im yakorem. V shlyupke bylo troe, vse oni vycherpyvali vodu. Kazhdyj vodyanoj val skryval ih iz vidu, i ya s zamiraniem serdca zhdal, chto vot-vot oni ischeznut sovsem. No vnezapno shlyupka streloj vyletala iz penistyh voln, stanovyas' pri etom pochti vertikal'no i opirayas' tol'ko na kormu, tak chto obnazhalsya ves' ee mokryj chernyj kil'. Potom nos opuskalsya, korma okazyvalas' vysoko nad nim, i na mgnovenie stanovilos' vidno, kak vse troe v bezumnoj speshke vycherpyvayut vodu. I shlyupka snova nizvergalas' v ziyayushchuyu puchinu. Kazhdoe novoe ee poyavlenie vosprinimalos' kak chudo. The Ghost suddenly changed her course, keeping away, and it came to me with a shock that Wolf Larsen was giving up the rescue as impossible. Then I realized that he was preparing to heave to, and dropped to the deck to be in readiness. We were now dead before the wind, the boat far away and abreast of us. I felt an abrupt easing of the schooner, a loss for the moment of all strain and pressure, coupled with a swift acceleration of speed. She was rushing around on her heel into the wind. "Prizrak" vdrug izmenil kurs i uklonilsya v storonu. YA s sodroganiem podumal, chto Volk Larsen schitaet spasenie shlyupki nevozmozhnym, no tut zhe soobrazil, chto on prosto gotovitsya lech' v drejf. YA pospeshil spustit'sya na palubu, chtoby byt' nagotove. My shli teper' pryamo fordevind, a shlyupka byla u nas na traverze, i dovol'no daleko. Vnezapno ya pochuvstvoval, kak shhuna poshla rovnee i skorost' ee zametno vozrosla. Ona pochti na meste razvorachivalas' nosom k vetru. As she arrived at right angles to the sea, the full force of the wind (from which we had hitherto run away) caught us. I was unfortunately and ignorantly facing it. It stood up against me like a wall, filling my lungs with air which I could not expel. And as I choked and strangled, and as the Ghost wallowed for an instant, broadside on and rolling straight over and far into the wind, I beheld a huge sea rise far above my head. I turned aside, caught my breath, and looked again. The wave over-topped the Ghost, and I gazed sheer up and into it. A shaft of sunlight smote the over-curl, and I caught a glimpse of translucent, rushing green, backed by a milky smother of foam. Kogda shhuna stala pod pryamym uglom k volnam, veter, ot kotorogo my do sih por ubegali, so vsej siloj obrushilsya na nas. Po neopytnosti ya povernulsya licom k vetru. On nadvinulsya na menya plotnoj stenoj, vozduh stremitel'no vorvalsya v moi legkie, i ya ne mog ego vydohnut'. YA zadyhalsya, i kogda "Prizrak", sil'no nakrenivshis' na navetrennyj bort, vdrug slovno zamer na meste, ya uvidel ogromnuyu volnu pryamo u sebya nad golovoj. YA povernulsya spinoj k vetru, perevel duh i vzglyanul snova. Volna navisla nad sudnom. Luch solnca igral na ee melochno-belom penistom grebne, i ya smotrel pryamo v ee zelenovato-prozrachnuyu glub'. Then it descended, pandemonium broke loose, everything happened at once. I was struck a crushing, stunning blow, nowhere in particular and yet everywhere. My hold had been broken loose, I was under water, and the thought passed through my mind that this was the terrible thing of which I had heard, the being swept in the trough of the sea. My body struck and pounded as it was dashed helplessly along and turned over and over, and when I could hold my breath no longer, I breathed the stinging salt water into my lungs. But through it all I clung to the one idea - I MUST GET THE JIB BACKED OVER TO WINDWARD. I had no fear of death. I had no doubt but that I should come through somehow. And as this idea of fulfilling Wolf Larsen's order persisted in my dazed consciousness, I seemed to see him standing at the wheel in the midst of the wild welter, pitting his will against the will of the storm and defying it. I vot volna obrushilas' na shhunu, i nachalos' svetoprestavlenie. Vse proizoshlo v edinyj mig. Sokrushitel'nyj udar, kotoryj ya oshchutil vsem telom, sbil menya s nog, i ya ochutilsya pod vodoj. Promel'knula strashnaya mysl', chto sejchas sovershitsya to, o chem mne poka prihodilos' tol'ko slyshat', -- ya budu smyt v more. Menya perevernulo, udarilo o palubu i poneslo kuda-to. YA byl ne v silah bol'she zaderzhivat' dyhanie, vzdohnul i nabral v legkie zhguche-solenoj vody. Odnako vse eto vremya ya ni na minutu ne zabyval, chto dolzhen vynesti kliver na veter. Straha smerti ya ne oshchushchal. Pochemu-to ya byl uveren, chto kak-nibud' spasus'. Nastojchivaya mysl' o neobhodimosti vypolnit' prikazanie Volka Larsena ne pokidala menya, i mne kazalos', chto ya vizhu, kak on stoit u shturvala, sredi dikogo razgula stihij, i brosaet bure derzkij vyzov, protivopostavlyaya ej svoyu volyu. I brought up violently against what I took to be the rail, breathed, and breathed the sweet air again. I tried to rise, but struck my head and was knocked back on hands and knees. By some freak of the waters I had been swept clear under the forecastle- head and into the eyes. As I scrambled out on all fours, I