klyatomu svetu!


     This  tirade against destiny went on for an hour  or more, and then  he
buckled to  his work, limping and groaning, and in  his  eyes a great hatred
for  all  created things.  His diagnosis  was  correct, however,  for he was
seized with  occasional  sicknesses,  during  which  he  vomited  blood  and
suffered great pain. And as he said, it seemed God hated him too much to let
him die, for he ultimately grew better and waxed more malignant than ever.

     |to  vozmushchenie protiv sud'by prodolzhalos' bol'she  chasa, posle chego kok
snova  prinyalsya za rabotu, hromaya, ohaya i dysha nenavist'yu ko vsemu zhivushchemu.
Ego diagnoz okazalsya pravil'nym, tak  kak vremya ot  vremeni emu  stanovilos'
durno, on nachinal  harkat'  krov'yu i  ochen'  stradal.  No  bog,  kazalos', i
vpravdu  voznenavidel ego  i ne hotel pribrat'. Malo-pomalu  kok opravilsya i
stal eshche zlee prezhnego.


     Several days more passed before Johnson crawled  on deck and went about
his  work in a  half-hearted  way.  He was still a sick man, and I more than
once observed him creeping painfully aloft to a topsail, or drooping wearily
as he stood at the  wheel. But, still  worse, it seemed  that his spirit was
broken. He was abject before Wolf  Larsen  and almost grovelled to Johansen.
Not so  was the conduct of Leach. He went  about the deck like a  tiger cub,
glaring his hatred openly at Wolf Larsen and Johansen.

     Proshlo  neskol'ko  dnej, i  Dzhonson tozhe  vypolz  na  palubu i  koe-kak
prinyalsya za rabotu. No emu bylo eshche daleko do popravki, i ya neredko nablyudal
ukradkoj, kak on s trudom vzbiraetsya  po  vantam  ili ustalo sklonyaetsya  nad
shturvalom.  A  huzhe  vsego bylo to,  chto on sovsem pal duhom. On presmykalsya
pered  Volkom Larsenom  i pered pomoshchnikom. Vot Lich --  tot derzhalsya  sovsem
inache. Rashazhival po palube,  kak molodoj tigr, i ne skryval svoej nenavisti
k kapitanu i k Iogansenu.


     "I'll  do for  you  yet,  you slab-footed Swede," I  heard  him say  to
Johansen one night on deck.

     -- YA eshche razdelayus' s toboj, kosolapyj shved! -- uslyshal ya kak-to  noch'yu
na palube ego slova, obrashchennye k pomoshchniku.


     The mate cursed him  in the darkness, and  the next moment some missile
struck the galley a sharp rap. There was  more cursing, and a mocking laugh,
and when all was quiet I stole outside and found a heavy knife imbedded over
an inch in the solid wood. A few minutes later the mate came  fumbling about
in search  of it, but I returned  it privily to Leach next day.  He  grinned
when I handed  it over, yet it was a grin that contained more sincere thanks
than a  multitude of the verbosities  of  speech common to the members of my
own class.

     Iogansen vybranilsya  v temnote, i v tot zhe mig chto-to s siloj udarilos'
o pereborku  kambuza. Snova poslyshalas' rugan', potom  nasmeshlivyj  hohot, a
kogda  vse stihlo, ya vyshel na  palubu i uvidel tyazhelyj  nozh,  vonzivshijsya  v
pereborku na celyj dyujm. Pochti togda zhe  poyavilsya pomoshchnik i prinyalsya iskat'
nozh, no ya uzhe zavladel im i na sleduyushchee utro tajkom vernul ego Lichu. Matros
tol'ko  osklabilsya  pri  etom,  no  v   ego  ulybke  bylo  bol'she  iskrennej
blagodarnosti, chem  v  mnogoslovnyh izliyaniyah, prisushchih predstavitelyam moego
klassa.


     Unlike any one else in the ship's company,  I now  found myself with no
quarrels on my hands and in the good graces of all. The hunters possibly  no
more  than tolerated me,  though none of them  disliked  me; while Smoke and
Henderson,  convalescent under a deck awning and swinging day  and  night in
their  hammocks, assured me that I was better than any  hospital nurse,  and
that they would not forget me at the end of the  voyage  when they were paid
off. (As though I stood  in  need of their money! I,  who  could have bought
them  out, bag and baggage,  and the schooner and  its equipment, a score of
times over!) But upon me had  devolved the task of tending their wounds, and
pulling them through, and I did my best by them.

     V protivopolozhnost' ostal'nym chlenam komandy, ya teper' ni  s kem ne byl
v ssore, bolee togo, otlichno  ladil  so  vsemi. Ohotniki  otnosilis' ko mne,
dolzhno  byt',  so  snishoditel'nym  prezreniem,  no,  vo  vsyakom  sluchae, ne
vrazhdebno. Smok i Genderson, kotorye ponemnogu zalechivali svoi rany i celymi
dnyami  kachalis'  v podvesnyh kojkah  pod  tentom, uveryali, chto ya uhazhivayu za
nimi luchshe vsyakoj sidelki i chto oni ne zabudut menya v konce  plavaniya, kogda
poluchat raschet. (Kak  budto mne  nuzhny  byli  ih den'gi! YA mog  kupit' ih so
vsemi ih pozhitkami, mog kupit' vsyu shhunu, dazhe dvadcat' takih shhun!) No  mne
vypala zadacha uhazhivat' za nimi,  perevyazyvat'  ih  rany, i ya delal vse, chto
mog.


     Wolf Larsen underwent another bad  attack  of headache which lasted two
days. He  must  have suffered  severely, for  he called me  in and obeyed my
commands like a sick child. But nothing I could do seemed to relieve him. At
my suggestion, however, he  gave  up smoking and drinking; though why such a
magnificent animal as he should have headaches at all puzzles me.

