ff I glanced down at my raw and bleeding chest and turned to the Scandinavian. Kok uhmyl'nulsya pri takom proyavlenii nervoznosti. On sunul mne v ruku dymyashchuyusya kruzhku s kakoj-to burdoj i skazal: -- Hlebnite-ka, eto pojdet vam na pol'zuV kruzhke bylo otvratitel'noe pojlo -- korabel'nyj kofe, -- no ono vse zhe sogrelo i ozhivilo menya. Prihlebyvaya etot napitok, ya rassmatrival svoyu razodrannuyu, okrovavlennuyu grud', a zatem obratilsya k skandinavu. "Thank you, Mr. Yonson," I said; "but don't you think your measures were rather heroic?" -- Blagodaryu vas, mister Ionson, -- skazal ya. -- No ne kazhetsya li vam, chto vy primenili ko mne slishkom uzh geroicheskie mery? It was because he understood the reproof of my action, rather than of my words, that he held up his palm for inspection. It was remarkably calloused. I passed my hand over the horny projections, and my teeth went on edge once more from the horrible rasping sensation produced. Ne znayu, pochuvstvoval li on uprek v moih slovah, no, vo vsyakom sluchae, vzglyad, kotoryj ya brosil na svoyu grud', byl dostatochno vyrazitelen. V otvet on molcha pokazal mne svoyu ladon'. |to byla neobyknovenno mozolistaya ladon'. YA provel pal'cami po ee rogovym zatverdeniyam, i u menya zanyli zuby ot nepriyatnogo oshchushcheniya sherohovatoj poverhnosti. "My name is Johnson, not Yonson," he said, in very good, though slow, English, with no more than a shade of accent to it. -- Menya zovut Dzhonson, a ne Ionson, -- skazal on na pravil'nom anglijskom yazyke, medlenno, no pochti bez akcenta. There was mild protest in his pale blue eyes, and withal a timid frankness and manliness that quite won me to him. V ego bledno-golubyh glazah ya prochel krotkij protest; vmeste s tem v nih byla kakaya-to zastenchivaya pryamota i muzhestvennost', kotorye srazu raspolozhili menya k nemu. "Thank you, Mr. Johnson," I corrected, and reached out my hand for his. -- Blagodaryu vas, mister Dzhonson, -- pospeshil ya ispravit' svoyu oshibku i protyanul emu ruku. He hesitated, awkward and bashful, shifted his weight from one leg to the other, then blunderingly gripped my hand in a hearty shake. On medlil, smushchenno i neuklyuzhe pereminayas' s nogi na nogu; potom reshitel'no shvatil moyu ruku i s chuvstvom pozhal ee. "Have you any dry clothes I may put on?" I asked the cook. -- Ne najdetsya li u vas chego-nibud', chtoby ya mog pereodet'sya? -- sprosil ya koka, oglyadyvaya svoyu mokruyu odezhdu. "Yes, sir," he answered, with cheerful alacrity. "I'll run down an' tyke a look over my kit, if you've no objections, sir, to wearin' my things." -- Najdem, ser! -- zhivo otozvalsya tot. -- Esli vy ne pobrezguete nadet' moi veshchi, ya sbegayu vniz i pritashchu. He dived out of the galley door, or glided rather, with a swiftness and smoothness of gait that struck me as being not so much cat-like as oily. In fact, this oiliness, or greasiness, as I was later to learn, was probably the most salient expression of his personality. On vyshel, vernee vyskol'znul, iz dverej s provorstvom, v kotorom mne pochudilos' chto-to koshach'e ili dazhe zmeinoe. |ta ego sposobnost' skol'zit' uzhom byla, kak ya ubedilsya vposledstvii, ves'ma dlya nego harakterna. "And where am I?" I asked Johnson, whom I took, and rightly, to be one of the sailors. "What vessel is this, and where is she bound?" -- Gde ya nahozhus'? -- sprosil ya Dzhonsona, kotorogo ne bez osnovaniya prinyal za odnogo iz matrosov. -- CHto eto za sudno i kuda ono idet? "Off the Farallones, heading about sou-west," he answered, slowly and methodically, as though groping for his best English, and rigidly observing the order of my queries. "The schooner Ghost, bound seal-hunting to Japan." -- My okolo Farallonskih ostrovov, na yugo-zapad ot nih, -- netoroplivo promolvil on, metodichno otvechaya na moi voprosy i starayas', po-vidimomu, kak mozhno pravil'nee govorit' po-anglijski. -- |to shhuna "Prizrak". Idem k beregam YAponii bit' kotikov. "And who is the captain? I must see him as soon as I am dressed." -- A kto kapitan shhuny? Mne nuzhno povidat'sya s nim, kak tol'ko ya pereodenus'. Johnson looked puzzled and embarrassed. He hesitated while he groped in his vocabulary and framed a complete answer. Na lice Dzhonsona neozhidanno otrazilos' krajnee smushchenie i zameshatel'stvo. On otvetil ne srazu; vidno bylo, chto on tshchatel'no podbiraet slova i myslenno sostavlyaet ischerpyvayushchij otvet. "The cap'n is Wolf Larsen, or so men call him. I never heard his other name. But you better speak soft with him. He is mad this morning. The mate - " -- Kapitan -- Volk Larsen, tak ego vse nazyvayut. YA nikogda ne slyhal ego nastoyashchego imeni. No govorite s nim poostorozhnee. On segodnya beshenyj. Ego pomoshchnik... But he did not finish. The cook had glided in. On ne dokonchil: v kambuz nyrnul kok. "Better sling yer 'ook out of 'ere, Yonson," he said. "The old man'll be wantin' yer on deck, an' this ayn't no d'y to