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- 1070
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- 2026-01-30T20:48:14.838Z
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- start_line
- 1000
- text
- going in the ship, I thought it wouldn’t be wise to make an enemy of
him, so only asked him where the men slept in the vessel, for I wanted
to put my clothes away.
_“Where’s_ your clothes?” said he.
“Here in my bundle,” said I, holding it up.
“Well if that’s all you’ve got,” he cried, “you’d better chuck it
overboard. But go forward, go forward to the forecastle; that’s the
place you’ll live in aboard here.”
And with that he directed me to a sort of hole in the deck in the bow
of the ship; but looking down, and seeing how dark it was, I asked him
for a light.
“Strike your eyes together and make one,” said he, “we don’t have any
lights here.” So I groped my way down into the forecastle, which smelt
so bad of old ropes and tar, that it almost made me sick. After waiting
patiently, I began to see a little; and looking round, at last
perceived I was in a smoky looking place, with twelve wooden boxes
stuck round the sides. In some of these boxes were large chests, which
I at once supposed to belong to the sailors, who must have taken that
method of appropriating their “Trunks,” as I afterward found these
boxes were called. And so it turned out.
After examining them for a while, I selected an empty one, and put my
bundle right in the middle of it, so that there might be no mistake
about my claim to the place, particularly as the bundle was so small.
This done, I was glad to get on deck; and learning to a certainty that
the ship would not sail till the next day, I resolved to go ashore, and
walk about till dark, and then return and sleep out the night in the
forecastle. So I walked about all over, till I was weary, and went into
a mean liquor shop to rest; for having my tarpaulin on, and not looking
very gentlemanly, I was afraid to go into any better place, for fear of
being driven out. Here I sat till I began to feel very hungry; and
seeing some doughnuts on the counter, I began to think what a fool I
had been, to throw away my last penny; for the doughnuts were but a
penny apiece, and they looked very plump, and fat, and round. I never
saw doughnuts look so enticing before; especially when a negro came in,
and ate one before my eyes. At last I thought I would fill up a little
by drinking a glass of water; having read somewhere that this was a
good plan to follow in a case like the present. I did not feel thirsty,
but only hungry; so had much ado to get down the water; for it tasted
warm; and the tumbler had an ugly flavor; the negro had been drinking
some spirits out of it just before.
I marched off again, every once in a while stopping to take in some
more water, and being very careful not to step into the same shop
twice, till night came on, and I found myself soaked through, for it
had been raining more or less all day. As I went to the ship, I could
not help thinking how lonesome it would be, to spend the whole night in
that damp and dark forecastle, without light or fire, and nothing to
lie on but the bare boards of my bunk. However, to drown all such
thoughts, I gulped down another glass of water, though I was wet enough
outside and in by this time; and trying to put on a bold look, as if I
had just been eating a hearty meal, I stepped aboard the ship.
The man in the big pea-jacket was not to be seen; but on going forward
I unexpectedly found a young lad there, about my own age; and as soon
as he opened his mouth I knew he was not an American. He talked such a
curious language though, half English and half gibberish, that I knew
not what to make of him; and was a little astonished, when he told me
he was an English boy, from Lancashire.
It seemed, he had come over from Liverpool in this very ship on her
last voyage, as a steerage passenger; but finding that he would have to
work very hard to get along in America, and getting home-sick into the
bargain, he had arranged with the captain to work his passage back.
- title
- Chunk 2