     U Volka Larsena snova byl  pristup  golovnoj  boli, dlivshijsya dva  dnya.
Dolzhno byt', on  zhestoko  stradal,  tak kak pozval  menya  i podchinyalsya  moim
ukazaniyam, kak bol'noj rebenok. No nichto ne pomogaet emu. Po moemu sovetu on
brosil kurit' i pit'.  Mne kazalos' prosto neveroyatnym, chto eto velikolepnoe
zhivotnoe mozhet stradat' takimi golovnymi bolyami.


     "'Tis  the  hand of God,  I'm  tellin' you," is the way  Louis sees it.
"'Tis a visitation for his black-hearted deeds, and there's  more behind and
comin', or else - "

     -- |to  bozh'ya kara, uveryayu vas, -- vyskazalsya  po etomu povodu Luis. --
Kara za ego chernye dela. I eto eshche ne vse, inache...


     "Or else," I prompted.

     -- Inache chto? -- sprosil ya.


     "God is noddin' and not doin' his duty, though it's me as shouldn't say
it."

     -- Inache bog, vidat', tol'ko grozitsya, a dela ne delaet. |h, vot sletit
s yazyka...


     I  was mistaken when I  said that I was in the good  graces of all. Not
only does Thomas Mugridge  continue to hate me, but he  has discovered a new
reason for hating me.  It took me no  little while to  puzzle it out, but  I
finally  discovered  that it  was because  I was more luckily born than he -
"gentleman born," he put it.

     Net, zrya ya skazal,  chto  nahozhus'  v  dobryh otnosheniyah so vsemi. Tomas
Magridzh  ne  tol'ko po-prezhnemu  nenavidit  menya,  no  dazhe nashel dlya  svoej
nenavisti novyj povod. YA dolgo ne ponimal, v chem delo, no nakonec dogadalsya:
on ne mog  prostit' mne, chto ya rodilsya "dzhentl'menom", kak on vyrazhaetsya, to
est' pod bolee schastlivoj zvezdoj, nezheli on.


     "And  still  no  more  dead  men,"  I  twitted  Louis, when  Smoke  and
Henderson, side by side, in friendly conversation, took their first exercise
on deck.

     --  A pokojnikov chto-to ne vidat'! -- poddraznil ya Luisa, kogda  Smok i
Genderson,  druzheski beseduya,  progulivalis'  ryadom po palube  v  pervyj raz
posle vyzdorovleniya.


     Louis  surveyed  me  with  his  shrewd  grey eyes,  and shook  his head
portentously.

     Luis podnyal na menya hitrye serye glazki i zloveshche pokachal golovoj.


     "She's a-comin', I tell you, and it'll be sheets and halyards, stand by
all hands, when she begins to howl. I've had the  feel iv it this long time,
and I can  feel  it now as plainly  as  I  feel the rigging iv a dark night.
She's close, she's close."

     -- SHkval  naletit, govoryu vam,  i togda  berite  vse  rify i  derzhites'
krepche. YA  chuyu,  davno  chuyu  -- byt' bure. YA  ee vizhu -- vot kak takelazh nad
golovoj v temnuyu noch'. Ona uzhe blizko, blizko!


     "Who goes first?" I queried.

     -- I kto zhe budet pervoj zhertvoj? -- sprosil ya.


     "Not fat old Louis, I  promise you," he laughed. "For 'tis in the bones
iv  me I  know that  come  this  time next year I'll be  gazin'  in  the old
mother's eyes, weary with watchin' iv the sea for the five sons  she gave to
it."

     -- Tol'ko ne  staryj tolstyj Luis, za eto ya poruchus', -- rassmeyalsya on.
-- YA  chuyu  nutrom, chto  cherez god budu glyadet' v glaza  moej staroj matushke;
ved' ona zazhdalas' svoih synovej -- vse pyatero ushli v more.


     "Wot's 'e been s'yin' to yer?" Thomas Mugridge demanded a moment later.

     -- CHto on govoril tebe? -- sprosil menya potom Tomas Magridzh.


     "That  he's  going  home  some  day  to  see  his mother,"  I  answered
diplomatically.

     -- CHto on kogda-nibud' s®ezdit domoj povidat'sya s mater'yu, -- ostorozhno
otvechal ya.


     "I  never  'ad  none," was  the  Cockney's  comment,  as he gazed  with
lustreless, hopeless eyes into mine.

     -- U menya nikogda ne bylo materi, -- zayavil kok, ustaviv na menya unylyj
vzglyad svoih tusklyh, bescvetnyh glaz.


        CHAPTER XIV

        GLAVA XIV


     It has dawned  upon me that I have never placed a proper valuation upon
womankind. For that matter, though not amative to any considerable degree so
far as I have discovered, I was never outside the atmosphere of  women until
now. My mother and sisters were always about me, and  I was always trying to
escape them; for they worried me to distraction with their solicitude for my
health and with their periodic inroads on my den, when my orderly confusion,
upon which I prided myself, was turned into worse confusion and less  order,
though  it  looked neat enough to the eye. I never could find  anything when
they  had departed.  But now, alas, how welcome would have been  the feel of
their presence, the frou- frou and swish-swish of  their  skirts which I had
so cordially detested! I am sure, if  I ever get home, that I shall never be
irritable with them again. They may dose me and doctor me morning, noon, and
night, and dust and sweep and put my den to  rights every minute of the day,
and  I shall  only lean back and survey it  all and be thankful in that I am
possessed of a mother and some several sisters.

