ego sluzhit' bylo ravnosil'no gibeli. On predpochel stradaniya i svobodu bespechal'noj zhizni i rabstvu. On ne hotel sluzhit' bogu. On nichemu ne hotel sluzhit'. On ne byl beznogoj figuroj vrode toj, chto ukrashaet nos moej shhuny. On stoyal na svoih nogah. |to byla lichnost'! "The first Anarchist," Maud laughed, rising and preparing to withdraw to her state-room. -- On byl pervym anarhistom, -- rassmeyalas' Mod, vstavaya i napravlyayas' k sebe v kayutu. "Then it is good to be an anarchist!" he cried. He, too, had risen, and he stood facing her, where she had paused at the door of her room, as he went on: -- Znachit, byt' anarhistom horosho! -- voskliknul Volk Larsen. On tozhe podnyalsya i, stoya pered nej u dveri v ee kayutu, prodeklamiroval: "'Here at least We shall be free; the Almighty hath not built Here for his envy; will not drive us hence; Here we may reign secure; and in my choice To reign is worth ambition, though in hell: Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven." ... Po krajnej mere zdes' Svobodny budem. Nam zdes' bog ne stanet Zavidovat' i nas on ne izgonit. Zdes' budem pravit' my. I hot' v adu, No vse zhe pravit' stoit, ibo luchshe Carit' v adu, chem byt' rabom na nebe. It was the defiant cry of a mighty spirit. The cabin still rang with his voice, as he stood there, swaying, his bronzed face shining, his head up and dominant, and his eyes, golden and masculine, intensely masculine and insistently soft, flashing upon Maud at the door. |to byl gordyj vyzov moguchego duha. Kogda on umolk, golos ego, kazalos', prodolzhal zvuchat' v stenah kayuty, a on stoyal, slegka pokachivayas', otkinuv nazad golovu, bronzovoe lico ego siyalo, v glazah plyasali zolotye iskorki, i on smotrel na Mod, kak smotrit na zhenshchinu muzhchina, -- zovushchim, laskovym i vlastnym vzglyadom. Again that unnamable and unmistakable terror was in her eyes, and she said, almost in a whisper, "You are Lucifer." I snova ya otchetlivo prochel v ee glazah bezotchetnyj uzhas, kogda ona pochti shepotom proiznesla: The door closed and she was gone. He stood staring after her for a minute, then returned to himself and to me. -- Vy sami LyuciferDver' za neyu zakrylas'. Neskol'ko sekund Volk Larsen prodolzhal stoyat', glyadya ej vsled, potom, kak by ochnuvshis', obernulsya ko mne. "I'll relieve Louis at the wheel," he said shortly, "and call upon you to relieve at midnight. Better turn in now and get some sleep." -- YA smenyu Luisa u shturvala i v polnoch' razbuzhu vas. A poka lozhites' i postarajtes' vyspat'sya. He pulled on a pair of mittens, put on his cap, and ascended the companion-stairs, while I followed his suggestion by going to bed. For some unknown reason, prompted mysteriously, I did not undress, but lay down fully clothed. For a time I listened to the clamour in the steerage and marvelled upon the love which had come to me; but my sleep on the Ghost had become most healthful and natural, and soon the songs and cries died away, my eyes closed, and my consciousness sank down into the half-death of slumber. On natyanul rukavicy, nadel furazhku i podnyalsya po trapu, a ya posledoval ego sovetu i leg. Ne znayu pochemu, slovno povinuyas' kakomu-to tajnomu pobuzhdeniyu, ya leg ne razdevayas'. Nekotoroe vremya ya eshche prislushivalsya k shumu v kubrike ohotnikov i s vostorgom i izumleniem razmyshlyal o svoej neozhidannoj lyubvi. No na "Prizrake" ya nauchilsya spat' krepkim, zdorovym snom, i postepenno penie i kriki stali uplyvat' kuda-to, veki moi smezhilis', i glubokij son pogruzil menya v nebytie. I knew not what had aroused me, but I found myself out of my bunk, on my feet, wide awake, my soul vibrating to the warning of danger as it might have thrilled to a trumpet call. I threw open the door. The cabin light was burning low. I saw Maud, my Maud, straining and struggling and crushed in the embrace of Wolf Larsen's arms. I could see the vain beat and flutter of her as she strove, pressing her face against his breast, to escape from him. All this I saw on the very instant of seeing and as I sprang forward. Ne znayu, chto razbudilo menya i podnyalo s kojki, no ochnulsya ya uzhe na nogah. Son kak rukoj snyalo; ya ves' trepetal ot oshchushcheniya nevedomoj opasnosti -- nastojchivogo, slovno gromkij zov truby. YA raspahnul dver'. Lampa v kayut-kompanii byla pritushena. YA uvidel Mod, moyu Mod, b'yushchuyusya v zheleznyh ob®yatiyah Volka Larsena. Ona tshchetno staralas' vyrvat'sya, rukami i golovoj upirayas' emu v grud'. YA brosilsya k nim. I struck him with my fist, on the face, as he raised his head, but it was a puny blow. He roared in a ferocious, animal-like way, and gave me a shove with his hand. It was only a shove, a flirt of the wrist, yet so tremendous was his strength that I was hurled backward as from a catapult. I struck the door of the state-room which had formerly been Mugridge's, splintering and smashing the panels with the impact of my body. I struggled