Tomorrow Summary and Line by Line Explanation
CBSE Class 12 English (Elective) Chapter 4- Tomorrow Summary, Explanation along with Difficult Word Meanings from Kaleidoscope Book Short Stories
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CBSE Class 12 English (Elective) Short Stories Chapter 4 – Tomorrow
By Joseph Conrad
Joseph Conrad’s short story ‘Tomorrow’, explores the theme of hope, delusion and human connections. Conrad uses psychological and frame narrative to show an emotional complexity that every character goes through in the story. Tomorrow is a story about Old Hagberd’s waiting for his son, Harry Hagberd, to return to him. Harry Hagberd who left his home sixteen years ago, and did come back but for money. In the end, he left them to live a carefree life he had been living for years.
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Tomorrow Summary
In the small seaside town of Colebrook, Captain Hagberd was viewed unfavourably. Newly arrived and driven by dark motives, he built two unattractive yellow brick cottages, living in one and renting the other to Josiah Carvil, a cruel blind former boat-builder.
The cottages shared a wall and a fence separated their gardens. In the back, a wooden fence marked the property line, where Miss Bessie Carvil often hung laundry. The captain would gently remind her that it could damage the wood, while Bessie would silently watch her father’s landlord, feeling a mix of excitement and hope. Captain Hagberd suggested that she could put up a clothesline in her backyard but Bessie disagreed. Her small backyard was a home to modestly overgrown flowers, in contrast to Captain Hagberd who dressed in No.1 sailcloth, looking like a stone statue in a cramped space. He had a handsome red face, a wandering blue eye, and a long white beard. Seven years ago, while at the New Inn, a barber joked about offering him a shave. After Captain Hagberd paid with half-pence from his sleeve and left, the barber quipped that good times were coming to Colebrook, noting how the timeline for the old man’s grooming had shifted from next week to next month.
A stranger listened with a blank smile as the barber narrated the Old Hagberd’s story. He told him that the Old Hagberd was eagerly waiting for his son, Harry, who had likely run away to sea three years earlier. After losing his wife, Hagberd rushed to Colebrook upon receiving a dubious letter about a seafarer with a name like his son’s, rumoured to be with a girl nearby. The barber noted how Hagberd placed ads in London newspapers and roamed the countryside by cart and on foot, asking tavern-goers and passersby for information. Initially hopeful, Hagberd became more persistent but could never articulate what his son looked like. He described him as a fourteen-year-old intelligent-looking boy. Despite the ridicule he faced, he remained unable to leave Colebrook, holding out hope. The barber suggested that the shock of losing his wife may have driven the old man to madness about his son. Eventually, the old man stopped searching, choosing to wait instead. The barber joked that Colebrook was the only place for lost sons, and noted that Captain Hagberd had sold his house in Colchester, likely on this whim. With eight kids of his own, he said he wouldn’t be too upset if they ran off. It amused him to an extent that he often took new people as Hagberd’s son, a thought that the whole town had shared. No one had ever challenged Captain Hagberd. He surprised the townsfolk one lovely morning by wearing this outfit after having been seen in mourning attire the night before. Shopkeepers and residents emerged to see the commotion, which left him nervous.
Almost forgotten, Captain Hagberd walked stiffly, and no longer exuded eagerness. Instead, he seemed confused and unsure, sensing something was wrong without understanding what it was. He became hesitant to interact with the locals, gaining a reputation as a miser who wouldn’t spend money. He muttered complaints in stores, took ages to buy cheap meat, and avoided discussions about his clothing. As the barber had said, he seemed to have lost hope for his son’s return. Only Miss Bessie Carvil understood that for him, it was no longer a matter of ‘next week’ or ‘next year,’ but simply ‘tomorrow.’ In their backyard, he spoke to her like a father, reasonable yet a bit bossy. Their bond was strong, often shown through friendly winks that Miss Carvil eventually grew to appreciate. As Harry approached his thirty-first birthday, Captain Hagberd hoped he would marry a sensible girl who valued a warm home. He believed spirited husbands were easier to handle compared to quiet ones who might lead to unhappiness. Captain Hagberd, a lifelong coastal sailor from a struggling farmer’s family, preferred the steadiness of land over the sea, feeling a deep resentment for the ocean throughout his life. After his wife inherited a home and money from an uncle, he quit his job as captain of an East Coast collier and felt free, having rarely been out of sight of England. Captain Hagberd, dressed in his canvas suit, dug in his front garden daily, turning the soil but with no plans to plant anything for the time being.
Captain Hagberd told Bessie he wouldn’t plant anything until Harry came home the next day. They were both making plans, with a box of flower seed packets ready for selection. He assured her that Harry would let her choose what she liked. She pictured the new furniture he had bought, the cottage filled with shining varnish, and carefully arranged items. When Captain Hagberd got excited, she calmed him down, pretending to believe him. Suddenly, he looked horrified, exclaiming that she didn’t think that Harry drowned. For a moment, she worried he might lose control, but then his intense emotions shifted to a fatherly calmness. He assured her not to worry; the sea can’t keep him. None of the Hagberds belong to the sea. She never tried it again, fearing the man might lose his sanity. During one moment of frustration, he lamented how strange the townspeople were. Though full-figured and worn out, she faintly smiles at Captain Hagberd’s when he talks about the townspeople and comforts. Most of her life revolved around caring for her father. Their conversations were often interrupted by loud noises from upstairs, prompting her to tidy up calmly. He was a blind boat builder who lost his wife and blamed his daughter for his condition. Despite his misfortune, he expressed a dark gratitude for his wealth, enjoying his simple breakfasts. He placed a heavy weight on her arm, making their slow walks feel like punishment. The townspeople recognized the Carvils by their slow pace, and Captain Hagberd would watch them from his cottages.
He kept placing ads in Sunday newspapers for Harry Hagberd, believing his son was close enough to return the next day though Bessie argued that spending money on ads was pointless and wondered how he managed. His thoughts would confuse and upset him, but he insisted everyone search for the missing family. They had received news from Colebrook the day after her funeral, and if she had been more patient, she could have had one more day with him. Bessie would retort that sometimes even she had no patience with him. He stopped offering rewards for information, after sometimes, believing he had done enough and found everything he needed in Colebrook. Miss Carvil praised his judgment, which comforted him, but his hope had turned into a delusion, clouding his reality. Any doubt about his plans for a home with his son and daughter-in-law caused him to act out, digging and pacing. Miss Bessie called these his tantrums and scolded him. Despite their long friendship, a barrier always existed between them. He would share stories about items he collected for their home but never invited her to see them. No one had entered his cottage, as he fiercely protected his son’s privacy. When he bought small things in town, he hid them under his coat and would casually mention they were just a little kettle.
If she wasn’t too tired or stressed, she would blush and smile, assuring him she wasn’t in a hurry. He would shyly respond that she wouldn’t have to wait much longer, but he appeared nervous, sensing something was off. Every Monday, she handed him his rent over the railings, and he accepted the shillings eagerly, hating to spend on himself. Away from her kindness, he felt weak and exposed, wary of others’ strange behaviour. The local children had stopped talking to him, and he felt frightened when anyone commented on his clothes. During autumn, heavy rain soaked his sailcloth suit, making it stiff and heavy with water. When the weather worsened, he stood under the porch, gazing at the spade stuck in the muddy yard. The frost made the ground harder, filling him with sadness about Harry’s thoughts. Unable to spend time with Bessie, he grew annoyed by old Carvil’s muffled calls for her. One afternoon, he asked why her wealthy father didn’t get her a servant. Bessie, pale and weary with shadows under her eyes, simply replied that she didn’t know. He suggested that she should wait until her marriage with Harry to provide for her. His hopeful remark irritated Bessie, who mocked him, suggesting Harry might not even want to look at her. He laughed back and dismissed that thought, insisting his boy wouldn’t look at the only sensible girl for miles. He told her to wait for the next day. Their conversation was interrupted by old Carvil’s call for Bessie. Captain Hagberd continued working with his spade as a stranger approached, confidently identifying him. Surprised by the unfamiliar voice, Hagberd turned around. The stranger smiled and asked if he was looking for his son. Captain Hagberd said that he’s coming home the next day. The stranger exclaimed in surprise, mentioning that he had grown a beard like Father Christmas. Captain Hagberd leaned over his spade, feeling both resentful and timid. He asked the stranger to leave him alone, fearing mockery. The laughter of others was dreadful to him, suggesting something was amiss, while the stranger grinned with an intent he couldn’t understand. This was a level of insult he had never experienced before.