     Dumayu o tom, chto nikogda ne umel  ponastoyashchemu cenit' zhenskoe obshchestvo,
hotya  pochti  vsyu svoyu  zhizn' provel v okruzhenii zhenshchin.  YA zhil s  mater'yu  i
sestrami i vsegda staralsya osvobodit'sya ot ih  opeki.  Oni dovodili menya  do
otchayaniya svoimi zabotami o  moem  zdorov'e  i vtorzheniyami v moyu komnatu, gde
neizmenno narushali tot sistematizirovannyj  haos, kotoryj byl predmetom moej
gordosti i v kotorom ya otlichno razbiralsya, i  uchinyali  eshche  bol'shij,  s moej
tochki zreniya, haos, hotya komnata i  priobretala bolee opryatnyj vid. Posle ih
uhoda  ya nikogda nichego  ne  mog najti.  No, uvy, kak  rad byl  by  ya teper'
oshchutit'  vozle sebya  ih  prisutstvie,  uslyshat' shelest ih yubok,  kotoryj tak
dokuchal mne  podchas!  YA uveren,  chto nikogda ne budu  ssorit'sya s nimi, esli
tol'ko  mne udastsya popast'  domoj. Pust' s utra  do nochi pichkayut  menya, chem
hotyat,  pust' ves' den' vytirayut pyl'  v moem  kabinete i podmetayut pol -- ya
budu spokojno vzirat' na vse eto i blagodarit' sud'bu za to, chto u menya est'
mat' i sestry.


     All  of  which has  set  me wondering. Where are  the  mothers of these
twenty and  odd men on the Ghost? It strikes me as unnatural and unhealthful
that men should  be totally separated from women and herd through  the world
by themselves. Coarseness and savagery are the inevitable results. These men
about  me should  have wives, and sisters, and daughters; then would they be
capable of softness, and tenderness, and sympathy. As it is, not one of them
is married. In years and  years not  one of them  has been in contact with a
good  woman,  or  within the influence,  or  redemption,  which irresistibly
radiates from such a  creature. There  is  no  balance in their lives. Their
masculinity, which in itself is of  the brute, has been over- developed. The
other and  spiritual side of their natures has been dwarfed -  atrophied, in
fact.

     Podobnye  vospominaniya zastavlyayut  menya zadumat'sya o drugom. Gde materi
vseh  etih lyudej, plavayushchih na "Prizrake"? I protivoestestvenno i nezdorovo,
chto  vse  eti muzhchiny sovershenno otorvany ot zhenshchin i odni skitayutsya po belu
svetu. Grubost' i dikost' tol'ko neizbezhnyj rezul'tat etogo. Vsem etim lyudyam
sledovalo by  tozhe  imet' zhen, sester,  docherej.  Togda  oni  byli by myagche,
chelovechnee, byli  by sposobny  na sochuvstvie. A ved'  nikto iz  nih dazhe  ne
zhenat. Godami nikomu iz nih ne prihoditsya ispytyvat' na sebe vliyaniya horoshej
zhenshchiny, ee smyagchayushchego vozdejstviya. ZHizn' ih odnoboka. Ih muzhestvennost', v
kotoroj  est' nechto  zhivotnoe,  chrezmerno razvilas' v nih za  schet  duhovnoj
storony, pritupivshejsya, pochti atrofirovannoj.


     They are a company of celibates,  grinding harshly against one  another
and  growing  daily  more  calloused  from  the  grinding.  It  seems  to me
impossible sometimes that they ever had mothers. It would appear  that  they
are a half-brute, half-human species, a race apart, wherein there is no such
thing as sex; that they are  hatched out  by the  sun  like turtle  eggs, or
receive life in some  similar and  sordid fashion;  and that  all their days
they fester in brutality and viciousness, and in the end  die as unlovely as
they have lived.

     |to kompaniya holostyh  muzhchin. ZHizn' ih  protekaet v grubyh stychkah, ot
kotoryh  oni  eshche  bolee cherstveyut. Poroj  mne  prosto  ne  veritsya,  chto ih
porodili   na  svet  zhenshchiny.   Kazhetsya,  chto  eto  kakaya-to   poluzverinaya,
poluchelovecheskaya poroda, osobyj vid zhivyh  sushchestv, ne imeyushchih pola, chto oni
vylupilis',  kak  cherepahi,  iz sogretyh  solncem  yaic  ili  poluchili  zhizn'
kakimnibud' drugim  neobychnym sposobom.  Dni oni provodyat  sredi  grubosti i
zla, i v konce koncov umirayut stol' zhe skverno, kak i zhili.


     Rendered curious by this new direction of ideas, I talked with Johansen
last night - the first superfluous words with which he has favoured me since
the voyage began. He left Sweden  when he was eighteen, is now thirty-eight,
and  in  all the intervening time  has  not been home  once.  He  had  met a
townsman, a couple  of years before, in some sailor boarding-house in Chile,
so that he knew his mother to be still alive.

     Pod vliyaniem  takih myslej ya  razgovorilsya vchera  vecherom s Iogansenom.
|to  byla  pervaya  neoficial'naya beseda, kotoroj on  udostoil  menya s nachala
puteshestviya.  Iogansen  pokinul  SHveciyu,  kogda emu  bylo vosemnadcat'  let;
teper' emu tridcat' vosem', i za vse eto  vremya on ni razu ne byl doma. Goda
dva nazad v CHili on vstretil v kakom-to portovom traktire zemlyaka i uznal ot
nego, chto ego mat' eshche zhiva.


     "She  must be a  pretty  old woman  now," he said, staring meditatively
into the binnacle and  then  jerking  a sharp  glance at  Harrison,  who was
steering a point off the course.

     --  Verno, uzh  poryadkom  sostarilas' teper',  --  skazal  on, zadumchivo
glyanuv na kompas i totchas metnuv kolyuchij vzglyad na Garrisona, otklonivshegosya
na odin rumb ot kursa.


     "When did you last  write to her?" He  performed his mental  arithmetic
aloud.

     -- Kogda vy v poslednij raz pisali ej? On prinyalsya vyschityvat' vsluh.


     "Eighty-one; no - eighty-two, eh? no - eighty-three? Yes, eighty-three.
Ten  years  ago.  From  some little port in Madagascar. I was trading.  "You
see," he went on, as though addressing his neglected  mother across half the
girth  of  the earth, "each year I was going  home. So what was  the good to
write? It was only a year. And each year  something happened, and I did  not
go.  But I am  mate,  now,  and when I pay  off at 'Frisco, maybe  with five
hundred  dollars,  I will  ship  myself on  a  windjammer round the  Horn to
Liverpool,  which  will  give me more money; and then I will pay  my passage
from there home. Then she will not do any more work."