fall foul of 'im." -- Ubirajsya-ka luchshe otsyuda, Ionson! -- skazal tot. -- Starik hvatitsya tebya na palube, a nynche, esli emu ne ugodish', -- beda. Johnson turned obediently to the door, at the same time, over the cook's shoulder, favouring me with an amazingly solemn and portentous wink as though to emphasize his interrupted remark and the need for me to be soft-spoken with the captain. Dzhonson poslushno napravilsya k dveri, podmignuv mne iz-za spiny koka s neobychajno torzhestvennym i znachitel'nym vidom, slovno zhelaya vyrazit' etim to, chego on ne dogovoril, i vnushit' mne eshche raz, chto s kapitanom nado razgovarivat' poostorozhnee. Hanging over the cook's arm was a loose and crumpled array of evil- looking and sour-smelling garments. CHerez ruku u koka bylo perekinuto kakoe-to gryaznoe, myatoe tryap'e, ot kotorogo dovol'no skverno pahlo. "They was put aw'y wet, sir," he vouchsafed explanation. "But you'll 'ave to make them do till I dry yours out by the fire." -- Ono bylo syroe, ser, kogda ya ego snyal i spryatal, -- schel on nuzhnym ob®yasnit' mne. -- No vam pridetsya poka obojtis' etim, a potom ya vysushu vashe plat'e. Clinging to the woodwork, staggering with the roll of the ship, and aided by the cook, I managed to slip into a rough woollen undershirt. On the instant my flesh was creeping and crawling from the harsh contact. He noticed my involuntary twitching and grimacing, and smirked: Ceplyayas' za pereborki, tak kak sudno sil'no kachalo, ya s pomoshch'yu koka koe-kak natyanul na sebya grubuyu fufajku i nevol'no poezhilsya ot prikosnoveniya kolyuchej shersti. Zametiv, dolzhno byt', grimasu na moem lice, kok osklabilsya. "I only 'ope yer don't ever 'ave to get used to such as that in this life, 'cos you've got a bloomin' soft skin, that you 'ave, more like a lydy's than any I know of. I was bloomin' well sure you was a gentleman as soon as I set eyes on yer." -- Nu, vam ne navek privykatь k takoj odezhde. Kozha-to u vas nezhnaya, slovno u kakoj-nibud' ledi. YA kak uvidal vas, tak srazu ponyal, chto vy -- dzhentl'men. I had taken a dislike to him at first, and as he helped to dress me this dislike increased. There was something repulsive about his touch. I shrank from his hand; my flesh revolted. And between this and the smells arising from various pots boiling and bubbling on the galley fire, I was in haste to get out into the fresh air. Further, there was the need of seeing the captain about what arrangements could be made for getting me ashore. |tot chelovek ne ponravilsya mne s pervogo vzglyada, a kogda on pomogal mne odevat'sya, moya nepriyazn' k nemu vozrosla eshche bol'she. Ego prikosnoveniya vyzyvali vo mne gadlivost'. YA storonilsya ego ruk i vzdragival, kogda on dotragivalsya do menya. |to nepriyatnoe chuvstvo i zapah, ishodivshij ot kipevshih i burlivshih na plite kastryul', zastavili menya pospeshit' s pereodevaniem, chtoby poskoree vybrat'sya na svezhij vozduh. K tomu zhe mne nuzhno bylo eshche dogovorit'sya s kapitanom otnositel'no dostavki menya na bereg. A cheap cotton shirt, with frayed collar and a bosom discoloured with what I took to be ancient blood-stains, was put on me amid a running and apologetic fire of comment. A pair of workman's brogans encased my feet, and for trousers I was furnished with a pair of pale blue, washed-out overalls, one leg of which was fully ten inches shorter than the other. The abbreviated leg looked as though the devil had there clutched for the Cockney's soul and missed the shadow for the substance. Deshevaya satinovaya rubashka s obtrepannym vorotom i podozritel'nymi, pohozhimi na krovyanye, pyatnami na grudi byla nadeta na menya pod akkompanement neumolchnyh poyasnenij i izvinenij. Tualet moj zavershila para grubyh bashmakov i sinij vycvetshij kombinezon, u kotorogo odna shtanina okazalas' dyujmov na desyat' koroche drugoj. Mozhno bylo podumat', chto d'yavol pytalsya capnut' "cherez nee dushu londonca, no, ne obnaruzhiv takovoj, otorval so zlosti kusok obolochki. "And whom have I to thank for this kindness?" I asked, when I stood completely arrayed, a tiny boy's cap on my head, and for coat a dirty, striped cotton jacket which ended at the small of my back and the sleeves of which reached just below my elbows. -- No ya ne znayu, kogo zhe mne blagodarit'? -- sprosil ya, oblachivshis' v eto tryap'e. Na golove u menya krasovalas' furazhka, kotoraya byla mne mala, a poverh rubashki ya natyanul eshche gryaznuyu polosatuyu bumazejnuyu kurtku; ona edva dohodila mne do talii, a rukava chut' prikryvali lokti. The cook drew himself up in a smugly humble fashion, a deprecating smirk on his face. Out of my experience with stewards on the Atlantic liners at the end of the voyage, I could have sworn he was waiting for his tip. From my fuller knowledge of the creature I now know that the posture was unconscious. An hereditary servility, no doubt, was responsible. Kok samodovol'no vypryamilsya, i zaiskivayushchaya