内河航程 英文版 An Inland Voyage
罗伯特.路易斯.史蒂文森 Robert Louis Stevenson
THE ROYAL SPORT NAUTIQUE
The rain took off near Laeken. But the sun was already down; theair was chill; and we had scarcely a dry stitch between the pair ofus. Nay, now we found ourselves near the end of the Allee Verte,and on the very threshold of Brussels, we were confronted by aserious difficulty. The shores were closely lined by canal boatswaiting their turn at the lock. Nowhere was there any convenientlanding-place; nowhere so much as a stable-yard to leave the canoesin for the night. We scrambled ashore and entered an estaminetwhere some sorry fellows were drinking with the landlord. Thelandlord was pretty round with us; he knew of no coach-house orstable-yard, nothing of the sort; and seeing we had come with nomind to drink, he did not conceal his impatience to be rid of us.One of the sorry fellows came to the rescue. Somewhere in thecorner of the basin there was a slip, he informed us, and somethingelse besides, not very clearly defined by him, but hopefullyconstrued by his hearers.
Sure enough there was the slip in the corner of the basin; and atthe top of it two nice-looking lads in boating clothes. TheArethusa addressed himself to these. One of them said there wouldbe no difficulty about a night's lodging for our boats; and theother, taking a cigarette from his lips, inquired if they were madeby Searle and Son. The name was quite an introduction. Half-a-dozen other young men came out of a boat-house bearing thesuperscription ROYAL SPORT NAUTIQUE, and joined in the talk. Theywere all very polite, voluble, and enthusiastic; and theirdiscourse was interlarded with English boating terms, and the namesof English boat-builders and English clubs. I do not know, to myshame, any spot in my native land where I should have been sowarmly received by the same number of people. We were Englishboating-men, and the Belgian boating-men fell upon our necks. Iwonder if French Huguenots were as cordially greeted by EnglishProtestants when they came across the Channel out of greattribulation. But after all, what religion knits people so closelyas a common sport?
The canoes were carried into the boat-house; they were washed downfor us by the Club servants, the sails were hung out to dry, andeverything made as snug and tidy as a picture. And in themeanwhile we were led upstairs by our new-found brethren, for somore than one of them stated the relationship, and made free oftheir lavatory. This one lent us soap, that one a towel, a thirdand fourth helped us to undo our bags. And all the time suchquestions, such assurances of respect and sympathy! I declare Inever knew what glory was before.
'Yes, yes, the Royal Sport Nautique is the oldest club in Belgium.'
'We number two hundred.'
'We'--this is not a substantive speech, but an abstract of manyspeeches, the impression left upon my mind after a great deal oftalk; and very youthful, pleasant, natural, and patriotic it seemsto me to be--'We have gained all races, except those where we werecheated by the French.'
number two hundred.'money-grubbing canbe put forward to the contrary; no one but dry, andeverything made as snug and tidy as a.
'You must leave all your wet things to be dried.'
'O! entre freres! In any boat-house in England we should find thesame.' (I cordially hope they might.)
talk. Theywere all very polite, voluble, and enthusiastic; and theirdiscourse was interlarded with English boating terms, and.
'En Angleterre, vous employez des sliding-seats, n'est-ce pas?'
'We are all employed in commerce during the day; but in theevening, voyez-vous, nous sommes serieux.'
These were the words. They were all employed over the frivolousmercantile concerns of Belgium during the day; but in the eveningthey found some hours for the serious concerns of life. I may havea wrong idea of wisdom, but I think that was a very wise remark.People connected with literature and philosophy are busy all theirdays in getting rid of second-hand notions and false standards. Itis their profession, in the sweat of their brows, by doggedthinking, to recover their old fresh view of life, and distinguishwhat they really and originally like, from what they have onlylearned to tolerate perforce. And these Royal Nautical Sportsmenhad the distinction still quite legible in their hearts. They hadstill those clean perceptions of what is nice and nasty, what isinteresting and what is dull, which envious old gentlemen refer toas illusions. The nightmare illusion of middle age, the bear's hugof custom gradually squeezing the life out of a man's soul, had notyet begun for these happy-starred young Belgians. They still knewthat the interest they took in their business was a trifling affaircompared to their spontaneous, long-suffering affection fornautical sports. To know what you prefer, instead of humbly sayingAmen to what the world tells you you ought to prefer, is to havekept your soul alive. Such a man may be generous; he may be honestin something more than the commercial sense; he may love hisfriends with an elective, personal sympathy, and not accept them asan adjunct of the station to which he has been called. He may be aman, in short, acting on his own instincts, keeping in his ownshape that God made him in; and not a mere crank in the socialengine-house, welded on principles that he does not understand, andfor purposes that he does not care for.
For will any one dare to tell me that business is more entertainingthan fooling among boats? He must have never seen a boat, or neverseen an office, who says so. And for certain the one is a greatdeal better for the health. There should be nothing so much aman's business as his amusements. Nothing but money-grubbing canbe put forward to the contrary; no one but
Mammon, the least erected spirit that fellFrom Heaven,
durst risk a word in answer. It is but a lying cant that wouldrepresent the merchant and the banker as people disinterestedlytoiling for mankind, and then most useful when they are mostabsorbed in their transactions; for the man is more important thanhis services. And when my Royal Nautical Sportsman shall have sofar fallen from his hopeful youth that he cannot pluck up anenthusiasm over anything but his ledger, I venture to doubt whetherhe will be near so nice a fellow, and whether he would welcome,with so good a grace, a couple of drenched Englishmen paddling intoBrussels in the dusk.
We endeavoured now and again to change the subject; but thediversion did not last a moment: the Royal Nautical Sportsmanbridled, shied, answered the question, and then breasted once moreinto the swelling tide of his subject. I call it his subject; butI think it was he who was subjected. The Arethusa, who holds allracing as a creature of the devil, found himself in a pitifuldilemma. He durst not own his ignorance for the honour of OldEngland, and spoke away about English clubs and English oarsmenwhose fame had never before come to his ears. Several times, and,once above all, on the question of sliding-seats, he was within anace of exposure. As for the Cigarette, who has rowed races in theheat of his blood, but now disowns these slips of his wanton youth,his case was still more desperate; for the Royal Nautical proposedthat he should take an oar in one of their eights on the morrow, tocompare the English with the Belgian stroke. I could see my friendperspiring in his chair whenever that particular topic came up.And there was yet another proposal which had the same effect onboth of us. It appeared that the champion canoeist of Europe (aswell as most other champions) was a Royal Nautical Sportsman. Andif we would only wait until the Sunday, this infernal paddler wouldbe so condescending as to accompany us on our next stage. Neitherof us had the least desire to drive the coursers of the sun againstApollo.
When the young man was gone, we countermanded our candles, andordered some brandy and water. The great billows had gone over ourhead. The Royal Nautical Sportsmen were as nice young fellows as aman would wish to see, but they were a trifle too young and athought too nautical for us. We began to see that we were old andcynical; we liked ease and the agreeable rambling of the human mindabout this and the other subject; we did not want to disgrace ournative land by messing an eight, or toiling pitifully in the wakeof the champion canoeist. In short, we had recourse to flight. Itseemed ungrateful, but we tried to make that good on a card loadedwith sincere compliments. And indeed it was no time for scruples;we seemed to feel the hot breath of the champion on our necks.