to my feet, with difficulty dragging myself clear of the wrecked door, unaware of any hurt whatever. I was conscious only of an overmastering rage. I think I, too, cried aloud, as I drew the knife at my hip and sprang forward a second time. Volk Larsen podnyal golovu, i ya udaril ego kulakom v lico. No eto byl slabyj udar. Zarychav, kak zver', Larsen ottolknul menya. |tim tolchkom, legkim vzmahom ego chudovishchnoj ruki ya byl otbroshen v storonu s takoj siloj, chto vrezalsya v dver' byvshej kayuty Magridzha, i ona razletelas' v shchepy. S trudom vykarabkavshis' iz-pod oblomkov, ya vskochil i, ne chuvstvuya boli -- nichego, krome ovladevshej mnoj beshenoj yarosti, -- snova brosilsya na Larsena. Pomnitsya, ya tozhe zarychal i vyhvatil visevshij u bedra nozh. But something had happened. They were reeling apart. I was close upon him, my knife uplifted, but I withheld the blow. I was puzzled by the strangeness of it. Maud was leaning against the wall, one hand out for support; but he was staggering, his left hand pressed against his forehead and covering his eyes, and with the right he was groping about him in a dazed sort of way. It struck against the wall, and his body seemed to express a muscular and physical relief at the contact, as though he had found his bearings, his location in space as well as something against which to lean. No sluchilos' chto-to neponyatnoe. Kapitan i Mod Bruster stoyali teper' poodal' drug ot druga. YA uzhe zanes nozh, no ruka moya zastyla v vozduhe. Menya porazila eta neozhidannaya i strannaya peremena. Mod stoyala, prislonivshis' k pereborke, priderzhivayas' za nee otkinutoj v storonu rukoj, a Volk Larsen, shatayas', prikryv levoj rukoj glaza, pravoj neuverenno, kak slepoj, sharil vokrug sebya. Nakonec on nashchupal pereborku i, kazalos', ispytal ogromnoe fizicheskoe oblegchenie, slovno ne tol'ko nashel oporu, no i ponyal, gde nahoditsya. Then I saw red again. All my wrongs and humiliations flashed upon me with a dazzling brightness, all that I had suffered and others had suffered at his hands, all the enormity of the man's very existence. I sprang upon him, blindly, insanely, and drove the knife into his shoulder. I knew, then, that it was no more than a flesh wound, - I had felt the steel grate on his shoulder-blade, - and I raised the knife to strike at a more vital part. A zatem yarost' vnov' ovladela mnoj. Vse perenesennye mnoyu unizheniya i izdevatel'stva, vse, chto vystradali ot Volka Larsena ya i drugie, nahlynulo na menya, i ya vnezapno s neobyknovennoj otchetlivost'yu osoznal, skol' chudovishchen samyj fakt sushchestvovaniya etogo cheloveka na zemle. Ne pomnya sebya, ya kinulsya na nego i vonzil emu nozh v plecho. YA srazu ponyal, chto ranil ego legko -- nozh tol'ko skol'znul po lopatke, -- i ya snova zanes ego, chtoby porazit' Larsena nasmert'. But Maud had seen my first blow, and she cried, "Don't! Please don't!" No Mod, kotoraya videla vse, s krikom brosilas' ko mne: I dropped my arm for a moment, and a moment only. Again the knife was raised, and Wolf Larsen would have surely died had she not stepped between. Her arms were around me, her hair was brushing my face. My pulse rushed up in an unwonted manner, yet my rage mounted with it. She looked me bravely in the eyes. -- Ne nado! Umolyayu vas, ne nado! YA opustil ruku, no tol'ko na mig. YA zamahnulsya eshche raz i, veroyatno, ubil by Larsena, esli by Mod ne vstala mezhdu nami. Ee ruki obvilis' vokrug menya, ya oshchutil ee volosy na moem lice. Krov' zakipela vo mne, no i yarost' vspyhnula s udesyaterennoj siloj. Mod zaglyanula mne v glaza. "For my sake," she begged. -- Radi menya! -- vzmolilas' ona. "I would kill him for your sake!" I cried, trying to free my arm without hurting her. -- Radi vas? Radi vas ya i ub'yu ego! -- kriknul ya, pytayas' vysvobodit' ruku i boyas' vmeste s tem sdelat' devushke bol'no. "Hush!" she said, and laid her fingers lightly on my lips. I could have kissed them, had I dared, even then, in my rage, the touch of them was so sweet, so very sweet. "Please, please," she pleaded, and she disarmed me by the words, as I was to discover they would ever disarm me. -- Uspokojtes'! -- shepnula ona, zakryvaya mne rot rukoj. Prikosnovenie ee pal'cev k moim gubam bylo tak sladostno, tak neobychajno sladostno, chto, nesmotrya na vladevshee mnoyu beshenstvo, ya gotov byl rascelovat' ih, no ne posmel. -- Pozhalujsta, proshu vas! -- molila ona, i ya pochuvstvoval, chto slova ee obezoruzhivayut menya i chto tak budet otnyne vsegda. I stepped back, separating from her, and replaced the knife in its sheath. I looked at Wolf Larsen. He still pressed his left hand against his forehead. It covered his eyes. His head was bowed. He seemed to have grown limp. His body was sagging at the hips, his great shoulders were drooping and shrinking forward. YA otstupil, vlozhil svoj tesak v nozhny i vzglyanul na Volka Larsena. On vse eshche stoyal, prizhav levuyu ruku ko