ulybka rasplylas' po ego licu. U menya byl nekotoryj opyt: ya znal, kak vedet sebya prisluga na atlanticheskih parohodah, kogda rejs podhodit k koncu, i mog poklyast'sya, chto kok ozhidaet podachki. Odnako moe dal'nejshee znakomstvo s etim sub®ektom pokazalo, chto poza byla bessoznatel'noj. |to byla vrozhdennaya ugodlivost'. "Mugridge, sir," he fawned, his effeminate features running into a greasy smile. "Thomas Mugridge, sir, an' at yer service." -- Magridzh, ser, -- probormotal on s elejnoj ulybkoj na svoem zhenstvennom lice. -- Tomas Magridzh, ser. K vashim uslugam! "All right, Thomas," I said. "I shall not forget you - when my clothes are dry." -- Ladno, Tomas, -- skazal ya. -- YA ne zabudu vas, kogda vysohnet moe plat'e. A soft light suffused his face and his eyes glistened, as though somewhere in the deeps of his being his ancestors had quickened and stirred with dim memories of tips received in former lives. Ego lico prosiyalo, glaza zablesteli; kazalos', golosa predkov zazvuchali v ego dushe, rozhdaya smutnye vospominaniya o chaevyh, poluchennyh imi vo vremya ih prebyvaniya na zemle. "Thank you, sir," he said, very gratefully and very humbly indeed. -- Blagodaryu vas, ser! -- proiznes on s chuvstvom i pochti iskrennim smireniem. Precisely in the way that the door slid back, he slid aside, and I stepped out on deck. I was still weak from my prolonged immersion. A puff of wind caught me, - and I staggered across the moving deck to a corner of the cabin, to which I clung for support. The schooner, heeled over far out from the perpendicular, was bowing and plunging into the long Pacific roll. If she were heading south-west as Johnson had said, the wind, then, I calculated, was blowing nearly from the south. The fog was gone, and in its place the sun sparkled crisply on the surface of the water, I turned to the east, where I knew California must lie, but could see nothing save low-lying fog-banks - the same fog, doubtless, that had brought about the disaster to the Martinez and placed me in my present situation. To the north, and not far away, a group of naked rocks thrust above the sea, on one of which I could distinguish a lighthouse. In the south-west, and almost in our course, I saw the pyramidal loom of some vessel's sails. YA otodvinul dver', i kok, tozhe kak na rolikah, skol'znul v storonu; ya vyshel na palubu. Menya vse eshche poshatyvalo ot slabosti posle dolgogo prebyvaniya v vode. Poryv vetra naletel na menya, i ya, sdelav neskol'ko netverdyh shagov po kachayushchejsya palube do ugla rubki, pospeshil uhvatit'sya za nego, chtoby ne upast'. Sil'no nakrenivshis', shhuna skol'zila vverh i vniz po dlinnoj tihookeanskoj volne. Esli, kak okazal Dzhonson, sudno shlo na yugo-zapad, to veter, po moim raschetam, dul primerno s yuga. Tuman rasseyalsya, i poverhnost' vody iskrilas' na solnce. YA povernulsya k vostoku, gde dolzhna byla nahodit'sya Kaliforniya, no ne uvidel nichego, krome nizko stlavshihsya plastov tumana, togo samogo tumana, kotoryj vyzval katastrofu "Martinesa" i byl prichinoj moego bedstvennogo polozheniya. K severu, nepodaleku ot nas, iz morya torchala gruppa golyh skal, i na odnoj iz nih ya razlichil mayak. K yugo-zapadu, tam, kuda my derzhali kurs, ya uvidel piramidal'nye ochertaniya parusov kakogo-to korablya. Having completed my survey of the horizon, I turned to my more immediate surroundings. My first thought was that a man who had come through a collision and rubbed shoulders with death merited more attention than I received. Beyond a sailor at the wheel who stared curiously across the top of the cabin, I attracted no notice whatever. Oglyadev more, ya perevel vzglyad na bolee blizkie predmety. Moej pervoj mysl'yu bylo, chto chelovek, poterpevshij korablekrushenie i byvshij na volosok ot smerti, zasluzhivaet, pozhaluj, bol'shego vnimaniya, chem to, kotoroe bylo mne okazano. Nikto, kak vidno, ne interesovalsya moej osoboj, krome matrosa u shturvala, s lyubopytstvom poglyadyvavshego na menya poverh rubki. Everybody seemed interested in what was going on amid ships. There, on a hatch, a large man was lying on his back. He was fully clothed, though his shirt was ripped open in front. Nothing was to be seen of his chest, however, for it was covered with a mass of black hair, in appearance like the furry coat of a dog. His face and neck were hidden beneath a black beard, intershot with grey, which would have been stiff and bushy had it not been limp and draggled and dripping with water. His eyes were closed, and he was apparently unconscious; but his mouth was wide open, his breast, heaving as though from suffocation as he laboured noisily for breath. A sailor, from time to time and quite methodically, as a matter of routine, dropped a canvas bucket into the ocean at the end of a rope, hauled it in hand under hand, and sluiced its contents over the prostrate man. Vse, kazalos', byli zanyaty tem, chto proishodilo posredi paluby. Tam, na kryshke