Chapter 9 nine red hair

The captain put his hand in the pocket of his trousers, which opened not at the sides but at the front, and being a fat man, he managed with difficulty to get out a large silver pocket watch.He looked at his watch and at the setting sun.The native helmsman glanced at him, but said nothing.The captain's eyes fell on the approaching island.A streak of white foam marked the reef.He knew there was a gap there, big enough for his ship to pass through, and he counted on seeing that gap when the ship got any closer.There was almost an hour before dark and the water in the lagoon was deep enough for them to drop anchor as they pleased.He had already seen the village in the coconut grove, the headman of that village was a friend of the mate's, and it was a pleasure to spend the night ashore there.At this moment the first mate came, and the captain turned to meet him.

We took a bottle of wine with us and got some girls to dance.He said. I don't see a gap.said the first mate. The first mate was a native, a dark, handsome fellow, who looked a bit like a late Roman emperor, and seemed to be gaining weight; but he had fine features and sharp features. I'm sure there's a gap here, said the captain, looking through the glass, I don't know why I can't find it, send a sailor up the mast to see. The first mate called a sailor and ordered him to go up the mast.The captain watched the native climb up and waited for his report.But the native shouted down below that he saw nothing but a continuous stream of foam.The captain's Samoa [Note: An island country in the South Pacific, about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand. 】Speaking like an aboriginal, he yelled at that aboriginal.

Want him to stay up there?the mate asked. What's the use of staying up there?The captain replied that the damned fool could see nothing at all.If I go up, I bet I'll be able to find that gap. He looked angrily at the slender mast.That was all right for a native who had spent his life climbing coconut trees, but he himself was fat and heavy. Come down, he cried aloud, you are as useless as a dead dog.We had to drive along the reef until we found the opening. It was a seventy-ton schooner with diesel auxiliary equipment, and if there was no head wind, it could cover four or five nautical miles an hour.The schooner was slovenly; long ago it had been painted white, but now it was dirty and black and mottled.It has a strong smell of diesel and the coconut meat of its often-shipped cargo.She was now within a hundred feet of the reef and the captain told the helmsman to steer along the reef to the opening.After a few miles, the helmsman found that he had missed the gap.He turned the bow of the boat and started back slowly.The frothy reef stretched on and on, and the sun was about to sink.After cursing the sailor's stupidity, the captain resigned, intending to wait until the next morning.

Turning the boat around, he said, I cannot drop anchor here. The boat sailed a little out to sea, and it was getting dark.The ship dropped anchor.When the sails were drawn in, the hull began to shake violently.The Apians said [Note: The capital of Samoa. ], this boat will turn upside down one day.The owner of the boat, the German-American with a big store, said that no amount of money could induce him to come aboard.A Chinese cook, wearing dirty and torn white trousers and a thin white coat, came to talk about dinner.The captain went into the cabin and saw the pilot already sitting at the table.The pilot was a tall, wizened man with a long neck. He wore blue overalls and a sleeveless sweatshirt, showing his thin arms tattooed from elbow to wrist.

Heck, have to spend the night outside.said the captain. The pilot didn't answer, and they ate in silence.A dim oil lamp was burning in the cabin.They ate canned apricots, and when the meal was over the cook brought him tea.The captain lit his cigar and went up to the upper deck.Now against the night, the island looked even more like a black mass.The stars are very bright.The crash of the waves was the only sound.The captain sat listlessly on a deck chair and smoked lazily.After a while, three or four sailors came up and sat down.One had a banjo, the other a concertina.They started playing and one of them started singing.The local folk songs are played with these instruments, which sounds very wonderful.Then, two people began to dance to the singing.It was a savage dance, rough and primitive, with a fast rhythm. When dancing, the hands and feet moved quickly and the body twisted.It's sensual, even erotic, and erotic without passion.It is entirely animal, forthright, eccentric and unmystical, in short, so natural that one might almost say it has the innocence of a child.Finally, tired of dancing, they all lay down on the deck and fell asleep, and all was silent for a while.With difficulty the captain got up from his chair and stepped over his companion.He went into the cabin, undressed, climbed into the bunk, and lay there.He was a little panting in the heat of the night.

The next morning when the light came up on the calm sea and the opening in the reef which they had missed the night before could now be seen dimly a short distance to the east of the ship, the schooner entered the lagoon.The surface of the lake is as calm as a mirror.Looking down from the crevices of the coral reef, you can see many brightly colored small fish swimming around.The captain dropped anchor, and having breakfasted, he went up on deck.The sun was shining brightly in the clear sky, but the morning air was cool and pleasant.It was Sunday, and there was a sense of tranquility, a sense of tranquility as if nature were at rest, which made the captain feel particularly comfortable.He sat looking out at the wooded shore, at his leisure.After a while, a smile slowly formed on his lips, and he threw the butt of his cigar into the sea.