passed over the body of Thomas Mugridge, who lay in a groaning heap. There was no time to investigate. I must get the jib backed over. Menya s siloj udarilo obo chto-to, dolzhno byt', o planshir. YA vzdohnul i pochuvstvoval, chto vdyhayu spasitel'nyj vozduh. YA popytalsya vstat', no snova udarilsya obo chto-to golovoj i snova ochutilsya na chetveren'kah. Okazalos', chto menya otneslo volnoj pod polubak. Polzkom vybirayas' ottuda, ya natknulsya na Tomasa Magridzha, kotoryj, skorchivshis', lezhal na palube i stonal. No u menya ne bylo vremeni vozit'sya s nim. YA dolzhen byl perenesti kliver. When I emerged on deck it seemed that the end of everything had come. On all sides there was a rending and crashing of wood and steel and canvas. The Ghost was being wrenched and torn to fragments. The foresail and fore-topsail, emptied of the wind by the manoeuvre, and with no one to bring in the sheet in time, were thundering into ribbons, the heavy boom threshing and splintering from rail to rail. The air was thick with flying wreckage, detached ropes and stays were hissing and coiling like snakes, and down through it all crashed the gaff of the foresail. Kogda ya vybralsya na palubu, mne pokazalos', chto nam prihodit konec. Krugom stoyal tresk lomayushchegosya dereva, rvushchejsya parusiny, lyazg zheleza. Burya shvyryala shhunu, stremyas' raznesti ee v shchepy. Fok i for-topsel', povisnuv bez vetra, blagodarya nashemu manevru hlopali i rvalis', tak kak nekomu bylo vovremya vybrat' shkot; tyazhelyj gik s treskom perebrasyvalo s borta na bort. V vozduhe so svistom pronosilis' oblomki: obryvki snastej trepalis' na vetru, izvivayas', kak zmei; i vdrug v dovershenie vsego s treskom ruhnul na palubu fokgafel'. The spar could not have missed me by many inches, while it spurred me to action. Perhaps the situation was not hopeless. I remembered Wolf Larsen's caution. He had expected all hell to break loose, and here it was. And where was he? I caught sight of him toiling at the main-sheet, heaving it in and flat with his tremendous muscles, the stern of the schooner lifted high in the air and his body outlined against a white surge of sea sweeping past. All this, and more, - a whole world of chaos and wreck, - in possibly fifteen seconds I had seen and heard and grasped. On upal vsego v neskol'kih dyujmah ot menya, i eto napomnilo mne, chto nado speshit'. Byt' mozhet, ne vse eshche bylo poteryano. YA vspomnil slova Volka Larsena. On ved' preduprezhdal, chto "na nas obrushitsya ad". No gde zhe on sam? I vdrug ya uvidel ego pered soboj. Pustiv v hod vsyu svoyu chudovishchnuyu silu, on vybiral grotashkot. V eto vremya korma shhuny podnyalas' vysoko v vozduh, i figura kapitana chetko vyrisovyvalas' na fone mchavshihsya na nas belyh ot peny valov. Vse eto i eshche bol'she -- celyj mir haosa i razrusheniya -- ya vosprinyal zreniem i sluhom men'she chem za chetvert' minuty. I did not stop to see what had become of the small boat, but sprang to the jib-sheet. The jib itself was beginning to slap, partially filling and emptying with sharp reports; but with a turn of the sheet and the application of my whole strength each time it slapped, I slowly backed it. This I know: I did my best. I pulled till I burst open the ends of all my fingers; and while I pulled, the flying-jib and staysail split their cloths apart and thundered into nothingness. U menya ne bylo vremeni poglyadet', chto stalos' so shlyupkoj, -- ya brosilsya k kliver-shkotu. Kliver hlopal, to napolnyayas' vetrom, to obvisaya. Napryagaya vse sily, ya nachal postepenno obtyagivat' shkot. YA delal vse, chto mog. YA tyanul shkot tak, chto v krov' obodral sebe pal'cy. V eto vremya bom-kliver i staksel' lopnuli po vsej dline, i ih uneslo v more. Still I pulled, holding what I gained each time with a double turn until the next slap gave me more. Then the sheet gave with greater ease, and Wolf Larsen was beside me, heaving in alone while I was busied taking up the slack. No ya prodolzhal tyanut', zakreplyaya dvumya oborotami kazhduyu vybrannuyu chast' shkota, i kak tol'ko snast' oslabevala, vybiral ee snova. Potom shkot poshel legche, -- ko mne podospel Volk Larsen. On tyanul shkot, a ya podbiral slabinu. "Make fast!" he shouted. "And come on!" -- Zakreplyajte! -- kriknul on. -- A potom idite syuda! As I followed him, I noted that in spite of rack and ruin a rough order obtained. The Ghost was hove to. She was still in working order, and she was still working. Though the rest of her sails were gone, the jib, backed to windward, and the mainsail hauled down flat, were themselves holding, and holding her bow to the furious sea as well. YA posledoval za nim i uvidel, chto, nesmotrya na razrusheniya, na shhune vosstanovilsya nekotoryj poryadok. "Prizrak" leg v drejf. On byl eshche v sostoyanii borot'sya. Hotya pochti vse parusa sorvalo, no kliver, vynesennyj na navetrennyj bort, i vybrannyj do konca grot uceleli i uderzhivali shhunu nosom k raz®yarennym volnam. I looked for the boat, and, while