lbu, prikryvaya eyu glaza. Golova ego svesilas' na grud'. On ves' kak-to obmyak, moguchie plechi ssutulilis', spina sognulas'. "Van, Weyden!" he called hoarsely, and with a note of fright in his voice. "Oh, Van Weyden! where are you?" -- Van-Vejden! -- hriplo, s ottenkom straha v golose pozval on. -- |j, Van-Vejden! Gde vy? I looked at Maud. She did not speak, but nodded her head. YA vzglyanul na Mod. Ona molcha kivnula mne. "Here I am," I answered, stepping to his side. "What is the matter?" -- YA zdes', -- otvetil ya i podoshel k nemu. -- CHto s vami? "Help me to a seat," he said, in the same hoarse, frightened voice. -- Pomogite mne sest', -- skazal on tem zhe hriplym, ispugannym golosom. "I am a sick man; a very sick man, Hump," he said, as he left my sustaining grip and sank into a chair. -- YA bolen, ochen' bolen, Hemp! -- dobavil on, opuskayas' na stul, k kotoromu ya podvel ego. His head dropped forward on the table and was buried in his hands. From time to time it rocked back and forward as with pain. Once, when he half raised it, I saw the sweat standing in heavy drops on his forehead about the roots of his hair. On uronil golovu na stol, obhvatil ee rukami i motal eyu iz storony v storonu, slovno ot boli. Kogda on pripodnyal ee, ya uvidel krupnye kapli pota, vystupivshie u nego na lbu u kornej volos. "I am a sick man, a very sick man," he repeated again, and yet once again. -- YA bolen, ochen' bolen, -- povtoril on neskol'ko raz. "What is the matter?" I asked, resting my hand on his shoulder. "What can I do for you?" -- Da chto s vami takoe? -- sprosil ya, kladya emu ruku na plecho. -- CHem ya mogu pomoch' vam? But he shook my hand off with an irritated movement, and for a long time I stood by his side in silence. Maud was looking on, her face awed and frightened. What had happened to him we could not imagine. No on razdrazhenno sbrosil moyu ruku, i ya dolgo molcha stoyal vozle nego. Mod, ispugannaya, rasteryannaya, smotrela na nas. Ona tozhe ne mogla ponyat', chto s nim sluchilos'. "Hump," he said at last, "I must get into my bunk. Lend me a hand. I'll be all right in a little while. It's those damn headaches, I believe. I was afraid of them. I had a feeling - no, I don't know what I'm talking about. Help me into my bunk." -- Hemp, -- skazal on nakonec, -- mne nado dobrat'sya do kojki. Dajte mne ruku. Skoro vse projdet. Verno, opyat' eta proklyataya golovnaya bol'. YA vsegda boyalsya ee. U menya bylo predchuvstvie... Da net, vzdor, ya sam ne znayu, chto govoryu. Pomogite mne dobrat'sya do kojki. But when I got him into his bunk he again buried his face in his hands, covering his eyes, and as I turned to go I could hear him murmuring, "I am a sick man, a very sick man." No kogda ya ulozhil ego, on opyat' prikryl glaza rukoj, i, uhodya, ya slyshal, kak on probormotal: -- YA bolen, ochen' bolen! Maud looked at me inquiringly as I emerged. I shook my head, saying: YA vernulsya k Mod; ona vstretila menya voprositel'nym vzglyadom. YA v nedoumenii pozhal plechami. "Something has happened to him. What, I don't know. He is helpless, and frightened, I imagine, for the first time in his life. It must have occurred before he received the knife-thrust, which made only a superficial wound. You must have seen what happened." -- CHto-to s nim stryaslos', a chto -- ne znayu. On sovershenno bespomoshchen i, dolzhno byt', vpervye v zhizni po-nastoyashchemu napugan. Sluchilos' eto, konechno, eshche do togo, kak ya udaril ego nozhom, da eto i ne rana, a carapina. Vy, verno, videli, kak eto s nim nachalos'? She shook her head. "I saw nothing. It is just as mysterious to me. He suddenly released me and staggered away. But what shall we do? What shall I do?" Ona pokachala golovoj. "If you will wait, please, until I come back," I answered. -- YA nichego ne videla. Dlya menya eto takaya zhe zagadka. On vdrug vypustil menya i poshatnulsya. No chto nam teper' delat'? CHto ya dolzhna delat'? I went on deck. Louis was at the wheel. -- Pozhalujsta, podozhdite menya zdes'. YA skoro vernus', -- otvechal ya i vyshel na palubu. Luis stoyal u shturvala. "You may go for'ard and turn in," I said, taking it from him. -- Mozhesh' idti spat', -- skazal ya emu, stanovyas' na ego mesto. He was quick to obey, and I found myself alone on the deck of the Ghost. As quietly as was possible, I clewed up the topsails, lowered the flying jib and staysail, backed the jib over, and flattened the mainsail. Then I went below to Maud. I placed my finger on my lips for silence, and entered Wolf Larsen's room. He was in the same position in which I had left him, and his head was rocking - almost writhing - from side to side. On ohotno ispolnil prikazanie, i ya ostalsya na palube odin. Starayas' proizvodit' kak mozhno men'she shuma, ya vzyal topselya na gitovy, spustil bom-kliver i staksel', vynes kliver na podvetrennyj bort i vybral grot. Zatem ya vernulsya k Mod. Sdelav ej znak molchat', ya proshel v kayutu