LESSON 106

HOMEWARD BOUND

向家的方向航行

Richard H. Dana, Jr., 1815-1882, was the son of Richard H. Dana, the poet. He was born in Cambridge, Mass. In his boyhood be had a strong desire to be a sailor, but by his father’s advice chose a student’s life, and entered Harvard University. At the age of nineteen an affection of the eyes compelled him to suspend his studies. He now made a voyage to California as a common sailor, and was gone two years. On his return, he resumed his studies and graduated in 1837. He afterwards studied law, and entered upon an active and successful practice. Most of his life was spent in law and politics, although he won distinction in literature.

The following extract is from his “Two Years before the Mast,” a book published in 1840, giving an account of his voyage to California. This book details, in a most clear and entertaining manner, the everyday life of a common sailor on shipboard, and is the best known of all Mr. Dana’s works.

It is usual, in voyages round the Cape from the Pacific, to keep to the eastward of the Falkland Islands; but, as there had now set in a strong, steady, and clear southwester, with every prospect of its lasting, and we had had enough of high latitudes, the captain determined to stand immediately to the northward, running inside the Falkland Islands. Accordingly, when the wheel was relieved at eight o’clock, the order was given to keep her due north, and all hands were turned up to square away the yards and make sail.

In a moment the news ran through the ship that the captain was keeping her off, with her nose straight for Boston, and Cape Horn over her taffrail. It was a moment of enthusiasm. Everyone was on the alert, and even the two sick men turned out to lend a hand at the halyards. The wind was now due southwest, and blowing a gale to which a vessel close-hauled could have shown no more than a single close-reefed sail; but as we were going before it, we could carry on. Accordingly, hands were sent aloft and a reef shaken out of the topsails, and the reefed foresail set. When we came to masthead the topsail yards, with all hands at the halyards, we struck up, “Cheerly, men,” with a chorus which might have been heard halfway to Staten Island.

Under her increased sail, the ship drove on through the water. Yet she could bear it well; and the captain sang out from the quarter-deck— “Another reef out of that fore topsail, and give it to her.” Two hands sprang aloft; the frozen reef points and earings were cast adrift, the halyards manned, and the sail gave out her increased canvas to the gale. All hands were kept on deck to watch the effect of the change. It was as much as she could well carry, and with a heavy sea astern, it took two men at the wheel to steer her.

She flung the foam from her bows; the spray breaking aft as far as the gangway. She was going at a prodigious rate. Still, everything held. Preventer braces were reeved and hauled taut; tackles got upon the backstays; and everything done to keep all snug and strong. The captain walked the deck at a rapid stride, looked aloft at the sails, and then to windward; the mate stood in the gangway, rubbing his hands, and talking aloud to the ship—“Hurrah, old bucket! the Boston girls have got hold of the towrope!” and the like; and we were on the forecastle looking to see how the spars stood it, and guessing the rate at which she was going,—when the captain called out—“Mr. Brown, get up the topmast studding sail! What she can’t carry she may drag!”

The mate looked a moment; but he would let no one be before him in daring. He sprang forward,—“Hurrah, men! rig out the topmast studding sail boom! Lay aloft, and I’ll send the rigging up to you!” We sprang aloft into the top; lowered a girtline down, by which we hauled up the rigging; rove the tacks and halyards; ran out the boom and lashed it fast, and sent down the lower halyards as a preventer. It was a clear starlight night, cold and blowing; but everybody worked with a will. Some, indeed, looked as though they thought the “old man” was mad, but no one said a word.

We had had a new topmast studding sail made with a reef in it,—a thing hardly ever heard of, and which the sailors had ridiculed a good deal, saying that when it was time to reef a studding sail it was time to take it in. But we found a use for it now; for, there being a reef in the topsail, the studding sail could not be set without one in it also. To be sure, a studding sail with reefed topsails was rather a novelty; yet there was some reason in it, for if we carried that away, we should lose only a sail and a boom; but a whole topsail might have carried away the mast and all.

