falk-第1章
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Falk
by Joseph Conrad
A REMINISCENCE
Several of us; all more or less connected with the
sea; were dining in a small river…hostelry not more
than thirty miles from London; and less than twenty
from that shallow and dangerous puddle to which
our coasting men give the grandiose name of 〃Ger…
man Ocean。〃 And through the wide windows we
had a view of the Thames; an enfilading view down
the Lower Hope Reach。 But the dinner was exe…
crable; and all the feast was for the eyes。
That flavour of salt…water which for so many of
us had been the very water of life permeated our
talk。 He who hath known the bitterness of the
Ocean shall have its taste forever in his mouth。 But
one or two of us; pampered by the life of the land;
complained of hunger。 It was impossible to swal…
low any of that stuff。 And indeed there was a
strange mustiness in everything。 The wooden din…
ing…room stuck out over the mud of the shore like
a lacustrine dwelling; the planks of the floor seemed
rotten; a decrepit old waiter tottered pathetically
to and fro before an antediluvian and worm…eaten
sideboard; the chipped plates might have been dis…
interred from some kitchen midden near an inhab…
ited lake; and the chops recalled times more ancient
still。 They brought forcibly to one's mind the
night of ages when the primeval man; evolving the
first rudiments of cookery from his dim conscious…
ness; scorched lumps of flesh at a fire of sticks in the
company of other good fellows; then; gorged and
happy; sat him back among the gnawed bones to
tell his artless tales of experiencethe tales of hun…
ger and huntand of women; perhaps!
But luckily the wine happened to be as old as
the waiter。 So; comparatively empty; but upon the
whole fairly happy; we sat back and told our artless
tales。 We talked of the sea and all its works。 The
sea never changes; and its works for all the talk of
men are wrapped in mystery。 But we agreed that
the times were changed。 And we talked of old
ships; of sea…accidents; of break…downs; dismast…
ings; and of a man who brought his ship safe to
Liverpool all the way from the River Platte under
a jury rudder。 We talked of wrecks; of short ra…
tions and of heroismor at least of what the news…
papers would have called heroism at seaa mani…
festation of virtues quite different from the heroism
of primitive times。 And now and then falling silent
all together we gazed at the sights of the river。
A P。 & O。 boat passed bound down。 〃One gets
jolly good dinners on board these ships;〃 remarked
one of our band。 A man with sharp eyes read out
the name on her bows: Arcadia。 〃What a beauti…
ful model of a ship!〃 murmured some of us。 She
was followed by a small cargo steamer; and the flag
they hauled down aboard while we were looking
showed her to be a Norwegian。 She made an awful
lot of smoke; and before it had quite blown away; a
high…sided; short; wooden barque; in ballast and
towed by a paddle…tug; appeared in front of the
windows。 All her hands were forward busy setting
up the headgear; and aft a woman in a red hood;
quite alone with the man at the wheel; paced the
length of the poop back and forth; with the grey
wool of some knitting work in her hands。
〃German I should think;〃 muttered one。 〃The
skipper has his wife on board;〃 remarked another;
and the light of the crimson sunset all ablaze behind
the London smoke; throwing a glow of Bengal light
upon the barque's spars; faded away from the Hope
Reach。
Then one of us; who had not spoken before; a
man of over fifty; that had commanded ships for a
quarter of a century; looking after the barque now
gliding far away; all black on the lustre of the river;
said:
This reminds me of an absurd episode in my life;
now many years ago; when I got first the command
of an iron barque; loading then in a certain Eastern
seaport。 It was also the capital of an Eastern king…
dom; lying up a river as might be London lies up
this old Thames of ours。 No more need be said of
the place; for this sort of thing might have hap…
pened anywhere where there are ships; skippers;
tugboats; and orphan nieces of indescribable splen…
dour。 And the absurdity of the episode concerns
only me; my enemy Falk; and my friend Hermann。
There seemed to be something like peculiar em…
phasis on the words 〃My friend Hermann;〃 which
caused one of us (for we had just been speaking of
heroism at sea) to say idly and nonchalantly:
〃And was this Hermann a hero?〃
Not at all; said our grizzled friend。 No hero at
all。 He was a Schiff…fuhrer: Ship…conductor。
That's how they call a Master Mariner in Germany。
I prefer our way。 The alliteration is good; and
there is something in the nomenclature that gives
to us as a body the sense of corporate existence:
Apprentice; Mate; Master; in the ancient and hon…
ourable craft of the sea。 As to my friend Hermann;
he might have been a consummate master of the
honourable craft; but he was called officially Schiff…
fuhrer; and had the simple; heavy appearance of a
well…to…do farmer; combined with the good…natured
shrewdness of a small shopkeeper。 With his shaven
chin; round limbs; and heavy eyelids he did not look
like a toiler; and even less like an adventurer of the
sea。 Still; he toiled upon the seas; in his own way;
much as a shopkeeper works behind his counter。
And his ship was the means by which he maintained
his growing family。
She was a heavy; strong; blunt…bowed affair;
awakening the ideas of primitive solidity; like the
wooden plough of our forefathers。 And there were;
about her; other suggestions of a rustic and homely
nature。 The extraordinary timber projections
which I have seen in no other vessel made her square
stern resemble the tail end of a miller's waggon。
But the four stern ports of her cabin; glazed with
six little greenish panes each; and framed in wooden
sashes painted brown; might have been the windows
of a cottage in the country。 The tiny white cur…
tains and the greenery of flower pots behind the
glass completed the resemblance。 On one or two
occasions when passing under stern I had de…
tected from my boat a round arm in the act of tilt…
ing a watering pot; and the bowed sleek head of a
maiden whom I shall always call Hermann's niece;
because as a matter of fact I've never heard her
name; for all my intimacy with the family。
This; however; sprang up later on。 Meantime in
common with the rest of the shipping in that East…
ern port; I was left in no doubt as to Hermann's no…
tions of hygienic clothing。 Evidently he believed
in wearing good stout flannel next his skin。 On
most days little frocks and pinafores could be seen
drying in the mizzen rigging of his ship; or a tiny
row of socks fluttering on the signal halyards; but
once a fortnight the family washing was exhibited
in force。 It covered the poop entirely。 The after…
noon breeze would incite to a weird and flabby activ…
ity all that crowded mass of clothing; with its vague
suggestions of drowned; mutilated and flattened hu…
manity。 Trunks without heads waved at you arms
without hands; legs without feet kicked fantasti…
cally with collapsible flourishes; and there were long
white garments that; taking the wind fairly
through their neck openings edged with lace; be…
came for a moment violently distended as by the
passage of obese and invisible bodies。 On these days
you could make out that ship at a great distance
by the multi…coloured grotesque riot going on abaft
her mizzen mast。
She had her berth just ahead of me; and her
name was Diana;Diana not of Ephesus but of
Bremen。 This was proclaimed in white letters a
foot long spaced widely across the stern (somewhat
like the lettering of a shop…sign) under the cottage
windows。 This ridiculously unsuitable name struck
one as an impe