GLAVA XV There was a deal of cursing and groaning as the men at the bottom of the ladder crawled to their feet. Po stonami, s rugatel'stvami matrosy stali podnimat'sya na nogi. "Somebody strike a light, my thumb's out of joint," said one of the men, Parsons, a swarthy, saturnine man, boat-steerer in Standish's boat, in which Harrison was puller. -- Zazhgite lampu, ya vyvihnul bol'shoj palec, -- kriknul Parsons, smuglyj, mrachnyj paren', rulevoj iz shlyupki Stendisha, gde Garrison byl grebcom. "You'll find it knockin' about by the bitts," Leach said, sitting down on the edge of the bunk in which I was concealed. -- Lampa gde-to tut, na polu, -- skazal Lich, opuskayas' na kraj kojki, na kotoroj pritailsya ya. There was a fumbling and a scratching of matches, and the sea-lamp flared up, dim and smoky, and in its weird light bare-legged men moved about nursing their bruises and caring for their hurts. Oofty-Oofty laid hold of Parsons's thumb, pulling it out stoutly and snapping it back into place. I noticed at the same time that the Kanaka's knuckles were laid open clear across and to the bone. He exhibited them, exposing beautiful white teeth in a grin as he did so, and explaining that the wounds had come from striking Wolf Larsen in the mouth. Poslyshalsya shoroh, chirkan'e spichki, potom tusklo vspyhnula koptyashchaya lampa, i pri ee nevernom svete bosonogie matrosy prinyalis' obsledovat' svoi ushiby i rany. Ufti-Ufti zavladel pal'cem Parsonsa, sil'no dernul ego i vpravil sustav. V to zhe vremya ya zametil, chto u samogo kanaka sustavy pal'cev razbity v krov'. On pokazyval ih vsem, skalya svoi velikolepnye belye zuby, i hvalilsya, chto svorotil skulu Volku Larsenu. "So it was you, was it, you black beggar?" belligerently demanded one Kelly, an Irish-American and a longshoreman, making his first trip to sea, and boat-puller for Kerfoot. -- Tak eto ty, chernoe pugalo, postaralsya? -- voinstvenno vskrichal Kelli, amerikanec irlandskogo proishozhdeniya, byvshij gruzchik, pervyj raz vyhodivshij v more i sostoyavshij grebcom pri Kerfute. As he made the demand he spat out a mouthful of blood and teeth and shoved his pugnacious face close to Oofty-Oofty. The Kanaka leaped backward to his bunk, to return with a second leap, flourishing a long knife. On vyplyunul vybitye zuby i s perekoshchennym ot beshenstva licom dvinulsya na Ufti-Ufti. Kanak otprygnul k svoej kojke i vyhvatil dlinnyj nozh. "Aw, go lay down, you make me tired," Leach interfered. He was evidently, for all of his youth and inexperience, cock of the forecastle. "G'wan, you Kelly. You leave Oofty alone. How in hell did he know it was you in the dark?" -- A, bros'Nadoel! -- vmeshalsya Lich. Ochevidno, pri vsej svoej molodosti i neopytnosti on byl konovodom v kubrike. -- Stupaj proch', Kelli, ostav' Ufti v pokoeKak, chert poderi, mog on uznat' tebya v temnote? Kelly subsided with some muttering, and the Kanaka flashed his white teeth in a grateful smile. He was a beautiful creature, almost feminine in the pleasing lines of his figure, and there was a softness and dreaminess in his large eyes which seemed to contradict his well-earned reputation for strife and action. Kelli nehotya povinovalsya, a Ufti-Ufti blagodarno sverknul svoimi belymi zubami. On byl krasiv. V liniyah ego figury byla kakaya-to zhenstvennaya myagkost', a bol'shie glaza smotreli mechtatel'no, chto stranno protivorechilo ego reputacii drachuna i zabiyaki. "How did he get away?" Johnson asked. -- Kak emu udalos' ujti? -- sprosil Dzhonson. He was sitting on the side of his bunk, the whole pose of his figure indicating utter dejection and hopelessness. He was still breathing heavily from the exertion he had made. His shirt had been ripped entirely from him in the struggle, and blood from a gash in the cheek was flowing down his naked chest, marking a red path across his white thigh and dripping to the floor. Vse eshche tyazhelo dysha, on sidel na krayu svoej kojki; vsya ego figura vyrazhala krajnee razocharovanie i unynie. Vo vremya bor'by s nego sorvali rubashku; krov' "v rany na shcheke kapala na obnazhennuyu grud' i krasnoj strujkoj stekala na pol. "Because he is the devil, as I told you before," was Leach's answer; and thereat he was on his feet and raging his disappointment with tears in his eyes. -- Udalos', potomu chto on d'yavol. YA ved' govoril vam, -- otozvalsya Lich, vskochiv s kojki; v glazah u nego blesnuli slezy otchayaniya. -- I ni u kogo iz vas vovremya ne nashlos' nozha! -- prostonal on. "And not one of you to get a knife!" was his unceasing lament. No nikto ne slushal ego; v matrosah uzhe prosnulsya strah pered ozhidavshej ih karoj. But the rest of the hands had a lively fear of consequences to come and gave no heed to him. -- A kak on uznaet, kto s nim dralsya? -- sprosil Kelli i, svirepo oglyanuvshis' krugom, dobavil: -- Esli, Konechno, nikto ne doneset. "How'll he know which was which?" Kelly asked, and as he went on he