Donde
se cuenta el accidente de un barco y el rescate que realizan los marineros. Uno
de los chicos se convierte en el héroe de la jornada. Jim siente la necesidad de aventura y de
demostrar su coraje. Del original ingles Lord Jim, de Joseph Conrad…
He was jostled. 'Man the cutter!' Boys rushed
past him. A coaster running in for
shelter had crashed through a schooner
at anchor, and one of the ship's instructors had seen the accident. A mob of
boys clambered on the rails,
clustered round the davits.
'Collision. Just ahead of us. Mr. Symons saw it.' A push made him stagger against the mizzen-mast, and he caught hold of a
rope. The old training-ship chained to her moorings
quivered all over, bowing gently
head to wind, and with her scanty rigging humming in a deep bass the
breathless song of her youth at sea. 'Lower away!' He saw the boat, manned,
drop swiftly below the rail, and rushed after her. He heard a splash. 'Let go;
clear the falls!' He leaned over. The river alongside seethed in frothy
streaks. The cutter could be seen in the falling darkness under the spell of
tide and wind, that for a moment held her bound, and tossing abreast of the
ship. A yelling voice in her reached him faintly: 'Keep stroke, you young whelps, if you want to save anybody! Keep
stroke!' And suddenly she lifted high her bow,
and, leaping with raised oars over a wave, broke the spell cast upon her by the wind and tide.
Jim felt his
shoulder gripped firmly. 'Too late, youngster.' The captain of the ship laid a
restraining hand on that boy, who seemed on the point of leaping overboard, and
Jim looked up with the pain of conscious defeat in his eyes. The captain smiled
sympathetically. 'Better luck next time. This will teach you to be smart.'
Gaff cutter, Uwe Kils, Wikipedia |
A shrill cheer
greeted the cutter. She came dancing back half full of water, and with two
exhausted men washing about on her bottom boards. The tumult and the menace of
wind and sea now appeared very contemptible
to Jim, increasing the regret of his awe at their inefficient menace. Now he
knew what to think of it. It seemed to him he cared nothing for the gale. He
could affront greater perils. He would do so—better than anybody. Not a
particle of fear was left. Nevertheless he brooded
apart that evening while the bowman
of the cutter—a boy with a face like a girl's and big grey eyes—was the hero of
the lower deck. Eager questioners crowded round him. He narrated: 'I just saw
his head bobbing, and I dashed my boat-hook in the water. It caught in his
breeches and I nearly went overboard, as I thought I would, only old Symons let
go the tiller and grabbed my
legs—the boat nearly swamped. Old Symons is a fine old chap. I don't mind a bit
him being grumpy with us. He swore
at me all the time he held my leg, but that was only his way of telling me to
stick to the boat-hook. Old Symons is awfully excitable—isn't he? No—not the
little fair chap—the other, the big one with a beard. When we pulled him in he groaned, "Oh, my leg! oh, my
leg!" and turned up his eyes. Fancy such a big chap fainting like a girl.
Would any of you fellows faint for a jab with a boat-hook?—I wouldn't. It went
into his leg so far.' He showed the boat-hook, which he had carried below for
the purpose, and produced a sensation. 'No, silly! It was not his flesh that
held him—his breeches did. Lots of blood, of course.'
Jim thought it a
pitiful display of vanity. The gale had ministered
to a heroism as spurious as its own pretence of terror. He felt angry with the
brutal tumult of earth and sky for taking him unawares and checking unfairly a
generous readiness for narrow escapes. Otherwise he was rather glad he had not
gone into the cutter, since a lower achievement had served the turn. He had
enlarged his knowledge more than those who had done the work. When all men flinched, then—he felt sure—he alone
would know how to deal with the spurious menace of wind and seas. He knew what
to think of it. Seen dispassionately, it seemed contemptible. He could detect
no trace of emotion in himself, and the final effect of a staggering event was that, unnoticed and apart from the noisy crowd
of boys, he exulted with fresh certitude in his avidity for adventure, and in a
sense of many-sided courage.
Síntesis:
El fuerte viento y las agitadas olas provocan un
choque entre dos barcos. Los jóvenes marineros corren nerviosos. Se baja un
bote para acercarse a la nave en
desgracia. Reman con fuerza mientras el pequeño bote se balancea. Jim intenta
saltar sobre la borda, el capitán lo detiene. El bote vuelve y es recibido con
alegría. Jim siente que podría haber sido más valiente que cualquiera, mientras
el remero del cúter es el héroe de la noche. Cuenta como salvó a un hombre.
Vocabulario:
Especialmente relacionado a la navegación, los
barcos, verbos de acción, etc.
Cutter, coaster,
schooner, davits, rigging, bow, bowman, tiller, etc.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario
Deja aquí tus mensajes, comentarios o críticas. Serán bienvenidos