lyuka, lezhal kakoj-to gruznyj muzhchina. On lezhal na spine; rubashka na ego grudi, porosshej gustymi chernymi, pohozhimi na sherst' volosami, byla razodrana. CHernaya s prosed'yu boroda pokryvala vsyu nizhnyuyu chast' ego lica i sheyu. Boroda, veroyatno, byla zhestkaya i pyshnaya, no obvisla i sliplas', i s nee strujkami stekala voda. Glaza ego byli zakryty -- on, ochevidno, nahodilsya bez soznaniya, -- no grud' tyazhelo vzdymalas'; on s shumom vbiral v sebya vozduh, shiroko raskryv rot, boryas' s udush'em. Odin iz matrosov spokojno i metodichno, slovno vypolnyaya privychnuyu obyazannost', spuskal za bort na verevke brezentovoe vedro, vytyagival ego, perehvatyvaya verevku rukami, i okatyval vodoj lezhavshego bez dvizheniya cheloveka. Pacing back and forth the length of the hatchways and savagely chewing the end of a cigar, was the man whose casual glance had rescued me from the sea. His height was probably five feet ten inches, or ten and a half; but my first impression, or feel of the man, was not of this, but of his strength. And yet, while he was of massive build, with broad shoulders and deep chest, I could not characterize his strength as massive. It was what might be termed a sinewy, knotty strength, of the kind we ascribe to lean and wiry men, but which, in him, because of his heavy build, partook more of the enlarged gorilla order. Not that in appearance he seemed in the least gorilla-like. What I am striving to express is this strength itself, more as a thing apart from his physical semblance. It was a strength we are wont to associate with things primitive, with wild animals, and the creatures we imagine our tree-dwelling prototypes to have been - a strength savage, ferocious, alive in itself, the essence of life in that it is the potency of motion, the elemental stuff itself out of which the many forms of life have been moulded; in short, that which writhes in the body of a snake when the head is cut off, and the snake, as a snake, is dead, or which lingers in the shapeless lump of turtle-meat and recoils and quivers from the prod of a finger. Vozle lyuka rashazhival vzad i vpered, serdito zhuya sigaru, tot samyj chelovek, sluchajnomu vzglyadu kotorogo ya byl obyazan svoim spaseniem. Rostom on byl, veroyatno, pyati futov i desyati dyujmov, byt' mozhet, desyati s polovinoj, no ne eto brosalos' mne prezhde vsego v glaza, -- ya srazu pochuvstvoval ego silu. |to byl chelovek atleticheskogo slozheniya, s shirokimi plechami i grud'yu, no ya ne nazval by ego tyazhelovesnym. V nem byla kakaya-to zhilistaya, uprugaya sila, obychno svojstvennaya nervnym i hudoshchavym lyudyam, i ona pridavala etomu ogromnomu cheloveku nekotoroe shodstvo s bol'shoj gorilloj. YA vovse ne hochu skazat', chto on pohodil na gorillu. YA govoryu tol'ko, chto zaklyuchennaya v nem sila, nezavisimo ot ego vneshnosti, vyzyvala u vas takie associacii. Podobnogo roda sila obychno svyazyvaetsya v nashem predstavlenii s pervobytnymi sushchestvami, s dikimi zveryami, s nashimi predpolagaemymi predkami, zhivshimi na derev'yah. |to sila dikaya, svirepaya, zaklyuchayushchaya v samoj sebe zhiznennoe nachalo -- samuyu sushchnost' zhizni, kak potencii dvizheniya i pervozdannoj materii, pretvoryayushchihsya v razlichnyh vidah zhivyh sushchestv; koroche govorya, eto ta zhivuchest', kotoraya zastavlyaet zmeyu izvivat'sya, kogda u nee otrubyat golovu, i kotoraya teplitsya v besformennom komke myasa ubitoj cherepahi, sodrogayushchemsya pri prikosnovenii k nemu pal'cem. Such was the impression of strength I gathered from this man who paced up and down. He was firmly planted on his legs; his feet struck the deck squarely and with surety; every movement of a muscle, from the heave of the shoulders to the tightening of the lips about the cigar, was decisive, and seemed to come out of a strength that was excessive and overwhelming. In fact, though this strength pervaded every action of his, it seemed but the advertisement of a greater strength that lurked within, that lay dormant and no more than stirred from time to time, but which might arouse, at any moment, terrible and compelling, like the rage of a lion or the wrath of a storm. Takovo bylo vpechatlenie, kotoroe proizvodil etot chelovek, shagavshij po palube. On krepko stoyal na nogah, stupal tverdo i uverenno; kazhdoe dvizhenie ego muskulov -- to, kak on pozhimal plechami ili stiskival v zubah sigaru, -- vse bylo polno reshimosti i kazalos' proyavleniem izbytochnoj, b'yushchej cherez kraj sily. No eta vneshnyaya sila, pronizyvayushchaya ego dvizheniya, kazalas' lish' otgoloskom drugoj, eshche bolee groznoj sily, kotoraya pritailas' i dremala v nem, no mogla v lyuboj mig probudit'sya podobno yarosti l'va ili beshenomu poryvu uragana. The cook stuck his head out of the galley door and grinned encouragingly at me, at the same time jerking his thumb in the direction of the man who paced up and down by the hatchway. Thus I was given to understand that he was the