I reckon I must go ashore, he said, lowering the skiff. With difficulty he climbed down the gangway and had him rowed out to the cove where the coconut palms grew to the sea, not in rows but in regular intervals.These coconut trees are really like a group of spinsters dancing ballet, old but still frivolous, standing there with their old charm, pretending to smile.He wandered, wandering through the coconut groves, and along a faintly discernible winding path, which led to a broad little river.A small bridge spans the river. This single-plank bridge is made of more than a dozen coconut trees. At the joints, it is supported by piles driven into the river bed at the bottom.People walk on the smooth and round tree trunks, which are narrow and slippery, and there are no handrails.To cross such a bridge, one must be steady on one's feet and have courage.The captain hesitated for a moment.But he saw a white man's house lying on the opposite bank surrounded by bushes; so he made up his mind and walked forward with a little trepidation.He looked at his feet carefully, the joints of the tree trunks were a little uneven, and when he walked through such places, his steps were a little staggering.When he passed the last tree trunk and his feet finally reached the opposite bank, he could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.He had been so engrossed in his laborious crossing that he had not noticed that anyone was watching him, and was therefore surprised to hear someone speak to him.

He looked up and saw a person standing in front of him.The man had evidently come out of the house he had just seen. I saw you hesitated for a moment, and the man continued, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, I have been waiting to see you fall. No way.At this moment, the captain said, he regained his confidence. I've fallen before myself.I remember, one evening, when I came back from hunting, I lost my head even with my gun.Now, I always get a kid to carry a gun for me. The speaker was not young, with a small beard growing on his chin, which was now a little gray, and his face was thin.He was wearing a sleeveless shirt, canvas trousers, and bare feet.His English is slightly accented.

Are you Nelson?asked the captain. yes. I've heard of you.I think you live somewhere around here. The captain followed his master into a small bungalow, and lumbered into the chair where the master asked him to sit.As Nelson went out to get his whiskey and glasses, he took a look around the room.This look surprised him greatly.He had never seen so many books.The walls are lined with bookshelves, from floor to ceiling, filled with books.There is a grand piano, covered with scores of music, and on a large table, some books and periodicals are placed in a mess.The house embarrassed him.He remembered that Nelson was a weirdo.No one knew him very well, although he had lived on the island for so many years, but everyone who knew him agreed that he was a strange person.He is Swedish.

You have a lot of books here.said the captain when Nelson came in. It doesn't hurt.Nelson replied with a smile. Have you read them all?asked the captain. Most of them have been read. I like to read too, and I ordered a copy of the Saturday Evening Post. Nelson poured his guest a large glass of strong whiskey and gave him a cigar.The captain took the initiative to introduce himself a little. I arrived last night, and I couldn't find the opening, so I had to park the boat outside.I've never traveled this route before, and my men have something to send here.Do you recognize this guy Gray?

Yes, he has a shop not far from here. Well, there's a lot of canned goods to deliver to him, and he's got some copra to sell.People think I'd rather come here for a walk than just sit around in Apia.I mostly commute between Apia and Patch|Patch, but at the moment, there is a smallpox there, and there is no business. He took a sip of his whiskey and lit his cigar.He wasn't much of a talker, but Nelson kind of got on his nerves, and when he got nervous he wanted to talk.The Swede was staring straight at him, with a faint amused expression in his large dark eyes. You have kept this place neat and tidy. It took me a lot of effort. You must have taken good care of these trees, they are all growing well.Copra is a hot commodity right now.I had a small plantation myself, in Upolu, and had to sell it. He looked around the room again, and