew
30:06California must lie
30:07but could see nothing
30:08save low-lying fog banks,
30:11the same fog doubtless
30:12that had brought
30:13about the disaster
30:14to the Martinez
30:14and placed me
30:16in my present situation.
30:18To the north
30:18and not far away
30:19a group of naked rocks
30:21thrust above the sea
30:23on one of which
30:24I could distinguish
30:25a lighthouse.
30:26In the southwest
30:27and almost nor course
30:28I saw the pyramidal
30:30loom
30:31of some vessel's sails.
30:33Having completed
30:34my survey of the horizon
30:35I turned to my more
30:36immediate surroundings.
30:38My first thought
30:39was that a man
30:39who had come
30:40through a collision
30:41and rubbed shoulders
30:41with death
30:42merited more attention
30:44than I received.
30:45Beyond a sailor
30:46at the wheel
30:46who stared curiously
30:47across the top
30:48of the cabin
30:48I attracted no notice
30:50whatever.
30:52Everybody seemed
30:53interested
30:53in what was going on
30:55amid ships.
30:56There on a hatch
30:57a large man
30:58was lying on his back.
31:00He was fully clothed
31:01though his shirt
31:02was ripped open
31:03in front.
31:04Nothing was to be seen
31:05of his chest however
31:06for it was covered
31:07with a mass of
31:08black hair
31:09in appearance
31:10like the furry coat
31:11of a dog.
31:13His face and neck
31:14were hidden
31:14beneath a black beard
31:15intershot with grey
31:17which would have been
31:18stiff and bushy
31:19had it not been limp
31:20and draggled
31:21and dripping with water.
31:23His eyes were closed
31:24and he was apparently
31:25unconscious
31:26but his mouth
31:27was wide open
31:28his breast heaving
31:30as though from suffocation
31:31as he labored
31:32noisily for breath.
31:34A sailor from time
31:35to time
31:35and quite methodically
31:36as a matter of routine
31:38dropped a canvas bucket
31:40into the ocean
31:40at the end of a rope
31:41hold it in
31:42hand under hand
31:43and sluiced
31:45its contents
31:46over the prostrate man.
31:48Pacing back and forth
31:49the length of the hatchways
31:50and savagely chewing
31:52the end of a cigar
31:53was the man
31:53whose casual glance
31:54had rescued me
31:56from the sea.
31:57His height
31:57was probably
31:58five feet ten inches
32:00or ten and a half
32:01but my impression
32:03or feel of the man
32:04was not of this
32:05but of his strength
32:06and yet
32:07while he was
32:08of massive build
32:09with broad shoulders
32:10and deep chest
32:11I could not characterize
32:13his strength
32:13as massive
32:14it was what
32:15might be termed
32:17a sinewy
32:18knotty strength
32:19of the kind
32:20we ascribe to lean
32:21and wiry men
32:22but which in him
32:23because of his heavy build
32:25partook more
32:26of the enlarged
32:27gorilla sort
32:28not that in appearance
32:29he seemed
32:30in the least
32:30gorilla like
32:31what I am striving
32:32to express
32:33is this strength itself
32:34more as a thing
32:35apart from his
32:36physical semblance
32:37it was a strength
32:38we are wont to associate
32:39with things
32:40primitive
32:41with wild animals
32:43and the creatures
32:44we imagine
32:45our tree dwelling
32:46prototypes to have been
32:47a strength savage
32:49ferocious
32:50alive in itself
32:52the essence of life
32:54in that it is
32:55the potency
32:56of motion
32:57the elemental
32:58stuff itself
32:59out of which
33:00the many forms
33:01of life
33:01have been molded
33:02in short
33:03that which writhes
33:05in the body
33:05of a snake
33:06when the head
33:07is cut off
33:08and the snake
33:09as snake is dead
33:10or which lingers
33:12in the shapeless
33:13lamp of turtle meat
33:14and recoils
33:15and quivers
33:16from the prod
33:17of the finger
33:17such was the impression
33:19of strength
33:20I gathered
33:20from this man
33:21who paced
33:21up and down
33:23he was firmly
33:24planted on his leg
33:25his feet
33:26struck the deck
33:27squarely
33:28and with surety
33:29every movement
33:30of a muscle
33:31from the heave
33:32of the shoulders
33:33to the tightening
33:34of the lips
33:35about the cigar
33:36was decisive
33:37and seemed to come
33:39out of a strength
33:39that was excessive
33:40and overwhelming
33:41in fact
33:43though this strength
33:44pervaded every action
33:45of his
33:46it seemed but the
33:47advertisement
33:47of a greater strength
33:48that lurked within
33:49that lay dormant
33:51and no more than
33:52stirred from time
33:53to time
33:53but which might arouse
33:55at any moment
33:56terrible and compelling
33:57like the rage
33:58of a lion
