(no subject)
Ionian Mission (8) предваряет слово Патрика О’Брайана о том, как сильно флот Его Величества в нельсоновские времена был привязан к поэзии и музыке.
На новом корабле Жэки каждый второй - либо игрец, либо певец, либо может выпилить свирельку, Моуэтт продолжает сочинять вирши.
.
.
'Welcome aboard, welcome aboard, ' sang Mr Mowett,
'Sober as Adam or drunk as a lord
Eat like Lucullus and drink like a king,
Doze in your hammock while sirens do sing,
Welcome, dear Doctor, oh welcome aboard,
Welcome aboard, Welcome aboard.'
.
.
Oh were it mine with sacred Maro's art
To wake to sympathy the feeling heart,
Then might I, with unrivalled strains, deplore
Th'impervious horrors of a leeward shore."
...
'That's what I call poetry, ' said Captain Aubrey. 'None of your goddam - your blessed maundering about swains and virgins and flowery meads."
.
Суть новеллы в том, что Жэка сталкивается нос к носу с адмиралем Хартом, которому он наставил рога еще будучи командиром и штурманом, и тот дает ему приказ за приказом, отправляя то в одну, то в другую не колониальную глушь, в расчете на то, что капитан где-нибудь да оступится и можно будет его разжаловать на веки вечные.
.
.
"It was a curious sight, the massive Jack Aubrey, a powerful fellow in the prime of life, long accustomed to authority, sitting there with an anxious, deferential expression, poised on the edge of his chair before a small, sick, bloated, old man he could have crushed with one hand.
.
The service had enormous faults: its dockyards were corrupt and often incompetent, the recruitment of the lower deck was a national disgrace and that of the officers an utterly haphazard affair, while their promotion and employment often depended on influence and favouritism: yet still the Navy managed to throw up admirals who could make men like Jack Aubrey tremble."
.
Но Жэка не один. У него отличная команда, верные друзья, мозги работают и кэптан с грехом пополам, на свой лад, но выполняет все миссии. Собственно, Ионическая оказывается самой сложной, Жэку посылают на Восток, к туркам. У приказа “уговорить турков не поддерживать Наполеона и одолжить им пушек” явно двойное дно, специфика турецкого флота неясна, албанская суша, куда угодил Жэка ни разу не впечатляет кэпа.
.
В этой новелле вечно одинокий в своем недосягаемом капитанском статусе Жэка размышляет о дружбе, о том какой отменный из Пуллингса выйдет капитан, какой зашибенный у него стюард и как скучно без дока.
Стивен в свою очередь встречает родственную душу - мистера Мартина, также помешанного на натурфилософии.
.
"…but now his heart warmed to this young man who shared his passion, who had learnt a great deal, and who had paid for his learning with long journeys on foot, nights spent in byres, haystacks, sheepcotes, even prisons when he was taken up for a poacher, and with the loss of an eye, destroyed by an owl."
.
На примере дока можно увидеть выбор антитрадиционалиста: хоть и женился, но курить в постели, расчленять на кухне и пилить в ночи виолончель не перестал, да и Диана не сахар. И все же: "Yet although he and Diana lived lives more independent than most married pairs they were very, very close in other respects." В то время как у Жэки все традиционно, но один черт: из кэпа не выходит ни надежного кормильца, ни моногамного мужа. Зато все “как принято”.
.
.
Из прикольного:
Моряки у Деды вообще сверхчеловеки.
.
"Would there be any of the Gibraltar walnuts left, at all?'
'If Killick has not blown out his kite with them, there should be plenty in this locker. Yes. Half a sack. Forgiveness, ' he said thoughtfully, cracking six together in his massive hand."
.
Шесть орехов одной рукой? Вот это да.
.
"It was his rule always to eat hearty before an action or the probability of an action and Killick set a dish of bacon on the table, with four fried eggs, saying apologetically that 'that was all there was so far this morning, but the speckled hen might lay any minute now."
.
Тарелка бекона, яйки и кура, чисто плацкарт.
.
Из очень прикольного:
"if the breeze held true he did not intend to lose a minute, even if begged to do so by a choir of virgins on their knees."
.
Из самого прикольного:
Жэка встречает корабль молодого Бабингтона, не раз и не два павшего жертвой чар портовых красоток по всему миру.