the books made him feel a little daunted. However, I think you must feel a little lonely here.He said. I'm used to it.I have lived here for twenty-five years. At this moment, the captain could not think of anything to say, and he smoked for a while in silence.Nelson apparently didn't want to break the silence either.He studied his guest thoughtfully.The guest was tall, more than six feet, and very fat, with a red face covered with pimples, cheeks covered with veins, his facial features seemed to be sunken in fat, his eyes were bloodshot, and his neck was buried in circles of fat. inside.His head was nearly bald except for a small lock of long, almost white curls at the back of his head, and his broad, shiny forehead, which might have given the illusion of intelligence, made him seem rather stupid. .He was wearing very old twill khakis and a blue flannel shirt open at the neck to reveal a fleshy, red-haired chest, and he sat awkwardly in a chair with a big belly Protruding forward, the two fat legs are spread apart, and the limbs have lost their elasticity.Nelson wondered what the man had been like in his youth.It's almost impossible to imagine that this behemoth was ever a lad running around.The captain finished his whiskey and Nelson pushed the bottle towards him. Please pour yourself. The captain leaned forward, clutching the bottle in one large hand. So how did you get here? Ah, I'm here for health reasons.Both of my lungs are broken and people say I won't live a year.You see they are all wrong. I mean, how did you end up here? I am an emotional person. oh! Knowing that the captain would not understand him, Nelson gave the captain a look, sarcasm in his dark eyes.Perhaps it was because the captain was so stupid and dull that he took the whim to continue the conversation. When you crossed the bridge, you were so busy keeping your balance that you didn't notice it.But the general opinion is that it is quite beautiful here. You got a really cute little house here. Ah, when I first got here, there wasn't this house.There used to be an earth grass house with a honeycomb roof and pillars, and the whole house was covered in the shadow of a big tree full of red flowers; there were croton bushes with yellow, red and golden leaves. , forming a colorful fence.There are coconut trees everywhere, like a woman who indulges in fantasy and loves vanity.Coconut trees grow by the water, looking at themselves all day long.I was a young man at the time God it was a quarter of a century ago I wanted to enjoy all the good things in the world for the short time I could get before I died .In my opinion, this is the most beautiful place I have ever seen in my life.When I saw this place for the first time, I had a feeling of panic in my heart, and I was really afraid that I would cry.I was not yet twenty-five at the time, and although I tried my best to pretend I didn't care, I really didn't want to die.For some reason, it seemed to me that the beauty of the place made it easier for me to accept my fate.I felt that as soon as I came here, all my past life disappeared.Stockholm [Note: The capital of Sweden. ] and the university there, and Bonn [note: the former capital of West Germany. ], it seemed like it was all someone else's life, as if I had finally found the reality that our Ph.D.s, you know, I'm a Ph.D.One year, I cried to myself, and I have one more year.I'm going to spend the year here and die contented. When we were twenty-five, we were all goofy, sentimental, bad plays.However, if this is not the case, perhaps we will not be so wise when we live to be fifty years old. Please drink, my friend.Don't let my gibberish bother you. With a wave of his thin hand towards the bottle, the captain drank what was left in the glass. You didn't drink at all.As he spoke, he reached for the bottle. I'm a teetotaler, said the Swede with a smile, and I intoxicate myself in what I think are more subtle ways.Maybe that's just pretentiousness, though.In short, the effects are more lasting that way, and the results are less harmful. I heard that many people in the United States are smoking cocaine.said the captain. Nelson grinned. But I seldom see white people, he went on, and I don't think an occasional sip of whiskey can do me any harm. He poured himself some, added soda, and took a sip. It was not long before I discovered why the place had such an otherworldly beauty.Love has lingered here for a while, like