looked murderously about him - "unless one of us peaches." -- Da stoit emu tol'ko poglyadet' na nas... -- probormotal Parsons. -- Vzglyanet hot' na tebya, i vse! "He'll know as soon as ever he claps eyes on us," Parsons replied. "One look at you'd be enough." -- Skazhi emu, chto paluba vstala dybom i dala tebe po zubam, -- usmehnulsya Luis. "Tell him the deck flopped up and gouged yer teeth out iv yer jaw," Louis grinned. He was the only man who was not out of his bunk, and he was jubilant in that he possessed no bruises to advertise that he had had a hand in the night's work. "Just wait till he gets a glimpse iv yer mugs to-morrow, the gang iv ye," he chuckled. On odin ne slezal vo vremya draki s kojki i torzhestvoval, chto u nego net ni ran, ni sinyakov -- nikakih sledov uchastiya v nochnom poboishche. -- Nu i dostanetsya vam zavtra, kogda Volk uvidit vashi rozhi! -- hmyknul on. "We'll say we thought it was the mate," said one. -- Nu i dostanetsya vam zavtra, kogda Volk uvidit vashi rozhi! -- hmyknul on. And another, "I know what I'll say - that I heered a row, jumped out of my bunk, got a jolly good crack on the jaw for my pains, and sailed in myself. Couldn't tell who or what it was in the dark and just hit out." A drugoj dobavil: -- A ya skazhu, chto uslyshal shum, soskochil s kojki i srazu zhe poluchil po morde za lyubopytstvo. Nu i, ponyatno, ne ostalsya v dolgu. A kto tam byl -- ya i ne razobral v etoj temnotishche. "An' 'twas me you hit, of course," Kelly seconded, his face brightening for the moment. -- I s®ezdil mne v zuby! -- dopolnil Kelli i dazhe prosiyal na mig. Leach and Johnson took no part in the discussion, and it was plain to see that their mates looked upon them as men for whom the worst was inevitable, who were beyond hope and already dead. Leach stood their fears and reproaches for some time. Then he broke out: Lich i Dzhonson ne prinimali uchastiya v etom razgovore, i bylo yasno, chto tovarishchi smotryat na nih, kak na obrechennyh. Lich nekotoroe vremya molchal, no nakonec ego vzorvalo. "You make me tired! A nice lot of gazabas you are! If you talked less with yer mouth and did something with yer hands, he'd a-ben done with by now. Why couldn't one of you, just one of you, get me a knife when I sung out? You make me sick! A-beefin' and bellerin' 'round, as though he'd kill you when he gets you! You know damn well he wont. Can't afford to. No shipping masters or beach-combers over here, and he wants yer in his business, and he wants yer bad. Who's to pull or steer or sail ship if he loses yer? It's me and Johnson have to face the music. Get into yer bunks, now, and shut yer faces; I want to get some sleep." -- Toshno slushat'SlyuntyaiEsli by vy pomen'she mololi yazykom da pobol'she rabotali rukami, emu by uzhe byla kryshka. Pochemu ni odin iz vas ne dal mne nozha, kogda ya prosil? CHert by vas pobral! I chego vy nyuni raspustili -- ub'et on vas, chto li? Sami znaete, chto ne ub'et. On ne mozhet sebe etogo pozvolit'. Zdes' net korabel'nyh agentov, chtoby podyskat' drugih brodyag na vashe mesto. Kto bez vas budet gresti, i pravit' na shlyupkah, i rabotat' na ego chertovoj shhune? A teper' nam s Dzhonsonom pridetsya rasplachivat'sya za vse. Nu, lez'te na kojki i zatknites'. YA hochu spat'. "That's all right all right," Parsons spoke up. "Mebbe he won't do for us, but mark my words, hell 'll be an ice-box to this ship from now on." -- CHto verno, to verno! -- otozvalsya Parsons. -- Ubit' on nas, pozhaluj, ne ub'et. No uzh zhit'ya nam teper' tozhe ne budet na etoj shhune! All the while I had been apprehensive concerning my own predicament. What would happen to me when these men discovered my presence? I could never fight my way out as Wolf Larsen had done. And at this moment Latimer called down the scuttles: A ya vse eto vremya s trevogoj dumal o svoem sobstvennom nezavidnom polozhenii. CHto proizojdet, kogda oni zametyat menya? Mne-to ne probit'sya naverh, kak Volku Larsenu. I v etu minutu Letimer kriknul s paluby: "Hump! The old man wants you!" -- HempKapitan zovet! "He ain't down here!" Parsons called back. -- Ego zdes' net! -- otozvalsya Parsons. "Yes, he is," I said, sliding out of the bunk and striving my hardest to keep my voice steady and bold. -- Net, ya zdes'! -- kriknul ya, sprygivaya s kojki i starayas' pridat' svoemu golosu tverdost'. The sailors looked at me in consternation. Fear was strong in their faces, and the devilishness which comes of fear. Matrosy oshelomlenno ustavilis' na menya. YA chital na ih licah strah. Strah i zlobu, porozhdaemuyu strahom. "I'm coming!" I shouted up to Latimer. -- Idu! -- kriknul ya Letimeru. "No you don't!" Kelly cried, stepping between me and the ladder, his right hand shaped into a veritable strangler's clutch. "You damn little sneak! I'll shut yer mouth!" -- Net, vresh'! -- zaoral Kelli, stanovyas' mezhdu mnoj i trapom i pytayas' shvatit' menya za gorlo. -- Ah ty, podlaya gadina! YA tebe