"From his earliest youth, from a shockingly precocious age, Babbington had pursued the fair; and that was well enough, perfectly in the naval tradition; but although an excellent seaman, he lacked discrimination by land and he reckoned almost anything clothed in a skirt as one of the fair.
.
Sometimes he attacked ravishing creatures with success, though surrounded with rivals, for in spite of his stunted form women found his cheerfulness, his singular charm and his unfailing ardour agreeable; but sometimes he set about angular maidens of forty. During his brief stay in New Holland he had enjoyed the favours of a she-aboriginal and in Java those of a Chinese lady of fifteen stone."
.
И на этот раз у Баббингтона на борту десятки женщин. На борту военного корабля. Кэптан в ярости.
.
"Oh sir, ' cried Babbington, as Rowan darted over the side, 'I really must be allowed to protest - to deny -'
'You will not deny that they are women, surely? I can tell the difference between Adam and Eve as quick as the next man, even if you cannot; just as I can tell the difference between an active zealous officer and a lubber that lies in port indulging his whims. It is of no use trying to impose upon me.'
.
'No, sir. But these are all respectable women.'
'Then why are they leering over the side like that, and making gestures?'
'It is only their way, sir. They are all Lesbians -'
.
Вот это поворот! (с)
.
.
'And no doubt they are all parsons' daughters, your cousins in the third degree, like that wench in Ceylon.'
'- and Lesbians always join their hands like that, to show respect.'
'You are becoming an authority on the motions of Greek women, it appears.'
.
'Oh sir, ' cried Babbington, his voice growing shriller still. 'I know you do not like women aboard -'
'I believe I have had occasion to mention it to you some fifty or sixty times in the last ten years.'
'But if you will allow me to explain -'
.
'It would be interesting to hear how the presence of thirty-seven, no, thirty-eight young women in one of His Majesty's sloops can be explained; but since I like some decency to be preserved on my quarterdeck, perhaps the explanation had better take place in the cabin.' And in the cabin he said, 'Upon my word, William, this is coming it pretty high. Thirty-eight wenches at a time is coming it pretty high.'
.
'So it would be, sir, if there were any guilty or even shall I say cheerful intent; but upon my honour, I am blameless in thought, word, and deed. Well, in word and deed, anyhow.'
.
.
Только Бабингтон мог нарваться на толпу дам с Лесбоса, которые собрались праздновать там свадьбу.
На новом корабле Жэки каждый второй - либо игрец, либо певец, либо может выпилить свирельку, Моуэтт продолжает сочинять вирши.
.
.
'Welcome aboard, welcome aboard, ' sang Mr Mowett,
'Sober as Adam or drunk as a lord
Eat like Lucullus and drink like a king,
Doze in your hammock while sirens do sing,
Welcome, dear Doctor, oh welcome aboard,
Welcome aboard, Welcome aboard.'
.
.
Oh were it mine with sacred Maro's art
To wake to sympathy the feeling heart,
Then might I, with unrivalled strains, deplore
Th'impervious horrors of a leeward shore."
...
'That's what I call poetry, ' said Captain Aubrey. 'None of your goddam - your blessed maundering about swains and virgins and flowery meads."
.
Суть новеллы в том, что Жэка сталкивается нос к носу с адмиралем Хартом, которому он наставил рога еще будучи командиром и штурманом, и тот дает ему приказ за приказом, отправляя то в одну, то в другую не колониальную глушь, в расчете на то, что капитан где-нибудь да оступится и можно будет его разжаловать на веки вечные.
.
.
"It was a curious sight, the massive Jack Aubrey, a powerful fellow in the prime of life, long accustomed to authority, sitting there with an anxious, deferential expression, poised on the edge of his chair before a small, sick, bloated, old man he could have crushed with one hand.
.
The service had enormous faults: its dockyards were corrupt and often incompetent, the recruitment of the lower deck was a national disgrace and that of the officers an utterly haphazard affair, while their promotion and employment often depended on influence and favouritism: yet still the Navy managed to throw up admirals who could make men like Jack Aubrey tremble."
.
Но Жэка не один. У него отличная команда, верные друзья, мозги работают и кэптан с грехом пополам, на свой лад, но выполняет все миссии. Собственно, Ионическая оказывается самой сложной, Жэку посылают на Восток, к туркам. У приказа “уговорить турков не поддерживать Наполеона и одолжить им пушек” явно двойное дно, специфика турецкого флота неясна, албанская суша, куда угодил Жэка ни разу не впечатляет кэпа.