a migratory bird that chances upon a ship in mid-ocean and folds its weary wings for a while, a beautiful passionate fragrance lingers over here, the fragrance Like the May hawthorn on my home pasture.It seems to me that the place where people have loved or suffered has always retained a fragrance that has not quite faded, as if they acquired a spiritual meaning that still mysteriously affects those who pass by.I wish I could make my point clear.He smiled a little, but even if I made it clear, I don't think you'd understand. He paused. I think the beauty of this place is that it was once bestowed with the joy of love.At this point, he shrugged his shoulders, but maybe it was just a coincidence of young love and suitable circumstances that satisfied my aesthetic sense.Even a man more enlightened than the captain would have been forgiven for being puzzled by what Nelson had said.Because Nelson kind of looked like he was laughing at what he said.As if he said it out of emotion, and his reason felt that this emotion combined with skepticism, often without knowing what the consequences would be. He was silent for a moment, then looked at the captain with a sudden bewilderment in his eyes. You know, I can't help but think, I've seen you somewhere before.He said. I dare not say I remember you.replied the captain. I have a strange feeling as if your face is familiar to me.I've been confused for a while.However, I cannot say where and when I saw you. The captain shrugged his fat shoulders resolutely. I have been coming to these islands for thirty years.It is impossible for a man to remember all the people he has met in such a long time. The Swede shook his head. You know, sometimes a man has that feeling that a place he's never been before is strangely familiar to him, and that's how I felt when I saw you.He gave a mischievous smile, maybe I knew you in a previous life.Maybe, maybe you are the captain of ancient Rome, and I am the slave who pulls the oars.Have you been on these islands for thirty years? A full thirty years. I don't know if you know a guy named Red Hair? red hair? All I know is his name.I don't know him personally.I never met him.Yet I seem to know him better than I do many people, say, my brothers, with whom I have lived every day for years.He lives in my imagination, like Paul.As vivid and clear as Malatesta or Romeo.But I'm afraid you've never read Dante or Shakespeare? I haven't read it.said the captain. Nelson took a puff of his cigar, leaned back in his chair, and stared blankly at the smoke rings floating in the windless air.There was a smile on the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were serious.Then he looked at the captain.There was something extraordinarily repulsive about the captain's vulgar, bloated figure.He had an air of pompous conceit because of his fatness.This is behavior that cannot be tolerated.This really rattled Nelson's nerves.Yet the stark difference between the man before him and the man he had in mind was pleasant. The red hair seemed to be one of the most beautiful people that people had ever seen.I talked to quite a few Caucasians who knew him at the time, and they all agreed that the first time you saw him, his beauty literally took your breath away.People called him Red Hair because he had fiery red hair that was naturally curly and he kept it very long.The Pre-Raphaelites must have been intoxicated by this wonderful color.I don't think he's going to think he's that big of a deal, he's too naive to do it, but no one would blame him if he did.He is very tall, six feet one and two. In the earthen house that was originally built here, there is a mark on the main pillar supporting the roof to remember his height. He looks like a man in Greek mythology. God, broad-shouldered and slender-waisted; he was like Apollo, with Praxitelis [Note: (400 BC | 330 BC) was a late classical sculptor. 