     --  V vosem'desyat  pervom... net, v vosem'desyat vtorom, kazhetsya.  Ili v
vosem'desyat  tret'em?  Da,  v  vosem'desyat  tret'em.  Desyat'  let nazad.  Iz
kakogo-to malen'kogo porta na Madagaskare. YA sluzhil togda na torgovom sudne.
Vidish'  ty,  --  prodolzhal on,  budto obrashchayas' cherez okean k svoej  zabytoj
materi, -- ved' kazhdyj god sobiralsya domoj. Tak stoilo li pisat'? CHerez god,
dumayu, popadu. Da vsyakij raz  chto-nibud' meshalo. Teper' vot stal pomoshchnikom,
tak  delo pojdet  podrugomu. Kak poluchu raschet vo  Frisko --  mozhet, nabezhit
dollarov  pyat'sot,  -- tak  najmus'  na  kakoe-nibud' parusnoe sudno,  mahnu
vokrug mysa Gorn  v Liverpul' i  zashibu eshche. A ottuda uzh poedu domoj na svoi
denezhki. Vot togda moej starushke ne pridetsya bol'she rabotat'!


     "But does she work? now? How old is she?"

     -- Neuzhto ona eshche rabotaet? Skol'ko zhe ej let?


     "About seventy," he answered. And then, boastingly, "We  work  from the
time we are born until we die, in my country. That's why we live so long.  I
will live to a hundred."

     --  Pod  sem'desyat, -- otvetil  on. I  dobavil  hvastlivo: --  U nas na
rodine rabotayut s rozhdeniya i do samoj smerti, poetomu my i  zhivem tak dolgo.
YA dotyanu do sta.


     I shall  never forget this conversation. The words were the last I ever
heard him utter. Perhaps they were the last he did utter, too.

     Nikogda ne zabudu ya etogo razgovora. To byli poslednie slova, kotorye ya
ot nego slyshal, i, byt' mozhet, voobshche poslednie ego slova.


     For, going down into the  cabin to  turn in, I decided  that it was too
stuffy to sleep below. It  was a calm night.  We were out of the Trades, and
the Ghost was forging ahead barely a knot an hour. So I tucked a blanket and
pillow under my arm and went up on deck.

     V tot vecher, spustivshis' v kayutu, ya reshil, chto tam slishkom dushno spat'.
Noch' byla tihaya. My vyshli iz polosy  passatov, i "Prizrak" ele polz  vpered,
so skorost'yu ne bol'she odnogo uzla. Zahvativ  pod  myshku podushku i odeyalo, ya
podnyalsya na palubu.


     As I passed between Harrison and the binnacle, which was built into the
top of the cabin,  I noticed  that he was  this time fully three points off.
Thinking that he was asleep, and wishing him to escape reprimand or worse, I
spoke to  him.  But he  was not asleep. His eyes were  wide and staring.  He
seemed greatly perturbed, unable to reply to me.

     Prohodya mimo Garrisona,  ya vzglyanul na  kompas, ustanovlennyj na palube
rubki,  i zametil, chto na etot raz rulevoj otklonilsya ot kursa na celyh  tri
rumba.  Dumaya,  chto  on zasnul,  i  zhelaya spasti ego ot vzbuchki, a  to i  ot
chego-nibud' pohuzhe, ya zagovoril s nim. No on ne spal,  glaza ego byli shiroko
рaskryty i ustremleny v dal'. Kazalos', on  byl tak chem-to vzvolnovan,
chto ne mog otvetit' mne.


     "What's the matter?" I asked. "Are you sick?"

     -- V chem delo? -- sprosil ya. -- Ty bolen?


     He shook  his head, and with a  deep sign as of awakening,  caught  his
breath.

     On pokachal golovoj i gluboko vzdohnul, slovno probuzhdayas' ot sna.


     "You'd better get on your course, then," I chided.

     -- Tak derzhi kurs poluchshe, -- posovetoval ya.


     He put a few spokes  over, and I watched the compass-card swing  slowly
to N.N.W. and steady itself with slight oscillations.

     On  perehvatil  ruchki  shturvala;  strelka  kompasa medlenno popolzla  k
severo-zapadu i ustanovilas' tam posle neskol'kih otklonenij.


     I  took a fresh  hold on my  bedclothes and was preparing to  start on,
when some movement caught my  eye and  I looked astern to the rail. A sinewy
hand, dripping with water, was clutching  the rail.  A second hand took form
in  the darkness beside it. I watched,  fascinated. What  visitant from  the
gloom of the  deep was I to  behold?  Whatever it was, I  knew  that it  was
climbing aboard by the log-line.  I  saw a head, the  hair wet and straight,
shape itself, and  then the unmistakable eyes  and  face of Wolf Larsen. His
right cheek was red with blood, which flowed from some wound in the head.

     YA uzhe sobralsya pojti  dal'she  i  podnyal  svoi veshchi,  kak  vdrug  chto-to
neobychnoe  za bortom privleklo  moe  vnimanie. CH'ya-to zhilistaya  mokraya  ruka
uhvatilas' za planshir. Potom iz temnoty poyavilas' drugaya. YA smotrel, razinuv
rot. CHto eto za  gost' iz morskoj glubiny? Kto by eto ni byl, ya znal, chto on
vzbiraetsya  na  bort,  derzhas'  za  laglin'.  Poyavilas'   golova  s  mokrymi
vz®eroshennymi  volosami, i ya uvidel lico Volka Larsena. Ego pravaya shcheka byla
v krovi, struivshejsya iz rany na golove.


     He drew himself inboard with  a quick  effort,  and  arose to his feet,
glancing swiftly, as he did so, at the man at the wheel, as though to assure
himself of  his identity and that there was  nothing to fear from  him.  The
sea-water was  streaming  from  him.  It made  little audible gurgles  which
distracted me.  As he stepped toward me I  shrank  back instinctively, for I
saw that in his eyes which spelled death.