.
В этой новелле вечно одинокий в своем недосягаемом капитанском статусе Жэка размышляет о дружбе, о том какой отменный из Пуллингса выйдет капитан, какой зашибенный у него стюард и как скучно без дока.
Стивен в свою очередь встречает родственную душу - мистера Мартина, также помешанного на натурфилософии.
.
"…but now his heart warmed to this young man who shared his passion, who had learnt a great deal, and who had paid for his learning with long journeys on foot, nights spent in byres, haystacks, sheepcotes, even prisons when he was taken up for a poacher, and with the loss of an eye, destroyed by an owl."
.
На примере дока можно увидеть выбор антитрадиционалиста: хоть и женился, но курить в постели, расчленять на кухне и пилить в ночи виолончель не перестал, да и Диана не сахар. И все же: "Yet although he and Diana lived lives more independent than most married pairs they were very, very close in other respects." В то время как у Жэки все традиционно, но один черт: из кэпа не выходит ни надежного кормильца, ни моногамного мужа. Зато все “как принято”.
.
.
Из прикольного:
Моряки у Деды вообще сверхчеловеки.
.
"Would there be any of the Gibraltar walnuts left, at all?'
'If Killick has not blown out his kite with them, there should be plenty in this locker. Yes. Half a sack. Forgiveness, ' he said thoughtfully, cracking six together in his massive hand."
.
Шесть орехов одной рукой? Вот это да.
.
"It was his rule always to eat hearty before an action or the probability of an action and Killick set a dish of bacon on the table, with four fried eggs, saying apologetically that 'that was all there was so far this morning, but the speckled hen might lay any minute now."
.
Тарелка бекона, яйки и кура, чисто плацкарт.
.
Из очень прикольного:
"if the breeze held true he did not intend to lose a minute, even if begged to do so by a choir of virgins on their knees."
.
Из самого прикольного:
Жэка встречает корабль молодого Бабингтона, не раз и не два павшего жертвой чар портовых красоток по всему миру.
"From his earliest youth, from a shockingly precocious age, Babbington had pursued the fair; and that was well enough, perfectly in the naval tradition; but although an excellent seaman, he lacked discrimination by land and he reckoned almost anything clothed in a skirt as one of the fair.
.
Sometimes he attacked ravishing creatures with success, though surrounded with rivals, for in spite of his stunted form women found his cheerfulness, his singular charm and his unfailing ardour agreeable; but sometimes he set about angular maidens of forty. During his brief stay in New Holland he had enjoyed the favours of a she-aboriginal and in Java those of a Chinese lady of fifteen stone."
.
И на этот раз у Баббингтона на борту десятки женщин. На борту военного корабля. Кэптан в ярости.
.
"Oh sir, ' cried Babbington, as Rowan darted over the side, 'I really must be allowed to protest - to deny -'
'You will not deny that they are women, surely? I can tell the difference between Adam and Eve as quick as the next man, even if you cannot; just as I can tell the difference between an active zealous officer and a lubber that lies in port indulging his whims. It is of no use trying to impose upon me.'
.
'No, sir. But these are all respectable women.'
'Then why are they leering over the side like that, and making gestures?'
'It is only their way, sir. They are all Lesbians -'
.
Вот это поворот! (с)
.
.
'And no doubt they are all parsons' daughters, your cousins in the third degree, like that wench in Ceylon.'
'- and Lesbians always join their hands like that, to show respect.'
'You are becoming an authority on the motions of Greek women, it appears.'
.
'Oh sir, ' cried Babbington, his voice growing shriller still. 'I know you do not like women aboard -'
'I believe I have had occasion to mention it to you some fifty or sixty times in the last ten years.'
'But if you will allow me to explain -'
.
'It would be interesting to hear how the presence of thirty-seven, no, thirty-eight young women in one of His Majesty's sloops can be explained; but since I like some decency to be preserved on my quarterdeck, perhaps the explanation had better take place in the cabin.' And in the cabin he said, 'Upon my word, William, this is coming it pretty high. Thirty-eight wenches at a time is coming it pretty high.'
.
'So it would be, sir, if there were any guilty or even shall I say cheerful intent; but upon my honour, I am blameless in thought, word, and deed. Well, in word and deed, anyhow.'
.
.
Только Бабингтон мог нарваться на толпу дам с Лесбоса, которые собрались праздновать там свадьбу.