captain, the "Old Man," in the cook's vernacular, the individual whom I must interview and put to the trouble of somehow getting me ashore. I had half started forward, to get over with what I was certain would be a stormy five minutes, when a more violent suffocating paroxysm seized the unfortunate person who was lying on his back. He wrenched and writhed about convulsively. The chin, with the damp black beard, pointed higher in the air as the back muscles stiffened and the chest swelled in an unconscious and instinctive effort to get more air. Under the whiskers, and all unseen, I knew that the skin was taking on a purplish hue. Kok vysunul golovu iz dveri kambuza i obodryayushche ulybnulsya mne, ukazyvaya bol'shim pal'cem na cheloveka, prohazhivavshegosya okolo lyuka. YA ponyal, chto eto i est' kapitan shhuny, ili -- na yazyke koka -- "starik", to est' tot, k komu ya dolzhen obratit'sya, daby potrevozhit' ego pros'boj dostavit' menya kakim-nibud' sposobom na bereg. YA dvinulsya bylo vpered, predchuvstvuya, chto mne predstoit burnoe ob®yasnenie, no v etu minutu novyj strashnyj pristup udush'ya ovladel neschastnym, lezhavshim na palube. Ego stali korchit' sudorogi. Spina ego vygnulas' dugoj, golova sovsem zaprokinulas' nazad, a grud' rasshirilas' v bessoznatel'nom usilii nabrat' pobol'she vozduha. YA ne videl ego lica, tol'ko mokruyu chernuyu borodu, no pochuvstvoval, kak bagroveet ego kozha. The captain, or Wolf Larsen, as men called him, ceased pacing and gazed down at the dying man. So fierce had this final struggle become that the sailor paused in the act of flinging more water over him and stared curiously, the canvas bucket partly tilted and dripping its contents to the deck. The dying man beat a tattoo on the hatch with his heels, straightened out his legs, and stiffened in one great tense effort, and rolled his head from side to side. Then the muscles relaxed, the head stopped rolling, and a sigh, as of profound relief, floated upward from his lips. The jaw dropped, the upper lip lifted, and two rows of tobacco-discoloured teeth appeared. It seemed as though his features had frozen into a diabolical grin at the world he had left and outwitted. Kapitan -- Volk Larsen, kak ego nazyvali, -- ostanovilsya i posmotrel na umirayushchego. ZHestokoj i otchayannoj byla eta poslednyaya shvatka so smert'yu; ohvachennyj lyubopytstvom matros perestal lit' vodu, brezentovoe vedro nakrenilos', i iz nego tonkoj strujkoj stekala voda. Umirayushchij sudorozhno bil kablukami po kryshke lyuka; potom ego nogi vytyanulis' i zastyli v poslednem strashnom napryazhenii, v to vremya kak golova eshche prodolzhala metat'sya iz storony v storonu. No vot myshcy oslabli, golova perestala dvigat'sya, i vzdoh kak by glubokogo oblegcheniya sletel s ego gub. CHelyust' u nego otvisla, verhnyaya guba pripodnyalas', i obnazhilis' dva ryada pozheltevshih ot tabaka zubov. Kazalos', ego cherty zastyli v d'yavol'skoj usmeshke, slovno on izdevalsya nad mirom, kotoryj emu udalos' perehitrit', pokinuv ego. Then a most surprising thing occurred. The captain broke loose upon the dead man like a thunderclap. Oaths rolled from his lips in a continuous stream. And they were not namby-pamby oaths, or mere expressions of indecency. Each word was a blasphemy, and there were many words. They crisped and crackled like electric sparks. I had never heard anything like it in my life, nor could I have conceived it possible. With a turn for literary expression myself, and a penchant for forcible figures and phrases, I appreciated, as no other listener, I dare say, the peculiar vividness and strength and absolute blasphemy of his metaphors. The cause of it all, as near as I could make out, was that the man, who was mate, had gone on a debauch before leaving San Francisco, and then had the poor taste to die at the beginning of the voyage and leave Wolf Larsen short-handed. I tut proizoshlo nechto neozhidannoe. Kapitan vnezapno, podobno udaru groma, obrushilsya na mertveca. Potok rugani hlynul iz ego ust. I eto ne byli obychnye rugatel'stva ili nepristojnosti. V kazhdom slove bylo bogohul'stvo, a slova tak i sypalis'. Oni gremeli i treshchali, slovno elektricheskie razryady. YA v zhizni ne slyhal, da i ne mog by voobrazit' sebe nichego podobnogo. Obladaya sam literaturnoj zhilkoj i pitaya pristrastie k sochnym slovcam i oborotam, ya, pozhaluj, luchshe vseh prisutstvuyushchih mog ocenit' svoeobraznuyu zhivost', krasochnost' i v to zhe vremya neslyhannuyu koshchunstvennost' ego metafor. Naskol'ko ya mog ponyat', prichinoj etoj vspyshki bylo to, chto umershij -- pomoshchnik kapitana -- zagulyal pered uhodom iz SanFrancisko, a potom imel nedelikatnost' umeret' v samom nachale plavaniya i ostavit' Volka Larsena bez ego, tak skazat', pravoj ruki. It should be unnecessary to state, at least to my friends, that I was shocked. Oaths and vile language of any sort had always been repellent to me. I felt a wilting sensation, a sinking