Volka Larsena. On lezhal v tom zhe polozhenii, v kakom ya ego ostavil, i golova ego vse tak zhe perekatyvalas' iz storony v storonu po podushke. "Anything I can do for you?" I asked. -- Mogu ya chem-nibud' pomoch' vam? -- sprosil ya. He made no reply at first, but on my repeating the question he answered, "No, no; I'm all right. Leave me alone till morning." On sperva nichego ne otvetil, no, kogda ya povtoril vopros, skazal: But as I turned to go I noted that his head had resumed its rocking motion. Maud was waiting patiently for me, and I took notice, with a thrill of joy, of the queenly poise of her head and her glorious, calm eyes. Calm and sure they were as her spirit itself. -- Net, net, mne nichego ne nadoOstav'te menya odnogo do utra. "Will you trust yourself to me for a journey of six hundred miles or so?" I asked. No, vyhodya iz kayuty, ya zametil, chto on opyat' mechetsya po podushke. Mod terpelivo zhdala menya, i kogda ya uvidel ee gordelivuyu golovku, ee yasnye, luchistye glaza, radost' ohvatila menya. Glaza ee byli tak zhe yasny i nevozmutimy, kak ee dusha. "You mean - ?" she asked, and I knew she had guessed aright. -- Gotovy li vy doverit' mne svoyu zhizn' i otvazhit'sya na puteshestvie primerno v shest'sot mil'? "Yes, I mean just that," I replied. "There is nothing left for us but the open boat." -- Vy hotite skazat'... -- progovorila Mod, i ya ponyal, chto ona ugadala moe namerenie. "For me, you mean," she said. "You are certainly as safe here as you have been." -- Da, -- podtverdil ya, -- ya hochu skazat', chto nam nichego drugogo ne ostaetsya, kak pustit'sya v more na parusnoj shlyupke. "No, there is nothing left for us but the open boat," I iterated stoutly. "Will you please dress as warmly as you can, at once, and make into a bundle whatever you wish to bring with you." -- Vernee, mne? Vam-to zdes' po-prezhnemu nichto ne grozit. "And make all haste," I added, as she turned toward her state-room. -- Net, eto edinstvennoe spasenie dlya nas oboih, -- tverdo povtoril ya. -- Oden'tes', pozhalujsta, kak mozhno teplee i bystro soberite vse, chto vy hotite vzyat' s soboj. Pospeshite! -- dobavil ya, kogda ona napravilas' v svoyu kayutu. The lazarette was directly beneath the cabin, and, opening the trap-door in the floor and carrying a candle with me, I dropped down and began overhauling the ship's stores. I selected mainly from the canned goods, and by the time I was ready, willing hands were extended from above to receive what I passed up. Kladovaya nahodilas' neposredstvenno pod kayutkompaniej. Otkryv lyuk, ya sprygnul vniz, zazheg svechu i prinyalsya otbirat' iz sudovyh zapasov samoe dlya nas neobhodimoe, glavnym obrazom konservy. A kogda delo podoshlo k koncu, vverh ko mne protyanulis' dve ruki, i ya nachal peredavat' vse Mod. We worked in silence. I helped myself also to blankets, mittens, oilskins, caps, and such things, from the slop-chest. It was no light adventure, this trusting ourselves in a small boat to so raw and stormy a sea, and it was imperative that we should guard ourselves against the cold and wet. My rabotali molcha. YA zapassya takzhe odeyalami, rukavicami, kleenchatoj odezhdoj, zyujdvestkami... Nam predstoyalo tyazheloe ispytanie -- pustit'sya v plavanie po burnomu, surovomu okeanu v otkrytoj shlyupke, i, chtoby vyderzhat' ego, nuzhno bylo kak mozhno luchshe zashchitit' sebya ot holoda, dozhdya i morskih bryzg. We worked feverishly at carrying our plunder on deck and depositing it amidships, so feverishly that Maud, whose strength was hardly a positive quantity, had to give over, exhausted, and sit on the steps at the break of the poop. This did not serve to recover her, and she lay on her back, on the hard deck, arms stretched out, and whole body relaxed. It was a trick I remembered of my sister, and I knew she would soon be herself again. I knew, also, that weapons would not come in amiss, and I re-entered Wolf Larsen's state-room to get his rifle and shot-gun. I spoke to him, but he made no answer, though his head was still rocking from side to side and he was not asleep. My rabotali s lihoradochnoj pospeshnost'yu. Vynesli vsyu nashu dobychu na palubu i ulozhili ee vozle odnoj iz shlyupok. Mod tak ustala, chto vskore sovsem obessilela i v iznemozhenii prisela na stupen'ki yuta. No i eto ne prineslo ej oblegcheniya, i togda ona legla pryamo na golye doski paluby, raskinuv ruki, chtoby dat' polnyj otdyh vsemu telu. YA vspomnil, chto moya sestra vsegda otdyhala tochno tak zhe, i znal, chto sily Mod skoro vosstanovyatsya. Neobhodimo bylo zapastis' takzhe oruzhiem, i ya spustilsya v kayutu Volka Larsena za ego vintovkoj i drobovikom. YA zagovoril s nim, no on ne otvetil mne ni slova, hotya golova ego po-prezhnemu perekatyvalas' po podushke i on, po-vidimomu, ne spal. "Good-bye, Lucifer," I whispered to myself as I softly closed the door. -- Proshchaj, Lyucifer! -- prosheptal ya i tihon'ko prikryl za soboj dver'. Next to