While we were aloft, the sail had been got out, bent to the yard, reefed, and ready for hoisting. Waiting for a good opportunity, the halyards were manned and the yard hoisted fairly up to the block; but when the mate came to shake the cat’s-paw out of the downhaul, and we began to boom end the sail, it shook the ship to her center. The boom buckled up and bent like a whipstock, and we looked every moment to see something go; but, being of the short, tough upland spruce, it bent like whalebone, and nothing could break it. The carpenter said it was the best stick he had ever seen.

The strength of all hands soon brought the tack to the boom end, and the sheet was trimmed down, and the preventer and the weather brace hauled taut to take off the strain. Every rope-yarn seemed stretched to the utmost, and every thread of canvas; and with this sail added to her, the ship sprang through the water like a thing possessed. The sail being nearly all forward, it lifted her out of the water, and she seemed actually to jump from sea to sea. From the time her keel was laid, she had never been so driven; and had it been life or death with everyone of us, she could not have borne another stitch of canvas.

Finding that she would bear the sail, the hands were sent below, and our watch remained on deck. Two men at the wheel had as much as they could do to keep her within three points of her course, for she steered as wild as a young colt. The mate walked the deck, looking at the sails, and then over the side to see the foam fly by her,—slapping his hands upon his thighs and talking to the ship—“Hurrah, you jade, you’ve got the scent! you know where you’re going!” And when she leaped over the seas, and almost out of the water, and trembled to her very keel, the spars and masts snapping and creaking, “There she goes!—There she goes—handsomely!— As long as she cracks, she holds!”—while we stood with the rigging laid down fair for letting go, and ready to take in sail and clear away if anything went.

At four bells we hove the log, and she was going eleven knots fairly; and had it not been for the sea from aft which sent the chip home, and threw her continually off her course, the log would have shown her to have been going somewhat faster. I went to the wheel with a young fellow from the Kennebec, who was a good helmsman; and for two hours we had our hands full. A few minutes showed us that our monkey jackets must come off; and, cold as it was, we stood in our shirt sleeves in a perspiration, and were glad enough to have it eight bells and the wheels relieved. We turned in and slept as well as we could, though the sea made a constant roar under her bows, and washed over the forecastle like a small cataract.

【中文阅读】

通常情况下，从太平洋绕好望角航行，都要走福克兰群岛的西面。不过现在我们却在稳定而强烈的西南风向下扬帆起航，而且这一风向还要持续下去，所处的纬度足够高，船长决定直接向北航行，进入福克兰群岛。于是，当舵轮在八点换岗时，船长下达保持向北航行的指令，所有船员都忙着整理好帆桁，开始起帆。

一时间船长下令绕开好望角，直接奔波士顿的消息传遍整条船。这是群情激昂的时刻。大家都保持高度警惕，甚至两个生病的人都在升降索那儿施以援手。风向如预计那样是西南，此时刮来一阵大风，结果迎风开的船的船帆缩到最小程度。但是随着我们来到船帆前，我们得以继续张开船帆。于是，我们伸手够向桅顶，缩帆部分从上桅帆甩掉出来，缩起的前桅大帆又扬起来了。当我们双手拉住升降索，将上桅帆的帆桁升至桅顶时，便开始高歌《欢唱吧，朋友》，众人高声齐唱的嘹亮声音也许在斯塔滕岛的半道上就能听到。

随着船帆升高，这艘船得以在水上继续航行。然而，船帆很好地经受住了考验。船长从后甲板高声喊道：“前上桅帆绕过了暗礁，降帆。”说着，一双手向上举着；结冰的暗礁向上凸起，横帆角上的耳索漂起来了，由升降索操纵船帆的帆桁迎风展开。大家都待在甲板上观察这一改变的效果。船尽最大可能荷重，海水涌向船尾部，需要两个人来操纵舵轮。

从船首涌进泡沫，浪花拍打着船尾和舷梯。此时，船以惊人的速度航行着。一切都还在意料之中。辅助索托架穿过绳索，然后拉紧。滑轮继续拉后拉索，这一切都是为了绷紧绳索。船长疾步在甲板上巡查，举目望着船帆，然后迎着风向。大副站在舷门里，揉搓着手，大声对船上的人说：“哇，老古董！波士顿的姑娘们搭紧船缆了！”大副说这些话时，我们站在前甲板上，瞧着圆木如何支撑住托架，大家猜着船的航速有多少。这时船长喊道：“布朗先生，上中桅拽住船帆！帆要是动的话，托架哪能撑住！”