at the heart, and, I might just as well say, a giddiness. To me, death had always been invested with solemnity and dignity. It had been peaceful in its occurrence, sacred in its ceremonial. But death in its more sordid and terrible aspects was a thing with which I had been unacquainted till now. As I say, while I appreciated the power of the terrific denunciation that swept out of Wolf Larsen's mouth, I was inexpressibly shocked. The scorching torrent was enough to wither the face of the corpse. I should not have been surprised if the wet black beard had frizzled and curled and flared up in smoke and flame. But the dead man was unconcerned. He continued to grin with a sardonic humour, with a cynical mockery and defiance. He was master of the situation. Izlishne upominat', -- vo vsyakom sluchae, moi druz'ya pojmut eto i tak, -- chto ya byl shokirovan. Bran' i skvernoslovie vsegda byli mne protivny. U menya zasosalo pod lozhechkoj, zanylo serdce, mne stalo nevyrazimo toshno. Smert' v moem predstavlenii vsegda byla sopryazhena s chem-to torzhestvennym i vozvyshennym. Ona prihodila mirno i svyashchennodejstvovala u lozha svoej zhertvy. Smert' v takom mrachnom ottalkivayushchem oblich'e yavilas' dlya menya chem-to nevidannym i neslyhannym. Otdavaya, kak ya uzhe skazal, dolzhnoe vyrazitel'nosti izrygaemyh Volkom Larsenom proklyatij, ya byl imi chrezvychajno vozmushchen. Mne kazalos', chto ih ognennyj potok dolzhen ispepelit' lico trupa, i ya ne udivilsya by, esli by mokraya chernaya boroda vdrug nachala zavivat'sya kolechkami i vspyhnula dymnym plamenem. No mertvecu uzhe ne bylo do etogo nikakogo dela. On prodolzhal sardonicheski usmehat'sya -- s vyzovom, s cinicheskoj izdevkoj. On byl hozyainom polozheniya. CHAPTER III GLAVA III Wolf Larsen ceased swearing as suddenly as he had begun. He relighted his cigar and glanced around. His eyes chanced upon the cook. Volk Larsen oborval svoyu bran' tak zhe vnezapno, kak nachal. On raskuril potuhshuyu sigaru i oglyadelsya vokrug. Vzor ego upal na Magridzha. "Well, Cooky?" he began, with a suaveness that was cold and of the temper of steel. -- A, lyubeznyj kok? -- nachal on laskovo, no v golose ego chuvstvovalis' holod i tverdost' stali. "Yes, sir," the cook eagerly interpolated, with appeasing and apologetic servility. -- Est', ser! -- ugodlivo i vinovato, s preuvelichennoj gotovnost'yu otozvalsya tot. "Don't you think you've stretched that neck of yours just about enough? It's unhealthy, you know. The mate's gone, so I can't afford to lose you too. You must be very, very careful of your health, Cooky. Understand?" -- Ty ne boish'sya rastyanut' sebe sheyu? |to, znaesh' li, ne osobenno polezno. Pomoshchnik umer, i mne ne hotelos' by poteryat' eshche i tebya. Ty dolzhen ochen' berech' svoe zdorov'e, kok. Ponyatno? His last word, in striking contrast with the smoothness of his previous utterance, snapped like the lash of a whip. The cook quailed under it. Poslednee slovo, v polnom kontraste s myagkost'yu vsej rechi, prozvuchalo rezko, kak udar bicha. Kok s®ezhilsya. "Yes, sir," was the meek reply, as the offending head disappeared into the galley. -- Est', ser! -- poslyshalsya ispugannyj otvet, i golova provinivshegosya koka ischezla v kambuze. At this sweeping rebuke, which the cook had only pointed, the rest of the crew became uninterested and fell to work at one task or another. A number of men, however, who were lounging about a companion-way between the galley and hatch, and who did not seem to be sailors, continued talking in low tones with one another. These, I afterward learned, were the hunters, the men who shot the seals, and a very superior breed to common sailor-folk. Pri etom raznose, vypavshem na dolyu odnogo koka, ostal'noj ekipazh perestal glazet' na mertveca i vernulsya k svoim delam. No neskol'ko chelovek ostalis' v prohode mezhdu kambuzom i lyukom i prodolzhali peregovarivat'sya vpolgolosa. YA ponyal, chto eto ne matrosy, i potom uznal, chto eto ohotniki na kotikov, zanimavshie neskol'ko privilegirovannoe polozhenie po sravneniyu s prostymi matrosami. "Johansen!" Wolf Larsen called out. A sailor stepped forward obediently. "Get your palm and needle and sew the beggar up. You'll find some old canvas in the sail-locker. Make it do." -- Iogansen! -- pozval Volk Larsen. Matros totchas priblizilsya. -- Voz'mi iglu i gardaman i zashej etogo brodyagu. Staruyu parusinu najdesh' v kladovoj. Stupaj! "What'll I put on his feet, sir?" the man asked, after the customary "Ay, ay, sir." -- A chto privyazat' k nogam, ser? -- sprosil matros posle obychnogo "est', ser". "We'll see to that," Wolf Larsen answered, and elevated his voice in a call of "Cooky!" -- Sejchas ustroim, -- otvetil Volk Larsen i kliknul koka. Thomas Mugridge popped out of his galley like a jack-in-the-box. Tomas Magridzh vyskochil iz svoego kambuza, kak igrushechnyj chertik iz korobki. "Go below and fill a sack with coal." -- Spustis' v tryum i prinesi meshok