】The smoothness and fullness under the knife, as well as the gentle feminine beauty, there is something annoying and incredible in it.His skin was dazzlingly white and soft as satin; his skin was like a woman's. I also had fair skin when I was a child.said the captain, with a twinkle in his bloodshot eyes. However, Nelson ignored him.He was telling a story at the moment, and interruptions made him impatient. And his face, as beautiful as his body.A pair of big blue eyes, very dark, so some people say they are black, and, unlike ordinary red-haired people, his eyebrows are dark, and his eyelashes are long and dark.He was well-proportioned, impeccable, and his mouth was like a bright red wound.He was twenty years old. At this point, the Swede paused a little theatrically to sip his whiskey. He is unique.There has never been a more beautiful person than him, which is just as inexplicable as why wild plants bloom wonderful flowers.He is a welcome windfall of good fortune. One day he landed on the little cove where you moored this morning.He was an American sailor deserted from a warship anchored in Apia.He persuaded one of the kind natives on board to let him go aboard a sloop that was sailing from Apia to Safuto, and here he was later let ashore in a canoe.I don't know the reason for his desertion.Maybe life on a warship and its constraints bored him, maybe he got stuck, maybe he was fascinated by the South Seas and these legendary islands.Oddly, these places now and then draw a man involuntarily, and the man finds himself like a fly in a spider's web.Probably there was a weakness in him. These green mountains, blue seas and gentle wind took away the strength of the northerner in him at once, just like Dalila took away the strength of the Nazarite.In short, he was going to hide, and he thought he would be safe in this secluded, secluded corner until his warship sailed from Samoa. There was a native's hut in the creek, and as he was standing there, not knowing where on earth to go, a young girl came out and asked him to come in.He couldn't understand a few words of the local dialect, and she didn't understand much English, but he was able to understand the meaning of her smile and the graceful gesture, and he followed her in.He sat down on the straw mat and she gave him slices of pineapple.I can only talk about the red hair by hearsay, but I met the girl three years after his first meeting, when she was only nineteen years old.You can't imagine how elegant and beautiful she is.She has the passionate beauty and colorful demeanor of hibiscus.She was tall and slender, with the fair features of her race, with large eyes like two peaceful pools under palm trees; her hair was black and curly, hanging down her back, and she wore a fragrant wreath.Her hands are so lovely, so small, with fingers so slender, it's almost a thrill.In those days she used to smile so much it made your knees tremble.Her skin was like a field of ripe wheat in summer.My God, how can I describe her?She was too beautiful to be real. These two young people, she was sixteen and he was twenty, fell in love at first sight.That's real love, not the kind that comes out of sympathy and mutual interest and mutual understanding, but raw love, simple love.It was the love of Adam waking up in the garden and finding Eve's watery eyes staring at him, reaching out to touch her.That is the love that makes the world a miracle, that is the love that makes life rich and meaningful.You never heard that from a clever and cynical French duke, did you?In a pair of lovers, he said, there is always one who loves and the other who receives love; it is a harsh truth that most of us have to let go of it, but sometimes there are also two who love , while allowing yourself to be loved.Thus one might believe that the sun really stood still, as it did in Joshua's prayer to the God of Israel. Even now, after all these years, when I think of these two people, so young, so beautiful, so simple, and their love, I feel a sudden pang of pain.This perfect love broke my heart, just as it broke my heart some nights when I saw the clear sky and the setting moon on the lagoon.It always hurts to think of pure and unblemished beauty. They are all children.She is kind, lovely, and considerate.Although I knew nothing about him, I always thought that at that time, however, he was simple and frank.I also think his mind is as beautiful as his body.However, I also dare say that he has no complicated mind like those creatures in the woods in the savage period of human beings. At that time, they made flutes out of reeds and bathed in mountain streams. The bearded centaur galloped across the glade on the back of the monster.The mind is a distressing thing, and when a man's mind grows, he loses the Garden of Eden. Well, when the red hair came to this island, there had just been a plague on the island, which was brought to the South China Sea by the white people, and one-third of the residents