The stranger, oblivious to how close he was to having his head split open with a spade, replied earnestly that he was not on his property and there’s something off with your information. He even asked him to let him come in but the Captain declined. He even told Captain Hagberd that he would give the latest information on his son, but he declined that offer, too, saying he had more information than him. He had all the information for years, enough to last him till tomorrow. He wondered what Harry would say if he let him in. Bessie Carvil stood by the parlour window, overwhelmed by the voices outside, she struggled to speak.
Captain Hagberd stumbled into a fence, a man at the gate urged him to be steady, teasing him about his outfit and laughing heartily, calling him quite the character! Captain Hagberd nervously backed away. The stranger, addressing Bessie as if they were old friends, remarked that he didn’t mean to startle him. He shared that he had just come from a barber, who described Captain Hagberd as a bit of a character. Old Hagberd was upset by a comment about his clothes, slammed the door and bolted it, letting out a strange laugh. The man at the gate, concerned, asked Bessie if Captain Hagberd was completely mad. Bessie explained quietly that he had been worried about his missing son.
The young Hagberd, feeling disdainful, questioned if she knew who was coming the next day, suggesting it was just a scam. Bessie, overwhelmed and scared, remained silent. He asked calmly what was wrong, assuring her he won’t be upset. The other guy would be surprised when he showed up, and while he didn’t care about the old man’s money, he was excited to confront him. He noticed her shaking hands and wondered if he knew that she was a part of a scheme involving his father the next day. Amused by their failed plans, he felt disdain for their tricks but was intrigued by her. As her wrap slipped from her head, he suggested that they should forget about the man coming the next day as confident he would change his mind. She revealed that he was the one Captain Hagberd had been waiting for.
He agreed in a dazed way, but when he asked why not today, she replied impatiently that he didn’t understand her. He wondered if Captain Hagberd would recognize him and asked if she could help. She thought a week might work, but he doubted he could endure such a dull place for that long, craving hard work and noise instead. He recalled a previous escape from an old man’s search for him and a failed letter-writing scheme but this time, he had a friend waiting in London. Bessie Carvel was breathing quickly. He suggested knocking on the door. She encouraged him. Harry asked if his father was lively, cautioning he should be careful. She reassured him that he was the most harmless one. He told her she wouldn’t think like that if she’d seen him chase Harry up the stairs with a leather strap, a memory still clear after sixteen years. When he heard the noises inside he told him that he is Harry, he came home a day early. An upstairs window opened, and Old Hagberd warned him to stay away; he was ruining everything. Harry replied with a Hello but a loud crash followed as the window slammed shut. He reflected on how it was just like the old days, with Old Hagberd nearly hitting him to keep him from leaving. Now that he was back, Hagberd threw a shovel at him, barely grazing his shoulder. Trembling, she listened as he explained he spent his last coins on train fare and a shave. She quickly asked if he was Harry Hagberd and if he could prove it. He shrugged off the need for proof, confident that anyone could remember him. He looked more like Harry Hagberd than anyone else and suggested she let him through her gate. She welcomed him. As he stepped into the Carvils’ garden, he turned to face her and asking her to picture old Hagberd’s beard and mentioned he resembled him since childhood. She quietly agreed. He reminisced about old Hagberd, recalling how he feigned illness before heading to South Shields for coal, although he only took ten days at most. He joked about how people thought he was on a whaling trip. He paused and softly asked if he had ever told her how his mother died. Miss Bessie bitterly said it was from impatience. He fell silent for a moment, then revealed that his parents worried he would turn out badly, forcing him away. They nagged him; sometimes, he felt like he was in an accident. Bessie defiantly asked where he was meant to be born, and he replied he’d prefer to be born on a beach during a breezy night.
Suddenly, he heard a commotion and asked if it was her husband, but she replied it was her father and she wasn’t married. He complimented her, but she turned away. Her father called out. Harry suggested that it would be better for her to go inside. Her wrap had slipped down, and as he retrieved it from the ground, he noticed that she had vanished. Approaching the window, he saw a stout man in an armchair and Miss Bessie’s head nearby. The shouting ceased, leaving him lost in thought about how awkward the situation was. His father was angry, he had no money to return home, and a hungry friend in London might think he’d ditched him.
He contemplated breaking in but fearing jail. She asked him what he does for a living. He replied that he was just enough of a sailor to prove himself. She inquired where he came from, and he told her about a party on the London train, mentioning he hated being stuck on trains. They exchanged light banter about ships and the vastness of the ocean. He mused about the nature of journeys and relationships. She asked him what he came here for. He replied he came for five quid. After some fun, they ended up short on cash. She asked if he had been drinking. He mentioned he had been drinking for three days, which was unusual for him; he usually stays calm. His friend suggested he should visit his devoted father for five quid, so they collected spare change for the fare. She worried he had a cold heart, and he questioned her why she thought that. Old Hagberd wanted him to become a lawyer’s clerk, and his mother went along with it for his good. However, he took off, feeling hurt by their expectations. He remarked that he didn’t want to return to a life he found meaningless. She asked where he expected to die, and he replied he could be anywhere, but if he had to choose, he’d say home. He felt the world was his home and expected to die in a hospital, which was alright as long as he lived fully. He had done almost everything but be a tailor or a soldier, boasting of his varied experiences. She was surprised and suggested it was time to rest.
Standing up, he firmly said it was time to go. He didn’t move and softly hummed a strange song. He mentioned he learned it in Mexico, in Sonora, calling it the tune of the Gambusinos—the song of restless souls. They never settle, not even for a woman. He shared stories of his time as a mining engineer in Mazatlan. A song tells of a beautiful girl who tried to hold on to her Gambusino lover for the gold, but he disappeared. She wondered what happened to her, but he said the song didn’t explain. He might be like that too. She replied that no woman could keep them around, and he joked that it was never longer than a week. He claimed to care for them all, ready to do anything for the right woman and admitted he had already fallen for her, recalling her name. She laughed nervously, noting he hadn’t even seen her face yet. He leaned in, complimenting her pale complexion, saying it looked good on some. Flustered, she realized no one had ever said so much to her before.
His tone shifted as he mentioned he was hungry and hadn’t eaten breakfast. She had already left, and he considered inviting her back but decided against it. He jokingly remarked that he wasn’t begging, reaching for a piece of bread. She reminded him that Old Hagberd starved himself for his benefit, to which he retorted that he was starving for his desires. She insisted that everything Old Hagberd has was for him, but he countered that if he lounged around like a toad, what was left for him. She tentatively suggested she could convince him in a week, but he was too hungry to care. As he ate, she began whispering to him, and he listened, astonished until his arm suddenly sent the plate flying.