     Sil'nym  ryvkom  on  perekinul telo cherez  fal'shbort i,  ochutivshis'  na
palube, metnul  bystryj vzglyad  na  rulevogo, slovno proveryaya,  kto stoit  u
shturvala i ne grozit li s etoj storony opasnost'. Voda ruch'yami stekala s ego
odezhdy, i ya bessoznatel'no prislushivalsya k ee zhurchaniyu. Kogda on dvinulsya ko
mne, ya nevol'no otstupil: ya otchetlivo prochel slovo "smert'" v ego vzglyade.


     "All right, Hump," he said in a low voice. "Where's the mate?"

     -- Stoj, Hemp, -- tiho skazal on. -- Gde pomoshchnik?


     I shook my head.

     YA s nedoumeniem pokachal golovoj.


     "Johansen!" he called softly. "Johansen!" "Where is he?" he demanded of
Harrison.

     --  Iogansen! -- negromko pozval kapitan. --  IogansenGde pomoshchnik?  --
sprosil on u Garrisona.


     The  young  fellow  seemed to  have  recovered  his  composure,  for he
answered steadily enough, "I  don't know, sir. I saw him go for'ard a little
while ago."

     Molodoj matros uzhe  uspel prijti v sebya i dovol'no spokojno otvetil: --
Ne znayu, ser. Nedavno on proshel na bak.


     "So did I go for'ard. But you will observe  that I didn't come back the
way I went. Can you explain it?"

     --  YA  tozhe  shel  na  bak,  no  ty,  verno,  zametil,  chto vernulsya ya s
protivopolozhnoj storony. Kak eto moglo poluchit'sya, a?


     "You must have been overboard, sir."

     -- Vy, verno, byli za bortom, ser.


     "Shall I look for him in the steerage, sir?" I asked.

     -- Posmotret', net li ego v kubrike, ser? -- predlozhil ya.


     Wolf Larsen shook his head.

     Larsen pokachal golovoj.


     "You wouldn't find him, Hump.  But you'll do.  Come on. Never mind your
bedding. Leave it where it is."

     -- Ty ne najdesh' ego tam, Hemp. Idem, ty mne nuzhenOstav' veshchi zdes'.


     I followed at his heels. There was nothing stirring amidships.

     YA posledoval za nim. Na palube bylo tiho.


     "Those  cursed hunters," was his  comment. "Too damned  fat and lazy to
stand a four-hour watch."

     -- Proklyatye  ohotniki,  -- provorchal  on. --  Tak razlenilis',  chto ne
mogut vystoyat' chetyre chasa na vahte!


     But  on  the forecastle-head we  found three sailors  asleep. He turned
them over and looked at their faces. They composed the watch on deck, and it
was  the ship's custom, in good weather, to  let the  watch sleep  with  the
exception of the officer, the helmsman, and the look-out.

     Na  polubake my nashli treh spyashchih  matrosov!  Kapitan perevernul ih  na
spinu  i zaglyanul im  v lico. Oni  nesli  vahtu na palube, a po  korabel'nym
pravilam vse,  za isklyucheniem starshego vahtennogo, rulevogo i signal'shchika, v
horoshuyu pogodu imeli pravo spat'.


     "Who's look-out?" he demanded.

     -- Kto signal'shchik? -- sprosil kapitan.


     "Me,  sir," answered  Holyoak, one of the deep-water sailors,  a slight
tremor in his voice.  "I winked off just this very minute,  sir. I'm  sorry,
sir. It won't happen again."

     -- YA, ser,  -- s legkoj drozh'yu  v golose otvetil Holiok, odin iz staryh
matrosov. -- YA tol'ko na minutu zadremal ser. Prostite, ser! Bol'she etogo ne
budet.


     "Did you hear or see anything on deck?"

     -- Ty nichego ne zametil na palube?


     "No, sir, I - "

     -- Net, ser, ya...


     But  Wolf  Larsen had turned away with a snort of disgust, leaving  the
sailor rubbing his eyes with surprise at having been let of so easily.

     No  Volk  Larsen uzhe otvernulsya, prezritel'no burknuv chto-to, i ostavil
matrosa s raskrytym rtom, -- kto mog dumat', chto on tak deshevo otdelaetsya!


     "Softly, now,"  Wolf  Larsen  warned me in a whisper, as he doubled his
body into the forecastle scuttle and prepared to descend.

     --  Tishe teper', -- shepotom predupredil menya Volk Larsen,  spuskayas' po
trapu v kubrik.


     I followed with a quaking heart. What was to happen I knew no more than
did I know what had happened. But blood had been shed, and it was through no
whim of Wolf Larsen that he had gone over the side with his scalp laid open.
Besides, Johansen was missing.

     S b'yushchimsya serdcem ya posledoval za nim. YA ne znal, chto nas ozhidaet, kak
ne znal i togo, chto uzhe proizoshlo. No ya videl, chto byla prolita krov'. I uzh,
konechno, ne po  svoej vole Volk Larsen  ochutilsya za bortom.  Stranno  bylo i
otsutstvie Iogansena.


     It was  my first descent  into  the  forecastle, and  I shall not  soon
forget  my impression of it, caught as I stood  on  my feet at the bottom of
the ladder. Built directly in the eyes of the schooner, it  was of the shape
of  a  triangle,  along  the  three sides  of  which  stood  the  bunks,  in
double-tier, twelve  of them. It  was  no larger than a hall bedroom in Grub
Street, and yet twelve men were herded into it to eat and sleep and carry on
all the functions of living. My bedroom at home was not large,  yet it could
have  contained a  dozen  similar forecastles, and taking into consideration
the height of the ceiling, a score at least.