zatknu glotku! "Let him go," Leach commanded. -- Pusti ego! -- prikazal Lich. "Not on yer life," was the angry retort. -- CHerta s dva! -- posledoval serdityj otvet. Leach never changed his position on the edge of the bunk. "Let him go, I say," he repeated; but this time his voice was gritty and metallic. Lich, sidevshij na krayu kojki, dazhe ne shevel'nulsya. -- Pusti ego, govoryu ya! -- povtoril on, no na etot raz golos ego prozvuchal reshitel'no i zhestko. The Irishman wavered. I made to step by him, and he stood aside. When I had gained the ladder, I turned to the circle of brutal and malignant faces peering at me through the semi-darkness. A sudden and deep sympathy welled up in me. I remembered the Cockney's way of putting it. How God must have hated them that they should be tortured so! Irlandec kolebalsya. YA shagnul k nemu, i on otstupil v storonu. Dojdya do trapa, ya povernulsya i obvel glazami krug svirepyh i ozloblennyh lic, glyadevshih na menya iz polumraka. Vnezapno glubokoe sochuvstvie probudilos' vo mne. YA vspomnil slova koka. Kak bog dolzhen nenavidet' ih, esli obrekaet na takie muki! "I have seen and heard nothing, believe me," I said quietly. -- Bud'te pokojny, ya nichego ne videl i ne slyshal, -- negromko proiznes ya. "I tell yer, he's all right," I could hear Leach saying as I went up the ladder. "He don't like the old man no more nor you or me." -- Govoryu vam, on ne vydast, -- uslyshal ya, podnimayas' po trapu, golos Licha. -- On lyubit kapitana ne bol'she, chem my s vami. I found Wolf Larsen in the cabin, stripped and bloody, waiting for me. He greeted me with one of his whimsical smiles. YA nashel Volka Larsena v ego kayute. Obnazhennyj, ves' v krovi, on zhdal menya i privetstvoval obychnoj ironicheskoj usmeshkoj: "Come, get to work, Doctor. The signs are favourable for an extensive practice this voyage. I don't know what the Ghost would have been without you, and if I could only cherish such noble sentiments I would tell you her master is deeply grateful." -- Pristupajte k rabote, doktorPo-vidimomu, v etom plavanii vam predstoit obshirnaya praktika. Ne znayu, kak "Prizrak" oboshelsya by bez vas. Bud' ya sposoben na stol' blagorodnye chuvstva, ya by skazal, chto ego hozyain gluboko vam priznatelen. I knew the run of the simple medicine-chest the Ghost carried, and while I was heating water on the cabin stove and getting the things ready for dressing his wounds, he moved about, laughing and chatting, and examining his hurts with a calculating eye. I had never before seen him stripped, and the sight of his body quite took my breath away. It has never been my weakness to exalt the flesh - far from it; but there is enough of the artist in me to appreciate its wonder. YA uzhe byl horosho znakom s nashej nehitroj sudovoj aptechkoj i, poka kipyatilas' na pechke voda, stal prigotovlyat' vse nuzhnoe dlya perevyazok. Larsen tem vremenem, smeyas' i boltaya, rashazhival po kayute i hladnokrovno rassmatrival svoi rany. YA vpervye uvidel ego obnazhennym i byl porazhen. Kul't tela nikogda ne byl moej slabost'yu, no ya obladal vse zhe dostatochnym hudozhestvennym chut'em, chtoby ocenit' velikolepie etogo tela. I must say that I was fascinated by the perfect lines of Wolf Larsen's figure, and by what I may term the terrible beauty of it. I had noted the men in the forecastle. Powerfully muscled though some of them were, there had been something wrong with all of them, an insufficient development here, an undue development there, a twist or a crook that destroyed symmetry, legs too short or too long, or too much sinew or bone exposed, or too little. Oofty- Oofty had been the only one whose lines were at all pleasing, while, in so far as they pleased, that far had they been what I should call feminine. Dolzhen priznat'sya, chto ya byl zacharovan sovershenstvom etih linij, etoj, ya by skazal, svirepoj krasotoj. YA videl matrosov na bake. Mnogie iz nih porazhali svoimi moguchimi muskulami, no u vseh imelsya kakojnibud' nedostatok: odna chast' tela byla slishkom sil'no razvita, drugaya slishkom slabo, ili zhe kakoenibud' iskrivlenie narushalo simmetriyu: u odnih byli slishkom dlinnye nogi, u drugih -- slishkom korotkie; odnih portila izlishnyaya zhilistost'. Drugih -- kostlyavost'. Tol'ko Ufti-Ufti otlichalsya bezuprechnym slozheniem, odnako v krasote ego bylo chto-to zhenstvennoe. But Wolf Larsen was the man-type, the masculine, and almost a god in his perfectness. As he moved about or raised his arms the great muscles leapt and moved under the satiny skin. I have forgotten to say that the bronze ended with his face. His body, thanks to his Scandinavian stock, was fair as the fairest woman's. I remember his putting his hand up to feel of the wound on his head, and my watching the biceps move like a living thing under its white sheath. It was the biceps that had nearly crushed out my life once, that I had seen strike so many killing blows. I could not