Wolf Larsen cleared the boat- tackles, saw it lift to leeward on a big sea an not a score of feet away. And, so nicely had he made his calculation, we drifted fairly down upon it, so that nothing remained to do but hook the tackles to either end and hoist it aboard. But this was not done so easily as it is written. Poka Volk Larsen gotovil shlyupochnye tali, ya stal iskat' glazami shlyupku i uvidel ee na vershine bol'shoj volny futah v dvadcati ot nas, s podvetrennoj storony. Kapitan tak lovko rasschital svoj manevr, chto my drejfovali pryamo na nee, i nam ostavalos' tol'ko zalozhit' na nej tali i podnyat' ee na bort. No sdelat' eto bylo ne tak-to prosto. In the bow was Kerfoot, Oofty-Oofty in the stern, and Kelly amidships. As we drifted closer the boat would rise on a wave while we sank in the trough, till almost straight above me I could see the heads of the three men craned overside and looking down. Then, the next moment, we would lift and soar upward while they sank far down beneath us. It seemed incredible that the next surge should not crush the Ghost down upon the tiny eggshell. Na nosu shlyupki nahodilsya Kerfut; Ufti-Ufti sidel u rulya, a Kelli posredine. Kogda nas podneslo blizhe, lodku vskinulo na volnu, a my provalilis' kuda-to v bezdnu, i ya uvidel pochti pryamo nad soboj troih lyudej, smotrevshih na nas iz-za borta shlyupki. V sleduyushchij mig naverh vzleteli my, oni zhe provalilis' v propast' mezhdu dvumya volnami. Tak povtoryalos' snova i snova, i vsyakij raz mne kazalos', chto "Prizrak" neminuemo razdavit etu hrupkuyu skorlupku. But, at the right moment, I passed the tackle to the Kanaka, while Wolf Larsen did the same thing forward to Kerfoot. Both tackles were hooked in a trice, and the three men, deftly timing the roll, made a simultaneous leap aboard the schooner. As the Ghost rolled her side out of water, the boat was lifted snugly against her, and before the return roll came, we had heaved it in over the side and turned it bottom up on the deck. I noticed blood spouting from Kerfoot's left hand. In some way the third finger had been crushed to a pulp. But he gave no sign of pain, and with his single right hand helped us lash the boat in its place. No v nuzhnuyu minutu ya brosil svoj konec Ufti-Ufti, a Volk Larsen -- Kerfutu. Koncy byli totchas zakrepleny, posle chego vse troe, uluchiv moment, odnovremenno pereprygnuli na bort shhuny. Kogda "Prizrak" podnyalsya iz vody, shlyupku prizhalo k nemu, i, vospol'zovavshis' etim, my uspeli vtyanut' ee na bort, a zatem perevernuli vverh dnishchem. YA zametil, chto levaya ruka Kerfuta v krovi. On razmozzhil sebe palec. Odnako, ne obrashchaya na eto vnimaniya, on pravoj rukoj pomogal nam prinajtovlivat' shlyupku. "Stand by to let that jib over, you Oofty!" Wolf Larsen commanded, the very second we had finished with the boat. "Kelly, come aft and slack off the main-sheet! You, Kerfoot, go for'ard and see what's become of Cooky! Mr. Van Weyden, run aloft again, and cut away any stray stuff on your way!" -- Prigotov'sya perenesti kliver, Ufti! -- skomandoval Volk Larsen, kak tol'ko my pokonchili so shlyupkoj. -- Kelli, idi na kormu, potravi grota-shkotA vy, Kerfut, stupajte na nos i posmotrite, chto tam s kokomMister Van-Vejden, polezajte naverh i po puti obrubite vse lishnee! And having commanded, he went aft with his peculiar tigerish leaps to the wheel. While I toiled up the fore-shrouds the Ghost slowly paid off. This time, as we went into the trough of the sea and were swept, there were no sails to carry away. And, halfway to the crosstrees and flattened against the rigging by the full force of the wind so that it would have been impossible for me to have fallen, the Ghost almost on her beam-ends and the masts parallel with the water, I looked, not down, but at almost right angles from the perpendicular, to the deck of the Ghost. But I saw, not the deck, but where the deck should have been, for it was buried beneath a wild tumbling of water. Out of this water I could see the two masts rising, and that was all. The Ghost, for the moment, was buried beneath the sea. As she squared off more and more, escaping from the side pressure, she righted herself and broke her deck, like a whale's back, through the ocean surface. Otdav rasporyazheniya, on, kak tigr, prygnul k shturvalu. Poka ya vzbiralsya na perednie vanty, "Prizrak" medlenno uvalivalsya pod veter. Odnako na etot raz, kogda shhuna nyrnula mezhdu valami i ee stalo nakryvat' volnoj, u nas ne ostavalos' ni odnogo parusa, kotoryj mog by byt' sorvan vetrom. SHhuna dala chudovishchnyj kren, i machty ee legli pochti gorizontal'no nad vodoj. YA eshche ne dobralsya do salinga, kak byl prizhat vetrom k vantam s takoj siloj, chto, kazalos', dazhe pri zhelanii ne mog by upast'. YA videl pered soboj palubu, no ne vnizu, a pochti pod pryamym uglom k poverhnosti morya. I videl ya, sobstvenno, dazhe ne palubu, a zahlestnuvshij ee potok vody, iz kotorogo torchali dve machty. I eto bylo vse. V etot mig vsya