He cursed angrily, dismissing Old Hagberd’s expectations of him and his desire to control his life. Ignoring Bessie’s distress, he mentioned Old Hagberd had a girl in mind for him, even naming Judy. Old Hagberd shouted from outside, making Bessie anxious. He urged her to avoid the man, insisting he was just a drifter and not Harry, who would marry her the next day. His voice grew increasingly frantic as he declared that Harry must marry her, or he’d cut him off completely and leave everything to her. He then slammed the window shut. Harry took a deep breath and confronted Bessie. She sat with her head in her hands, and he reminded her he had deciphered Old Hagberd’s scheme. She covered her face, and he gently held her wrists, asking for her help to escape the mess. She turned away, and he inquired her about money. Embarrassed, she quickly nodded and searched her dress pocket, giving him what she had. She wanted him to leave, wishing she could offer more to help him forget. He assured her not to be afraid, recalling how women had rescued him before. He examined the half-sovereign in his hand and pocketed it while she stood, hurt, with her arms limp. He told her that she can’t buy herself out and then, unexpectedly, lifted her into his strong arms, kissing her with intense passion. The rhythm of the rising tide matched his embrace as he kissed her cheeks, forehead, eyelids, and lips. It felt like a wave crashing over her. Afterwards, she staggered back against the wall, drained, as if she had survived a storm. After a moment, she opened her eyes, hearing his footsteps walking away. She gathered her skirts and rushed through the open gate into the quiet street to shout for him to not leave her.
As she called out for Harry, a deep fear of silence gripped her more than the thought of death. The crashing waves filled the air, but she felt utterly alone, like a lost soul in a desolate land. Inside his dark house, Captain Hagberd listened intently. A voice echoed from the darkness, mad yet hopeful. He taunted her about the man who left, claiming she had scared him away. In despair, she cried that she couldn’t hear him anymore. He laughed, telling her to be patient for one more day. Meanwhile, old Carvil yelled for her from the other house. Accepting her fate, she returned to her cramped cottage, confused about her actions. Captain Hagberd celebrated his victory, revelling in noisy happiness as he speak of faith in a better tomorrow.
Summary of the Lesson Tomorrow in Hindi
कोलब्रुक के छोटे से समुद्र तटीय शहर में, कैप्टन हैगबर्ड को प्रतिकूल रूप से देखा गया था। नए आए और अंधेरे उद्देश्यों से प्रेरित होकर, उन्होंने दो अनाकर्षक पीले ईंट के कॉटेज बनाए, एक में रहते हुए और दूसरे को एक क्रूर अंधे पूर्व नाव-निर्माता योशियाह कारविल को किराए पर दिया।
कॉटेज एक दीवार साझा करते थे और एक बाड़ उनके बगीचों को अलग करती थी। पीछे की ओर, एक लकड़ी की बाड़ संपत्ति रेखा को चिह्नित करती थी, जहाँ मिस बेसी कारविल अक्सर कपड़े धोने का काम करती थीं। कप्तान उसे धीरे से याद दिलाता कि यह लकड़ी को नुकसान पहुंचा सकता है, जबकि बेसी उत्साह और आशा के मिश्रण को महसूस करते हुए चुपचाप अपने पिता के मकान मालिक को देखती रहती थी। कैप्टन हैगबर्ड ने सुझाव दिया कि वह अपने पिछवाड़े में कपड़ों की एक रेखा लगा सकती है लेकिन बेसी ने असहमति जताई। उसका छोटा सा पिछवाड़े मामूली रूप से उगने वाले फूलों का घर था, कैप्टन हैगबर्ड के विपरीत, जो एक तंग जगह में पत्थर की मूर्ति की तरह दिखने वाले नंबर 1 सेलक्लोथ पहने हुए थे। उनका एक सुंदर लाल चेहरा, एक भटकती नीली आंख और एक लंबी सफेद दाढ़ी थी। सात साल पहले, न्यू इन में रहते हुए, एक नाई ने उसे दाढ़ी कटवाने की पेशकश करने का मजाक उड़ाया। कैप्टन हैगबर्ड द्वारा अपनी बाजू से आधा पैसा देकर चले जाने के बाद, नाई ने चुटकी लेते हुए कहा कि कोलब्रुक के लिए अच्छा समय आ रहा है, यह देखते हुए कि कैसे बूढ़े आदमी के संवारने की समयरेखा अगले सप्ताह से अगले महीने में स्थानांतरित हो गई थी।
एक अजनबी ने एक खाली मुस्कान के साथ सुना जब नाई ने ओल्ड हैगबर्ड की कहानी सुनाई। उसने उसे बताया कि वृद्ध हैगबर्ड अपने बेटे हैरी का बेसब्री से इंतजार कर रहा था, जो संभवतः तीन साल पहले समुद्र में भाग गया था। अपनी पत्नी को खोने के बाद, हैगबर्ड कोलब्रुक के पास अपने बेटे जैसे नाम के एक नाविक के बारे में एक संदिग्ध पत्र मिलने पर पहुंचे, जिसके बारे में अफवाह है कि वह पास की एक लड़की के साथ है। नाई ने नोट किया कि कैसे हैगबर्ड लंदन के समाचार पत्रों में विज्ञापन देते थे और सराय जाने वालों और राहगीरों से जानकारी मांगते हुए गाड़ी और पैदल ग्रामीण इलाकों में घूमते थे। शुरू में आशावादी, हैगबर्ड अधिक दृढ़ हो गए लेकिन कभी भी यह स्पष्ट नहीं कर सके कि उनका बेटा कैसा दिखता है। उन्होंने उन्हें चौदह वर्षीय बुद्धिमान दिखने वाले लड़के के रूप में वर्णित किया। उपहास का सामना करने के बावजूद, वह कोलब्रुक को छोड़ने में असमर्थ रहे, जिससे उन्हें उम्मीद बनी रही। नाई ने सुझाव दिया कि अपनी पत्नी को खोने के सदमे ने बूढ़े आदमी को अपने बेटे के बारे में पागलपन के लिए प्रेरित किया होगा। आखिरकार, बूढ़े आदमी ने खोज करना बंद कर दिया, इसके बजाय इंतजार करना चुना। नाई ने मजाक में कहा कि कोलब्रुक खोए हुए बेटों के लिए एकमात्र जगह थी, और नोट किया कि कैप्टन हैगबर्ड ने संभवतः इसी सनक पर कोलचेस्टर में अपना घर बेच दिया था। अपने आठ बच्चों के साथ, उन्होंने कहा कि अगर वे भाग गए तो वह बहुत परेशान नहीं होंगे। यह उन्हें इस हद तक खुश करता था कि वे अक्सर नए लोगों को हैगबर्ड के बेटे के रूप में लेते थे, एक ऐसा विचार जो पूरे शहर में साझा किया गया था। कैप्टन हैगबर्ड को कभी किसी ने चुनौती नहीं दी थी। एक रात पहले शोक पोशाक में देखे जाने के बाद उन्होंने इस पोशाक को पहनकर एक प्यारी सुबह शहर के लोगों को चौंका दिया। दुकानदार और निवासी हंगामा देखने के लिए बाहर निकले, जिससे वह घबरा गए।