take my eyes from him. I stood motionless, a roll of antiseptic cotton in my hand unwinding and spilling itself down to the floor. No Volk Larsen yavlyalsya voploshcheniem muzhestvennosti i slozhen byl pochti kak bog. Kogda on hodil ili podnimal ruki, moshchnye muskuly napryagalis' i igrali pod atlasnoj kozhej. YA zabyl skazat', chto bronzovym zagarom byli pokryty tol'ko ego lico i sheya. Kozha u nego byla beloj, kak u zhenshchiny, chto napomnilo mne o ego skandinavskom proishozhdenii. Kogda on podnyal ruku, chtoby poshchupat' ranu na golove, bicepsy, kak zhivye, zahodili pod etim belym pokrovom. |ti samye bicepsy na moih glazah nanosili stol'ko strashnyh udarov i ne tak davno chut' ne otpravili menya na tot svet. YA ne mog otorvat' ot Larsena glaz i stoyal, kak prigvozhdennyj k mestu. Bint vypal u menya iz ruk i, razmatyvayas', pokatilsya po polu. He noticed me, and I became conscious that I was staring at him. Kapitan zametil, chto ya smotryu na nego. "God made you well," I said. -- Bog horosho slepil vas, -- skazal ya. "Did he?" he answered. "I have often thought so myself, and wondered why." -- Vy nahodite? -- otozvalsya on. -- YA sam tak schitayu i chasto dumayu, k chemu eto? "Purpose - " I began. -- Prednaznachenie... -- nachal bylo ya. "Utility," he interrupted. "This body was made for use. These muscles were made to grip, and tear, and destroy living things that get between me and life. But have you thought of the other living things? They, too, have muscles, of one kind and another, made to grip, and tear, and destroy; and when they come between me and life, I out-grip them, out-tear them, out-destroy them. Purpose does not explain that. Utility does." -- Prisposoblennost'! -- prerval on menya. -- Vse v etom tele prisposobleno dlya dela. |ti muskuly sozdany dlya togo, chtoby hvatat' i rvat', unichtozhat' vse zhivoe, chto stanet na moem puti. No podumali li vy o drugih zhivyh sushchestvah? U nih tozhe kak-nikak est' muskuly, takzhe prednaznachennye dlya togo, chtoby hvatat', rvat', unichtozhat'. I kogda oni stanovyatsya na moem zhiznennom puti, ya hvatayu luchshe ih, rvu luchshe, unichtozhayu luchshe. V chem zhe tut prednaznachenie? Prisposoblennost' -- bol'she nichego. "It is not beautiful," I protested. -- |to nekrasivo, -- vozrazil ya. "Life isn't, you mean," he smiled. "Yet you say I was made well. Do you see this?" -- Vy hotite skazat', chto zhizn' nekrasiva? -- ulybnulsya on. -- Odnako vy govorite, chto ya neploho slozhen. A teper' poglyadite. He braced his legs and feet, pressing the cabin floor with his toes in a clutching sort of way. Knots and ridges and mounds of muscles writhed and bunched under the skin. On shiroko rasstavil nogi, budto priros k polu, vcepivshis' v nego pal'cami, kak kogtyami. Uzly, klubki, bugry muskulov zabegali pod kozhej. "Feel them," he commanded. -- Poshchupajte! -- prikazal on. They were hard as iron. And I observed, also, that his whole body had unconsciously drawn itself together, tense and alert; that muscles were softly crawling and shaping about the hips, along the back, and across the shoulders; that the arms were slightly lifted, their muscles contracting, the fingers crooking till the hands were like talons; and that even the eyes had changed expression and into them were coming watchfulness and measurement and a light none other than of battle. Muskuly byli tverdy, kak stal', i ya zametil, chto vse telo u nego podobralos' i napryaglos'. Muskuly myagko okruglilis' na bedrah, na spine, vdol' plech. On slegka pripodnyal ruki, myshcy sokratilis', pal'cy sognulis', napominaya kogti. Dazhe glaza izmenili vyrazhenie -- v nih poyavilis' nastorozhennost', raschet i hishchnyj ogonek. "Stability, equilibrium," he said, relaxing on the instant and sinking his body back into repose. "Feet with which to clutch the ground, legs to stand on and to help withstand, while with arms and hands, teeth and nails, I struggle to kill and to be not killed. Purpose? Utility is the better word." -- Ustojchivost', ravnovesie, -- skazal on i, vmig rasslabiv myshcy, prinyal bolee spokojnuyu pozu. -- Nogi dlya togo, chtoby upirat'sya v zemlyu, a ruki, zuby i nogti, chtoby borot'sya i ubivat', starayas' ne byt' ubitym. Prednaznachenie? Prisposoblennost' -- samoe vernoe slovo. I did not argue. I had seen the mechanism of the primitive fighting beast, and I was as strongly impressed as if I had seen the engines of a great battleship or Atlantic liner. YA ne sporil. Predo mnoj byl organizm hishchnika, pervobytnogo hishchnika, i eto proizvelo na menya stol' sil'noe vpechatlenie, kak esli by ya uvidel mashiny ogromnogo bronenosca ili transatlanticheskogo parohoda. I was surprised, considering the fierce struggle in the forecastle, at the superficiality of his hurts, and I pride myself that I dressed them dexterously. With the exception of several bad wounds, the rest were merely severe bruises and lacerations. The blow which he had received