     YA vpervye spuskalsya v matrosskij kubrik i ne skoro zabudu  to  zrelishche,
kotoroe  predstalo predo  mnoj,  kogda ya ostanovilsya  vnizu u trapa.  Kubrik
zanimal  treugol'noe  pomeshchenie  na  samom  nosu  shhuny  i   byl  ne  bol'she
obyknovennoj deshevoj kamorki na  Grabstrit. Vdol'  treh ego sten v dva yarusa
tyanulis'  kojki.  Ih  bylo dvenadcat'.  Dvenadcat' chelovek  yutilis'  v  etoj
tesnote -- i spali i eli zdes'. Moya spal'nya doma  byla  nevelika, no  vse zhe
ona mogla vmestit' dyuzhinu takih kubrikov, a esli prinyat' vo vnimanie  vysotu
potolka, to i vse dvadcat'.


     It  smelled  sour and  musty,  and  by  the  dim light of the  swinging
sea-lamp I saw every bit of  available wall-space hung deep with  sea-boots,
oilskins, and garments, clean and  dirty, of various sorts. These swung back
and forth with every roll of the vessel, giving rise to a brushing sound, as
of  trees  against  a roof  or wall. Somewhere a boot thumped loudly and  at
irregular intervals against the wall; and, though it was a mild night on the
sea, there was a continual chorus  of the creaking timbers and bulkheads and
of abysmal noises beneath the flooring.

     Tut pahlo plesen'yu  i chem-to kislym, i  pri  svete  kachayushchejsya lampy  ya
razglyadel pereborki, splosh' uveshannye morskimi sapogami,  kleenchatoj odezhdoj
i vsevozmozhnym tryap'em -- chistym i gryaznym vperemeshku. Vse eto raskachivalos'
vzad i vpered s shurshashchim zvukom, napominavshim stuk vetok o stenu  doma ili o
kryshu. Vremya ot  vremeni  kakoj-nibud' sapog gluho  udaryalsya o pereborku.  I
hotya more bylo  tihoe, balki i  doski  skripeli neumolchnym  horom, a  iz-pod
nastila neslis' kakie-to strannye zvuki.


     The sleepers did not mind. There were eight of  them, - the two watches
below, - and the air was thick with the warmth and odour of their breathing,
and the ear was filled with  the noise  of their snoring and  of their sighs
and half-groans, tokens plain of  the rest of the animal-man. But were  they
sleeping? all of them? Or  had they  been sleeping? This  was evidently Wolf
Larsen's quest - to  find the men who appeared to be asleep and who were not
asleep or who had not been asleep very recently. And he went about it  in  a
way that reminded me of a story out of Boccaccio.

     Vse  eto  niskol'ko ne meshalo spyashchim.  Ih  bylo vosem' chelovek  --  dve
svobodnye  ot vahty  smeny,  --  i  spertyj vozduh  byl sogret ih  dyhaniem;
slyshalis'  vzdohi, hrap, nevnyatnoe bormotanie  -- zvuki,  soprovozhdavshie son
etih  lyudej,  spyashchih v svoej  berloge. No  v samom li dele vse oni  spali? I
davno  li?  Vot  chto,  po-vidimomu,  interesovalo Volka  Larsena.  I,  chtoby
razreshit' svoi somneniya, on pribeg k priemu, napomnivshemu mne odnu iz novell
Bokkachcho.


     He took  the  sea-lamp from its swinging frame  and handed it to me. He
began at  the first bunks forward on the star-board side. In the top one lay
Oofty-Oofty,  a Kanaka and splendid  seaman, so  named by his mates.  He was
asleep on his back and breathing  as placidly as a woman.  One arm was under
his  head, the  other lay on top  of the blankets. Wolf Larsen put thumb and
forefinger to the wrist and counted the pulse. In the midst of it the Kanaka
roused. He  awoke as gently  as he  slept. There was no movement of the body
whatever. The eyes, only, moved. They  flashed wide open, big and black, and
stared, unblinking, into our faces. Wolf  Larsen put his  finger to his lips
as a sign for silence, and the eyes closed again.

     Larsen vynul  lampu iz ee kachayushchejsya  opravy i podal mne. Svoj obhod on
nachal s pervoj  kojki po pravomu bortu.  Naverhu lezhal  kanak [10], krasavec
matros, kotorogo  tovarishchi  nazyvali Ufti-Ufti.  On  spal, lezha na spine,  i
dyshal tiho, kak  zhenshchina. Odnu ruku on podlozhil pod golovu, drugaya pokoilas'
poverh  odeyala. Volk Larsen vzyal  ego  za ruku  i  nachal  schitat' pul's. |to
razbudilo matrosa. On  prosnulsya tak  zhe  spokojno,  kak  spal,  i  dazhe  ne
poshevel'nulsya  pri etom.  On tol'ko shiroko otkryl svoi ogromnye chernye glaza
i, ne migaya, ustavilsya  na nas. Volk Larsen prilozhil  palec  k gubam, trebuya
molchaniya, i glaza snova zakrylis'.


     In the lower bunk lay Louis, grossly fat and  warm  and sweaty,  asleep
unfeignedly  and  sleeping laboriously. While Wolf Larsen held  his wrist he
stirred  uneasily, bowing  his  body  so  that for a  moment  it  rested  on
shoulders and  heels. His lips moved, and  he gave voice  to  this enigmatic
utterance:

     Na nizhnej kojke lezhal Luis, tolstyj, rasparennyj. On spal nepritvornym,
tyazhelym snom.  Kogda  Volk Larsen vzyal ego za  ruku, on bespokojno zaerzal i
vdrug izognulsya tak, chto telo ego kakuyu-to sekundu opiralos' tol'ko na plechi
i pyatki. Guby ego zashevelilis', i on izrek sleduyushchuyu zagadochnuyu frazu:


     "A  shilling's  worth  a  quarter;   but   keep  your  lamps  out   for
thruppenny-bits, or the publicans 'll shove 'em on you for sixpence."

     -- Kvarta --  shilling. No  glyadi v oba,  ne to traktirshchik migom  vsuchit
tebe trehpensovuyu za tvoi shest' pensov.


     Then he rolled over on his side with a heavy, sobbing sigh, saying:

     Zatem on povernulsya nabok i s tyazhelym vzdohom proiznes:


     "A  sixpence is a tanner,  and a shilling a bob;  but what a pony  is I
don't know."