लगभग भुला दिए गए, कैप्टन हैगबर्ड कठोरता से चले, और उत्सुकता नहीं दिखाई दी। इसके बजाय, वह भ्रमित और अनिश्चित लग रहा था, बिना यह समझे कि कुछ गलत था। वह स्थानीय लोगों के साथ बातचीत करने में संकोच करने लगा, जिससे उसे एक दुखी व्यक्ति के रूप में प्रतिष्ठा मिली जो पैसा खर्च नहीं करेगा। वह दुकानों में शिकायतें करता था, सस्ता मांस खरीदने में कई साल लग जाते थे और अपने कपड़ों के बारे में चर्चा से बचता था। जैसा कि नाई ने कहा था, ऐसा लगता है कि वह अपने बेटे की वापसी की उम्मीद खो चुका है। केवल मिस बेसी कारविल ही समझती थीं कि उनके लिए, यह अब ‘अगले सप्ताह’ या ‘अगले वर्ष’ की बात नहीं थी, बल्कि केवल ‘कल’ की बात थी। उनके पिछवाड़े में, वह उससे एक पिता की तरह बात करता था, समझदार लेकिन थोड़ा घमंडी। उनका बंधन मजबूत था, जो अक्सर दोस्ताना चुभन के माध्यम से दिखाया जाता था जिसे मिस कारविल अंततः सराहना करने लगीं। जैसे ही हैरी अपने इकतीसवें जन्मदिन के करीब पहुंचा, कैप्टन हैगबर्ड को उम्मीद थी कि वह एक समझदार लड़की से शादी करेगा जो एक गर्म घर को महत्व देती है। उनका मानना था कि शांत लोगों की तुलना में उत्साही पतियों को संभालना आसान होता है जो नाखुशी का कारण बन सकते हैं। एक संघर्षरत किसान परिवार के आजीवन तटीय नाविक कैप्टन हैगबर्ड ने जीवन भर समुद्र के प्रति गहरी नाराजगी महसूस करते हुए समुद्र के ऊपर भूमि की स्थिरता को प्राथमिकता दी। अपनी पत्नी को एक चाचा से घर और पैसा विरासत में मिलने के बाद, उन्होंने ईस्ट कोस्ट कोलियर के कप्तान के रूप में अपनी नौकरी छोड़ दी और स्वतंत्र महसूस किया, शायद ही कभी इंग्लैंड की दृष्टि से बाहर थे। कैप्टन हैगबर्ड, अपने कैनवास सूट में, प्रतिदिन अपने सामने के बगीचे में खुदाई करते थे, मिट्टी को घुमाते थे, लेकिन फिलहाल कुछ भी लगाने की कोई योजना नहीं थी।
कैप्टन हैगबर्ड ने बेसी से कहा कि जब तक हैरी अगले दिन घर नहीं आता, तब तक वह कुछ भी नहीं लगाएगा। वे दोनों योजना बना रहे थे, जिसमें फूलों के बीज के पैकेटों का एक डिब्बा चयन के लिए तैयार था। उसने उसे आश्वासन दिया कि हैरी उसे वह चुनने देगा जो उसे पसंद है। उन्होंने उनके द्वारा खरीदे गए नए फर्नीचर, चमकते वार्निश से भरे कुटीर और सावधानीपूर्वक व्यवस्थित वस्तुओं को चित्रित किया। जब कैप्टन हैगबर्ड उत्साहित हो गए, तो उन्होंने उस पर विश्वास करने का नाटक करते हुए उसे शांत किया। अचानक, वह डरा हुआ लग रहा था, उसने कहा कि उसे नहीं लगता कि हैरी डूब गया है। एक पल के लिए, उसे डर था कि वह नियंत्रण खो सकता है, लेकिन फिर उसकी तीव्र भावनाएँ पिता की तरह शांति में बदल गईं। उसने उसे आश्वासन दिया कि वह चिंता न करे; समुद्र उसे नहीं रोक सकता। हैगबर्ड्स में से कोई भी समुद्र से संबंधित नहीं है। उसने फिर कभी कोशिश नहीं की, इस डर से कि वह आदमी अपना विवेक खो सकता है। कुंठा के एक पल के दौरान, उन्होंने विलाप किया कि शहर के लोग कितने अजीब थे। हालांकि पूरी तरह से तैयार और थका हुआ, वह कैप्टन हैगबर्ड की ओर देखते हुए मुस्कुराती है जब वह शहर के लोगों और आराम के बारे में बात करता है। उनका अधिकांश जीवन अपने पिता की देखभाल के इर्द-गिर्द घूमता था। उनकी बातचीत अक्सर ऊपर से तेज आवाजों से बाधित होती थी, जिससे वह शांति से सफाई करने के लिए प्रेरित होती थी। वह एक अंधे नाव निर्माता थे जिन्होंने अपनी पत्नी को खो दिया और अपनी स्थिति के लिए अपनी बेटी को दोषी ठहराया। अपने दुर्भाग्य के बावजूद, उन्होंने अपने साधारण नाश्ते का आनंद लेते हुए अपनी संपत्ति के लिए गहरा आभार व्यक्त किया। उसने उसकी भुजा पर भारी भार डाल दिया, जिससे उनके धीमे चलने को सजा जैसा महसूस हुआ। शहर के लोग कार्विलों को उनकी धीमी गति से पहचानते थे, और कैप्टन हैगबर्ड उन्हें अपने कॉटेज से देखते थे।
वह हैरी हैगबर्ड के लिए रविवार के समाचार पत्रों में विज्ञापन देता रहा, यह मानते हुए कि उसका बेटा अगले दिन लौटने के लिए काफी करीब था, हालांकि बेसी ने तर्क दिया कि विज्ञापनों पर पैसा खर्च करना व्यर्थ था और आश्चर्य हुआ कि वह कैसे प्रबंधित हुआ। उसके विचार उसे भ्रमित और परेशान कर देंगे, लेकिन उसने हर किसी को लापता परिवार की तलाश करने पर जोर दिया। उन्हें कोलब्रुक से उसके अंतिम संस्कार के अगले दिन खबर मिली थी, और अगर वह अधिक धैर्य रखती, तो वह उसके साथ एक और दिन बिता सकती थी। बेसी जवाब देती थी कि कभी-कभी उसे भी उसके साथ धैर्य नहीं था। उन्होंने जानकारी के लिए पुरस्कार देना बंद कर दिया, कभी-कभी यह मानते हुए कि उन्होंने पर्याप्त काम किया है और कोलब्रुक में उन्हें वह सब कुछ मिला जिसकी उन्हें आवश्यकता थी। मिस कारविल ने उनके निर्णय की प्रशंसा की, जिसने उन्हें सांत्वना दी, लेकिन उनकी आशा एक भ्रम में बदल गई थी, जिससे उनकी वास्तविकता पर बादल छा गए थे। अपने बेटे और बहू के साथ एक घर के लिए उनकी योजनाओं के बारे में किसी भी संदेह ने उन्हें कार्रवाई करने, खुदाई करने और गति बढ़ाने के लिए प्रेरित किया। मिस बेसी ने इन्हें अपना नखरे कहा और उसे डांटा। उनकी लंबी दोस्ती के बावजूद, उनके बीच हमेशा एक बाधा बनी रही। वह उनके घर के लिए एकत्र की गई वस्तुओं के बारे में कहानियाँ साझा करते थे लेकिन उन्हें देखने के लिए कभी आमंत्रित नहीं करते थे। कोई भी उनकी झोपड़ी में नहीं घुसा था, क्योंकि उन्होंने अपने बेटे की निजता की सख्ती से रक्षा की थी। जब उन्होंने शहर में छोटी-छोटी चीजें खरीदीं, तो उन्होंने उन्हें अपने कोट के नीचे छिपा दिया और लापरवाही से उल्लेख किया कि वे सिर्फ एक छोटी सी केतली थीं।