shhuna byla pod vodoj. No malo-pomalu, vse bol'she uvalivayas' pod veter, "Prizrak" vypryamilsya i vysunul svoyu palubu iz-pod vody, kak kit vysovyvaet spinu, podnimayas' na poverhnost'. Then we raced, and wildly, across the wild sea, the while I hung like a fly in the crosstrees and searched for the other boats. In half-an-hour I sighted the second one, swamped and bottom up, to which were desperately clinging Jock Horner, fat Louis, and Johnson. This time I remained aloft, and Wolf Larsen succeeded in heaving to without being swept. As before, we drifted down upon it. Tackles were made fast and lines flung to the men, who scrambled aboard like monkeys. The boat itself was crushed and splintered against the schooner's side as it came inboard; but the wreck was securely lashed, for it could be patched and made whole again. A potom nas poneslo dal'she po bushuyushchemu moryu, a ya visel na salinge, prilipnuv k nemu, kak muha, i vysmatrival ostal'nye shlyupki. CHerez polchasa ya zavidel eshche odnu: ona plavala dnishchem kverhu, vmeste s ucepivshimsya za nee Dzhekom Hornerom, tolstym Luisom i Dzhonsonom. Na etot raz ya ostalsya naverhu. Volku Larsenu udalos' blagopoluchno lech' v drejf, i opyat' nas stalo snosit' k shlyupke. Prigotovleny byli tali. Lyudyam brosili koncy, i spasennye, kak obez'yany, vskarabkalis' po nim na bort. SHlyupku zhe sil'no pobilo o korpus shhuny, kogda ee podnimali na bort, no my vse zhe prinajtovili ee na palube, rasschityvaya pochinit'. Once more the Ghost bore away before the storm, this time so submerging herself that for some seconds I thought she would never reappear. Even the wheel, quite a deal higher than the waist, was covered and swept again and again. At such moments I felt strangely alone with God, alone with him and watching the chaos of his wrath. And then the wheel would reappear, and Wolf Larsen's broad shoulders, his hands gripping the spokes and holding the schooner to the course of his will, himself an earth-god, dominating the storm, flinging its descending waters from him and riding it to his own ends. And oh, the marvel of it! the marvel of it! That tiny men should live and breathe and work, and drive so frail a contrivance of wood and cloth through so tremendous an elemental strife. I snova "Prizrak" pomchalsya vpered, gonimyj burej, poroj tak zaryvayas' v vodu, chto byvali minuty, kogda ya uzhe ne nadeyalsya na spasenie. Dazhe shturval, raspolozhennyj znachitel'no vyshe shkafuta, to i delo ischezal pod vodoj. V takie mgnoveniya mnoyu ovladevalo strannoe chuvstvo: mne kazalos', chto ya zdes' naedine s bogom i odin nablyudayu yarost' ego gneva. No shturval poyavlyalsya snova, pokazyvalis' shirokie plechi Volka Larsena i ego ruki, vertevshie koleso i podchinyavshie beg shhuny vole kapitana. Slovno nekij bog, povelitel' buri, stoyal on, rassekaya svoim sudnom volny i zastavlyaya ee sluzhit' sebe. Poistine, razve eto bylo ne chudo? Nichtozhnye bukashki -- lyudi zhili, dyshali, delali svoe delo i naperekor razbushevavshejsya stihii upravlyali utloj posudinoj iz dereva i parusiny! As before, the Ghost swung out of the trough, lifting her deck again out of the sea, and dashed before the howling blast. It was now half-past five, and half-an-hour later, when the last of the day lost itself in a dim and furious twilight, I sighted a third boat. It was bottom up, and there was no sign of its crew. Wolf Larsen repeated his manoeuvre, holding off and then rounding up to windward and drifting down upon it. But this time he missed by forty feet, the boat passing astern. I "Prizrak" opyat' vzletal na volnu, paluba podnimalas' nad vodoj, i on ustremlyalsya vpered. CHasov okolo shesti, kogda dnevnoj svet uzhe pomerk i nad morem sgustilis' tusklye zloveshchie sumerki, ya zametil tret'yu shlyupku. Ona tozhe plavala vverh dnishchem, no lyudej ne bylo vidno. Volk Larsen povtoril svoj manevr: otoshel i zatem povernul k vetru i dal volnam otnesti shhunu k shlyupke. Odnako na etot raz on oshibsya futov na sorok, i shlyupka proshla u nas za kormoj. "Number four boat!" Oofty-Oofty cried, his keen eyes reading its number in the one second when it lifted clear of the foam, and upside down. -- SHlyupka nomer chetyre! -- kriknul Ufti-Ufti, zorkie glaza kotorogo uspeli razlichit' nadpis', kogda shlyupka na mig vynyrnula iz peny. It was Henderson's boat and with him had been lost Holyoak and Williams, another of the deep-water crowd. Lost they indubitably were; but the boat remained, and Wolf Larsen made one more reckless effort to recover it. I had come down to the deck, and I saw Horner and Kerfoot vainly protest against the attempt. |to byla shlyupka Gendersona, i vmeste s nim na nej pogibli Holiok i Vil'yame. V tom, chto oni pogibli, ne moglo byt' somnenij, no shlyupka ucelela, i Volk Larsen sdelal eshche odnu otchayannuyu popytku zavladet' eyu. YA v eto vremya uzhe spustilsya na palubu i slyshal, kak Horier i Kerfut tshchetno protestovali protiv etogo namereniya. "By God, I'll not be robbed of