"Conrad, Josph - Youth" - читать интересную книгу автора (Conrad Joseph)

of rats. They ought to have left before, when we had
that narrow squeak from foundering. There you have
the proof how silly is the superstition about them. They
leave a good ship for an old rotten hulk, where there is
nothing to eat, too, the fools! . . . I don't believe they
know what is safe or what is good for them, any more
than you or I.'

"And after some more talk we agreed that the wisdom
of rats had been grossly overrated, being in fact no
greater than that of men.

"The story of the ship was known, by this, all up the
Channel from Land's End to the Forelands, and we
could get no crew on the south coast. They sent us one
all complete from Liverpool, and we left once more--for
Bankok.

"We had fair breezes, smooth water right into the
tropics, and the old Judea lumbered along in the sun-
shine. When she went eight knots everything cracked
aloft, and we tied our caps to our heads; but mostly she
strolled on at the rate of three miles an hour. What
could you expect? She was tired--that old ship. Her
youth was where mine is--where yours is--you fellows
who listen to this yarn; and what friend would throw
your years and your weariness in your face? We didn't
grumble at her. To us aft, at least, it seemed as though
we had been born in her, reared in her, had lived in her
for ages, had never known any other ship. I would
just as soon have abused the old village church at home
for not being a cathedral.

"And for me there was also my youth to make me pa-
tient. There was all the East before me, and all life, and
the thought that I had been tried in that ship and had
come out pretty well. And I thought of men of old who,
centuries ago, went that road in ships that sailed no
better, to the land of palms, and spices, and yellow sands,
and of brown nations ruled by kings more cruel than
Nero the Roman and more splendid than Solomon the
Jew. The old bark lumbered on, heavy with her age
and the burden of her cargo, while I lived the life of
youth in ignorance and hope. She lumbered on through
an interminable procession of days; and the fresh gild-
ing flashed back at the setting sun, seemed to cry out
over the darkening sea the words painted on her stern,
'Judea, London. Do or Die.'

"Then we entered the Indian Ocean and steered north-