अगर वह बहुत थका हुआ या तनावग्रस्त नहीं होती, तो वह उसे आश्वस्त करती और मुस्कुराती कि वह जल्दबाजी में नहीं है। वह संकोच से जवाब देता कि उसे ज्यादा इंतजार नहीं करना पड़ेगा, लेकिन वह घबराए हुए दिखाई दिए, महसूस करते हुए कि कुछ गड़बड़ है। हर सोमवार को, वह उसे रेलिंग पर उसका किराया देती थी, और वह शिलिंग को उत्सुकता से स्वीकार करता था, खुद पर खर्च करने से नफरत करता था। उसकी दयालुता से दूर, वह दूसरों के अजीब व्यवहार से सावधान, कमजोर और उजागर महसूस करता था। स्थानीय बच्चों ने उससे बात करना बंद कर दिया था और जब कोई उसके कपड़ों पर टिप्पणी करता तो वह डर जाता। शरद ऋतु के दौरान, भारी बारिश ने उनके सेलक्लॉथ सूट को भिगो दिया, जिससे यह पानी से कठोर और भारी हो गया। जब मौसम बिगड़ता गया, तो वह बरामदे के नीचे खड़े होकर कीचड़ भरे यार्ड में फंसी कुदाल को देख रहे थे। ठंढ ने जमीन को कठिन बना दिया, जिससे वह हैरी के विचारों के बारे में उदासी से भर गया। बेसी के साथ समय बिताने में असमर्थ, वह बूढ़े कारविल के उसके लिए किए गए कॉल से नाराज हो गया। एक दोपहर, उसने पूछा कि उसके अमीर पिता ने उसे नौकर क्यों नहीं दिया। अपनी आँखों के नीचे छाया के साथ पीली और थकी हुई बेसी ने बस जवाब दिया कि वह नहीं जानती। उसने सुझाव दिया कि उसे हैरी के साथ अपनी शादी तक इंतजार करना चाहिए ताकि वह उसका भरण-पोषण कर सके। उसकी आशावादी टिप्पणी ने बेसी को परेशान कर दिया, जिसने उसका मज़ाक उड़ाया, यह सुझाव देते हुए कि हैरी शायद उसकी ओर देखना भी नहीं चाहेगा। वह फिर से हँसा और उस विचार को खारिज कर दिया, और जोर देकर कहा कि उसका लड़का मीलों तक एकमात्र समझदार लड़की को नहीं देखेगा। उसने उसे अगले दिन तक इंतजार करने के लिए कहा। पुरानी कार्विल द्वारा बेसी को बुलाए जाने से उनकी बातचीत बाधित हो गई। कैप्टन हैगबर्ड ने अपनी कुदाल के साथ काम करना जारी रखा क्योंकि एक अजनबी उसके पास आया और आत्मविश्वास से उसकी पहचान की। अपरिचित आवाज से हैरान होकर हैगबर्ड ने मुड़कर देखा। अजनबी ने मुस्कुराते हुए पूछा कि क्या वह अपने बेटे की तलाश कर रहा है। कैप्टन हैगबर्ड ने कहा कि वह अगले दिन घर आ रहा है। अजनबी ने आश्चर्य से कहा कि उसने फादर क्रिसमस की तरह दाढ़ी बढ़ा ली है। कैप्टन हैगबर्ड ने अपनी कुदाल के ऊपर झुककर गुस्सा और डर महसूस किया। उसने मजाक के डर से अजनबी को उसे अकेला छोड़ने के लिए कहा। दूसरों की हँसी उसके लिए भयानक थी, यह सुझाव देते हुए कि कुछ गड़बड़ है, जबकि अजनबी एक इरादे से मुस्कुराया जिसे वह समझ नहीं सका। यह अपमान का एक स्तर था जिसे उन्होंने पहले कभी अनुभव नहीं किया था।
उस अजनबी ने, इस बात से बेखबर कि वह अपने सिर को कुदाल से खोलने के कितने करीब था, ईमानदारी से जवाब दिया कि वह उसकी संपत्ति पर नहीं था और आपकी जानकारी में कुछ गड़बड़ है। उन्होंने उसे अंदर आने देने के लिए भी कहा लेकिन कैप्टन ने मना कर दिया। उन्होंने कैप्टन हैगबर्ड से यह भी कहा कि वह अपने बेटे के बारे में नवीनतम जानकारी देंगे, लेकिन उन्होंने उस प्रस्ताव को भी यह कहते हुए अस्वीकार कर दिया कि उनके पास उनसे अधिक जानकारी है। उनके पास वर्षों तक की सारी जानकारी थी, जो उन्हें कल तक चलने के लिए पर्याप्त थी।
वह सोच रहा था कि अगर हैरी उसे अंदर जाने देगा तो वह क्या कहेगा। बेसी कारविल पार्लरक खिड़की लग ठाढ़ छलीह, बाहरक आवाजसभ सँ अभिभूत भऽ कऽ ओ बोलने लेल संघर्ष कऽ रहल छलीह।
कैप्टन हैगबर्ड एक बाड़ में गिर गया, गेट पर एक आदमी ने उसे स्थिर रहने का आग्रह किया, उसे अपने आउटफिट के बारे में चिढ़ाया और दिल से हंसते हुए उसे काफी चरित्र कहा! कैप्टन हैगबर्ड घबराहट में पीछे हट गए। अजनबी ने बेसी को ऐसे संबोधित किया जैसे कि वे पुराने दोस्त हों, उसने कहा कि वह उसे चौंका देना नहीं चाहता था। उन्होंने साझा किया कि वह अभी-अभी एक नाई से आए थे, जिन्होंने कैप्टन हैगबर्ड को एक चरित्र के रूप में वर्णित किया था। बूढ़े हैगबर्ड अपने कपड़ों के बारे में एक टिप्पणी से परेशान थे, उन्होंने दरवाजा खटखटाया और उसे बंद कर दिया, जिससे एक अजीब सी हंसी आई। गेट पर मौजूद चिंतित व्यक्ति ने बेसी से पूछा कि क्या कैप्टन हैगबर्ड पूरी तरह से पागल था। बेसी ने चुपचाप समझाया कि वह अपने लापता बेटे के बारे में चिंतित था।
युवा हैगबर्ड ने तिरस्कार महसूस करते हुए सवाल किया कि क्या वह जानती है कि अगले दिन कौन आ रहा है, यह सुझाव देते हुए कि यह सिर्फ एक घोटाला था। बेसी अभिभूत आ भयभीत भऽ चुप रहल। उसने शांति से पूछा कि क्या गलत है, उसे आश्वासन दिया कि वह परेशान नहीं होगा। दूसरा आदमी आश्चर्यचकित होगा जब वह दिखाई देगा, और जब उसे बूढ़े आदमी के पैसे की परवाह नहीं थी, तो वह उसका सामना करने के लिए उत्साहित था। उसने उसे हाथ मिलाते हुए देखा और सोचा कि क्या वह जानता था कि वह अगले दिन उसके पिता से जुड़ी एक योजना का हिस्सा थी। उनकी असफल योजनाओं से खुश होकर, वह उनकी चालों के लिए तिरस्कार महसूस करता था, लेकिन उससे चिंतित था। जैसे ही उसकी टोपी उसके सिर से फिसल गई, उसने सुझाव दिया कि उन्हें अगले दिन आने वाले आदमी के बारे में भूल जाना चाहिए क्योंकि उन्हें विश्वास है कि वह अपना मन बदल लेगा। उसने खुलासा किया कि वह वही था जिसका कैप्टन हैगबर्ड इंतजार कर रहा था।