before going overboard had laid his scalp open several inches. This, under his direction, I cleansed and sewed together, having first shaved the edges of the wound. Then the calf of his leg was badly lacerated and looked as though it had been mangled by a bulldog. Some sailor, he told me, had laid hold of it by his teeth, at the beginning of the fight, and hung on and been dragged to the top of the forecastle ladder, when he was kicked loose. Vspominaya zhestokuyu shvatku v kubrike, ya divilsya tomu, kak eto Larsenu udalos' tak legko otdelat'sya. Mogu ne bez gordosti skazat', chto perevyazku ya, kazhetsya, sdelal emu neploho. Vprochem, ser'eznyh povrezhdenij bylo nemnogo, ostal'noe -- prosto krovopodteki i ssadiny. Pervyj poluchennyj im udar, tot, ot kotorogo on upal za bort, rassek emu kozhu na golove. |tu ranu -- dlinoj v neskol'ko dyujmov -- ya, po ego ukazaniyam, promyl i zashil, predvaritel'no vybriv vokrug nee volosy. Pomimo etogo, odna ikra u nego byla razodrana, slovno ego iskusal bul'dog. Larsen ob®yasnil mne, chto kakoj-to matros vcepilsya v nee zubami eshche v nachale shvatki, da tak i visel na nej. Lish' na verhu trapa Larsenu udalos' stryahnut' ego s sebya. "By the way, Hump, as I have remarked, you are a handy man," Wolf Larsen began, when my work was done. "As you know, we're short a mate. Hereafter you shall stand watches, receive seventy-five dollars per month, and be addressed fore and aft as Mr. Van Weyden." -- Kstati, Hemp, ya zametil, chto vy tolkovyj malyj, -- skazal Volk Larsen, kogda ya konchil perevyazki. -- Kak vy znaete, ya ostalsya bez pomoshchnika. Otnyne vy budete stoyat' na vahte, poluchat' sem'desyat pyat' dollarov v mesyac, i vsem budet prikazano nazyvat' vas "mister Van-Vejden". "I - I don't understand navigation, you know," I gasped. -- No ya zhe nichego ne smyslyu v navigacii, -- izumilsya ya. "Not necessary at all." -- |togo i ne trebuetsya. "I really do not care to sit in the high places," I objected. "I find life precarious enough in my present humble situation. I have no experience. Mediocrity, you see, has its compensations." -- I ya vovse ne stremlyus' k takomu vysokomu vestu, -- prodolzhal ya protestovat'. -- ZHizn' moya i v vchereshnem moem skromnom polozhenii dostatochno podverzhena vsyakim prevratnostyam, k tomu zhe u menya net nikakogo opyta. Posredstvennost', znaete li, tozhe imeet svoi preimushchestva. He smiled as though it were all settled. No on tol'ko ulybnulsya, slovno vopros uzhe byl reshen. "I won't be mate on this hell-ship!" I cried defiantly. -- Da ne hochu ya byt' pomoshchnikom na etom d'yavol'skom korable! -- s vozmushcheniem vskrichal ya. I saw his face grow hard and the merciless glitter come into his eyes. He walked to the door of his room, saying: Ego lico srazu stalo zhestkim, glaza holodno blesnuli. On podoshel k dveri kayuty i skazal: "And now, Mr. Van Weyden, good-night." -- Nu, mister Van-Vejden, dobroj nochi! "Good-night, Mr. Larsen," I answered weakly. -- Dobroj nochi, mister Larsen, -- chut' slyshno probormotal ya. CHAPTER XVI GLAVA XVI I cannot say that the position of mate carried with it anything more joyful than that there were no more dishes to wash. I was ignorant of the simplest duties of mate, and would have fared badly indeed, had the sailors not sympathized with me. I knew nothing of the minutiae of ropes and rigging, of the trimming and setting of sails; but the sailors took pains to put me to rights, - Louis proving an especially good teacher, - and I had little trouble with those under me. Ne mogu skazat', chtoby polozhenie pomoshchnika byлo mne hot' skol'ko-nibud' priyatno, hotya ya i izbavilsya ot myt'ya posudy. YA ne znal samyh elementarnyh obyazannostej shturmana, i mne prishlos' by tugo, ne bud' matrosy raspolozheny ko mne. YA nichego ne smyslil v osnastke sudna i ne ponimal, kak nado stavit' parusa. No matrosy staralis' poduchit' menya, i osobenno horoshim uchitelem okazalsya Luis. Stolknovenij s moimi podchinennymi u menya ne bylo. With the hunters it was otherwise. Familiar in varying degree with the sea, they took me as a sort of joke. In truth, it was a joke to me, that I, the veriest landsman, should be filling the office of mate; but to be taken as a joke by others was a different matter. I made no complaint, but Wolf Larsen demanded the most punctilious sea etiquette in my case, - far more than poor Johansen had ever received; and at the expense of several rows, threats, and much grumbling, he brought the hunters to time. I was "Mr. Van Weyden" fore and aft, and it was only unofficially that Wolf Larsen himself ever addressed me as "Hump." Drugoe delo -- ohotniki. Vse oni byli bolee ili menee znakomy s morem i smotreli na moe naznachenie, kak na shutku. Mne i samomu bylo smeshno, chto ya, suhoputnaya krysa, ispolnyal obyazannosti pomoshchnika, odnako byt' posmeshishchem v glazah drugih mne vovse ne hotelos'. YA ne zhalovalsya, no Volk Larsen sam treboval po