obtain was a stock of ammunition, - an easy matter, though I had to enter the steerage companion-way to do it. Here the hunters stored the ammunition-boxes they carried in the boats, and here, but a few feet from their noisy revels, I took possession of two boxes. Teper' predstoyalo razdobyt' eshche patrony, chto bylo netrudno, hotya i prishlos' spustit'sya dlya etogo v kubrik ohotnikov. Tam u niх hranilis' yashchiki s patronami, kotorye oni brali s soboj v shlyupki, kogda shli na ohotu. Vzyav dva yashchika, ya unes ih iz-pod samogo nosa razgulyavshihsya kutil. Next, to lower a boat. Not so simple a task for one man. Having cast off the lashings, I hoisted first on the forward tackle, then on the aft, till the boat cleared the rail, when I lowered away, one tackle and then the other, for a couple of feet, till it hung snugly, above the water, against the schooner's side. I made certain that it contained the proper equipment of oars, rowlocks, and sail. Water was a consideration, and I robbed every boat aboard of its breaker. As there were nine boats all told, it meant that we should have plenty of water, and ballast as well, though there was the chance that the boat would be overloaded, what of the generous supply of other things I was taking. Ostavalos' spustit' shlyupku -- nelegkaya zadacha dlya odnogo cheloveka. Otdav najtovy, ya naleg sperva na nosovye tali, potom na kormovye, chtoby vyvalit' shlyupku za bort, a zatem, potravlivaya po ocheredi te i drugie tali, spustil ee na dva-tri futa, tak chto ona povisla nad vodoj, prizhimayas' k bortu shhuny. YA proveril, na meste li parus, vesla i uklyuchiny. Zapastis' presnoj vodoj bylo, pozhaluj, vazhnee vsego, i ya zabral bochonki so vseh shlyupok. Na bortu nahodilos' teper' uzhe devyat' shlyupok, i nam dolzhno bylo hvatit' etoj vody, a kstati, i ballasta. Vprochem, ya stol'ko zapas vsego, chto dazhe pobaivalsya -- ne peregruzil li ya shlyupku. While Maud was passing me the provisions and I was storing them in the boat, a sailor came on deck from the forecastle. He stood by the weather rail for a time (we were lowering over the lee rail), and then sauntered slowly amidships, where he again paused and stood facing the wind, with his back toward us. I could hear my heart beating as I crouched low in the boat. Maud had sunk down upon the deck and was, I knew, lying motionless, her body in the shadow of the bulwark. But the man never turned, and, after stretching his arms above his head and yawning audibly, he retraced his steps to the forecastle scuttle and disappeared. Kogda Mod nachala peredavat' mne v shlyupku proviziyu, iz kubrika vyshel na palubu matros. On postoyal u navetrennogo borta (shlyupku my spuskali s podvetrennogo), potom medlenno pobrel na seredinu paluby i eshche nemnogo postoyal, povernuvshis' licom k vetru i spinoj k nam. YA pritailsya na dne shlyupki; serdce u menya besheno kolotilos'. Mod lezhala sovershenno nepodvizhno, vytyanuvshis' v teni fal'shborta. No matros tak i ne vzglyanul v nashu storonu. Zakinuv ruki za golovu, on potyanulsya, gromko zevnul i snova ushel na bak, gde i ischez, nyrnuv v lyuk. A few minutes sufficed to finish the loading, and I lowered the boat into the water. As I helped Maud over the rail and felt her form close to mine, it was all I could do to keep from crying out, "I love you! I love you!" Truly Humphrey Van Weyden was at last in love, I thought, as her fingers clung to mine while I lowered her down to the boat. I held on to the rail with one hand and supported her weight with the other, and I was proud at the moment of the feat. It was a strength I had not possessed a few months before, on the day I said good-bye to Charley Furuseth and started for San Francisco on the ill-fated Martinez. CHerez neskol'ko minut ya pogruzil vse v shlyupku i spustil ee na vodu. Pomogaya Mod perelezt' cherez planshir, ya na mgnovenie oshchutil ee sovsem blizko vozle sebya, i slova: "YA lyublyu vasLyublyu!" -- chut' ne sleteli s moih gub. "Da, Hemfri Van-Vejden, vot ty i vlyublen nakonec!" -- podumal ya. Ee pal'cy pereplelis' s moimi, i ya, odnoj rukoj derzhas' za planshir, drugoj podderzhival ee i blagopoluchno spustil v shlyupku. Pri etom ya nevol'no ispytyval chuvstvo gordosti -- ya pochuvstvoval v sebe silu, kakoj sovsem ne obladal eshche neskol'ko mesyacev nazad, v tot den', kogda prostivshis' s CHarli Ferasetom, otpravilsya v San-Francisko na zlopoluchnom "Martinese". As the boat ascended on a sea, her feet touched and I released her hands. I cast off the tackles and leaped after her. I had never rowed in my life, but I put out the oars and at the expense of much effort got the boat clear of the Ghost. Then I experimented with the sail. I had seen the boat-steerers and hunters set their spritsails many times, yet this was my first attempt. What took them possibly two minutes took me twenty, but in the end I succeeded in setting and trimming it, and with the steering-oar in my