वह चकित होकर मान गया, लेकिन जब उसने पूछा कि आज क्यों नहीं, तो उसने बेसब्री से जवाब दिया कि वह उसे समझ नहीं पा रहा है। वह सोच रहा था कि क्या कैप्टन हैगबर्ड उसे पहचान लेगा और पूछा कि क्या वह मदद कर सकती है। उसने सोचा कि एक सप्ताह काम कर सकता है, लेकिन उसे संदेह था कि वह इतने लंबे समय तक इतनी नीरस जगह को सहन कर सकता है, इसके बजाय कड़ी मेहनत और शोरगुल। उन्होंने एक बूढ़े आदमी की खोज से पहले के भागने और एक असफल पत्र-लेखन योजना को याद किया, लेकिन इस बार, उनका एक दोस्त लंदन में इंतजार कर रहा था। बेसी कारवेल तेजीसँ साँस लऽ रहल छल। उसने दरवाजे पर दस्तक देने का सुझाव दिया। उन्होंने उसे प्रोत्साहित किया। हैरी ने पूछा कि क्या उसके पिता जीवंत हैं, उन्होंने आगाह किया कि उन्हें सावधान रहना चाहिए। उसने उसे आश्वस्त किया कि वह सबसे हानिरहित था। उसने उससे कहा कि वह ऐसा नहीं सोचेगी अगर वह उसे चमड़े के पट्टा के साथ सीढ़ियों पर हैरी का पीछा करते हुए देखेगी, सोलह साल बाद भी एक स्मृति स्पष्ट है। जब उसने अंदर की आवाज़ सुनी तो उसने उसे बताया कि वह हैरी है, वह एक दिन पहले घर आया था। ऊपर की एक खिड़की खुली, और ओल्ड हैगबर्ड ने उसे दूर रहने की चेतावनी दी; वह सब कुछ बर्बाद कर रहा था। हैरी ने हैलो के साथ जवाब दिया लेकिन खिड़की बंद होने पर एक जोरदार धमाका हुआ। उन्होंने इस बात पर विचार किया कि यह कैसे पुराने दिनों की तरह था, ओल्ड हैगबर्ड ने उन्हें जाने से रोकने के लिए उन्हें लगभग मारा था। अब जब वह वापस आ गया था, हैगबर्ड ने उस पर एक फावड़ा फेंका, मुश्किल से उसके कंधे को चराया। कांपते हुए, उसने सुना जब उसने बताया कि उसने अपने अंतिम सिक्के ट्रेन के किराए और मुंडन पर खर्च किए। उसने तुरंत पूछा कि क्या वह हैरी हैगबर्ड है और क्या वह इसे साबित कर सकता है। उन्होंने सबूत की आवश्यकता को टाल दिया, इस विश्वास के साथ कि कोई भी उन्हें याद रख सकता है। वह किसी और की तुलना में हैरी हैगबर्ड की तरह दिखता था और उसने सुझाव दिया कि वह उसे अपने गेट से जाने दे। उन्होंने उनका स्वागत किया। जैसे ही उसने कार्विल्स के बगीचे में कदम रखा, वह उसका सामना करने के लिए मुड़ गया और उसे बूढ़े हैगबर्ड की दाढ़ी की तस्वीर लेने के लिए कहा और उल्लेख किया कि वह बचपन से उससे मिलता-जुलता है। वह चुपचाप मान गई। उन्होंने पुराने हैगबर्ड के बारे में याद करते हुए याद किया कि कैसे उन्होंने कोयले के लिए साउथ शील्ड्स जाने से पहले बीमारी का नाटक किया था, हालांकि उन्हें अधिक से अधिक केवल दस दिन लगे थे। उन्होंने मजाक में बताया कि कैसे लोगों को लगा कि वह व्हेल के शिकार के लिए जा रहे हैं। वह रुका और धीरे से पूछा कि क्या उसने कभी उसे बताया था कि उसकी माँ की मृत्यु कैसे हुई। मिस बेसी ने कड़वाहट से कहा कि यह अधीरता से था। वह एक पल के लिए चुप हो गया, फिर उसने खुलासा किया कि उसके माता-पिता को डर था कि वह बुरी तरह से बाहर निकल जाएगा, जिससे वह दूर हो गया। वे उसे तंग करते थे; कभी-कभी, उसे लगता था कि वह किसी दुर्घटना में है। बेसी ने अवज्ञा से पूछा कि उनका जन्म कहाँ होना है, और उन्होंने जवाब दिया कि वह एक हवादार रात के दौरान समुद्र तट पर पैदा होना पसंद करेंगे।
अचानक, उसने हंगामा सुना और पूछा कि क्या यह उसका पति है, लेकिन उसने जवाब दिया कि यह उसके पिता थे और वह शादीशुदा नहीं थी। उसने उसकी सराहना की, लेकिन वह पीछे हट गई। उसके पिता ने फोन किया। हैरी ने सुझाव दिया कि उसके लिए अंदर जाना बेहतर होगा। उसका लपेटा नीचे फिसल गया था, और जैसे ही उसने इसे जमीन से निकाला, उसने देखा कि वह गायब हो गई थी। खिड़की के पास पहुँचकर, उन्होंने एक तगड़े आदमी को कुर्सी पर और मिस बेसी का सिर पास में देखा। चिल्लाना बंद हो गया, जिससे वह सोच में खो गया कि स्थिति कितनी अजीब थी। उसके पिता गुस्से में थे, उनके पास घर लौटने के लिए पैसे नहीं थे, और लंदन में एक भूखे दोस्त को लग सकता है कि उन्होंने उसे छोड़ दिया है।
वह अंदर घुसने के बारे में सोच रहा था लेकिन जेल जाने से डर रहा था। उसने उससे पूछा कि वह जीविकोपार्जन के लिए क्या करता है। उन्होंने जवाब दिया कि वह खुद को साबित करने के लिए एक नाविक के रूप में पर्याप्त थे। उसने पूछा कि वह कहाँ से आया था, और उसने उसे लंदन ट्रेन में एक पार्टी के बारे में बताया, यह कहते हुए कि वह ट्रेनों में फंसने से नफरत करता था। उन्होंने जहाजों और समुद्र की विशालता के बारे में हल्की-फुल्की बातें कीं। उन्होंने यात्राओं और संबंधों की प्रकृति के बारे में सोचा। उसने उससे पूछा कि वह यहाँ किस लिए आया है। उसने जवाब दिया कि वह पाँच रुपये के लिए आया है। कुछ मस्ती के बाद उनके पास नकदी की कमी हो गई। उसने पूछा कि क्या वह पी रहा था। उन्होंने कहा कि वह तीन दिनों से शराब पी रहे थे, जो उनके लिए असामान्य था; वह आमतौर पर शांत रहते हैं। उनके दोस्त ने सुझाव दिया कि उन्हें पांच रुपये में अपने समर्पित पिता से मिलने जाना चाहिए, इसलिए उन्होंने किराए के लिए अतिरिक्त राशि एकत्र की। वह चिंतित थी कि उसका दिल ठंडा है, और उसने उससे पूछा कि वह ऐसा क्यों सोचती है। बूढ़े हैगबर्ड चाहते थे कि वे एक वकील के क्लर्क बनें, और उनकी मां उनकी भलाई के लिए इसके साथ चली गईं। हालाँकि, उन्होंने उनकी उम्मीदों से आहत महसूस करते हुए उड़ान भरी। उन्होंने टिप्पणी की कि वह उस जीवन में नहीं लौटना चाहते थे जो उन्हें अर्थहीन लगा। उसने पूछा कि उसे कहाँ मरने की उम्मीद है, और उसने जवाब दिया कि वह कहीं भी हो सकता है, लेकिन अगर उसे चुनना है, तो वह घर कहेगा। उन्होंने महसूस किया कि दुनिया उनका घर है और एक अस्पताल में मरने की उम्मीद थी, जो तब तक ठीक था जब तक वे पूरी तरह से जीवित थे। उन्होंने अपने विविध अनुभवों पर गर्व करते हुए एक दर्जी या सैनिक होने के अलावा लगभग सब कुछ किया था। वह हैरान रह गई और उसने सुझाव दिया कि यह आराम करने का समय है।