otnosheniyu ko mne soblyudeniya samogo strogogo morskogo etiketa, chego nikogda ne udostaivalsya bednyj Iogansen. Cenoyu neodnokratnyh stychek i ugroz on privel nedovol'nyh ohotnikov k povinoveniyu. Ot nosa do kormy menya titulovali "mister Van-Vejden", i tol'ko v neoficial'nyh besedah Volk Larsen nazyval menya Hempom. It was amusing. Perhaps the wind would haul a few points while we were at dinner, and as I left the table he would say, "Mr. Van Weyden, will you kindly put about on the port tack." And I would go on deck, beckon Louis to me, and learn from him what was to be done. Then, a few minutes later, having digested his instructions and thoroughly mastered the manoeuvre, I would proceed to issue my orders. I remember an early instance of this kind, when Wolf Larsen appeared on the scene just as I had begun to give orders. He smoked his cigar and looked on quietly till the thing was accomplished, and then paced aft by my side along the weather poop. |to bylo zabavno. Inoj raz, poka my obedali, veter menyal napravlenie na neskol'ko rumbov, i kogda ya vstaval iz-za stola, kapitan govoril: "Mister VanVejden, bud'te dobry lech' na levyj gals". YA vyhodil na palubu, podzyval Luisa i sprashival u nego, chto nuzhno delat'. CHerez neskol'ko minut, usvoiv ego ukazaniya i uyasniv sebe sushchnost' manevra, ya nachinal otdavat' rasporyazheniya. Pomnitsya, odnazhdy Volk Larsen poyavilsya na palube kak raz v tu minutu, kogda ya otdaval komandu. On ostanovilsya s sigaroj v zubah i prinyalsya spokojno nablyudat' za vypolneniem manevra. Zatem podnyalsya ko mne na yut. "Hump," he said, "I beg pardon, Mr. Van Weyden, I congratulate you. I think you can now fire your father's legs back into the grave to him. You've discovered your own and learned to stand on them. A little rope-work, sail-making, and experience with storms and such things, and by the end of the voyage you could ship on any coasting schooner." -- Hemp, -- skazal on. -- Vinovat, mister Van-Vejden. Pozdravlyayu vas! Sdaetsya mne, chto otcovskie nogi vam teper' bol'she ne ponadobyatsya. Vy, kazhetsya, uzhe nauchilis' stoyat' na svoih sobstvennyh. Nemnogo praktiki v takelazhnyh rabotah i s parusami, nebol'shoj shtorm, i k koncu plavaniya vy sumeete nanyat'sya na lyubuyu kabotazhnuyu shhunu. It was during this period, between the death of Johansen and the arrival on the sealing grounds, that I passed my pleasantest hours on the Ghost. Wolf Larsen was quite considerate, the sailors helped me, and I was no longer in irritating contact with Thomas Mugridge. And I make free to say, as the days went by, that I found I was taking a certain secret pride in myself. Fantastic as the situation was, - a land-lubber second in command, - I was, nevertheless, carrying it off well; and during that brief time I was proud of myself, and I grew to love the heave and roll of the Ghost under my feet as she wallowed north and west through the tropic sea to the islet where we filled our water-casks. V etot period moego plavaniya na "Prizrake" -- posle smerti Iogansena i vplot' do pribytiya k mestu ohoty -- ya chuvstvoval sebya ne tak uzh ploho. Volk Larsen byl ko mne ne slishkom strog, matrosy mne pomogali, i ya byl izbavlen ot nepriyatnogo obshchestva Tomasa Magridzha. Dolzhen priznat'sya, chto malo-pomalu ya nachal dazhe vtajne gordit'sya soboj. Kak ni fantastichno bylo moe polozhenie -- ya, suhoputnaya krysa, vdrug zanyal vtoroe po rangu mesto na sudne! -- Odnako spravlyalsya ya s delom neploho. I ya byl dovolen soboj i dazhe polyubil plavnoe pokachivanie pod nogami paluby "Prizraka", kotoryj vse tak zhe derzhal kurs ot tropikov na severo-zapad, k tomu ostrovku, gde nam predstoyalo popolnit' zapas presnoj vody. But my happiness was not unalloyed. It was comparative, a period of less misery slipped in between a past of great miseries and a future of great miseries. For the Ghost, so far as the seamen were concerned, was a hell-ship of the worst description. They never had a moment's rest or peace. Wolf Larsen treasured against them the attempt on his life and the drubbing he had received in the forecastle; and morning, noon, and night, and all night as well, he devoted himself to making life unlivable for them. No eto bylo lish' vremya sravnitel'nogo blagopoluchiya. Takie zhe muki, kakie ya ispytal vnachale, zhdali Menya i vperedi. A dlya komandy, osobenno dlya matrosov, "Prizrak" po-prezhnemu ostavalsya uzhasnym, sataninskim korablem. Nikto ne znal na nem ni minuty pokoya. Volk Larsen ne prostil matrosam pokusheniya na ego zhizn' i trepki, kotoruyu oni zadali emu v kubrike. I dnem i noch'yu on vsyacheski staralsya otravit' im sushchestvovanie. He knew well the psychology of the little thing, and it was the little things by which he kept the crew worked up to the verge of madness. I have seen Harrison called from his bunk to put properly away a misplaced paintbrush, and the two watches below haled from their tired sleep to accompany