hands hauled on the wind. Nabezhavshaya volna podhvatila shlyupku, nogi Mod kosnulis' banki, i ya otpustil ee ruku. Zatem ya otdal tali i sam sprygnul v shlyupku. Mne eshche nikogda v zhizni ne prihodilos' gresti, no ya vstavil vesla v uklyuchiny i cenoyu bol'shih usilij otvel shlyupku ot "Prizraka". Zatem ya stal podnimat' parus. Mne ne raz prihodilos' videt', kak stavyat parus matrosy i ohotniki, no sam ya bralsya za eto delo vpervye. Esli im dostatochno bylo dvuh minut, to u menya ushlo na eto po krajnej mere minut dvadcat', no v konce koncov ya sumel postavit' i natyanut' parus, posle chego, vzyavshis' za rulevoe veslo, privel shlyupku k vetru. "There lies Japan," I remarked, "straight before us." -- Von tam, pryamo pered nami, YAponiya, -- skazal ya. "Humphrey Van Weyden," she said, "you are a brave man." -- Hemfri Van-Vejden, vy hrabryj chelovek, -- skazala Mod. "Nay," I answered, "it is you who are a brave woman." -- Net, -- otvechal ya. -- |to vy hrabraya zhenshchina. We turned our heads, swayed by a common impulse to see the last of the Ghost. Her low hull lifted and rolled to windward on a sea; her canvas loomed darkly in the night; her lashed wheel creaked as the rudder kicked; then sight and sound of her faded away, and we were alone on the dark sea. Tochno sgovorivshis', my odnovremenno obernulis', chtoby vzglyanut' v poslednij raz na "Prizrak". Nevysokij korpus shhuny pokachivalo na volnah s navetrennoj storony ot nas, parusa smutno vystupali iz temnoty, a podvyazannoe koleso shturvala skripelo, kogda v rul' udaryala volna. Potom ochertaniya shhuny i eti zvuki postepenno rastayali vdali, i my ostalis' odni sredi voln i mraka. CHAPTER XXVII GLAVA XXVII Day broke, grey and chill. The boat was close-hauled on a fresh breeze and the compass indicated that we were just making the course which would bring us to Japan. Though stoutly mittened, my fingers were cold, and they pained from the grip on the steering- oar. My feet were stinging from the bite of the frost, and I hoped fervently that the sun would shine. Zabrezzhilo utro, seroe, promozgloe. Dul svezhij briz, i shlyupka shla bejdevind. Kompas pokazyval, chto my derzhim kurs pryamo na YAponiyu. Teplye rukavicy vse zhe ne spasali ot holoda, i pal'cy u menya styli na kormovom vesle. Nogi tozhe lomilo ot holoda, i ya s neterpeniem zhdal, kogda vstanet solnce. Before me, in the bottom of the boat, lay Maud. She, at least, was warm, for under her and over her were thick blankets. The top one I had drawn over her face to shelter it from the night, so I could see nothing but the vague shape of her, and her light-brown hair, escaped from the covering and jewelled with moisture from the air. Peredo mnoj na dne shlyupki spala Mod. YA nadeyalsya, chto ej teplo, tak kak ona byla ukutana v tolstye odeyala. Kraem odeyala ya prikryl ej lico ot nochnogo holoda, i mne byli vidny lish' smutnye ochertaniya ee figury da pryad' svetlo-kashtanovyh volos, sverkavshaya kapel'kami osevshej na nih rosy. Long I looked at her, dwelling upon that one visible bit of her as only a man would who deemed it the most precious thing in the world. So insistent was my gaze that at last she stirred under the blankets, the top fold was thrown back and she smiled out on me, her eyes yet heavy with sleep. YA dolgo, ne otryvayas', smotrel na etu tonen'kuyu pryadku volos, kak smotryat na dragocennejshee iz sokrovishch. Pod moim pristal'nym vzglyadom Mod zashevelilas', otbrosila kraj odeyala i ulybnulas' mne, pripodnyav tyazhelye ot sna veki. "Good-morning, Mr. Van Weyden," she said. "Have you sighted land yet?" -- Dobroe utro, mister Van-Vejden, -- skazala ona. -- Zemli eshche ne vidno? "No," I answered, "but we are approaching it at a rate of six miles an hour." -- Net, -- otvechal ya. -- No my priblizhaemsya k nej so skorost'yu shesti mil' v chas. She made a MOUE of disappointment. Ona sdelala razocharovannuyu grimasku. "But that is equivalent to one hundred and forty-four miles in twenty-four hours," I added reassuringly. -- No eto sto sorok chetyre mili v sutki, -- postaralsya ya priobodrit' ee. Her face brightened. "And how far have we to go?" Lico Mod prosvetlelo. -- A kak daleko nam eshche plyt'? "Siberia lies off there," I said, pointing to the west. "But to the south-west, some six hundred miles, is Japan. If this wind should hold, we'll make it in five days." -- Von tam -- Sibir', -- ukazal ya na zapad. -- I primerno v shestistah milyah otsyuda na yugo-zapad -- YAponiya. Pri etom vetre my doberemsya tuda za pyat' dnej. "And if it storms? The boat could not live?" -- A esli podnimetsya burya? SHlyupka ne vyderzhit? Mod umela trebovat' pravdy, glyadya vam pryamo v glaza, i nashi vzglyady vstretilis'. "It would have to storm very hard," I temporized. -- Tol'ko pri ochen' sil'noj bure, -- uklonchivo skazal ya. "And if it storms very hard?" I nodded my head. -- A esli budet ochen' sil'naya burya? YA molcha naklonil golovu. "But we may