     -- SHest' pensov -- "tenner", a shilling -- "bob". A vot chto takoe "poni"
[11] -- ya ne znayu.


     Satisfied  with the honesty  of his and the Kanaka's sleep, Wolf Larsen
passed  on to the  next  two bunks on the  starboard side, occupied top  and
bottom, as we saw in the light of the sea-lamp, by Leach and Johnson.

     Udostoverivshis', chto Luis i kanak ne prikidyvayutsya spyashchimi. Volk Larsen
pereshel  k  sleduyushchim  dvum  kojkam,  po pravomu bortu, zanyatym  --  kak  my
uvideli, osvetiv ih lampoj, -- Lichem i Dzhonsonom.


     As Wolf Larsen bent down to the lower bunk to take Johnson's pulse,  I,
standing  erect and holding the lamp, saw Leach's head rise stealthily as he
peered  over  the side of his bunk  to  see what was going  on. He must have
divined Wolf Larsen's trick and the sureness of detection, for the light was
at once dashed from my hand and the forecastle was left in darkness. He must
have leaped, also, at the same instant, straight down on Wolf Larsen.

     Kogda  kapitan  nagnulsya  nad  nizhnej  kojkoj,  chtoby  proshchupat'  pul's
Dzhonsonu,  ya,  stoya s  lampoj v  rukah, zametil, chto Lich  na  verhnej  kojke
pripodnyal  golovu i ostorozhno glyanul vniz. Dolzhno byt', on razgadal hitrost'
kapitana  i ponyal,  chto  sejchas  budet ulichen,  tak kak  lampa vnezapno byla
vybita u  menya iz  ruk,  i kubrik pogruzilsya  v temnotu. V  tot  zhe  mig Lich
sprygnul vniz, pryamo na Volka Larsena.


     The first sounds were  those of a conflict between a bull and a wolf. I
heard a great  infuriated  bellow  go up from  Wolf Larsen, and from Leach a
snarling that was desperate and blood-curdling. Johnson must have joined him
immediately, so that his abject and grovelling conduct on deck for the  past
few days had been no more than planned deception.

     Zvuki, donosivshiesya iz mraka, napominali shvatku volka s  bykom. Larsen
vzrevel, kak  raz®yarennyj zver', i Lich zarychal  tozhe. Ot  etih zvukov  krov'
styla  v zhilah. Dzhonson, dolzhno byt', totchas vmeshalsya v draku. YA ponyal,  chto
ego  unizhennoe  povedenie vse  poslednie  dni  bylo  lish' horosho  obdumannym
pritvorstvom.


     I was so terror-stricken  by  this fight in  the  dark  that  I  leaned
against the ladder, trembling and unable to ascend. And upon me was that old
sickness at the  pit  of  the  stomach, caused  always by  the  spectacle of
physical violence. In this  instance I could not see,  but I could  hear the
impact  of the  blows  -  the  soft  crushing  sound made by flesh  striking
forcibly against  flesh. Then  there was the crashing about of the  entwined
bodies, the laboured breathing, the short quick gasps of sudden pain.

     |ta  shvatka  v temnote  kazalas'  stol'  uzhasnoj,  chto ya,  ves' drozha,
prislonilsya k trapu, ne v silah sdvinut'sya s mesta. YA snova ispytal znakomoe
sosushchee  oshchushchenie   pod  lozhechkoj,  vsegda  poyavlyavsheesya  u  menya  pri  vide
fizicheskogo  nasiliya. Pravda, v etot mig  ya nichego ne mog videt', no do menya
doletali zvuki  udarov  i  gluhoj  stuk stalkivayushchihsya tel.  Kojki  treshchali,
slyshno bylo tyazheloe dyhanie, korotkie vozglasy boli.


     There  must have been more men in  the conspiracy to murder the captain
and mate, for by the sounds I knew that Leach  and Johnson had been  quickly
reinforced by some of their mates.

     Dolzhno byt',  v  pokushenii na zhizn'  kapitana  i  pomoshchnika uchastvovalo
neskol'ko chelovek, tak kak po vozrosshemu shumu ya dogadalsya, chto Lich i Dzhonson
uzhe poluchili podkreplenie so storony svoih tovarishchej.


     "Get a knife somebody!" Leach was shouting.

     -- |j, kto-nibud', dajte nozh! -- krichal Lich.


     "Pound him on the head! Mash his brains out!" was Johnson's cry.

     -- Dvin' ego po bashkeVyshibi iz nego mozgi! -- oral Dzhonson.


     But after his first bellow, Wolf Larsen made  no noise. He was fighting
grimly and silently for life. He was sore beset. Down at the  very first, he
had been unable to gain his feet, and  for all of  his tremendous strength I
felt that there was no hope for him. The force with which they struggled was
vividly impressed on me; for I was knocked down by their surging  bodies and
badly bruised. But in the confusion I managed  to crawl into an empty  lower
bunk out of the way.

     No Volk Larsen bol'she  ne izdal ni zvuka. On molcha i svirepo borolsya za
svoyu zhizn'.  Emu  prihodilos'  tugo.  Srazu  zhe  sbityj s  nog,  on  ne  mog
podnyat'sya,  i mne kazalos', chto, nesmotrya na ego  chudovishchnuyu silu, polozhenie
ego  beznadezhno.  O  yarosti  etoj   bor'by   ya  poluchil   ves'ma   naglyadnoe
predstavlenie,  tak kak sam byl  sbit  s nog  scepivshimisya  telami i, padaya,
sil'no ushibsya. Odnako sredi obshchej svalki mne kak-to udalos' zapolzti na odnu
iz nizhnih koek i takim obrazom ubrat'sya s dorogi.


     "All hands! We've got him! We've got him!" I could hear Leach crying.

     -- Vse syuda! My derzhim egoPopalsya! -- slyshal ya vykriki Licha.


     "Who?"  demanded those who had been really  asleep, and who had wakened
to they knew not what.

     --  Kogo?  --  sprashival  kto-to, razbuzhennyj  shumom,  ne ponimaya,  chto
proishodit.