him and see him do it. A little thing, truly, but when multiplied by the thousand ingenious devices of such a mind, the mental state of the men in the forecastle may be slightly comprehended. On horosho ponimal psihologicheskoe znachenie melochej i umel melkimi pridirkami dovodit' matrosov do Isstupleniya. YA videl, kak on podnyal Garrisona s kojki, kak tot ubral valyavshuyusya ne na meste malyarnuyu kist'. No i etogo emu pokazalos' malo, i on razbudil eshche vseh podvahtennyh i velel im pojti za Garrisonom i poglyadet', kak on budet eto delat'. |to byl, konechno, pustyak, no ego izobretatel'nyj um pridumyval ih tysyachi, i legko mozhno sebe predstavit', kakoe nastroenie carilo na bake. Of course much grumbling went on, and little outbursts were continually occurring. Blows were struck, and there were always two or three men nursing injuries at the hands of the human beast who was their master. Concerted action was impossible in face of the heavy arsenal of weapons carried in the steerage and cabin. Leach and Johnson were the two particular victims of Wolf Larsen's diabolic temper, and the look of profound melancholy which had settled on Johnson's face and in his eyes made my heart bleed. Ponyatno, chto komanda roptala, i otdel'nye stolknoveniya povtoryalis' snova i snova. Kapitan prodolzhal izbivat' matrosov, i ezhednevno dvoe-troe iz nih vrachevali, kak mogli, nanesennye im uvech'ya. Odnako na reshitel'noe vystuplenie oni ne otvazhivalis', tak kak, v kubrike u ohotnikov i v kayut-kompanii hranilsya bol'shoj zapas oruzhiya. Bol'she vsego dostavalos' ot Volka Larsena Lichu i Dzhonsonu: na nih on vymeshchal svoyu d'yavol'skuyu zlobu, i glubokaya toska, kotoruyu ya chital v glazah Dzhonsona, zastavlyala szhimat'sya moe serdce. With Leach it was different. There was too much of the fighting beast in him. He seemed possessed by an insatiable fury which gave no time for grief. His lips had become distorted into a permanent snarl, which at mere sight of Wolf Larsen broke out in sound, horrible and menacing and, I do believe, unconsciously. I have seen him follow Wolf Larsen about with his eyes, like an animal its keeper, the while the animal-like snarl sounded deep in his throat and vibrated forth between his teeth. Lich otnosilsya k svoemu polozheniyu inache. On byl zatravlen, no ne sdavalsya. On ves' gorel neukrotimoj yarost'yu, ne ostavlyavshej mesta dlya skorbi. Na ego gubah zastyla zlobnaya usmeshka, i pri vide Volka Larsena s nih vsyakij raz -- kak vidno, bessoznatel'no -- sryvalos' ugrozhayushchee vorchanie. On sledil glazami za kapitanom, kak zver' sledit iz kletki za svoim strazhem, i zloba, klokotavshaya v ego grudi, rvalas' naruzhu skvoz' stisnutye zuby. I remember once, on deck, in bright day, touching him on the shoulder as preliminary to giving an order. His back was toward me, and at the first feel of my hand he leaped upright in the air and away from me, snarling and turning his head as he leaped. He had for the moment mistaken me for the man he hated. Pomnyu, kak odnazhdy na palube ya sred' bela dnya tronul ego za plecho, sobirayas' otdat' kakoe-to prikazanie. On stoyal ko mne spinoj, i, kogda moya ruka kosnulas' ego, otpryanul s dikim vozglasom. On prinyal menya za nenavistnogo emu cheloveka. Both he and Johnson would have killed Wolf Larsen at the slightest opportunity, but the opportunity never came. Wolf Larsen was too wise for that, and, besides, they had no adequate weapons. With their fists alone they had no chance whatever. Time and again he fought it out with Leach who fought back always, like a wildcat, tooth and nail and fist, until stretched, exhausted or unconscious, on the deck. And he was never averse to another encounter. All the devil that was in him challenged the devil in Wolf Larsen. They had but to appear on deck at the same time, when they would be at it, cursing, snarling, striking; and I have seen Leach fling himself upon Wolf Larsen without warning or provocation. Once he threw his heavy sheath-knife, missing Wolf Larsen's throat by an inch. Another time he dropped a steel marlinspike from the mizzen crosstree. It was a difficult cast to make on a rolling ship, but the sharp point of the spike, whistling seventy-five feet through the air, barely missed Wolf Larsen's head as he emerged from the cabin companion-way and drove its length two inches and over into the solid deck-planking. Still another time, he stole into the steerage, possessed himself of a loaded shot-gun, and was making a rush for the deck with it when caught by Kerfoot and disarmed. Lich i Dzhonson ubili by Volka Larsena pri pervoj vozmozhnosti, tol'ko ona im nikogda ne predstavlyalas', -- Volk Larsen byl slishkom hiter. K tomu zhe u nih ne bylo spodruchnogo oruzhiya. Na odni kulaki im nikak ne prihodilos' rasschityvat'. Vremya ot vremeni kapitan pokazyval svoyu silu Lichu, i tot vsegda daval sdachi i kidalsya na nego, kak dikaya koshka, puskaya v hod i