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- Джозеф Конрад
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It
would
have
had
to
come
to
that
in
the
end
!
It
was
fortunate
she
had
forced
his
hand
.
In
another
year
or
two
it
would
have
been
an
utterly
barren
sale
.
To
keep
the
ship
going
he
had
been
involving
himself
deeper
every
year
.
He
was
defenseless
before
the
insidious
work
of
adversity
,
to
whose
more
open
assaults
he
could
present
a
firm
front
;
like
a
cliff
that
stands
unmoved
the
open
battering
of
the
sea
,
with
a
lofty
ignorance
of
the
treacherous
backwash
undermining
its
base
.
As
it
was
,
every
liability
satisfied
,
her
request
answered
,
and
owing
no
man
a
penny
,
there
remained
to
him
from
the
proceeds
a
sum
of
five
hundred
pounds
put
away
safely
.
In
addition
he
had
upon
his
person
some
forty
odd
dollars
--
enough
to
pay
his
hotel
bill
,
providing
he
did
not
linger
too
long
in
the
modest
bedroom
where
he
had
taken
refuge
.
Scantily
furnished
,
and
with
a
waxed
floor
,
it
opened
into
one
of
the
side-verandas
.
The
straggling
building
of
bricks
,
as
airy
as
a
bird-cage
,
resounded
with
the
incessant
flapping
of
rattan
screens
worried
by
the
wind
between
the
white-washed
square
pillars
of
the
sea-front
.
The
rooms
were
lofty
,
a
ripple
of
sunshine
flowed
over
the
ceilings
;
and
the
periodical
invasions
of
tourists
from
some
passenger
steamer
in
the
harbor
flitted
through
the
wind-swept
dusk
of
the
apartments
with
the
tumult
of
their
unfamiliar
voices
and
impermanent
presences
,
like
relays
of
migratory
shades
condemned
to
speed
headlong
round
the
earth
without
leaving
a
trace
.
The
babble
of
their
irruptions
ebbed
out
as
suddenly
as
it
had
arisen
;
the
draughty
corridors
and
the
long
chairs
of
the
verandas
knew
their
sight-seeing
hurry
or
their
prostrate
repose
no
more
;
and
Captain
Whalley
,
substantial
and
dignified
,
left
well-nigh
alone
in
the
vast
hotel
by
each
light-hearted
skurry
,
felt
more
and
more
like
a
stranded
tourist
with
no
aim
in
view
,
like
a
forlorn
traveler
without
a
home
.
In
the
solitude
of
his
room
he
smoked
thoughtfully
,
gazing
at
the
two
sea-chests
which
held
all
that
he
could
call
his
own
in
this
world
.
A
thick
roll
of
charts
in
a
sheath
of
sailcloth
leaned
in
a
corner
;
the
flat
packing-case
containing
the
portrait
in
oils
and
the
three
carbon
photographs
had
been
pushed
under
the
bed
.
He
was
tired
of
discussing
terms
,
of
assisting
at
surveys
,
of
all
the
routine
of
the
business
.
What
to
the
other
parties
was
merely
the
sale
of
a
ship
was
to
him
a
momentous
event
involving
a
radically
new
view
of
existence
.
He
knew
that
after
this
ship
there
would
be
no
other
;
and
the
hopes
of
his
youth
,
the
exercise
of
his
abilities
,
every
feeling
and
achievement
of
his
manhood
,
had
been
indissolubly
connected
with
ships
.
He
had
served
ships
;
he
had
owned
ships
;
and
even
the
years
of
his
actual
retirement
from
the
sea
had
been
made
bearable
by
the
idea
that
he
had
only
to
stretch
out
his
hand
full
of
money
to
get
a
ship
.
He
had
been
at
liberty
to
feel
as
though
he
were
the
owner
of
all
the
ships
in
the
world
.
The
selling
of
this
one
was
weary
work
;
but
when
she
passed
from
him
at
last
,
when
he
signed
the
last
receipt
,
it
was
as
though
all
the
ships
had
gone
out
of
the
world
together
,
leaving
him
on
the
shore
of
inaccessible
oceans
with
seven
hundred
pounds
in
his
hands
.
Striding
firmly
,
without
haste
,
along
the
quay
,
Captain
Whalley
averted
his
glances
from
the
familiar
roadstead
.
