UNDER THE DECK AWNINGS

Part I

"Can a man — I mean, a gentleman — call a woman a pig?"

The little man spoke to the whole group. Nobody answered.

The little man looked at each of the men in turn and spoke to one of them.

"I ask you, Mr Treloar, can any man call any woman a pig?"

Treloar, who was sitting next to him, did not answer at once.

"I think," he began slowly, "that it - it depends on the lady."

The little man looked angrily at him: "You mean ..."

"Yes, I mean that I have met a woman who was worse than a pig. If you wish, I shall tell you the story and then ask you what you think of her.

"Miss Caruthers shall » call her (though that is not her real name). It was on a boat sailing the Southern seas and it happened a few years ago. Her father was a high official whose name you all know very well, and that is the reason why I don't mention it.

"Miss Caruthers was charming. No, that is not the word. She was wonderful.

She was a beautiful young woman, and a lady.

She was with her mother and two maids at that time. They were going East to join her father there.

"She — excuse me for repeating it — was wonderful. There was nothing she could not do better than any woman and — most of the men. She could sing, play, dance, swim! Nobody could compete with her.

"But her swimming! She was very beautiful, as I have told you, small and thin. But she also had strength. She could stay under water for two minutes. No man on board, except Dennitson, could get as many coins with one dive. On the deck there was a big tank filled with six-feet sea water. We used to throw small coins into it. She would dive from the bridge — this was not an easy thing to do — and fetch up not less than forty-seven coins from the bottom of the tank.

"She was a sea-woman, really. But she was a landwoman too. She could ride, she could play tennis, she could do anything. She was a wonder. And she was clever, witty, charming.

All the men were in love with her. I myself was in love with her. She was always surrounded by men, young and old, who were ready to do everything she wished.

"She ran the ship, she ran the voyage, she ran everything, and she ran Dennitson. He was in love with her like all of us. But she liked him better than the others, and that feeling was growing.

What would have happened we shall never know, because we came to Colombo" and something else happened.

"You k'now Colombo, and how the native boys' dive for coins in the bay full of sharks. Of course they risk to do it only with the smaller and less dangerous sharks. It is really surprising how they know sharks and can feel the presence of a real killer — a tiger shark, for instance.

Whenever such a shark appears, all the boys get hurriedly out of the water.

"It was after lunch, and Miss Caruthers was as usual surrounded by her admirers. Old Captain Bentley had just been whistled up " and had given her permission (he had never allowed this before ... nor since14 for the boys to come up on deck. You see, Miss Caruthers was a swimmer, and she was interested. She took all our small coins and herself threw them into the water. She gave extra rewards to the best swimmers, in short, she ran the whole show.

(After J. London)

1 Under the Deck Awnings ['o:niijz] "Под палубным тентом"

2 Treloar [tri'laua]

3 Caruthers [кэ'глЭэг]

4 on a boat sailing the Southern ['злЭэп] seas на пароходе, который плыл по южным морям

5 that is the reason why I don't mention it поэтому-то я и не называю его имени

6 a big tank filled with six-feet sea water большой бассейн глубиной в шесть футов, наполненный морской водой

7 used [ju:st] to throw имели обыкновение бросать

8 would dive обычно ныряла

9 She ran the ship, she ran the voyage Она управляла кораблем, она командовала путешествием

10 What would have happened Чем бы все это кончилось

11 Colombo [ka'l/vmbou] Коломбо

12 native boys мальчики-туземцы

13 had just been whistled up его только что подозвали (свисткам — намек на то, что Мисс Карутерс стоило только свистнуть, чтобы он явился)

14 he had never allowed this before... nor since он никогда этого не разрешал ни до... ни после этого случая