खड़े होकर उन्होंने दृढ़ता से कहा कि जाने का समय आ गया है। वह हिलता नहीं था और धीरे से एक अजीब गीत गुनगुनाता था। उन्होंने उल्लेख किया कि उन्होंने इसे मेक्सिको में, सोनोरा में सीखा, इसे गैंबुसिनो की धुन कहा-बेचैन आत्माओं का गीत। वे कभी भी समझौता नहीं करते, यहां तक कि एक महिला के लिए भी नहीं। उन्होंने मजतलान में एक खनन इंजीनियर के रूप में अपने समय की कहानियों को साझा किया। एक गीत एक सुंदर लड़की के बारे में बताता है जिसने सोने के लिए अपने गैंबुसिनो प्रेमी को पकड़ने की कोशिश की, लेकिन वह गायब हो गया। वह सोचती थी कि उसके साथ क्या हुआ, लेकिन उसने कहा कि गीत में इसकी व्याख्या नहीं है। वह भी ऐसा ही हो सकता है। उसने जवाब दिया कि कोई भी महिला उन्हें आसपास नहीं रख सकती है, और उसने मजाक में कहा कि यह कभी भी एक सप्ताह से अधिक नहीं था। उसने उन सभी की देखभाल करने का दावा किया, सही महिला के लिए कुछ भी करने के लिए तैयार था और स्वीकार किया कि वह पहले से ही उसके प्यार में पड़ गया था, उसका नाम याद करते हुए। वह घबराहट से हंसी, यह देखते हुए कि उसने अभी तक उसका चेहरा भी नहीं देखा था। उसने उसके पीले रंग की प्रशंसा करते हुए कहा कि यह कुछ पर अच्छा लग रहा है। परेशान होकर, उसे एहसास हुआ कि उससे पहले कभी किसी ने इतना कुछ नहीं कहा था।
उसका स्वर बदल गया क्योंकि उसने बताया कि वह भूखा था और उसने नाश्ता नहीं किया था। वह पहले ही जा चुकी थी, और उसने उसे वापस बुलाने पर विचार किया लेकिन इसके खिलाफ फैसला किया। उसने मजाक में कहा कि वह भीख नहीं मांग रहा था, रोटी का एक टुकड़ा ले रहा था। उसने उसे याद दिलाया कि ओल्ड हैगबर्ड ने अपने लाभ के लिए खुद को भूखा रखा था, जिस पर उसने जवाब दिया कि वह अपनी इच्छाओं के लिए भूखा था। उसने जोर देकर कहा कि ओल्ड हैगबर्ड के पास जो कुछ भी है वह उसके लिए है, लेकिन उसने प्रतिवाद किया कि अगर वह एक मोर की तरह इधर-उधर घूमता है, तो उसके लिए क्या बचा है। उसने अस्थायी रूप से सुझाव दिया कि वह उसे एक सप्ताह में मना सकती है, लेकिन वह देखभाल करने के लिए बहुत भूखा था। जैसे ही वह खाना खा रहा था, वह उसे फुसफुसा रही थी, और वह सुन रहा था, तब तक वह हैरान था जब तक कि उसके हाथ ने अचानक प्लेट को उड़ने नहीं दिया।
उन्होंने गुस्से में शाप दिया, ओल्ड हैगबर्ड की अपेक्षाओं और अपने जीवन को नियंत्रित करने की उनकी इच्छा को खारिज कर दिया। बेसी के संकट को नजरअंदाज करते हुए, उन्होंने उल्लेख किया कि ओल्ड हैगबर्ड के मन में उनके लिए एक लड़की थी, यहां तक कि जूडी का नाम भी रखा। बूढ़े हैगबर्ड ने बाहर से चिल्लाया, जिससे बेसी चिंतित हो गया। उसने उससे उस आदमी से बचने का आग्रह किया, इस बात पर जोर देते हुए कि वह सिर्फ एक ड्रिफ्टर था और हैरी नहीं, जो अगले दिन उससे शादी करेगा। उसकी आवाज़ तेजी से उग्र होती गई क्योंकि उसने घोषणा की कि हैरी को उससे शादी करनी चाहिए, या वह उसे पूरी तरह से अलग कर देगा और सब कुछ उस पर छोड़ देगा। फिर उसने खिड़की बंद कर दी। हैरी ने एक गहरी सांस ली और बेसी का सामना किया। वह अपने हाथों में अपना सिर लिए बैठी, और उसने उसे याद दिलाया कि उसने ओल्ड हैगबर्ड की योजना को समझ लिया था। उसने अपना चेहरा ढक लिया, और उसने धीरे से उसकी कलाई पकड़ ली, गड़बड़ से बचने के लिए उससे मदद मांगी। वह मुड़ गई, और उसने उससे पैसे के बारे में पूछा। शर्मिंदा होकर, उसने जल्दी से सिर हिलाया और अपनी पोशाक की जेब की तलाशी ली, जो उसके पास था वह उसे दे दिया। वह चाहती थी कि वह चला जाए, काश वह उसे भूलने में मदद करने के लिए और अधिक पेशकश कर सकती। उसने उसे आश्वासन दिया कि वह डरें नहीं, यह याद करते हुए कि कैसे महिलाओं ने उसे पहले बचाया था। उन्होंने अपने हाथ में अर्ध-संप्रभु की जांच की और उसे जेब में डाल दिया, जबकि वह खड़ी थी, चोटिल थी, उसकी बाहें लंगड़ी थीं। उसने उससे कहा कि वह खुद को खरीद नहीं सकती है और फिर, अप्रत्याशित रूप से, उसे अपनी मजबूत बाहों में उठा लिया, उसे तीव्र जुनून के साथ चूमा। उनके गालों, माथे, पलकों और होंठों को चूमते समय बढ़ते ज्वार की लय उनके आलिंगन से मेल खाती थी। ऐसा लगा जैसे कोई लहर उसके ऊपर से टकरा रही हो। इसके बाद, वह दीवार से टकराकर पीछे हट गई, जैसे कि वह किसी तूफान से बच गई हो। थोड़ी देर बाद, उसने अपनी आँखें खोलीं, उसके कदमों को चलते हुए सुना। उसने अपनी स्कर्ट इकट्ठी की और उसे न छोड़ने के लिए चिल्लाने के लिए खुले गेट से शांत सड़क पर चली गई।
जैसे ही उसने हैरी को पुकारा, मौत के विचार से ज्यादा उसे खामोशी के गहरे डर ने जकड़ लिया। टकराती लहरों ने हवा को भर दिया, लेकिन वह पूरी तरह से अकेला महसूस कर रही थी, जैसे कि एक सुनसान भूमि में एक खोई हुई आत्मा। अपने अंधेरे घर के अंदर कैप्टन हैगबर्ड ध्यान से सुन रहे थे। अंधेरे से एक आवाज़ गूंजी, पागल लेकिन आशान्वित। उसने उसे उस आदमी के बारे में ताना मारा जो चला गया था, यह दावा करते हुए कि उसने उसे डराया था। निराशा में, वह रो पड़ी कि वह उसे और नहीं सुन सकती थी। वह हँस पड़ा और उसे एक और दिन धैर्य रखने के लिए कहा। इस बीच, बूढ़े कारविल ने दूसरे घर से उसके लिए चिल्लाया। अपने भाग्य को स्वीकार करते हुए, वह अपने कार्यों के बारे में उलझन में अपनी तंग झोपड़ी में लौट आई। कैप्टन हैगबर्ड ने अपनी जीत का जश्न मनाया, एक बेहतर कल में विश्वास की बात करते हुए शोर-शराबे में खुशी का आनंद लिया।
Themes of the Lesson Tomorrow
Unwavering Hope and Faith Drive to Insanity
The Old Hagberd’s unwavering hope and faith in his son’s returning to him the next day has driven him to insanity. It could also be seen that he was avoiding the reality that could drive him to madness. It’s the same reality Bessie chooses to keep herself away from becoming mad. For her, it’s better to keep faith in tomorrow to keep her sanity intact as the reality is stark to face. Joseph Conrad has blurred the line between self-deception and hope, to highlight the complexity of his characters.