zuby, i nogti, i kulaki, no v konce koncov vsyakij raz padal na palubu bez sil i chasto dazhe bez soznaniya. I vse zhe on nikogda ne staralsya izbezhat' shvatki. D'yavol, sidevshij v nem, brosal vyzov d'yavolu v Volke Larsene. Stoilo im tol'ko stolknut'sya na palube, i podnimalas' draka. Mne sluchalos' videt', kak Lich kidalsya na Volka Larsena bez vsyakogo preduprezhdeniya ili vneshnego povoda. Odnazhdy ot metnul v kapitana tyazhelyj kortik i promahnulsya vsego na kakoj-nibud' dyujm, a eshche kak-to uronil na nego s salinga stal'nuyu svajku. Ne prostaya eto byla zadacha -- popast' v cel' pri kachke, s vysoty semidesyati pyati futov, no ostrie instrumenta, prosvistav v vozduhe, mel'knulo pochti u samoj golovy Volka Larsena, kogda tot pokazalsya iz lyuka, i vonzilos' na celyh dva dyujma v tolstye doski paluby. V drugoj raz Lich probralsya v kubrik ohotnikov, zavladel ch'im-to zaryazhennym drobovikom i uzhe hotel vyskochit' s nim na palubu, no tut ego perehvatil i obezoruzhil Kerfut. I often wondered why Wolf Larsen did not kill him and make an end of it. But he only laughed and seemed to enjoy it. There seemed a certain spice about it, such as men must feel who take delight in making pets of ferocious animals. YA chasto zadaval sebe vopros, pochemu Volk Larsen ne ub'et Licha i ne polozhit etomu konec. No on tol'ko smeyalsya i, kazalos', naslazhdalsya opasnost'yu. V etoj igre byla dlya nego osobaya prelest'; byt' mozhet, on chuvstvoval sebya v roli ukrotitelya dikih zverej. "It gives a thrill to life," he explained to me, "when life is carried in one's hand. Man is a natural gambler, and life is the biggest stake he can lay. The greater the odds, the greater the thrill. Why should I deny myself the joy of exciting Leach's soul to fever-pitch? For that matter, I do him a kindness. The greatness of sensation is mutual. He is living more royally than any man for'ard, though he does not know it. For he has what they have not - purpose, something to do and be done, an all-absorbing end to strive to attain, the desire to kill me, the hope that he may kill me. Really, Hump, he is living deep and high. I doubt that he has ever lived so swiftly and keenly before, and I honestly envy him, sometimes, when I see him raging at the summit of passion and sensibility." -- ZHizn' poluchaet osobuyu ostrotu, -- ob®yasnyal on mne, -- kogda visit na voloske. CHelovek po prirode igrok, a zhizn' -- samaya krupnaya ego stavka. CHem bol'she risk, tem ostree oshchushchenie. Zachem mne otkazyvat' sebe v udovol'stvii dovodit' Licha do belogo kaleniya? |tim ya emu zhe okazyvayu uslugu. My oba ispytyvaem ves'ma sil'nye oshchushcheniya. Ego zhizn' bogache, chem u lyubogo matrosa na bake, hotya on etogo i ne soznaet. On imeet to, chego net u nih, -- cel', pogloshchayushchuyu ego: on stremitsya ubit' menya i ne teryaet nadezhdy, chto eto emu udastsya. Pravo, Hemp, on zhivet polnoj, nasyshchennoj zhizn'yu. YA somnevayus', chtoby kogda-libo ego zhizn' protekala tak napryazhenno i ostro, i poroj iskrenne zaviduyu emu, kogda vizhu ego na vershine strasti i isstupleniya. "Ah, but it is cowardly, cowardly!" I cried. "You have all the advantage." -- No ved' eto nizost'Nizost'! -- voskliknul ya. -- Vse preimushchestva na vashej storone. "Of the two of us, you and I, who is the greater coward?" he asked seriously. "If the situation is unpleasing, you compromise with your conscience when you make yourself a party to it. If you were really great, really true to yourself, you would join forces with Leach and Johnson. But you are afraid, you are afraid. You want to live. The life that is in you cries out that it must live, no matter what the cost; so you live ignominiously, untrue to the best you dream of, sinning against your whole pitiful little code, and, if there were a hell, heading your soul straight for it. Bah! I play the braver part. I do no sin, for I am true to the promptings of the life that is in me. I am sincere with my soul at least, and that is what you are not." -- Kto iz nas dvoih, vy ili ya, bolee nizok? -- nahmurivshis', sprosil on. -- Popadaya v nepriyatnoe polozhenie, vy vstupaete v kompromiss s vashej sovest'yu. Esli by vy dejstvitel'no byli na vysote i ostavalis' verny sebe, vy dolzhny byli by ob®edinit'sya s Lichem i Dzhonsonom. No vy boites', boites'! Vy hotite zhit'. ZHizn' v vas krichit, chto ona hochet zhit', chego by eto ni stoilo. Vy vlachite prezrennoe sushchestvovanie, izmenyaete vashim idealam, greshite protiv svoej zhalkoj morali i, esli est' ad, pryamym putem vedete tuda svoyu dushu. YA vybral sebe bolee dostojnuyu rol'. YA ne greshu, tak kak ostayus' veren veleniyam zhizni vo mne. YA po krajnej mere ne postupayu protiv sovesti, chego vy ne mozhete skazat' o sebe. There was a sting in what he said. Perhaps, after all, I was playing a cowardly part. And the more I thought about it the more it appeared that my duty to myself lay in doing what he had advised, lay in joining