At six o’clock we had breakfast. We had thebest food and all the drink in the round - housestores. We were good companions.
When we were eating,Alan took a knife fromthe table. He cut off one. of the silver buttons fromhis coat.
“Ke e p this ,”he said,“to remembe r la s t niglit’swork,If you show this button a nywhe re ,Ala n Bre ck’sfrie nd s will come a round you.”
He spoke like a king. I admired his couragevery much,but he was vain,too. I hid my smiles,because I did not want a quarrel.
After the meal ,he found a clothes - brush inthe captain’s cupboard. He took off his coat andbrushed it. Then he cleaned the marks from hisbreeches. I saw he was vain of his fine clothes. Yetbe had cut off a button,and spoilt his coat for my
我们六点钟吃了早饭。后甲板室储藏的精美食品和各种饮料都归我们随便饮用。我们两人关系很融洽。
吃饭的时候,艾伦拿起桌子上的餐刀,从他的外衣上割下一颗银扣子,对我说:
“你收起来,作为昨天夜里咱们共同战斗的纪念品。无论到什么地方,只要你拿出这颗钮扣,艾伦· 布雷克的朋友都会尽力为你效劳的。”
他的口气俨然像一位国王。他的勇气我是很佩服的,但是他也很喜欢自夸。他说话的时候,我没有敢笑,因为我不想和他争吵。
饭后,他在船长的壁橱里找到一把衣刷,于是就脱下上衣,刷了起来。随后又清洗他马裤上的血迹。
很明显,他对自己的华丽衣服是很得意的。可是,他却为我割下了一
sake. When I understood that,I valued his giftmore.
颗扣子,损坏了衣服。一想到这里,我就更珍惜他的礼物了。
He was still brushing his clothes when Mr Riachcalled from the deck.
I climbed up through the skylight and lookedat him. He was not wounded. He had only a smallscratch on his face. I do not think he had foughtmuch. He had nursed the wounded men during thenight ,and was tired.
“Tha t fight wa s a ba d thing ,”he said.
“It wa s not our fa ult,”I replied.
“Ma y the ca pta in spe a k to you r frie nd ?”he said.
“Is this a nothe r trick?”I asked.
“No,Da vid ,”he answered,“the me n will notfight now. The y ha ve no coura ge . And I will not fight,e ithe r.”
I gave Alan the message,and he agreed. MrRiach then rememded me that he had been kind tome. He begged for a drink. I gave him a cup ofbrandy. He drank some,and took the rest back tothe deck.
The captain came to a window and stood therein the rain. His face was white and old,and hecould not use one arm.
他还在刷衣服时,里亚契先生在甲板上喊我们。
我从天窗爬出去,看了一下。
他没有受伤,只是脸上擦破一块皮。
我想在交手时,他没有卖力气。他在夜里照料受伤的人,显得很疲惫。
“昨天夜里不该那么打。”他说。
“那不怪我们。”我回答说。
“船长可以跟你的朋友讲话吗?”他问道。
“这又是搞什么鬼把戏吧?”我说。
他回答说:“不,大卫,大家都不愿意再打了。他们吓破了胆,我也不想再打了。”
我把这一情况告诉了艾伦,他同意舰船长讲话。里亚契先生还提醒我不要忘记他过去一直待我很好,恳求我给他一点酒喝。我给了他一杯白兰地。他喝了一点,把剩下的拿回甲板去了。
船长来到窗户旁边,站在雨地里。他的脸色惨白,显得苍老了好多,而且有一只胳膊不能动。
Alan held a pistol to his face.
艾伦用手枪逼着他的脸。
“P ut tha t thing u p!”the captain said.“Ha ve Inot give n my pronis e ,s ir?Are you insulting me ?”
“Ca pta in ,”Alan said.“yo u ga ve me a promis ela s t night,a nd wha t ha p pe ne d?”