died.It seemed that all the girl's close relatives were dead, and she was now living with distant relatives.The family consisted of two wizened old women, bent and wrinkled, and two younger women, a man and a child.The red hair stayed there for a few days.Perhaps, however, he felt that being too close to the sea might meet white people and give away his hiding place; perhaps the reluctance of these two lovers to be with other people made it impossible for them to enjoy even a moment together.One morning the pair set out, taking some of the girl's belongings with them, and walked along the grassy path under the coconut trees to the little river you can see.They must cross that bridge you just crossed, and the girl smiled so gladly to see him afraid.She took his hand and walked through the first tree trunk, but he lost his courage and had to go back again.He had to take off all his clothes and take another risk.She put these stripped clothes on her head and carried them across the river.There they lived in an empty hut.Whether she had any claim over the cottage (because land tenure is a complicated thing on the island) or whether the owner died during the plague, I don't know, but no one ever disputed them, so they put It has it for itself.Their furniture consisted of two sleeping mats, a broken mirror, and a bowl or two.These few things are enough to start a family on this delightful island. It is said that a happy man has no history, and surely a happy love has no history.They have nothing to do all day, yet the days always seem to be short.The girl had a local name, but the red hair called her Sally.He quickly mastered this simple language, and he would lie on the mat for hours, while the girl talked to him happily.He was a man of few words, perhaps not very quick-witted.He incessantly smoked the cigarettes she had rolled for him with local tobacco and pandanus leaves.He watched her weave straw mats with ten deft fingers.Locals often come to tell endless stories of the island's past when it was ravaged by tribal wars.Sometimes he went fishing on the reef and brought back a basket full of brightly colored fish.Sometimes, he carried a lantern to catch lobsters at night.There were many plantains around the hut, and Sally roasted them for their frugal meals.She knew how to make delicious food out of coconuts, and the bread trees by the river provided them with fruit.On any festival they slaughtered a piglet and roasted it on hot stones, and they bathed together in the creek; and at dusk they rowed in the lagoon, in canoes with fork rests. .The sea is deep blue, and at sunset it is burgundy, like the Greek sea in Homer's epic; but the color of the lagoon is ever-changing, it is now sapphire, now amethyst, now emerald green. ; The setting sun turned it into a transparent golden yellow in an instant.Then there are coral, brown, white, pink, red, purple and other colors, and the shapes are all kinds of strange.The lake is like a magical garden, and the fish that come and go are like a swarm of butterflies.It was so bizarre that it hardly seemed like the real world.Among the corals are pools with white sand bottoms. The sea water here is sparkling and crystal clear, making it a good place to take a bath.So, in the twilight, feeling cool and happy, they walked back to the other side of the creek, hand in hand, on the soft grass path.At this time, there was a clamor of frightened birds among the coconut trees.Then night came, and the great sky was golden, and it seemed wider than the skies of Europe, and the wind blew softly through the cottage with the open door, and the night was long and always short.She was sixteen and he was only twenty.The morning light came in quietly through the wooden pillars of the hut, watching the two lovely children sleeping there hugging each other.The sun hid behind the tattered plantain leaves so as not to disturb them, but after a while, as if mischievously, a ray of golden light fell on their faces like a Persian cat outstretched its paw.They opened their sleepy eyes and smiled to welcome another day.Weeks turned into months, and a year passed in the blink of an eye.They seem to love each other so passionately that I hesitate to say, because passion itself always has a hint of sadness, a little bit of bitterness or pain, or rather, they love each other as wholeheartedly as they did on the first day they met, so Simple, so natural, they realized