FANFIC: 2009 Character Challenge: Joshamee Gibbs
“Why do I need to learn all these knots? And what good is my wasting time on any of this? I am not a sailor, I am a blacksmith.”
“Aye, that be true. But you see, Will, the pride you take in your craft, is much like that what a sailor takes in his ship. Now, I’m not a’sayin’ tis the same thing, mind you. But there is a certain satisfaction, if you may, at the completion of a fine sword, or a smooth passage. Both are a result of what you might call a contest between man and nature, a battlin’ of the elements, if you will.
What you have t’ understand, Will, is the love a man gives t’ a ship is profoundly different from the love a man might feel for every other work of his hands, mostly ‘cause it’s a love untainted by pride. Oh, a sailor, he’ll feel the pride of skill, or responsibility. But there ain’t a true seaman alive that ever cherished a ship, even if he owned her outright, merely for the profits she put in his pocket.
See, a ship is something more intimate, more personal. It is a serious relation indeed, that in which a man stands t’ his ship. She has her own rights, you know, as if she could breathe and speak; and, indeed, I’m a tellin’ you, there are ships that, for the right man, will do anything but speak, as the saying goes. If a man treats her right, she will sail, stay, run for him, as long as she’s able, even in the face of the heaviest gale, the ones that make you doubt ever livin’ long enough t’ see another sunrise.
Now, take Jack there. Never seen another man so a tuned with his ship than Jack be with the Pearl. I swear, she speaks t’ him, and sails her guts our for him, at the mere touch of his hand upon the wheel. And t’ understand Jack, you have t’ understand the Pearl. Let her speak t’ you as well.
And, as with any relationship worth its salt, a man needs t’ know, t’ feel, t’ understand that which a ship needs. And the place t’ be startin’ is right here, in learnin’ the ropes, so t’ speak. Mark my words, the way t’ understanding the Cap’n, is right there in your hands.”
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“Aye, that be true. But you see, Will, the pride you take in your craft, is much like that what a sailor takes in his ship. Now, I’m not a’sayin’ tis the same thing, mind you. But there is a certain satisfaction, if you may, at the completion of a fine sword, or a smooth passage. Both are a result of what you might call a contest between man and nature, a battlin’ of the elements, if you will.
What you have t’ understand, Will, is the love a man gives t’ a ship is profoundly different from the love a man might feel for every other work of his hands, mostly ‘cause it’s a love untainted by pride. Oh, a sailor, he’ll feel the pride of skill, or responsibility. But there ain’t a true seaman alive that ever cherished a ship, even if he owned her outright, merely for the profits she put in his pocket.
See, a ship is something more intimate, more personal. It is a serious relation indeed, that in which a man stands t’ his ship. She has her own rights, you know, as if she could breathe and speak; and, indeed, I’m a tellin’ you, there are ships that, for the right man, will do anything but speak, as the saying goes. If a man treats her right, she will sail, stay, run for him, as long as she’s able, even in the face of the heaviest gale, the ones that make you doubt ever livin’ long enough t’ see another sunrise.
Now, take Jack there. Never seen another man so a tuned with his ship than Jack be with the Pearl. I swear, she speaks t’ him, and sails her guts our for him, at the mere touch of his hand upon the wheel. And t’ understand Jack, you have t’ understand the Pearl. Let her speak t’ you as well.
And, as with any relationship worth its salt, a man needs t’ know, t’ feel, t’ understand that which a ship needs. And the place t’ be startin’ is right here, in learnin’ the ropes, so t’ speak. Mark my words, the way t’ understanding the Cap’n, is right there in your hands.”
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