“You ha ve sp oilt my brig ,”Hoseason said.“Iha ve n’t e nough me n fo r the voya ge ,now. My firs t office r got your sword through his b ody. I mus t go ba ckin to ha rbour to ge t more s e ame n . And the re ,s ome -one from the gove rnme nt will ta lk to you!”
“Oh!”said Alan,“I will ta lk,too . I ha ve a goods tory. Fifte e n me n o n one s ide ,a nd a ma n a nd a boyon the othe r - it is shame ful!Eve ryone will la u gh a tyou. ”
Hoseason’s face was red now.
“No,”Alan said,“You mus t put me a shore a tthe Linnhe Loch .”
“My firs t offic e r is de a d . ”Hoseason said.“No neof us knows this coa s t,a nd I ha ve no ma p. We do notus ua lly s a il th is wa y. We we re going we s t to Ame rica ,but the wind ma de us turn s outh. Who will pilot thes hip?”
“Ve ry we ll,”Alan said.“put me a shore a nywhere ne a r my own Highla nd cou ntry - but not ne a rthe Campbe lls . If you ca n ’t do tha t,you a re a ba ds e ama n .”
船 长说:“把那个玩意儿收起来。我不是已经提出保证了吗?先生?你这不是侮辱我?”
艾伦说;“船长,你昨天夜里也给我许过愿,可是后来又怎么样呢?”
霍西森说;“你把我的船给毁了。我现在人手不够,没办法继续航行。我的大副被你用刀捅死了。我只好返回港口,再招一些水手。到了港口,政府会有人跟你谈一谈的!”
艾伦说:“呵,我也可以谈谈嘛。
我倒是有可讲的。十五条汉子对付一个大人和一个小孩--可耻!大家都会笑话你的。”
霍西森的脸唰地红了。
艾伦说:“不行,你必须送我在林霍湾上岸。”
霍西森说:“我的大副死了。我们其他人谁也不熟悉这条海岸线,而且我没有海图。我们通常不在这一带航行。原来我们是朝西,去美洲,可是大风迫使我们转向南行。
谁来导航呢?”
艾伦说。“那好吧,除过坎贝尔族居住的地方以外,送我在我的家乡高地附近的任何地方上岸都行。你要是连这点也办不到,就不配航海。”
“This will cos t mone y,s ir ,”the captain said.
“I will pa y yo u s ixty guine a s ,”Alan replied.“Is a id tha t be fore .”
“The re is da nge r to the s hip,a nd to us a ll,”thecaptain said.“Could you pilot us ?”
“这得花钱呀,先生。”船长说。
“我给你六十个金畿尼,我已经答应过了。”艾伦说。
“那样的话,我的船有危险,我们大家都会有危险。你能航海吗?”
船长说。
“I am not a s e ama n ,s ir ,”Alan replied,“bu t Iha ve ofte n tra ve lle d a long th is c oa s t. I know a little a -bout it.”
“我不是水手,先生。不过我常常在这一带海岸线上来往,倒了解一点地形。”艾伦说。
“Ve ry we ll,”Hoseason said,“but I do n’t like it.
The wind is ris ing a nd I will try. But if we me e t aKing ’s s hip,the offic e rs ma y c ome on boa rd. Don ’tblame me if the y do.”
“很好。可是我不愿意那么办。
起风了,让我试试吧。不过,咱们要是碰上官船,船上的军官可能要来搜查。那时你可不要怪我。”霍西森说。
“Ca pta in ,”Alan answered,“if you s e e a King’ss hip ,you mus t run awa y. And now I offe r you a bottleof bra ndy. We will c ha nge it for two bucke ts of wa -te r .”
艾伦回答说;“船长,你要是瞧见官船,必须逃掉。现在我给你一瓶白兰地,给我们换两桶水。”
The captain agreed. We got the water andwashed the blood and glass out of the round -house. The captain and Mr Riach got their drink.
船 长同意交换。我们拿到了水,把后甲板室里的血迹和碎玻璃冲了出去。船长和里亚契先生拿到换得的酒。