that the gods possessed them as soon as they met that day. If you had asked them at the time, I am sure they would have thought that their love would never end.Don't we know that the essential element of love is to believe that love itself is immortal?However, maybe the red hair has a very small seed in his heart, although he doesn't know it, and the girl doesn't know it either, but this seed will gradually turn into boredom in due time.For one day a native of the Little Bay came up to them and told them that there was an English whaling ship anchored somewhere on the other side of the coast. Well, said he, I wonder if I could trade some plantains and mangoes for a pound or two of tobacco. The pandanus that Sally had worked tirelessly to make for him, though good and strong enough to smoke, did not satisfy him.He had a sudden urge to smoke real tobacco, the strong, foul, pungent tobacco. He hadn't smoked a pipe for months.He drooled at the thought of tobacco.One would have thought that a harbinger of disaster might lead Sally to try to dissuade him, but love had taken possession of her so thoroughly that it never occurred to her that any power in the world could take him from her.Together they went up the hills and picked a great basket of wild oranges, which were green, but sweet and full of juice; Taking these things to the cove and loading them in the rickety canoe, Red and the native boy who brought them news of the whaling ship went out along the reef. It was the last time she saw him. The next day, the child came back alone.She became a teardrop.Here is his story.A white man looked over the side and let them go aboard.They brought fruit on board, and Red Hair piled them on the deck.The white man talked with the red hair, and then they seemed to have reached an agreement.A man went down below to fetch tobacco.The red hair immediately grabbed a bit and lit the pipe.The child also imitated the red-haired way of spitting out a large stream of smoke from his mouth with great interest.Afterwards, they said a few words to Hongmao, and Hongmao went to the cabin.The child looked through the open door curiously, and he saw people bring out bottles and glasses, and the red hair was smoking and drinking.They seemed to be asking him something, and he shook his head and laughed.The man who finally talked to Hongmao also laughed, and he poured Hongmao another glass of wine.They continued talking and drinking, and soon the child, tired of watching scenes that had nothing to do with him, fell asleep curled up on the deck.Then he was kicked awake and he jumped up to see the whaler coming slowly out of the lagoon.He saw Red Hair sitting at the table, his head resting heavily on his arms, fast asleep.The boy was walking towards him, trying to wake him, but a hand grabbed him roughly by the arm, and someone glared and said something he could not understand, and pointed to the side.The child yelled loudly at the red hair, but in the blink of an eye, he was caught and thrown into the sea.There was nothing he could do but swim around to find his canoe, which had drifted a little way and he pushed it out to the reef.He climbed into the canoe, sobbing all the way, and rowed it to the shore. It was clear enough what had happened.The whaling ship was short of manpower due to desertion and illness. As soon as Hong Mao boarded the ship, the captain asked him to sign for employment; when Hong Mao refused, the captain got him drunk and kidnapped him. Sally was mad with grief.She cried for three days.The natives tried their best to comfort her, but they couldn't comfort her.She refuses to eat.Later, when she was exhausted, she became gloomy and aloof.She stayed at the cove all day looking out at the lagoon, hoping in vain that Red would somehow manage to get back.Hour after hour she sat on the white sand with tears streaming down her cheeks, and in the evening she dragged herself weary across the creek to the cottage where she had spent her happy days.在紅毛來這個島以前同她一起生活過的那些人，都希望她再回到他們那裡去，可是，她不肯去，她確信紅毛會回來。她要讓紅毛在他離開她的地方找到她。四個月後，她生下了一個死嬰。那個在她分娩期間跑來幫忙的老太婆就留下來陪她住在小屋裡，她的生活失去了一切樂趣。如果說她的痛苦隨著時間的推移變得不那麼難以忍受了，那只是因為被一種固定的憂鬱症取代了。這些土著的感情，儘管非常強烈，卻總是倏忽即逝的，人們一定沒有想到能在他們中間發現一個女人會有如此持久的激情。她從來不喪失這個堅定的信念，即認為紅毛遲早準會回來。她在等待他，每回有人經過那座用椰子樹幹做成的獨木小橋時，她總要看一看。說不定終於是他來了。 尼爾森不說下去了，他輕輕嘆了一口氣。 最後她怎麼樣啦？asked the captain. 尼爾森苦笑一下。 啊，三年後，她又結交了一個白人。 船長發出一陣粗魯而譏誚的笑聲。 她們一般都是這樣。He said. 那個瑞典人朝他憎恨地看了一眼。他不知道這個肥胖、粗蠢的人為什麼會激起他如此強烈的嫌惡。但是，他的思想又走岔了，他發覺他腦海裡盡是過去的種種記憶。