"Alexander Green - Crimson Sails" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Alexander)

less and less frequently, since Gray was advancing towards his goal with
clenched teeth and a pale face. He bore the strenuous toil with a
determined effort of will, feeling that it was becoming ever easier as the
stern ship broke into his body and ineptitude was replaced by habit. On
occasion the loop of the anchor chain would knock him off his feet,
slamming him against the deck, or a rope that was not wound around the
bitts would be torn out of his hands, taking the skin off his palms, or the
wind would slap the wet corner of a sail with an iron ring sewn into it
against his face; in a word, all his work was torture which demanded the
utmost attention, yet, no matter how hard he breathed as he slowly
straightened his back, a scornful smile never left his face. In silence did he
endure all the scoffing, taunts and inevitable cursing until he became "one
of the boys" in his new surroundings, but from then on he always
countered an insult with his fists.
Once, when Captain Hop saw him skilfully tying a sail toll a yard, he
said to himself: "Victory is on your side, you scoundrel." When Gray
climbed down to the deck Hop summoned him to his cabin and, opening a
dog-eared book, said:
"Listen closely. Stop smoking! We'll start fitting the pup out to be a
captain."
And he began to read or, rather, to enunciate and shout the ancient
words of the sea. This was Gray's first lesson. In the course of a year he got
to know about navigation, shipbuilding, maritime law, sailing directions
and bookkeeping. Captain Hop proffered him his hand and referred to the
two of them as "we".
His mother's letter, full of tears and dread, caught up with Gray in
Vancouver. He replied: "I know. But if you could only see as I do: look at
things through my eyes. If you could only hear as I do: put a seashell to
your ear--it carries the sound of an eternal wave; if you could only love as I
do--everything, I would have found in your letter, besides love and a
cheque, a smile." And he went on sailing until the Anselm arrived with a
cargo for Dubelt from whence, while the ship was docked, the
twenty-year-old Gray set off to visit the castle.
Everything was as it had always been; as inviolable in detail and in
general impression as five years before, although the crowns of the young
elms were larger; the pattern they made on the facade of the building had
moved and expanded.
The servants who came running were overjoyed, startled and froze as
respectfully as if they had but yesterday greeted this Gray. He was told
where his mother was; he entered the high chamber and, drawing the
door shut softly, stopped soundlessly, gazing at the woman, now turned
grey, in the black dress. She was standing before a crucifix; her fervent
whisper was as audible as the pounding of a heart. "And bless those at sea,
the wayfarers, the sick, the suffering and the imprisoned," Gray heard the
words as he breathed rapidly. There followed: "And my boy.... " Then he
said: "Here...." But he could say no more. His mother turned. She had
become thinner; a new expression lit up the haughtiness of her chiselled
face, like the return of youth. She hurried towards her son; a burst of
throaty laughter, a restrained exclamation and tears of her eyes--this was
all. But in that moment she lived -- more fully and happier than in the