16 The Wine-Dark Sea - Libro della tutto

Patrick O'Brian The Wine-Dark Sea
rudder-head, now covered by a decent cloth.
'Is there any help for such a state of affairs?'
'Oh, I am sure we shall find something,' said
Jack. 'May I trouble you for the marmalade?
Capital marmalade, you must confess; though
not quite as good as Sophie's.'
Stephen had often heard Jack say, when life
at sea grew more trying than the human frame
could bear, 'that it was no use whining'; but he
had never seen quite this degree of insouciance,
or what he felt tempted to call irresponsible
levity. How much was assumed as a captain's
duty in a virtually hopeless situation?
How much was Jack's natural reaction? He
was not a man much given to strike attitudes.
How hopeless was the situation in fact?
Stephen might still confuse braces and pintles,
dumb-chalders and sling-dogs, but he knew
enough about the sea to feel that a ship far