登陆注册
5192200000042

第42章

Along ShoreONE DAY as I went along the shore beyond the old wharves and the newer, high-stepped fabric of the steamer landing, I saw that all the boats were beached, and the slack water period of the early afternoon prevailed.Nothing was going on, not even the most leisurely of occupations, like baiting trawls or mending nets, or repairing lobster pots; the very boats seemed to be taking an afternoon nap in the sun.I could hardly discover a distant sail as I looked seaward, except a weather-beaten lobster smack, which seemed to have been taken for a plaything by the light airs that blew about the bay.It drifted and turned about so aimlessly in the wide reach off Burnt Island, that I suspected there was nobody at the wheel, or that she might have parted her rusty anchor chain while all the crew were asleep.

I watched her for a minute or two; she was the old Miranda, owned by some of the Caplins, and I knew her by an odd shaped patch of newish duck that was set into the peak of her dingy mainsail.Her vagaries offered such an exciting subject for conversation that my heart rejoiced at the sound of a hoarse voice behind me.At that moment, before I had time to answer, I saw something large and shapeless flung from the Miranda's deck that splashed the water high against her black side, and my companion gave a satisfied chuckle.The old lobster smack's sail caught the breeze again at this moment, and she moved off down the bay.

Turning, I found old Elijah Tilley, who had come softly out of his dark fish-house, as if it were a burrow.

"Boy got kind o' drowsy steerin' of her; Monroe he hove him right overboard; 'wake now fast enough," explained Mr.Tilley, and we laughed together.

I was delighted, for my part, that the vicissitudes and dangers of the Miranda, in a rocky channel, should have given me this opportunity to make acquaintance with an old fisherman to whom I had never spoken.At first he had seemed to be one of those evasive and uncomfortable persons who are so suspicious of you that they make you almost suspicious of yourself.Mr.Elijah Tilley appeared to regard a stranger with scornful indifference.You might see him standing on the pebble beach or in a fish-house doorway, but when you came nearer he was gone.He was one of the small company of elderly, gaunt-shaped great fisherman whom I used to like to see leading up a deep-laden boat by the head, as if it were a horse, from the water's edge to the steep slope of the pebble beach.There were four of these large old men at the Landing, who were the survivors of an earlier and more vigorous generation.There was an alliance and understanding between them, so close that it was apparently speechless.They gave much time to watching one another's boats go out or come in; they lent a ready hand at tending one another's lobster traps in rough weather; they helped to clean the fish or to sliver porgies for the trawls, as if they were in close partnership; and when a boat came in from deep-sea fishing they were never too far out of the way, and hastened to help carry it ashore, two by two, splashing alongside, or holding its steady head, as if it were a willful sea colt.As a matter of fact no boat could help being steady and way-wise under their instant direction and companionship.Abel's boat and Jonathan Bowden's boat were as distinct and experienced personalities as the men themselves, and as inexpressive.Arguments and opinions were unknown to the conversation of these ancient friends; you would as soon have expected to hear small talk in a company of elephants as to hear old Mr.Bowden or Elijah Tilley and their two mates waste breath upon any form of trivial gossip.They made brief statements to one another from time to time.As you came to know them you wondered more and more that they should talk at all.

Speech seemed to be a light and elegant accomplishment, and their unexpected acquaintance with its arts made them of new value to the listener.You felt almost as if a landmark pine should suddenly address you in regard to the weather, or a lofty-minded old camel make a remark as you stood respectfully near him under the circus tent.

I often wondered a great deal about the inner life and thought of these self-contained old fishermen; their minds seemed to be fixed upon nature and the elements rather than upon any contrivances of man, like politics or theology.My friend, Captain Bowden, who was the nephew of the eldest of this group, regarded them with deference; but he did not belong to their secret companionship, though he was neither young nor talkative.

"They've gone together ever since they were boys, they know most everything about the sea amon'st them," he told me once.

"They was always just as you see 'em now since the memory of man."These ancient seafarers had houses and lands not outwardly different from other Dunnet Landing dwellings, and two of them were fathers of families, but their true dwelling places were the sea, and the stony beach that edged its familiar shore, and the fish-houses, where much salt brine from the mackerel kits had soaked the very timbers into a state of brown permanence and petrifaction.It had also affected the old fishermen's hard complexions, until one fancied that when Death claimed them it could only be with the aid, not of any slender modern dart, but the good serviceable harpoon of a seventeenth century woodcut.

Elijah Tilley was such an evasive, discouraged-looking person, heavy-headed, and stooping so that one could never look him in the face, that even after his friendly exclamation about Monroe Pennell, the lobster smack's skipper, and the sleepy boy, I did not venture at once to speak again.Mr.Tilley was carrying a small haddock in one hand, and presently shifted it to the other hand lest it might touch my skirt.I knew that my company was accepted, and we walked together a little way.

"You mean to have a good supper," I ventured to say, by way of friendliness.