uglya. "Any of you fellows got a Bible or Prayer-book?" was the captain's next demand, this time of the hunters lounging about the companion- way. -- Net li u kogo-nibud' iz vas, rebyata, biblii ili molitvennika? -- poslyshalos' novoe trebovanie, obrashchennoe na etot raz k ohotnikam. They shook their heads, and some one made a jocular remark which I did not catch, but which raised a general laugh. Oni pokachali golovoj, i odin otpustil kakuyu-to shutku, kotoroj ya ne rasslyshal; ona byla vstrechena obshchim smehom. Wolf Larsen made the same demand of the sailors. Bibles and Prayer-books seemed scarce articles, but one of the men volunteered to pursue the quest amongst the watch below, returning in a minute with the information that there was none. Kapitan obratilsya s tem zhe voprosom k matrosam. Bibliya i molitvennik byli zdes', po-vidimomu, redkimi predmetami, no odin iz matrosov vyzvalsya sprosit' u podvahtennyh. Odnako minuty cherez dve on vernulsya ni s chem. The captain shrugged his shoulders. Kapitan pozhal plechami. "Then we'll drop him over without any palavering, unless our clerical-looking castaway has the burial service at sea by heart." -- Togda pridetsya brosit' ego za bort bez lishnej boltovni. Vprochem, mozhet byt', vylovlennyj nami molodchik znaet morskuyu pohoronnuyu sluzhbu naizust'? On chto-to smahivaet na popa. By this time he had swung fully around and was facing me. Pri etih slovah Volk Larsen vnezapno povernulsya ko mne. "You're a preacher, aren't you?" he asked. -- Vy, verno, pastor? -- sprosil on. The hunters, - there were six of them, - to a man, turned and regarded me. I was painfully aware of my likeness to a scarecrow. A laugh went up at my appearance, - a laugh that was not lessened or softened by the dead man stretched and grinning on the deck before us; a laugh that was as rough and harsh and frank as the sea itself; that arose out of coarse feelings and blunted sensibilities, from natures that knew neither courtesy nor gentleness. Ohotniki -- ih bylo shestero -- vse, kak odin, tozhe povernulis' v moyu storonu, i ya boleznenno oshchutil svoe shodstvo s voron'im pugalom. Moj vid vyzval hohot. Prisutstvie pokojnika, rasprostertogo na palube i tozhe, kazalos', skalivshego zuby, nikogo ne ostanovilo. |to byl hohot grubyj, rezkij i besposhchadnyj, kak samo more, hohot, otrazhavshij grubye chuvstva lyudej, kotorym neznakomy chutkost' i delikatnost'. Wolf Larsen did not laugh, though his grey eyes lighted with a slight glint of amusement; and in that moment, having stepped forward quite close to him, I received my first impression of the man himself, of the man as apart from his body, and from the torrent of blasphemy I had heard him spew forth. The face, with large features and strong lines, of the square order, yet well filled out, was apparently massive at first sight; but again, as with the body, the massiveness seemed to vanish, and a conviction to grow of a tremendous and excessive mental or spiritual strength that lay behind, sleeping in the deeps of his being. The jaw, the chin, the brow rising to a goodly height and swelling heavily above the eyes, - these, while strong in themselves, unusually strong, seemed to speak an immense vigour or virility of spirit that lay behind and beyond and out of sight. There was no sounding such a spirit, no measuring, no determining of metes and bounds, nor neatly classifying in some pigeon-hole with others of similar type. Volk Larsen ne smeyalsya, hotya v ego seryh glazah Mel'kali iskorki udovol'stviya, i tol'ko tut, podojdya k nemu blizhe, ya poluchil bolee polnoe vpechatlenie ot etogo cheloveka, -- do sih por ya vosprinimal ego skoree ZHak shagayushchuyu po palube figuru, izrygayushchuyu potok rugatel'stv. U nego bylo neskol'ko uglovatoe lico s krupnymi i rezkimi, no pravil'nymi chertami, kazavshiesya na pervyj vzglyad massivnym. No eto pervoe vpechatlenie ot ego lica, tak zhe kak i ot ego figury, bystro otstupalo na zadnij plan, i ostavalos' tol'ko oshchushchenie skrytoj v etom cheloveke vnutrennej sily, dremlyushchej gde-to v nedrah ego sushchestva. Skuly, podborodok, vysokij lob s vypuklymi nadbrovnymi dugami, moguchie, dazhe neobychajno moguchie sami po sebe, kazalos', govorili ob ogromnoj, skrytoj ot glaz zhiznennoj energii ili moshchi duha, -- etu moshch' bylo trudno izmerit' ili opredelit' ee granicy, i nevozmozhno bylo otnesti ee ni pod kakuyu ustanovlennuyu rubriku. The eyes - and it was my destiny to know them well - were large and handsome, wide apart as the true artist's are wide, sheltering under a heavy brow and arched over by thick black eyebrows. The eyes themselves were of that baffling protean grey which is never twice the same; which runs through many shades and colourings like intershot silk in sunshine; which is grey, dark and light, and greenish-grey, and sometimes of the clear azure of the deep sea. They were eyes that masked the soul with a thousand guises, and that