33:59or the wrath
34:00of a storm
34:00the cook
34:02stuck his head
34:03out of the galley door
34:03and grinned
34:04encouragingly at me
34:05at the same time
34:07jerking his thumb
34:07in the direction
34:08of the man
34:08who paced
34:09up and down
34:10by the hatchway
34:10thus
34:11I was given
34:12to understand
34:13that he was
34:13the captain
34:14the old man
34:15in the cook's vernacular
34:17the individual
34:18whom I must interview
34:19and put to the trouble
34:20of somehow
34:20getting me ashore
34:21I'd have started forward
34:24to get over
34:24with what I was certain
34:25would be
34:25a stormy five minutes
34:27when a more violent
34:29suffocating paroxysm
34:30seized the unfortunate
34:31person who was
34:32lying on his back
34:33he wrenched
34:34and writhed
34:35about convulsively
34:36the chin
34:37with the damp
34:38black beard
34:39pointed higher
34:40in the air
34:40as the back muscles
34:41stiffened
34:42and the chest
34:43swelled
34:43in an unconscious
34:44and instinctive effort
34:46to get more air
34:47under the whiskers
34:48and all unseen
34:49I knew that the skin
34:51was taking on
34:52a purplish hue
34:53the captain
34:55or Wolf Larson
34:56as men called him
34:57ceased pacing
34:59and gazed down
35:00at the dying man
35:01so fierce
35:03had this struggle
35:03become
35:04that the sailor
35:05paused in the act
35:06of flinging
35:06more water
35:07over him
35:08and stared curiously
35:10the canvas bucket
35:13partly tilted
35:14and dripping
35:15its contents
35:15to the deck
35:16the dying man
35:18beat a tattoo
35:18on the hatch
35:19with his heels
35:20straightened out
35:21his legs
35:21and stiffened
35:22in one
35:22great
35:23tense effort
35:25and rolled his head
35:26from side to side
35:27then the muscles relaxed
35:30the head stopped rolling
35:32and a sigh
35:34as of profound relief
35:35floated upward
35:37from his lips
35:38the jaw dropped
35:40the upper lip lifted
35:42and two rows
35:44of tobacco
35:45discolored teeth
35:46appeared
35:46it seemed as though
35:48his features
35:49had frozen
35:50into a diabolical grin
35:52at the world
35:52he had left
35:53and outwitted
35:54then a most surprising
35:56thing occurred
35:57the captain
35:58broke loose
35:58upon the dead man
35:59like a thunderclap
36:00oaths rolled
36:01from his lips
36:02in a continuous stream
36:03and they were not
36:04namby-pamby oaths
36:06or mere expressions
36:07of indecency
36:07each word
36:09was a blasphemy
36:09and there were
36:10many words
36:11they crisped
36:12and crackled
36:13like electric sparks
36:15i had never heard
36:16anything like it
36:17in my life
36:17nor could i have
36:18conceived it possible
36:19with a turn for
36:21literary expression
36:22myself
36:22and a penchant
36:23for forcible figures
36:24and phrases
36:24i appreciated
36:26as no other listener
36:27i dare say
36:28the peculiar
36:29vividness
36:30and strength
36:31and absolute
36:32blasphemy
36:34of his metaphors
36:35the cause of it all
36:37as near as i could
36:37make out
36:38was that the man
36:38who was made
36:40had gone under
36:41debauch
36:41before leaving
36:42san francisco
36:43and then had
36:44the poor taste
36:44to die
36:45at the beginning
36:45of the voyage
36:46and leave wolf
36:47larson short-handed
36:49it should be
36:51unnecessary to state
36:52at least to my friends
36:53that i was shocked
36:55oaths in vile language
36:57of any sort
36:57has always been
36:58repellent to me
36:59i felt a wilting
37:00sensation
37:01a sinking at the heart
37:02and i might just
37:03as well say
37:04a giddiness
37:05to me death
37:07had always been
37:07invested with
37:08solemnity and dignity
37:10it had been peaceful
37:11in its occurrence
37:12sacred in its ceremonial
37:14but death in its
37:15more sordid
37:16and terrible aspects
37:18was a thing
37:19with which i had
37:20been unacquainted
37:20till now
37:21as i say
37:23while i appreciated
37:24the power
37:24of the terrific
37:27denunciation
37:27that swept out
37:29of wolf larson's
37:30mouth
37:30i was inexpressibly
37:32shocked
37:33the scorching
37:36torrent was enough
37:37to wither the face
37:38of the corpse
37:38i should not have
37:40been surprised
37:40if the wet black beard
37:41had frizzled
37:42and curled
37:43and flared up
37:43and smoke and flame
37:44but the dead man
37:46was unconcerned
37:47he continued to grin
37:48with a sardonic humor
37:50with a cynical mockery
37:52and defiance
37:53he was master
37:56of the situation
37:57i'd love to embrace maintenant
38:03a new movie
38:03?
38:03was it that was a
Be the first to comment