Two
generations
of
seamen
born
since
his
first
day
at
sea
stood
between
him
and
all
these
ships
at
the
anchorage
.
His
own
was
sold
,
and
he
had
been
asking
himself
,
What
next
?
From
the
feeling
of
loneliness
,
of
inward
emptiness
,
--
and
of
loss
too
,
as
if
his
very
soul
had
been
taken
out
of
him
forcibly
,
--
there
had
sprung
at
first
a
desire
to
start
right
off
and
join
his
daughter
.
"
Here
are
the
last
pence
,
"
he
would
say
to
her
;
"
take
them
,
my
dear
.
And
here
's
your
old
father
:
you
must
take
him
too
.
"
His
soul
recoiled
,
as
if
afraid
of
what
lay
hidden
at
the
bottom
of
this
impulse
.
Give
up
!
Never
!
When
one
is
thoroughly
weary
all
sorts
of
nonsense
come
into
one
's
head
.
A
pretty
gift
it
would
have
been
for
a
poor
woman
--
this
seven
hundred
pounds
with
the
incumbrance
of
a
hale
old
fellow
more
than
likely
to
last
for
years
and
years
to
come
.
Was
he
not
as
fit
to
die
in
harness
as
any
of
the
youngsters
in
charge
of
these
anchored
ships
out
yonder
?
He
was
as
solid
now
as
ever
he
had
been
.
But
as
to
who
would
give
him
work
to
do
,
that
was
another
matter
Were
he
,
with
his
appearance
and
antecedents
,
to
go
about
looking
for
a
junior
's
berth
,
people
,
he
was
afraid
,
would
not
take
him
seriously
;
or
else
if
he
succeeded
in
impressing
them
,
he
would
maybe
obtain
their
pity
,
which
would
be
like
stripping
yourself
naked
to
be
kicked
.
He
was
not
anxious
to
give
himself
away
for
less
than
nothing
.
He
had
no
use
for
anybody
's
pity
.
On
the
other
hand
,
a
command
--
the
only
thing
he
could
try
for
with
due
regard
for
common
decency
--
was
not
likely
to
be
lying
in
wait
for
him
at
the
corner
of
the
next
street
.
Commands
do
n't
go
a-begging
nowadays
.
Ever
since
he
had
come
ashore
to
carry
out
the
business
of
the
sale
he
had
kept
his
ears
open
,
but
had
heard
no
hint
of
one
being
vacant
in
the
port
.
And
even
if
there
had
been
one
,
his
successful
past
itself
stood
in
his
way
.
He
had
been
his
own
employer
too
long
.
The
only
credential
he
could
produce
was
the
testimony
of
his
whole
life
.
What
better
recommendation
could
anyone
require
?
But
vaguely
he
felt
that
the
unique
document
would
be
looked
upon
as
an
archaic
curiosity
of
the
Eastern
waters
,
a
screed
traced
in
obsolete
words
--
in
a
half-forgotten
language
.
Revolving
these
thoughts
,
he
strolled
on
near
the
railings
of
the
quay
,
broad-chested
,
without
a
stoop
,
as
though
his
big
shoulders
had
never
felt
the
burden
of
the
loads
that
must
be
carried
between
the
cradle
and
the
grave
.
No
single
betraying
fold
or
line
of
care
disfigured
the
reposeful
modeling
of
his
face
.
It
was
full
and
untanned
;
and
the
upper
part
emerged
,
massively
quiet
,
out
of
the
downward
flow
of
silvery
hair
,
with
the
striking
delicacy
of
its
clear
complexion
and
the
powerful
width
of
the
forehead
.
The
first
cast
of
his
glance
fell
on
you
candid
and
swift
,
like
a
boy
's
;
but
because
of
the
ragged
snowy
thatch
of
the
eyebrows
the
affability
of
his
attention
acquired
the
character
of
a
dark
and
searching
scrutiny
.
With
age
he
had
put
on
flesh
a
little
,
had
increased
his
girth
like
an
old
tree
presenting
no
symptoms
of
decay
;
and
even
the
opulent
,
lustrous
ripple
of
white
hairs
upon
his
chest
seemed
an
attribute
of
unquenchable
vitality
and
vigor
.