sometimes opened, at rare moments, and allowed it to rush up as though it were about to fare forth nakedly into the world on some wonderful adventure, - eyes that could brood with the hopeless sombreness of leaden skies; that could snap and crackle points of fire like those which sparkle from a whirling sword; that could grow chill as an arctic landscape, and yet again, that could warm and soften and be all a-dance with love-lights, intense and masculine, luring and compelling, which at the same time fascinate and dominate women till they surrender in a gladness of joy and of relief and sacrifice. Glaza -- mne dovelos' horosho uznat' ih -- byli bol'shie i krasivye, osenennye gustymi chernymi brovyami i shiroko rasstavlennye, chto govorilo o nedyuzhinnosti natury. Cvet ih, izmenchivo-seryj, porazhal beschislennym mnozhestvom -- ottenkov, kak perelivchatyj shelk v luchah solnca. Oni byli to serymi -- temnymi ili svetlymi, -- to serovato-zelenymi, to prinimali lazurnuyu okrasku morya. -- |ti izmenchivye glaza, kazalos', skryvali ego dushu, slovno neprestanno menyavshiesya maski, i lish' v redkie mgnoveniya ona kak by proglyadyvala iz nih, tochno rvalas' naruzhu, navstrechu kakomu-to zamanchivomu priklyucheniyu. |ti glaza mogli byt' mrachnymi, kak hmuroe svincovoe nebo; mogli metat' iskry, otlivaya stal'nym bleskom obnazhennogo mecha; mogli stanovit'sya holodnymi, kak polyarnye prostory, ili teplymi i nezhnymi. I v nih mog vspyhivat' lyubovnyj ogon', obzhigayushchij i vlastnyj, kotoryj prityagivaet i pokoryaet zhenshchin, zastavlyaya ih sdavat'sya vostorzhenno, radostno i samozabvenno. But to return. I told him that, unhappily for the burial service, I was not a preacher, when he sharply demanded: No vernemsya k rasskazu. YA otvetil kapitanu, chto ya ne pastor i, k sozhaleniyu, ne umeyu sluzhit' panihidu, no on besceremonno perebil menya: "What do you do for a living?" -- A chem vy zarabatyvaete na zhizn'? I confess I had never had such a question asked me before, nor had I ever canvassed it. I was quite taken aback, and before I could find myself had sillily stammered, "I - I am a gentleman." Priznayus', ko mne nikogda eshche ne obrashchalis' s podobnym voprosom, da i sam ya nikogda nad etim ne zadumyvalsya. YA opeshil i dovol'no glupo probormotal: -- YA... ya -- dzhentl'men. His lip curled in a swift sneer. Po gubam kapitana skol'znula usmeshka. "I have worked, I do work," I cried impetuously, as though he were my judge and I required vindication, and at the same time very much aware of my arrant idiocy in discussing the subject at all. -- U menya est' zanyatie, ya rabotayu, -- toroplivo voskliknul ya, slovno stoyal pered sud'ej i nuzhdalsya v opravdanii, otchetlivo soznavaya v to zhe vremya, kak nelepo s moej storony puskat'sya v kakie by to ni bylo ob®yasneniya po etomu povodu. "For your living?" -- |to daet vam sredstva k zhizni? There was something so imperative and masterful about him that I was quite beside myself - "rattled," as Furuseth would have termed it, like a quaking child before a stern school-master. Vopros prozvuchal tak vlastno, chto ya byl ozadachen, -- sbit s pantalyku, kak skazal by CHarli Ferai molchal, slovno shkol'nik pered strogim uchitelem. "Who feeds you?" was his next question. -- Kto vas kormit? -- posledoval novyj vopros. "I have an income," I answered stoutly, and could have bitten my tongue the next instant. "All of which, you will pardon my observing, has nothing whatsoever to do with what I wish to see you about." -- U menya est' postoyannyj dohod, -- s dostoinstvom otvetil ya i v tu zhe sekundu gotov byl otkusit' sebe yazyk. -- No vse eto, prostite, ne imeet otnosheniya k tomu, o chem ya hotel pogovorit' s vami. But he disregarded my protest. Odnako kapitan ne obratil nikakogo vnimaniya na moj protest. "Who earned it? Eh? I thought so. Your father. You stand on dead men's legs. You've never had any of your own. You couldn't walk alone between two sunrises and hustle the meat for your belly for three meals. Let me see your hand." -- Kto zarabotal eti sredstva? A?.. Nu, ya tak i dumal: vash otec. Vy ne stoite na svoih nogah -- kormites' za schet mertvecov. Vy ne mogli by prozhit' samostoyatel'no i sutok, ne sumeli by tri raza v den' nabit' sebe bryuho. Pokazhite ruku! His tremendous, dormant strength must have stirred, swiftly and accurately, or I must have slept a moment, for before I knew it he had stepped two paces forward, gripped my right hand in his, and held it up for inspection. I tried to withdraw it, but his fingers tightened, without visible effort, till I thought mine would be crushed. It is hard to maintain one's dignity under such circumstances. I could not squirm or struggle like a schoolboy. Nor could I attack such a creature who had but to twist my arm to break it. Nothing remained but to stand still and accept the indignity. Strashnaya sila, skrytaya v etom cheloveke, vnezapno prishla v dejstvie, i, prezhde chem ya usp