my boat by any storm that ever blew out of hell!" he shouted, and though we four stood with our heads together that we might hear, his voice seemed faint and far, as though removed from us an immense distance. -- YA ne broshu shlyupku, provalis' vse k d'yavolu! -- oral Larsen, i hotya my stoyali blizko, golos ego donosilsya do nas, slovno iz neizmerimoj dali. "Mr. Van Weyden!" he cried, and I heard through the tumult as one might hear a whisper. "Stand by that jib with Johnson and Oofty! The rest of you tail aft to the mainsheet! Lively now! or I'll sail you all into Kingdom Come! Understand?" -- Mister Van-Vejden! -- kriknul on mne, i v reve buri ego slova prozvuchali kak shepot. -- Stan'te na kliver vmeste s Dzhonsonom i UftiOstal'nye -- na grot! ZHivo, a ne to ya vsem vam sheyu svernu! Ponyali? And when he put the wheel hard over and the Ghost's bow swung off, there was nothing for the hunters to do but obey and make the best of a risky chance. How great the risk I realized when I was once more buried beneath the pounding seas and clinging for life to the pinrail at the foot of the foremast. My fingers were torn loose, and I swept across to the side and over the side into the sea. I could not swim, but before I could sink I was swept back again. A strong hand gripped me, and when the Ghost finally emerged, I found that I owed my life to Johnson. I saw him looking anxiously about him, and noted that Kelly, who had come forward at the last moment, was missing. I kogda on polozhil rul' na bort i nachal povorachivat' nos shhuny, ohotnikam nichego ne ostavalos', kak povinovat'sya i prinyat' uchastie v etom riskovannom predpriyatii. Naskol'ko velika byla opasnost', ya ponyal lish' posle togo, kak snova ochutilsya pod vodoj, zatopivshej palubu, i edva uspel ucepit'sya za planku u fok-machty. No pal'cy moi pochti totchas otorvalo ot planki, menya smylo za bort i poneslo v more. Plavat' ya ee umel, odnako volna, ne dav mne pogruzit'sya, shvyrnula menya obratno na palubu. Tut ch'ya-to sil'naya ruka podhvatila menya, i kogda "Prizrak" vynyrnul iz vody, YA uvidel, chto obyazan svoim spaseniem Dzhonsonu. No tot trevozhno oglyadyvalsya krugom, i ya zametil, chto Kelli, kotoryj minutu nazad prishel na bak, teper' ischez. This time, having missed the boat, and not being in the same position as in the previous instances, Wolf Larsen was compelled to resort to a different manoeuvre. Running off before the wind with everything to starboard, he came about, and returned close-hauled on the port tack. Snova proskochiv mimo shlyupki, my nahodilis' po otnosheniyu k nej v inom polozhenii, chem prezhde, i Volk Larsen vynuzhden byl pribegnut' k drugomu manevru. Idya fordevind, on privel shhunu k vetru i podoshel k shlyupke kruto bejdevind levym galsom. "Grand!" Johnson shouted in my ear, as we successfully came through the attendant deluge, and I knew he referred, not to Wolf Larsen's seamanship, but to the performance of the Ghost herself. -- Zdorovo! -- prokrichal u menya nad uhom Dzhonson, kogda my, smanevrirovav, blagopoluchno vyderzhali ocherednoj potop. YA znal, chto ego pohvala otnositsya ne k morskomu iskusstvu Volka Larsena, a k samoj shhune. It was now so dark that there was no sign of the boat; but Wolf Larsen held back through the frightful turmoil as if guided by unerring instinct. This time, though we were continually half- buried, there was no trough in which to be swept, and we drifted squarely down upon the upturned boat, badly smashing it as it was heaved inboard. Stemnelo, i shlyupki uzhe ne bylo vidno, no Volk Larsen vel shhunu, slovno rukovodimyj kakim-to bezoshibochnym instinktom. Na etot raz, hotya nas snova i snova zahlestyvalo volnoj, my ne otklonilis' v storonu. Nas poneslo pryamo na shlyupku, i my poryadkom pobili ee, podnimaya na bort. Two hours of terrible work followed, in which all hands of us - two hunters, three sailors, Wolf Larsen and I - reefed, first one and then the other, the jib and mainsail. Hove to under this short canvas, our decks were comparatively free of water, while the Ghost bobbed and ducked amongst the combers like a cork. Posle etogo my eshche chasa dva rabotali do odureniya. Vse -- dvoe ohotnikov, tri matrosa. Volk Larsen i ya -- brali rify na klivere i grote. Pri umen'shennoj parusnosti palubu uzhe ne tak zalivalo vodoj, i "Prizrak" prygal i nyryal sredi voln, kak probka. I had burst open the ends of my fingers at the very first, and during the reefing I had worked with tears of pain running down my cheeks. And when all was done, I gave up like a woman and rolled upon the deck in the agony of exhaustion. YA, eshche vybiraya kliver, v krov' obodral sebe pal'cy, i ot boli slezy vse vremya katilis' u menya po shchekam. Kogda zhe vse bylo koncheno, ya ne vyderzhal i v polnom iznemozhenii povalilsya na palubu. In the meantime Thomas Mugridge, like a drowned rat, was being dragged out from under the forecastle head where he had cravenly ensconced himself. I saw him pulled aft to the