同类推荐
  • 周易本义

    周易本义

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 脉诀

    脉诀

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 寺塔记

    寺塔记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 奉天靖難記

    奉天靖難記

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 六十种曲浣纱记

    六十种曲浣纱记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 积聚你的正能量

    积聚你的正能量

    无论是喜是悲,都有一种神秘的能量主导着你人生中的每一天。健康、积极、乐观的人充满正能量,和这样的人交往,你会有一种快乐向上的感觉,觉得生活舒服而有趣。跟他在一起,你感觉是安全的、放松的。他浑身散发着善良、热情,你也喜欢和这样的人在一起。而具有负能量的人会把你的人生拖垮,各种畸形想法与病态心理会让你过得一团糟。总是和悲观、畏惧、绝望、看什么都不顺眼的人在一起,你也会觉得生活暗无天日。因为他们把负能量传递给了你,使你觉得自己的生活也不顺利。由此看来,做一个充满正能量的人非常重要。人的生命是伟大的、宝贵的。
  • 重生之最强武帝

    重生之最强武帝

    洪荒武帝被弟子所害,重生在一个奄奄一息的废柴少年身上融合前世今生记忆,创造出上天入地唯我独尊的三武魂之体大帝的灵魂,无敌的气质,无论重生在谁身上,都不会改变!?丹、符、器、阵、雷无所不通,践踏一切所谓的天才和妖孽。弹指间,敌人灰飞烟灭;弹指间,美女倒贴来追。是我的,谁也夺不走;吃我的,统统给我吐出来。演绎一段令人向往的传奇,一路追求着那主宰之路。征天路,少年行,最强武帝,枭雄归来。
  • 东林十八高贤传

    东林十八高贤传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 何须待零落

    何须待零落

    刘兴宇阴差阳错地“抢”了兄弟的女朋友,当他清醒过来,顿时痛悔无地。他竭力以委婉的方式结束这段感情,却让自己越陷越深——满以为能把复杂的关系处理好,结果发现自己陷入了“三角恋情”的旋涡!对兄弟的愧疚,对冲动的悔恨,让他无法安宁;同时,他发现自己和真正心仪的女孩儿却是渐行渐远。爱情与友情,情债与真爱——关键时刻,他将如何抉择……本书中奇特的想象、辛辣的反讽和浓郁的黑色幽默带有作者独特的印记。书中那些犀利、尖锐甚至是刻薄的语言,写出了很多人想说却说不出的话,反映了一代人共同的经历和体悟。作者就像《皇帝的新装》里那个口无遮拦的小孩子,他在一个特殊的场合吼了一嗓子。这一嗓子声音不大,却能在平静的水面下,卷起汹涌的旋涡……
  • 中国国学经典读本:淮南子

    中国国学经典读本:淮南子

    《中华国学经典读本:淮南子》以道家为宗,综合了诸子百家的思想,构筑了一个以道论为主体的哲学思想体系。它主张积极进取,对无为而治作了新的解释,对治国之道做出了有益的探索。它对天文、地理、节令都做了广泛而深入的探讨,并以道论为宗本解释各种自然现象,对我国古代科技发展作出了重要贡献。
  • 华严大意

    华严大意

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 嫡女狂妃:傍个太子斗天下

    嫡女狂妃:傍个太子斗天下

    她,一朝穿越成为相府不受宠的嫡女!空有倾城之貌却名为不祥之人,骨肉至亲皆视她为眼中钉,就连贩夫走卒都不愿攀之若鹜。弃女强势归来,斗姨娘,败显贵,活的风生水起。本想安稳度日,却偶遇良人,用尽一生才华助他登上太子之位。大业将成,才知痴心错付。赤子之情竟为他人做了嫁衣。那人笑言为还她恩情只废其功,毁其容,挑其手筋脚筋却留其性命。街头行乞之时,她望着皇家祭天的队伍,心中起誓,必将天下夺回,活的万民敬仰!情节虚构,请勿模仿
  • 做事高手(现代生活实用丛书)

    做事高手(现代生活实用丛书)

    如何做事决定命运、财富源于方法。这是每个人都应认可的名言。人与人的差别,从根本上说首先是做人做事的观念方式上的差别。我们从小就会被教导这不能做,那也不能做,久而久之就形成了一种固定的观念,也是一种人们所习惯的常理。做事的态度要讲究方法,讲究思路,思路对,就会柳暗花明、思路错,就会山重水覆。凡事换角度,凡事逆向思维一番,也许这样一换,对事物的本身原貌就会看得更清晰,准确。从而正确地把握事物,进而产生正确的思路和行为。如果本书能帮助各位读者发现自己的盲点,修正自己某些偏颇式错误的观念,在你的人生道路上有所助益,那么我将感到由衷的高兴。
  • 昌平山水记

    昌平山水记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 君谋天下之大夏帝国

    君谋天下之大夏帝国

    为君者应以谋略为主争霸与天下,以强军为辅而横扫天下,占西域、吞北辽、南灭宋,西征欧罗巴,饮马莱茵河,看主角如何以弱国吞并天下诸国,超越汉唐盛世————书友群:687377134。新书《空间涅槃》正在酝酿中,不出意外将于3月15号左右发布,科幻题材未来世界小说,喜欢的可以关注一下。