他又回到了二十五年前。那時節，他初次來到這個島上，阿皮亞和阿皮亞那種花天酒地、么五喝六的生活都教他生厭了，他是個病人，不再懷有在事業上飛黃騰達的非分之想。他堅決把成名成家的一切希望都置之腦後，能夠過幾個月保重身體的生活就心滿意足了。他寄居在一個混血兒商人那裡，這人在幾英哩外海邊村子旁開了一爿鋪子。 有一天，他信步沿著椰子樹叢中的草徑走去，忽然看到薩麗住的那間小屋。這個地方的美真使他樂極而悲從中來，接著，他又看到了薩麗。她是他生平所曾見到的最可愛的麗人，她那雙極其動人的深色眼睛裡的悲傷神色格外打動了他。南海土著是容貌俊俏的種族，在他們中間，美人並不是稀罕的，但是，那是一種形體美好的動物的美，那是空虛的美。而這雙神祕的深黑色眼睛，卻使人感到一個正在探索的心靈的無邊的痛苦。那個商人把這番故事說給他聽，他聽了十分感動。 你認為他還會回來嗎？Nelson asked. Nothing.唔，要過幾年之後，那艘船才會給他算清工資，那時候，他早就把她忘得一乾二淨了。我敢說，他醒來，發覺自己被拐的那會兒，一定是氣得發狂，要找個什麼人打一架。不過，他還是得苦笑一下忍受下去，我想，用不了一個月時間，他就會認為，他能夠離開那個海島，倒是他生平所碰到的最好的事情了。 尼爾森始終忘不了這個故事。也許因為他生病，身體虛弱，他總是要想到紅毛那個健美的身體。他自己生得很醜，其貌不揚，他特別欣賞別人的美。他從來沒有熱愛過別人，更沒有被別人熱戀過。那兩個年輕人的雙方共同吸引，給予他一種特殊的喜悅。這種愛情具有那種無法表達的絕對的美。他又跑到河邊那間小屋那裡去。他有語言的天賦，又有奮發的決心，慣於埋頭苦幹，他已經花了很多時間來學本地話。他的老脾氣改不了，他正在為一篇論薩摩亞語言的文章搜集資料。同薩麗住在一起的那個老太婆請他到小屋裡去坐坐。她請他喝卡瓦酒、抽菸。有人可以聊天，她很高興。老太婆說話的時候，他就盯著薩麗看。她使他想起了那不勒斯博物館裡的普賽克。她的面貌有著同樣清晰的線條，儘管她已生過孩子，她還是有處女的容顏。 他見過她兩三次後，才使她開口說話，而她說話只是為了問他是否在阿皮亞見到過一個叫做紅毛的人。紅毛已經失蹤兩年了，但顯然她還一直在想著他。 尼森不久便發覺自己愛上她了。現在只是憑著主觀意志上的努力克制，才使他沒有天天到小河那邊去，他不跟薩麗在一起的時候，他還是在始終想到她。起初，他把自己看成是一個垂死的人，只求能看看她，偶爾能聽她說說話，他這種愛給他帶來一種美妙的幸福感。他為這種愛的純潔而欣喜若狂。他對她別無所求，只求有機會圍著這個可愛人兒編織一個有種種美好幻想的網。可是，野外的空氣，穩定的氣溫，充分的休息，簡單的飯食，開始對他的身體起了意想不到的作用。他夜間的體溫已不再升到那麼驚人的高度，他不大咳嗽了，體重開始有所增加；六個月過去了，他也沒有咯過一次血；突然之間，他覺得自己有可能活下去了。他仔細研究了自己的病狀，開始產生了希望，覺得只要極其小心注意，他就能夠阻止病情發展。這使他興奮得再次對未來有所期望了。他訂了一些計劃。要再過任何積極有為的生活顯然是完全辦不到了，但是，他可以在這個島上生活，他那點不多的收入，在別的地方不夠用，卻完全可以維持他在這裡的生活。他可以種椰子樹；這可以使他有事做；他可以請人把他的書籍和鋼琴運來；可是他的機敏的頭腦知道，所有這一切都不過是要掩飾那個使他著了迷的願望而已。 他要薩麗。他不僅愛她的美，而且愛她那雙哀怨的眼睛後面的那個朦朧的心靈。他要使她陶醉在自己的激情中。到頭來，他就會使她忘卻過去。這時他沉溺在狂喜之中，設想著他自己也可以給她幸福，這種幸福，他本來以為是絕不會再碰到了，可現在卻如此奇蹟似地出現了。 他求她同他一起生活。She refused.他本來就料到她會拒絕，因此，也不怎樣沮喪，他很有把握地認為，她遲早總會讓步。他的愛是不可抗拒的。他把自己的願望告訴了那個老太婆，結果有點出他意料地知道，她和鄰居們早就覺察到他們兩人的情況，都竭力勸薩麗接受他的要求。所有的土著畢竟都樂於為白人管家，況且用這個島的標準看，尼爾森就算是個有錢人了，他所寄居的那個商人也來勸她別作傻瓜，這種機會是不會再來的，經過這麼久之後，她不能再認為紅毛還會回來了。那個姑娘的抗拒反而增強了尼爾森的願望，本來是一種十分純潔的愛，現在卻成了一種引起痛苦的激情了。他已經下了決心，什麼也阻擋不了他。他使薩麗不得安寧。最後，由於他的百折不撓，一會兒懇求，一會兒發怒，加上她周圍每個人的勸說，她給搞得疲憊不堪，只好答應了。但是，第二天，等他喜氣洋洋地跑去看她時，卻發現她頭天晚上已把那間她同紅毛一起住過的小屋燒成平地。那個老太婆跑到他跟前來生氣地大罵薩麗，可是，他不理會她，這沒有關係；他們可以在小屋原址再蓋起一座平房來。如果他要把一架鋼琴和一大批書都搬來的話，一座歐洲式的房屋確實比較合適。 那間小木屋就這樣造起來了，他現在已經在那裡頭住了許多年，薩麗也成為他的妻子了。不過，在開頭幾個星期的狂喜之後（在這幾個星期中，他因為得到了她所給他的東西而心滿意足），他就體會不到什麼幸福了。她是因為疲憊不堪而向他讓步的，她所讓步的也只是她所不重視的東西。那個他曾經隱約地窺見的心靈卻可望而不可及了。他知道她一點也不愛他。她還是愛紅毛，她始終在等紅毛回來。儘管有他的愛情，他的溫存，他的同情和他的大度，尼爾森知道，只要紅毛一招手，她就會毫不遲疑地離他而去。她絕不會想到他的痛苦。他的身心極度苦痛，他猛攻她那陰鬱地抗拒他的冷若冰霜的態度。他的愛變成了苦。他對她非常好，想以此來軟化她的心，可是，那顆心還是像先前一樣硬。他佯裝毫不在乎，她也不予理會。有時候，他發脾氣斥責她，她就悄悄地啜泣。有時候，他認為她不過是個騙子，那心靈只不過是他自己的虛構，因此，他之所以不能進入她那個心的聖殿，是因為那兒根本就沒有什麼聖殿，他的愛已成了一座牢獄，他渴望從那裡逃走，可是，他卻連打開門這是唯一需要做的事走到戶外去的這點力氣也沒有。這真折磨人，他終於變得麻木絕望了。最後，火自行燒光了。每逢他看到她眼光在那座獨木橋上時，他心頭湧上來的已不再是怒火而是不耐煩了。他們出於習慣和方便住在一起，至今已有多年了，他現在回想起自己昔日的激情，只是一笑置之。她已是個老太婆了，因為島上的婦女都老得快，如果說，他對她已不再有任何愛的話，卻還有寬容之心。他怎麼做，她倒也全然不管。他只得從他那架鋼琴和許多書本中尋求安慰。 他的思潮使他很想說話。 當我現在回憶往事，想到紅毛和薩麗那種短暫的熱烈的愛情的時候，我不覺認為，他們也許應該感謝那無情的命運，在他們的愛情似乎還是處於頂點時就把他們拆開。他們吃了苦頭，可是，他們吃的是美的苦頭。他們得免於一場真正的愛情悲劇。 我好像沒有完全懂得你的意思。said the captain. 愛情的悲劇並不是生離死別。你知道得過多久，兩個人之中才會有一個感到不再愛了？啊，看到一個你曾全心全意地愛過的女人，這人你曾經覺得一看不到她就受不了，可現在你終於領悟到，如果你從此再看不到她也無所謂，這才是真正非常痛苦，愛情的悲劇就是冷漠。 可是，就在他說話的時候，有一件異常的事發生了。雖然他一直在對著這位船長說話，卻並不是在和他談，他一直是在自言自語，眼睛雖然盯著他面前這個人，卻是視而不見。可是，現在卻有一個形象出現在他的面前，不是他所看到的這個人，而是另一個人的形象。仿佛他在照著一面使人顯得格外矮胖或者細長得荒謬絕倫的哈哈鏡，不過，這會兒，情況恰好相反，他在這個肥胖的醜老頭身上依稀看到一個年輕小伙子的影子。這當兒，他對老頭探究似地很快地仔細看了一下。為什麼隨隨便便的散步就使這人走到這個地方來呢？他的心突然一驚，幾乎透不過氣來。他猛地起了一種荒謬的懷疑。他所想到的事情是不可思議的，然而，它可能是個事實。 May I have your name?he asked abruptly. 那個船長的臉皺成一團，狡猾地嘻嘻一笑。這時他顯得滿懷惡意，非常鄙俗。 他媽的已經這麼久沒有聽到我的名字，我自己也都快忘記了。不過，三十年來在這一帶的島上，人們一直管我叫紅毛。 他發出一聲低低的、簡直是聽不到的笑聲。那龐大的身軀顫動著，這真是卑鄙。尼爾森打了個寒顫。紅毛卻感到這有趣極了，淚水從他充血的眼睛裡順著雙頰流下來。 尼爾森倒抽了一口冷氣，因為這當兒，一個婦女進來了。她是個土著，一個外貌有幾分威儀的婦女，粗壯而還不是痴肥，膚色很深，土著的膚色總是隨著年紀增長而變深，頭髮灰白得厲害。她穿著一件黑色的寬大長衫，薄薄的衣料顯出她那大大的胸脯。緊要關頭來到了。 她跟尼爾森說了幾句有關家務的話，尼爾森回答了。尼爾森覺得自己的聲音有點不自然，但不知道她有沒有聽出來。她朝那個坐在窗邊椅子裡的男人冷淡地掃了一眼後，就徑直走了出去。緊要關頭又去了。 尼爾森一時說不出話來。他激動得很厲害。後來他說： 如果你能留下來同我一起，吃點便飯，我將十分高興。 我想，不啦，紅毛說，我得去找這個叫做格雷的傢伙。我把東西交給他後就要走了。我想明天就回阿皮亞。 我找個孩子同你一起去，給你帶路。 That's great. 紅毛有點費勁地從坐椅上站起來，那個瑞典人找了個種植園幹活的孩子，告訴他船長要上哪兒去，那孩子便沿著小橋走去，紅毛準備跟他過橋。 可別掉下去。 決計不會掉下去。 尼爾森看著他過橋，等到他消失在椰子樹叢時，他還是在看。接著，他沉重地往椅子裡坐下去。使他不快活的，就是這個人嗎？薩麗愛了這麼些年，並且不顧一切地等待著的，就是這個人嗎？這真是可笑。他突然感到十分氣憤，他有一種本能的衝動，想跳起來，把周圍的一切東西都砸個稀巴爛。他受騙了。他們終於彼此見了面，卻一點也不知道。他開始笑了，是悲哀的笑，他笑得越來越厲害，直到變成了狂笑。神明對他開了一個殘酷的玩笑。可現在他已經老啦。 後來，薩麗進來告訴他開飯了。他在她面前坐下來準備吃飯。他心裡想，如果他現在告訴她，剛才坐在椅子裡的胖老頭，就是她仍然用青春的全部熱情去思念著的那個人，他不知道她會怎麼說。多年以前，在他因為她使自己那麼不快活而怨恨她的時候，他一定樂於這樣告訴她。他那時真想像她傷他感情那樣地去傷她的感情，因為他之所以怨恨僅僅是為了愛。可現在他已不在乎了。他冷淡地聳聳肩。 剛才那個人來幹什麼？she asked. 他沒有立即回答。她太老了，是個又胖又老的土著婦人。他不明白自己過去為什麼會那麼狂愛她。他曾經把他心靈的一切寶貴東西都堆在她腳下，她卻不屑一顧。浪費，多大的浪費！可現在，當他瞧著她去看橋的時候，他心裡只感到輕蔑。他的耐性終於消耗淨盡了。他回答她剛才的問話。 他是一艘縱帆船船長。他是從阿皮亞來的。 ah. 他給我帶來了消息。我大哥病得很厲害，我必須回去。 你會去很久嗎。 He shrugged.