cabin, and noted with a shock of surprise that the galley had disappeared. A clean space of deck showed where it had stood. Tomasa Magridzha vytashchili iz pod polubaka, kuda on v strahe zabilsya, slovno krysa v navodnenie. YA uvidel, kak ego povolokli na kormu v kayut kompaniyu, i lish' togda s izumleniem zametil, chto kambuz ischez. Tam, gde on ran'she stoyal, teper' na palube nichego ne bylo. In the cabin I found all hands assembled, sailors as well, and while coffee was being cooked over the small stove we drank whisky and crunched hard-tack. Never in my life had food been so welcome. And never had hot coffee tasted so good. So violently did the Ghost, pitch and toss and tumble that it was impossible for even the sailors to move about without holding on, and several times, after a cry of "Now she takes it!" we were heaped upon the wall of the port cabins as though it had been the deck. Vse, ne isklyuchaya matrosov, sobralis' v kayutkompanii, i poka na pechurke varilsya kofe, my pili viski i gryzli galety. Nikogda v zhizni ne el ya s takim appetitom. YA pil goryachij kofe, i on kazalsya mne vkusnee vsego na svete. "Prizrak" tak kidalo i shvyryalo, chto dazhe moryaki ne mogli hodit', ne priderzhivayas' za chto nibud', i chasto s krikom "beregis'!" my kuchej valilis' na pereborki, prinimavshie pochti gorizontal'noe polozhenie. "To hell with a look-out," I heard Wolf Larsen say when we had eaten and drunk our fill. "There's nothing can be done on deck. If anything's going to run us down we couldn't get out of its way. Turn in, all hands, and get some sleep." K chertu signal'shchikaZayavil Volk Larsen, kogda my naelis' i napilis'. Na palube nechego delat'. Esli komu nibud' pridet ohota naletet' na nas, tak my vse ravno ne smozhem svernut' v storonu. Stupajte vse spat'! The sailors slipped forward, setting the side-lights as they went, while the two hunters remained to sleep in the cabin, it not being deemed advisable to open the slide to the steerage companion-way. Wolf Larsen and I, between us, cut off Kerfoot's crushed finger and sewed up the stump. Mugridge, who, during all the time he had been compelled to cook and serve coffee and keep the fire going, had complained of internal pains, now swore that he had a broken rib or two. On examination we found that he had three. But his case was deferred to next day, principally for the reason that I did not know anything about broken ribs and would first have to read it up. Matrosy probralis' na bak, po doroge vystaviv otlichitel'nye ogni, a dvoe ohotnikov ostalis' spat' v kayut kompanii, tak kak ne stoilo riskovat', otkryvaya lyuk, vedushchij v ih kubrik. My s Volkom Larsenom otrezali Kerfutu ego izuvechennyj palec i zashili ranu. Magridzh, stryapaya, podavaya nam kofe i podderzhivaya ogon' v pechke, vse vremya zhalovalsya na bol' v boku i klyalsya, chto u nego slomano odno ili dva rebra. Osmotrev ego, my ubedilis', chto u nego slomano celyh tri. Odnako my otlozhili ego lechenie do sleduyushchego dnya glavnym obrazom potomu, chto ya rovno nichego ne smyslil v etom dele i hotel snachala prochitat' chto nibud' o perelomah reber. "I don't think it was worth it," I said to Wolf Larsen, "a broken boat for Kelly's life." Ne stoilo, pozhaluj, zhertvovat' zhizn'yu Kelli iz za razbitoj lodki, skazal ya Volku Larsenu. "But Kelly didn't amount to much," was the reply. "Good-night." - Nu i sam Kelli tozhe nemnogogo stoil, - posledoval otvet. - Spokojnoj nochi! After all that had passed, suffering intolerable anguish in my finger-ends, and with three boats missing, to say nothing of the wild capers the Ghost was cutting, I should have thought it impossible to sleep. But my eyes must have closed the instant my head touched the pillow, and in utter exhaustion I slept throughout the night, the while the Ghost, lonely and undirected, fought her way through the storm. Mne kazalos', chto posle perenesennyh ispytanij ya ne smogu usnut'. Menya nevynosimo muchila bol' v pal'cah, trevozhila sud'ba treh propavshih shlyupok, a shhunu vse tak zhe neistovo shvyryalo po volnam. No glaza moi somknulis', edva golova kosnulas' podushki, i v polnom iznemozhenii ya prospal do utra, v to vremya kak "Prizrak", nikem ne upravlyaemyj, odin na odin borolsya s burej. CHAPTER XVIII GLAVA XVIII The next day, while the storm was blowing itself out, Wolf Larsen and I crammed anatomy and surgery and set Mugridge's ribs. Then, when the storm broke, Wolf Larsen cruised back and forth over that portion of the ocean where we had encountered it, and somewhat more to the westward, while the boats were being repaired and new sails made and bent. Sealing schooner after sealing schooner we sighted and boarded, most of which were in search of lost boats, and most of which were carrying boats and crews they had picked up and which did not belong to them. For the thick of the fleet had been to the westward of us, and the boats, scattered far and wide, had headed in mad flight for the nearest refuge. Na sleduyushchij den', poka