第8章 MONKEYS ON BOARD SHIP 船上的猴子

The following account of a Senegal monkey was written by a lady who was a passenger on board the ship in which it was brought to England:—

“We had several monkeys on board, but Jack, the cook's monkey, was the prince of them all. At first Jack had been kept to one part of the deck by means of a cord; but as he grew tame he got more liberty, till at last he was allowed the whole range of the ship, excepting the captain's and the passengers' cabins.

“I was often awakened at an early hour by the quick trampling of feet on deck, and knew that it arose from a pursuit of Jack for some mischief he had been doing. He would snatch the caps off the sailors' heads, and steal their knives and other tools; I which, if not very actively pursued, he would sometimes throw overboard.

“When breakfast was preparing, Jack used to take a seat in a corner, near the grate, and, when the cook's back was turned, snatch up something from the fire, and conceal it. He sometimes burned his fingers by these tricks, and this kept him quiet for a few days. But no sooner was the pain gone, than the same thing was done again.

“Two days in each week, the pigs, which formed part of our live stock, were allowed to run about the deck for exercise; and then Jack was as happy as the day was long.

“Hiding himself behind a cask, he would suddenly spring upon the back of one of them, which then scampered round the deck in a fright. Sometimes Jack got upset, and if saluted with a laugh from the sailors, he put on a look of wonder, as much as to say, ‘ What can you have got to laugh at? ’

“Besides Jack, we had on board three little monkeys with red skins and blue faces, and Jack would often get them all on his back at once, and carry them about the vessel. When, however, I began to pet these little creatures, he became jealous, and got rid of two of them by throwing them into the sea!

“One of his drollest tricks was performed on the poor little monkey that was left. One day, the men who had been painting left their paint and brushes on the upper deck. Jack enticed the little monkey to him, then, seizing him with one hand, with the other ho took the brush and covered him with white paint from head to foot!

“The laugh of the man at the helm called my attention to this; and as soon as Jack saw that he Was discovered, he dropped his dripping brother, and scampered up to the main-top, where he stood with his nose between the bars, looking at what was going on below.

“Jack was afraid to come down, and only after three days passed in his lofty place of refuge did hunger force him to descend. He chase the moment when I was sitting on deck, and swinging himself by a rope, he dropped suddenly into my lap, looking so piteously at me for pardon, that I not only forgave him myself, but saved him from further punishment.

Soon after this I took another vessel, and Jack and I parted, never to meet again.”

Among the rules of the port of London is one which forbids, under a heavy penalty, the firing of a gun from any vessel lying there. An armed ship had just come in from a long voyage, during which she had touched at several places, and at each of them had fired a salute on anchoring.

A monkey that was on board, naturally wondering why this was omitted when he saw the anchor dropped at London, resolved, rather than that it should not take place, that he would fire the salute himself!

Accordingly, while the attention of all on board was engaged with the arrival of the ship, he went to the cooking-place, and with the tongs took out a live coal, which he applied to the touch-hole of one of the guns; and forthwith the whole neighbourhood was startled by the roar of the cannon.

The captain of the vessel was prosecuted for breaking the law; and he could only clear himself by proving that the cannon had been fired by the monkey.

Questions

Where did Jack come from? To whom did he belong? What was he allowed when he grew tame? What tricks did he play on the sailors? How did he amuse himself with the pigs? How many other monkeys were on hoard? How did Jack play with them? What made him jealous of them? How did he get rid of two of them? What droll trick did he play on the remaining one? —What law was the captain of an armed vessel once tried for breaking? Who had fired the cannon? Why? How did the captain clear himself?

Pronunciation

pas'-seu-ger ac'-tive-ly crea'-turey pit'-e-ous-ly

lib'-er-ty pre-par'-ing jeal'ous pun'-ish-ment

al-lowed' con-ceal' per-formed' voy'-age

a-wak'-ened ex'-er-cise seiz'-ing an'-chor-ing

tram'-pling sud'-den-ly at-ten'-tioc en-gaged’

下面讲述的是一位女乘客写的发生在一艘由塞内加尔驶向英格兰的船上关于猴子的故事。

我们船上有好几只猴子。但是厨师的猴子杰克，是猴子中的霸王。起初，杰克被船员用绳子拴在甲板上；当他渐渐变得温和时，厨师给了他更多的自由空间，最后杰克除了不能进船长和乘客的房间以外，可以在整艘船上任意游荡。

我通常在清晨被甲板上急促的脚步声弄醒，我知道这是因为杰克犯了错误而被船员追赶。它抢了船员的包，偷了他们的刀和其他工具；如果不被追赶，它或许会把这些东西扔进海里。

早饭已经准备妥当，杰克通常在靠近门的角落里坐下来，厨师一转身，它就从火里抓些东西，藏起来。有时它会因此弄伤自己的手指，这能让他消停几天。不过一旦疼痛消失，它就又重操旧业了。

我们的家畜中的一分子小猪，每个星期至少有两天绕着甲板奔跑锻炼身体，杰克这两天也高兴得不得了。

它藏在木桶后面，然后猛然跑出来跳到一头小猪的后背上，甲板上的其他小猪们落荒而逃。有时杰克心情烦躁，被船员们笑话，它便露出一脸惊愕的表情，好像在说，“你们嘲笑我能有什么好处？”除了杰克，船上还有三只红皮肤蓝脸庞的小猴子，杰克会带着它们，穿过桅杆。不过，当我对这些小家伙喜爱有加时，杰克就会醋意大发，甚至萌生把它们统统扔到海里的想法。

它对这只可怜的猴子做出了最滑稽的恶作剧之一。一天，船员们放下手里涂油漆的活儿跑去涂刷上层的甲板。杰克引诱小猴子到它身边，它一只手抓住小猴子，另一只手拿起刷子把它从头到脚全都刷成了白色。

舵手的笑声引起了我的注意，我看到了这一幕，杰克一看到自己被发现了，便扔下还滴着油漆的同伴，急忙逃到主桅楼。它用鼻子抵着船杆，看着下面将要发生的一切。

杰克不敢下来，三天就这么过去了，饥饿迫使它从高处的避难所下来。我坐在甲板上，它抓住这个好机会，沿着绳子摇晃着下来，突然落在我的膝盖上，可怜巴巴地看着我祈求谅解，我不但原谅了它，还帮助它免受惩罚。

“不久以后，我搭乘了另一艘船，杰克和我分道扬镳，从此再也没有见过面。”

伦敦港的法律中，有一条规定禁止船只开枪。一艘军舰刚刚结束航行，一路上途经很多地方，所到之处必会抛锚鸣枪致意。

甲板上的猴子，很好奇为什么当它到达伦敦时期盼到的不是鸣枪致敬！当船上所有人都把注意力集中在船只靠岸的时候，它来到厨房里，拿起一块儿还在燃烧的煤，把它放在炮口，旁边的人都被大炮的轰鸣声吓坏了。

船长因为触犯法律而受罚，他无法证明大炮是被猴子点着的而洗脱自己的罪名。