大副愣怔了好一会儿。不过，他不会让前面的任何人冲上前的。只见他一个箭步，——“好哇，随我来！到中桅这儿扣住帆！固定在帆索高处，我这就支援你们！”我们一窝蜂地涌到中桅，将桅顶吊索放倒，我们好向上拉帆缆，这时，船赶紧抢风掉向，放升降索。待伸出帆桁后连忙拉紧，把升降索压低作为辅助索。显然，这是个惊心动魄的夜晚，冷风阵阵；不过，每个人都凭着一个信念坚持着。确实，有些人看上去好像以为这个“老头儿”简直疯了，但没有人发半句怨言。

我们还备了一个新的中桅副翼帆，里面装有缩帆部——这东西以前几乎没听说过，为此船员曾打趣说这可是一桩好买卖，还说啥时候收缩副翼帆，啥时候装进去。但是，我们发现正好现在就能派上用场；因为中桅有缩帆部的话，副翼帆就不必加缩帆部了。可以肯定的是，带装有缩帆部中桅的副翼帆是个相当新奇的东西；然而，有理由在里面加缩帆部，因为如果我们无法控制的话，我们失去的仅仅是船帆和帆桁而已，但是整个中桅也许会使索具和所有东西都失控。

桅顶还在我们头顶上时，帆已经伸出去了，弯向甲板，卷起缩帆部后准备升起。需要一个最适合的时机才行，船员操纵升降索，帆桁正好升到阻塞物处；可是当大副开始将猫爪棒从收帆索抖出来时，我们一窝蜂地开始收帆，而帆将船摇到了中央位置。帆桁向上扣紧，像鞭子那样弯曲，我们时时刻刻都能看到有东西从眼前经过；但是，短而坚硬的高地云杉，弯起来就像鲸须一样，任什么也没法将其折断。木匠说那是他见过最上乘的木材。

大家一起动手，很快就把帆桁放平， 帆脚索也变细了。辅助索和气象仪托架拉紧，以便充满张力。每根绳索似乎都延伸到了极限，每根绑帆布的绳线也是一样。借助船帆，这条船像有了主心骨一样在水面上劈波斩浪。船帆几乎都冲着前方，把船托着离开了水面，似乎真的从一片汪洋跳到另一片汪洋。从龙骨被放倒开始，她从未如此横冲直闯过；不论我们每个人未来命运怎样，这艘船都不可能承担得了帆布另一次被撕扯坏了的后果。

见船能撑起船帆，我们派到下面去的人手，以及我们留在甲板上观望的人都放心了。掌舵轮的两个人尽最大可能控制着船在轨道内航行，因为这艘船就像年轻的雄马似的难以驾驭。大副来到甲板上，打量一会儿船帆，然后到船舷旁观察泡沫飞溅的情形。他两手叉腰，对船上的人说：“好哇，你们这些小家伙，你们都闻着味了吧！你们知道自己要去哪儿吗？”当船在海上纵浪，几乎要离开水面，龙骨直颤动时，圆木和桅杆发出尖厉的声音裂开了。“脱位了！脱位了——太刺激了！既然爆开了，要控制住！”我们抓住放在甲板上的索具，慢慢放开，准备起帆，排除可能的障碍。

四声钟鸣后，我们控制着圆木，现在船正以十一节的速度航行；倘若不从船尾的缺口开始，继续偏离航道的话，圆木会让船速度快一些。我与一位来自肯尼贝克的年轻人来到舵轮旁，这家伙是一个出色的舵手；我们一直忙活了两个钟头。有几分钟，我们不得不脱掉紧身短上衣。天气很冷，我们站在那里，捋起汗津津的衬衣袖，对到八声钟鸣时舵轮恢复正常感到非常高兴。我们上床，美美地睡上一觉，虽然大海波浪滔天，在船首下方狂吼不止，像小瀑布一样冲刷着前甲板。