shtorm ponemnogu utihal, my s Volkom Larsenom pochitali koe-chto po chasti anatomii i hirurgii i prinyalis' lechit' Magridzhu ego perelomy, a kogda volnenie neskol'ko uleglos'. Volk Larsen nachal krejsirovat' k zapadu ot togo mesta, gde nas nastigla burya. Tem vremenem komanda chinila shlyupki i shila dlya nih novye parusa. Nam vse chashche i chashche stali popadat'sya promyslovye shhuny. Pochti vse oni tozhe iskali svoi poteryannye shlyupki, a zaodno podbirali i chuzhie, esli vstrechalis' s nimi v more. Bol'shinstvo sudov promyslovoj flotilii nahodilos' k zapadu ot nas, i rasseyannye v okeane shlyupki iskali spaseniya na pervoj vstrechennoj imi shhune. Two of our boats, with men all safe, we took off the Cisco, and, to Wolf Larsen's huge delight and my own grief, he culled Smoke, with Nilson and Leach, from the San Diego. So that, at the end of five days, we found ourselves short but four men - Henderson, Holyoak, Williams, and Kelly, - and were once more hunting on the flanks of the herd. My snyali dve nashi lodki so vsem ekipazhem s "Sisko", a na drugoj shhune -- "San-Diego" -- obnaruzhili, k velikoj radosti Volka Larsena i k moemu nemalomu ogorcheniyu, Smoka s Nilsonom i Lichem. Takim obrazom, k koncu pyatogo dnya my nedoschityvalis' tol'ko chetveryh -- Gendersona, Holioka, Vil'yamsa i Kelli, -- i resheno bylo vozobnovit' ohotu. As we followed it north we began to encounter the dreaded sea-fogs. Day after day the boats lowered and were swallowed up almost ere they touched the water, while we on board pumped the horn at regular intervals and every fifteen minutes fired the bomb gun. Boats were continually being lost and found, it being the custom for a boat to hunt, on lay, with whatever schooner picked it up, until such time it was recovered by its own schooner. But Wolf Larsen, as was to be expected, being a boat short, took possession of the first stray one and compelled its men to hunt with the Ghost, not permitting them to return to their own schooner when we sighted it. I remember how he forced the hunter and his two men below, a riffle at their breasts, when their captain passed by at biscuit-toss and hailed us for information. Sleduya za stadom kotikov na sever, my nachali vstrechat' opasnye morskie tumany. Mgla proglatyvala spushchennye shlyupki, kak tol'ko oni kasalis' vody. Na bortu shhuny cherez ravnomernye promezhutki trubili v rog i kazhdye chetvert' chasa strelyala signal'naya pushka. SHlyupki vse vremya to teryalis', to nahodilis' vnov'; soglasno morskim obychayam, ih prinimala na bort lyubaya shhuna, s tem chtoby potom vozvratit' hozyainu. No Volk Larsen, u kotorogo ne hvatalo odnoj shlyupki, postupil tak, kak i sledovalo ot nego ozhidat': zavladel pervoj otbivshejsya ot svoej shhuny shlyupkoj, zastavil ee ekipazh ohotit'sya vmeste s nashim i ne pozvolil emu vernut'sya k sebe na shhunu, kogda ona pokazalas' vdali. Pomnyu, kak ohotnika i oboih matrosov, nastaviv na nih ruzh'ya, zagnali vniz, kogda ih shhuna prohodila mimo i kapitan spravlyalsya o nih. Thomas Mugridge, so strangely and pertinaciously clinging to life, was soon limping about again and performing his double duties of cook and cabin-boy. Johnson and Leach were bullied and beaten as much as ever, and they looked for their lives to end with the end of the hunting season; while the rest of the crew lived the lives of dogs and were worked like dogs by their pitiless master. As for Wolf Larsen and myself, we got along fairly well; though I could not quite rid myself of the idea that right conduct, for me, lay in killing him. He fascinated me immeasurably, and I feared him immeasurably. And yet, I could not imagine him lying prone in death. There was an endurance, as of perpetual youth, about him, which rose up and forbade the picture. I could see him only as living always, and dominating always, fighting and destroying, himself surviving. Tomas Magridzh, s takim udivitel'nym uporstvom ceplyavshijsya za zhizn', vskore nachal opyat' kovylyat' po palube i ispolnyat' svoi dvojnye obyazannosti koka i yungi. Dzhonson i Lich bol'she prezhnego podvergalis' poboyam i znali, chto po okonchanii ohotnich'ego sezona im ne snosit' golovy. Ostal'nym tozhe zhilos', po milosti kapitana, kak sobakam, prichem etot bezzhalostnyj chelovek zastavlyal ih rabotat' do polnogo iznureniya. CHto zhe kasaetsya menya, to my s Volkom Larsenom koe-kak ladili, hotya ya ne mog otdelat'sya ot mysli, chto mne sledovalo by ubit' ego. On neob®yasnimo prityagival menya k sebe i vmeste s tem nagonyal na menya neopisuemyj strah. I vse zhe ya ne mog predstavit' ego sebe rasprostertym na smertnom odre. |to slishkom ne vyazalos' s ego oblikom. YA mog dumat' o nem tol'ko kak o zhivom, vsegda zhivom, vlastvuyushchem, boryushchemsya i razrushayushchem. One diversion of his, when we were in the midst of the herd and the sea was too rough to lower the boats, was to lower with two boat- pullers and a steerer and go out himself. He was a good shot, too, and brought many a skin aboard