Chapters 20-21 of Treasure Island
Chapter XXIII: The Ebb Tide Turns
The small boat (called a coracle) proves difficult to manage, turning in every direction except the one Jim wants to go in. Nonetheless, he reaches the Hispaniola and cuts the hawser (the anchor rope). He also hears the two drunken crew members on board quarreling fiercely. As schooner and coracle glide through the water, Jim grabs a light cord that trails from the ship, and pulls himself alongside it. He takes a peek through the cabin window and sees the two men fighting. One of them is the coxswain Israel Hands. The Hispaniola is swept by the current towards the open sea, and Jim is terrified, expecting that the raging breakers will destroy both ship and coracle. He lies flat at the bottom of his boat for hours, and eventually manages to sleep.
Chapter XXIV: The Cruise of the Coracle
Jim wakes up and it is morning. His coracle is at the southwest corner of the island. Realizing the dangers of trying to get ashore at that point, he allows the current to take him north, hoping to find an easier landing spot. But although the coracle rides the waves well it proves difficult to steer. Jim paddles as best he can, and gets close to the shore. Then less than half a mile ahead of him he sees the Hispaniola under sail. But he guesses from the erratic course of the ship that nobody is steering it. He decides to board the ship himself. He gets closer and closer to it, and when the moment is right, he catches the jibboom and clings to it. (Jibs are small triangular sails; a jibboom is a wooden beam that extends along the front of the jib.) At the same time, the Hispaniola strikes the coracle, leaving Jim on the Hispaniola with no line of retreat.
Monday
Chapter 11
Chapter 14
Chapters 15-17
Chapters 18-20
No comments:
Post a Comment