be picked up any moment by a sealing-schooner. They are plentifully distributed over this part of the ocean." -- No nas v lyuboj moment mozhet podobrat' kakayanibud' promyslovaya shhuna. Ih mnogo sejchas v etoj chasti okeana. "Why, you are chilled through!" she cried. "Look! You are shivering. Don't deny it; you are. And here I have been lying warm as toast." -- Da vy sovsem prodrogli! -- vdrug voskliknula ona. -- Smotrite, vas tryasetNe spor'te, ya zhe vizhu. A ya-to greyus' pod odeyalami! "I don't see that it would help matters if you, too, sat up and were chilled," I laughed. -- Ne znayu, kakaya byla by pol'za, esli by vy tozhe sideli i merzli, -- rassmeyalsya ya. "It will, though, when I learn to steer, which I certainly shall." -- Pol'za budet, esli ya nauchus' upravlyat' shlyupkoj, a ya nepremenno nauchus'! She sat up and began making her simple toilet. She shook down her hair, and it fell about her in a brown cloud, hiding her face and shoulders. Dear, damp brown hair! I wanted to kiss it, to ripple it through my fingers, to bury my face in it. I gazed entranced, till the boat ran into the wind and the flapping sail warned me I was not attending to my duties. Idealist and romanticist that I was and always had been in spite of my analytical nature, yet I had failed till now in grasping much of the physical characteristics of love. The love of man and woman, I had always held, was a sublimated something related to spirit, a spiritual bond that linked and drew their souls together. The bonds of the flesh had little part in my cosmos of love. But I was learning the sweet lesson for myself that the soul transmuted itself, expressed itself, through the flesh; that the sight and sense and touch of the loved one's hair was as much breath and voice and essence of the spirit as the light that shone from the eyes and the thoughts that fell from the lips. After all, pure spirit was unknowable, a thing to be sensed and divined only; nor could it express itself in terms of itself. Jehovah was anthropomorphic because he could address himself to the Jews only in terms of their understanding; so he was conceived as in their own image, as a cloud, a pillar of fire, a tangible, physical something which the mind of the Israelites could grasp. Sidya na dne shlyupki. Mod zanyalas' svoim nehitrym tualetom. Ona raspustila volosy, i oni pushistym oblakom zakryli ej lico i plechi. Kak hotelos' mne zaryt'sya v nih licom, celovat' eti milye vlazhnye kashtanovye pryadi, igrat' imi, propuskat' ih mezhdu pal'cami! Ocharovannyj, ya ne svodil s nee glaz. No vot shlyupka povernulas' bokom k vetru, parus zahlopal i napomnil mne o moih obyazannostyah. Idealist i romantik, ya do etoj pory, nesmotrya na svoj analiticheskij sklad uma, imel lish' smutnye predstavleniya o fizicheskoj storone lyubvi. Lyubov' mezhdu muzhchinoj i zhenshchinoj ya vosprinimal kak chisto duhovnuyu svyaz', kak nekie vozvyshennye uzy, soedinyayushchie dve rodstvennye dushi. Plotskim zhe otnosheniyam v moem predstavlenii o lyubvi otvodilas' lish' samaya neznachitel'naya rol'. Odnako teper' poluchennyj mnoyu sladostnyj urok otkryl mne, chto dusha vyrazhaet sebya cherez svoyu telesnuyu obolochku i chto vid, zapah, prikosnovenie volos lyubimoj -- sovershenno tak zhe, kak svet ee glaz ili slova, sletayushchie s ee gub, -- yavlyayutsya golosom, dyhaniem, sut'yu ee dushi. Ved' duh v chistom vide -- nechto neoshchutimoe, nepostizhimoe i lish' ugadyvaemoe i ne mozhet vyrazhat' sebya cherez sebya samogo. Antropomorfizm Iegovy vyrazilsya v tom, chto on mog yavlyat'sya iudeyam tol'ko v dostupnom dlya ih vospriyatiya vide. I v predstavlenii izrail'tyan on vstaval kak obraz i podobie ih samih, kak oblako, kak ognennyj stolp, kak nechto osyazaemoe, fizicheski real'noe, dostupnoe ih soznaniyu. And so I gazed upon Maud's light-brown hair, and loved it, and learned more of love than all the poets and singers had taught me with all their songs and sonnets. She flung it back with a sudden adroit movement, and her face emerged, smiling. Tak i ya, glyadya na svetlo-kashtanovye volosy Mod i lyubuyas' imi, poznaval smysl lyubvi glubzhe, chem mogli menya etomu nauchit' pesni i sonety vseh pevcov i poetov. Vdrug Mod, tryahnuv golovoj, otkinula volosy nazad, i ya uvidel ee ulybayushcheesya lico. "Why don't women wear their hair down always?" I asked. "It is so much more beautiful." -- Pochemu zhenshchiny podbirayut volosy, pochemu oni ne nosyat ih raspushchennymi? -- skazal ya. -- Tak krasivee. "If it didn't tangle so dreadfully," she laughed. "There! I've lost one of my precious hair-pins!" -- No oni zhe strashno putayutsya! -- rassmeyalas' Mod. -- Nu vot, poteryala odnu iz moih dragocennyh shpilek! I neglected the boat and had the sail spilling the wind again and again, such was my delight in following her every movement as she searched through the blankets for the pin. I was surprised, and joyfully, that she was so much the woman, and the