under what the hunters termed impossible hunting conditions. It seemed the breath of his nostrils, this carrying his life in his hands and struggling for it against tremendous odds. Kogda my popadali v samuyu seredinu kotikovogo stada i volnenie bylo slishkom sil'no, chtoby spuskat' shlyupki, Larsen lyubil vyezzhat' na ohotu sam, s dvumya grebcami i rulevym. On byl horoshim strelkom i privozil na bort mnogo shkur v takuyu pogodu, kogda ohotniki schitali promysel nevozmozhnym. Kazalos', emu lish' togda dyshalos' legko, kogda on, riskuya zhizn'yu, vel bor'bu s groznym protivnikom. I was learning more and more seamanship; and one clear day - a thing we rarely encountered now - I had the satisfaction of running and handling the Ghost and picking up the boats myself. Wolf Larsen had been smitten with one of his headaches, and I stood at the wheel from morning until evening, sailing across the ocean after the last lee boat, and heaving to and picking it and the other five up without command or suggestion from him. YA vse bol'she osvaivalsya s morskim delom, i odnazhdy, v yasnyj denek, kakie redko vypadali teper' na nashu dolyu, mne, k moemu nemalomu udovletvoreniyu, privelos' samostoyatel'no upravlyat' shhunoj i ubirat' nashi shlyupki. Volk Larsen opyat' valyalsya u sebya v kayute s golovnoj bol'yu, a ya dotemna stoyal u shturvala. Obojdya krajnyuyu shlyupku, ya polozhil shhunu v drejf i odnu za drugoj podnyal vse shest' shlyupok bez kakih-libo ukazanij so storony kapitana. Gales we encountered now and again, for it was a raw and stormy region, and, in the middle of June, a typhoon most memorable to me and most important because of the changes wrought through it upon my future. We must have been caught nearly at the centre of this circular storm, and Wolf Larsen ran out of it and to the southward, first under a double-reefed jib, and finally under bare poles. Never had I imagined so great a sea. The seas previously encountered were as ripples compared with these, which ran a half- mile from crest to crest and which upreared, I am confident, above our masthead. So great was it that Wolf Larsen himself did not dare heave to, though he was being driven far to the southward and out of the seal herd. Vremya ot vremeni na nas naletali buri -- my nahodilis' v shtormovoj polose, -- a v seredine iyunya nas nastig tajfun; eto bylo pamyatnoe dlya menya sobytie, tak kak ono vneslo bol'shuyu peremenu v moyu zhizn'. Povidimomu, my popali pochti v samyj centr tajfuna, no Volku Larsenu udalos' udrat' ot nego na yug -- snachala pod kliverom s dvumya rifami, a potom i vovse s golymi machtami. Nikogda eshche ne vidal ya takih voln. Vse shtormy, ispytannye mnoyu ran'she, kazalis' po sravneniyu s etim legkoj ryab'yu. Ot grebnya do grebnya bylo ne men'she polumili, i eti valy vzdymalis' vyshe nashih macht. Dazhe Volk Larsen ne osmelilsya lech' v drejf, hotya nas i otnosilo vse dal'she k yugu ot kotikovogo stada. We must have been well in the path of the trans-Pacific steamships when the typhoon moderated, and here, to the surprise of the hunters, we found ourselves in the midst of seals - a second herd, or sort of rear-guard, they declared, and a most unusual thing. But it was "Boats over!" the boom-boom of guns, and the pitiful slaughter through the long day. Kogda tajfun utih, my okazalis' na puti okeanskih parohodov. I zdes', k izumleniyu ohotnikov, my povstrechalis' so vtorym stadom kotikov, sostavlyavshim kak by ar'ergard pervogo. |to bylo chrezvychajno redkoe yavlenie. Razdalas' komanda: "Spustit' shlyupki! ", zatreshchali vystrely, i zhestokaya bojnya prodolzhalas' ves' den'. It was at this time that I was approached by Leach. I had just finished tallying the skins of the last boat aboard, when he came to my side, in the darkness, and said in a low tone: V etot vecher ko mne v temnote podoshel Lich. YA tol'ko chto konchil podschityvat' shkury s poslednej podnyatoj na bort shlyupki, molodoj matros ostanovilsya vozle menya i tiho sprosil: "Can you tell me, Mr. Van Weyden, how far we are off the coast, and what the bearings of Yokohama are?" -- Mister Van-Vejden, na kakom my rasstoyanii ot berega i v kakoj storone Iokogama? My heart leaped with gladness, for I knew what he had in mind, and I gave him the bearings - west-north-west, and five hundred miles away. Moe serdce radostno zabilos'. YA ponyal, chto u nego na ume, i dal emu nuzhnye ukazaniya: k zapad-severo-zapadu, rasstoyanie pyat'sot mil'. "Thank you, sir," was all he said as he slipped back into the darkness. -- Blagodaryu vas, ser, -- otvetil on i skrylsya vo mrake. Next morning No. 3 boat and Johnson and Leach were missing. The water-breakers and grub-boxes from all the other boats were likewise missing, as were the beds and sea bags of the two men. Wolf Larsen was furious. He set sail and bore away into the west- north-west, two hunters constantly at the mastheads and sweeping the sea with glasses, himself pacing the deck like an angry lion. He knew too well my sympathy f