     "It's the bloody mate!" was Leach's crafty answer, strained from him in
a smothered sort of way.

     -- Krovopijcu  pomoshchnika! -- hitro otvetil  Lich, s  trudom  vygovarivaya
slova.


     This was  greeted with whoops of joy,  and from then on Wolf Larsen had
seven strong men on top  of him, Louis, I believe, taking no part in it. The
forecastle was like an angry hive of bees aroused by some marauder.

     Ego soobshchenie bylo  vstrecheno vostorzhennymi vozglasami, i s etoj minuty
Volku Larsenu prishlos' otbivat'sya ot  semeryh dyuzhih matrosov, nasedavshih  na
nego.  Luis, ya polagayu,  ne  prinimal uchastiya  v  drake.  Kubrik  gudel, kak
potrevozhennyj ulej.


     "What  ho! below there!" I  heard Latimer  shout down the scuttle,  too
cautious to descend into the inferno of passion he could hear raging beneath
him in the darkness.

     -- |j  vy,  chto tam u vas takoe? -- donessya s paluby krik Letimera.  On
byl  slishkom  ostorozhen,  chtoby  spustit'sya  v etot  ad  kipevshih  vo  mrake
strastej.


     "Won't somebody  get a  knife? Oh, won't  somebody get a  knife?" Leach
pleaded in the first interval of comparative silence.

     -- U kogo est' nozh? Dajte nozh! -- snova uslyshal ya golos Licha, kogda shum
na mgnovenie zatih.


     The number  of  the assailants was  a cause  of confusion. They blocked
their own efforts, while Wolf  Larsen, with but a  single  purpose, achieved
his. This was to fight his  way  across the floor  to the ladder.  Though in
total darkness, I followed his  progress  by  its sound. No man less  than a
giant  could have  done what  he  did, once he  had gained the  foot  of the
ladder. Step  by  step,  by the  might of his  arms,  the whole  pack of men
striving to drag him back and down, he  drew his body up from the floor till
he stood erect. And then, step by step, hand  and foot, he slowly  struggled
up the ladder.

     Mnogochislennost' napadavshih povredila im.  Oni  meshali drug drugu, a  u
Volka Larsena byla tol'ko odna cel' -- probrat'sya polzkom k trapu, -- i on v
konce  koncov  dostig  svoego. Nesmotrya  na polnyj  mrak,  ya  sledil  za ego
peredvizheniem po zvukam. I tol'ko takoj silach mog sdelat' to, chto sdelal on,
kogda dopolz vse  zhe do trapa. Hvatayas' za stupen'ki rukami,  on malo-pomalu
vypryamilsya vo ves' rost i nachal vzbirat'sya naverh, nevziraya na to, chto celaya
kucha lyudej staralas' stashchit' ego vniz.


     The  very last of all,  I saw. For Latimer,  having finally gone  for a
lantern,  held it so that its  light shone down the scuttle. Wolf Larsen was
nearly to the top, though I could not see him.  All that was visible was the
mass of men fastened upon him. It squirmed about, like some huge many-legged
spider, and swayed  back and  forth to the regular roll of  the  vessel. And
still, step by step with  long intervals between, the mass ascended. Once it
tottered, about to fall back, but the broken hold  was regained and it still
went up.

     Konec etoj sceny ya ne tol'ko slyshal, no i videl, tak kak Letimer prines
fonar' i osvetil im  lyuk. Volk Larsen -- ego  edva mozhno bylo razglyadet' pod
ucepivshimisya za nego matrosami --  uzhe pochti  dobralsya  do verha trapa. |tot
klubok  spletennyh  tel napominal ogromnogo mnogolapogo pauka i raskachivalsya
vzad  i  vpered  v  takt  ritmichnoj  kachke  shhuny.  I medlenno,  s  bol'shimi
ostanovkami, vsya eta  koposhashchayasya massa tel neuklonno polzla kverhu. Raz ona
drognula,  zastyla na  meste  i  chut'  ne  pokatilas'  vniz,  no  ravnovesie
vosstanovilos', i ona snova popolzla po trapu.


     "Who is it?" Latimer cried.

     -- CHto tut takoe? -- kriknul Letimer.


     In the rays of the lantern I could see his perplexed face peering down.

     Pri svete fonarya ya uvidel ego sklonennoe nad lyukom ispugannoe lico.


     "Larsen," I heard a muffled voice from within the mass.

     -- |to ya, Larsen, -- donessya priglushennyj golos.


     Latimer reached down with his free hand. I saw a hand shoot up to clasp
his. Latimer pulled, and the  next couple of steps  were  made with a  rush.
Then  Wolf  Larsen's  other  hand  reached up and clutched the edge  of  the
scuttle. The mass swung clear of the ladder, the men still clinging to their
escaping  foe.  They began to drop  of, to  be brushed off against the sharp
edge  of the scuttle,  to be knocked off by  the legs which were now kicking
powerfully. Leach was the last to go, falling sheer back from the top of the
scuttle and striking on head and shoulders upon his sprawling mates beneath.
Wolf Larsen and the lantern disappeared, and we were left in darkness.

     Letimer protyanul  ruku. Snizu bystro vysunulas'  ruka Larsena.  Letimer
shvatil ee i stal tyanut'  kverhu, i  sleduyushchie dve stupen'ki  byli  projdeny
bystro.  Pokazalas' drugaya ruka Larsena i uhvatilas' za komings lyuka. Klubok
tel otdelilsya ot trapa, no matrosy vse eshche ceplyalis' za svoego uskol'zavshego
vraga.  Odnako odin za drugim oni nachali skatyvat'sya vniz. Larsen  sbrasyval
ih, udaryaya  o zakrainu  lyuka, pinaya nogami. Poslednim byl Lich: on svalilsya s
samogo  verha vniz  golovoj pryamo  na svoih  tovarishchej. Volk Larsen i fonar'
ischezli, i my ostalis' v temnote.


        CHAPTER XV