display of each trait and mannerism that was characteristically feminine gave me keener joy. For I had been elevating her too highly in my concepts of her, removing her too far from the plane of the human, and too far from me. I had been making of her a creature goddess-like and unapproachable. So I hailed with delight the little traits that proclaimed her only woman after all, such as the toss of the head which flung back the cloud of hair, and the search for the pin. She was woman, my kind, on my plane, and the delightful intimacy of kind, of man and woman, was possible, as well as the reverence and awe in which I knew I should always hold her. I snova parus zahlopal na vetru, a ya, zabyv o shlyupke, lyubovalsya kazhdym dvizheniem Mod, poka ona razyskivala zateryavshuyusya v odeyalah shpil'ku. Ona delala eto chisto po-zhenski, i ya ispytyval izumlenie i vostorg: mne vdrug otkrylos', chto ona istaya zhenshchina, zhenshchina do mozga kostej. Do sih por ya slishkom voznosil ee v svoem predstavlenii, stavil ee na nedosyagaemuyu vysotu nad vsemi smertnymi i nad samim soboj. YA sozdal iz nee bogopodobnoe, nezemnoe sushchestvo. I teper' ya radovalsya kazhdoj melochi, v kotoroj ona proyavlyala sebya kak obyknovennaya zhenshchina, radovalsya tomu, kak ona otkidyvaet nazad volosy ili ishchet shpil'ku. Da, ona byla prosto zhenshchinoj, tak zhe kak ya -- muzhchinoj, ona byla takim zhe zemnym sushchestvom, kak ya, i ya mog obresti s neyu etu voshititel'nuyu blizost' dvuh rodstvennyh drug drugu sushchestv -- blizost' muzhchiny i zhenshchiny, -- navsegda sohraniv (v etom ya byl ubezhden napered) chuvstvo prekloneniya i vostorga pered neyu. She found the pin with an adorable little cry, and I turned my attention more fully to my steering. I proceeded to experiment, lashing and wedging the steering-oar until the boat held on fairly well by the wind without my assistance. Occasionally it came up too close, or fell off too freely; but it always recovered itself and in the main behaved satisfactorily. S radostnym vozglasom, plenitel'nym dlya moego sluha, ona nashla, nakonec, shpil'ku, i ya sosredotochil svoe vnimanie na upravlenii shlyupkoj. YA sdelal opyt -- podvyazal i zakrepil rulevoe veslo -- i dobilsya togo, chto shlyupka bez moej pomoshchi shla bejdevind. Po vremenam ona privodilas' k vetru ili, naoborot, uvalivalas', no, v obshchem, nedurno derzhalas' na kurse. "And now we shall have breakfast," I said. "But first you must be more warmly clad." -- A teper' davajte zavtrakat'! -- skazal ya. -- No sperva vam neobhodimo odet'sya poteplee. I got out a heavy shirt, new from the slop-chest and made from blanket goods. I knew the kind, so thick and so close of texture that it could resist the rain and not be soaked through after hours of wetting. When she had slipped this on over her head, I exchanged the boy's cap she wore for a man's cap, large enough to cover her hair, and, when the flap was turned down, to completely cover her neck and ears. The effect was charming. Her face was of the sort that cannot but look well under all circumstances. Nothing could destroy its exquisite oval, its well-nigh classic lines, its delicately stencilled brows, its large brown eyes, clear-seeing and calm, gloriously calm. YA dostal tolstuyu fufajku, sovsem novuyu, sshituyu iz teploj tkani, iz kotoroj sh'yut odeyala; tkan' byla ochen' plotnaya, i ya znal, chto ona ne skoro promoknet pod dozhdem. Kogda Mod natyanula fufajku, ya dal ej vmesto ee furazhki zyujdvestku, kotoraya, esli otognut' niz polya, zakryvala ne tol'ko volosy i ushi, no dazhe sheyu. Mod v etom ubore vyglyadela ocharovatel'no. U nee bylo odno iz teh lic, kotorye ni pri kakih obstoyatel'stvah ne teryayut privlekatel'nosti. Nichto ne moglo isportit' prelest' etogo lica -- ego izyskannyj oval, pravil'nye, pochti klassicheskie cherty, tonko ocherchennye brovi i bol'shie karie glaza, pronicatel'nye i yasnye, udivitel'no yasnye. A puff, slightly stronger than usual, struck us just then. The boat was caught as it obliquely crossed the crest of a wave. It went over suddenly, burying its gunwale level with the sea and shipping a bucketful or so of water. I was opening a can of tongue at the moment, and I sprang to the sheet and cast it off just in time. The sail flapped and fluttered, and the boat paid off. A few minutes of regulating sufficed to put it on its course again, when I returned to the preparation of breakfast. Vnezapno rezkij poryv vetra podhvatil shlyupku, kogda ona naiskos' peresekala greben' volny. Sil'no nakrenivshis', ona zarylas' po samyj planshir vo vstrechnuyu volnu i cherpnula bortom vodu. YA vskryval v eto vremya banku konservov i, brosivshis' k shkotu, edva uspel otdat' ego. Parus zahlopal, zatrepetal, i shlyupka u valilas' pod veter. Provozivshis' eshche neskol'ko minut s parusom, ya snova polozhil shlyupku na kurs i vozobnovil prigotovleniya k zavtraku. "It does very well, it seems, though I am not versed in