Passage of Time
Old Hagberd has been passing time by deceiving himself into believing that his son would return. It’s the same disease Bessie is shown to be suffering from, in the end, when Harry leaves her, after misbehaving with her. She chose to keep faith and hope for tomorrow to keep herself from being driven to madness.
Responsibility Versus Freedom
Bessie has been constricted by the responsibility towards her father while his father used to shout and get angry at her for no reason. She always remains agitated and disgusted. On the other hand, Harry Hagberd has been free from all the expectations and responsibilities towards his family. He is happy with his life. Yet, Conrad questions the behaviour of both fathers towards their children, which leads one to escape and the other to live an unhappy life.
Tomorrow Lesson Explanation
Passage:
What was known of Captain Hagberd in the little seaport of Colebrook was not exactly in his favour. He did not belong to the place. He had come to settle there under circumstances not at all mysterious—he used to be very communicative about them at the time—but extremely morbid and unreasonable. He was possessed of some little money, because he bought a plot of ground, and had a pair of ugly yellow brick cottages run up very cheaply. He occupied one of them himself and left the other to Josiah Carvil—blind Carvil, the retired boat-builder—a man of evil reputed as a domestic tyrant.
Word meanings
morbid: diseased
tyrant: oppressive ruler
Explanation of the above passage—People in the small seaside town of Colebrook did not have a positive view of Captain Hagberd. He was not originally from the area. He came to live there for clear reasons that were dark and irrational. He had some money because he bought a piece of land and built two unattractive yellow brick cottages cheaply. He lived in one and rented the other to Josiah Carvil, who was blind and a former boat-builder. He was known for treating people at the seaport cruelly.
Passage:
These cottages had one wall in common, shared in a line of iron railing dividing their front gardens; a wooden fence separated their back gardens. Miss Bessie Carvil was allowed, as it were of right, to throw over it the tea cloths, blue rags, or an apron that wanted drying.
‘It rots the wood, Bessie my girl,’ the captain would remark mildly, from his side of the fence, each time he saw her exercising that privilege.
Word meanings
fence: a barrier
Explanation of the above passage—These cottages shared a wall and had a railing made of iron that separated their front gardens. In the back, a wooden fence marked the property line. Miss Bessie Carvil had the right to hang tea cloths, blue rags, or an apron over this fence. The captain would gently remind her from his side of the fence when he saw her doing this, not to hang wet clothes on the fence as it could rot the wood.
Passage:
She was a tall girl; the fence was low, and she could spread her elbows on the top. Her hands would be red with the bit of washing she had done, but her forearms were white and shapely, and she would look at her father’s landlord in silence—in an informed silence which had an air of knowledge, expectation and desire.
‘It rots the wood,’ reported Captain Hagberd. ‘It is the only unthrifty, careless habit I know of you. Why don’t you have a clothesline out in your backyard?
Word meanings
unthrifty: not using money
Explanation of the above passage—She was a tall girl, so the fence was low enough for her to rest her elbows on it. Her hands were stained red from the washing she had done, but her forearms were pale and elegant. She watched her father’s landlord in silence, which showed she understood him and felt both excited and hopeful.
Captain Hagberd said to her that it damaged the wood and was the only careless habit he had seen in her. He further questioned her about why she didn’t put up a clothesline in her backyard.
Passage:
Miss Carvil would say nothing to this—she only shook her head negatively. The tiny backyard on her side had a few stone-bordered little beds of black earth, in which the simple flowers she found time to cultivate appeared somehow extravagantly overgrown as if belonging to an exotic clime; and Captain Hagberd’s upright, hale person, clad in No.1 sailcloth from head to foot, would be emerging knee-deep out of rank grass and the tall weeds on his side of the fence. He appeared, with the colour and uncouth stiffness of the extraordinary material in which he chose to clothe himself—‘for the time being’, would be his mumbled remark to any observation on the subject—like a man roughened out of granite, standing in a wilderness not big enough for a decent billiard-room. A heavy figure of a man of stone, with a red handsome face, a blue wandering eye, and a great white beard flowing to his waist and never trimmed as far as Colebrook knew.
Word meanings
granite: rock
uncouth: lacking good manners
clime: a region known for its weather
Explanation of the above passage—Bessie Carvil did not answer; she just shook her head to show she disagreed. On her side of the fence, her small backyard had stone-edged garden beds filled with rich black soil. The modest flowers she grew looked oddly overgrown as if they came from a tropical place. On the other side, Captain Hagberd’s strong, sturdy figure often appeared, standing knee-deep in the thick grass and tall weeds. Dressed entirely in No.1 sailcloth, he looked like a man made of stone, placed in a space too small for even a decent billiard room. He had a handsome red face, a wandering blue eye, and a long white beard that reached his waist and was never trimmed.
Passage:
Seven years before, he had seriously answered ‘Next month, I think’ to the chaffing attempt to secure his custom made by that distinguished local wit, the Colebrook barber, who happened to be sitting insolently in the tap-room of the New Inn near the harbour, where the captain had entered to buy an ounce of tobacco. After paying for his purchase with three half-pence extracted from the corner of a handkerchief which he carried in the shirt’s sleeves, Captain Hagberd went out. As soon as the door was shut the barber laughed. ‘The old one and the young one will be strolling arm in arm to get shaved in my place presently. The tailor shall be set to work, and the barber, and the candlestick maker. High old times are coming for Colebrook; they are coming, to be sure. It used to be ‘‘next week’’, now it has come to ‘‘next month’’, and so on—soon it will be ‘‘next spring’’, for all I know.’
Word meanings
insolently: rude
chaffing: tease
Explanation of the above passage—Seven years ago, he had answered seriously, “Next month, I think,” when a local barber at the New Inn jokingly tried to get his business. The barber was sitting in the pub near the harbour when Captain Hagberd entered to buy some tobacco. He paid three half-pence which he had kept in the cuff of his shirts sleeve and left. As soon as the door closed, the barber laughed and said, the old Hagberd and his son would soon be coming to get shaved at his place. He would have the tailor, barber, and candlestick maker all ready. Good times are coming for Colebrook. It used to be ‘next week,’ then it became ‘next month,’ and who knows, maybe it will be ‘next spring’ soon.
Passage:
Noticing a stranger listening to him with a vacant grin, he explained, stretching out his legs cynically, that this queer old Hagberd, a retired coasting skipper, was waiting for the return of a son of his. The boy had been driven away from home, he shouldn’t wonder; had run away to sea and had never been heard of since. He would have been put to rest in Davy Jones’s locker, a mythical place which is the bottom of the sea where all the mariners rest after they drowned in the sea, as many days have passed. Joseph Conrad has used metaphor ‘Davy Jones’s locker’ to add references to the mythology of sailors. That old man came flying to Colebrook three years ago all in black broadcloth (had lost his wife lately then), getting out of a third-class smoker as if the devil had been at his heels; and the only thing that brought him down was a letter—a hoax probably. Some joker had written to him about a seafaring man with some such name who was supposed to be hanging about some girl or other, either in Colebrook or in the neighbourhood. ‘Funny, ain’t it?’ The old chap had been advertising in the London papers for Harry Hagberd, and offering rewards for any sort of likely information. And the barber would go on to describe with sardonic gusto how that stranger in mourning had been seen exploring the country, in carts, on foot, taking everybody into his confidence, visiting all the inns and alehouses for miles around, stopping people on the road with his questions, looking into the very ditches almost; first in the greatest excitement, then with a plodding sort of perseverance, growing slower and slower, and he could not even tell you plainly how his son looked. The sailor was supposed to be one of two that had left a timber ship, and to have been seen dangling after some girl; but the old man described a boy of fourteen or so—‘a clever-looking, high-spirited boy’. And when people only smiled at this he would rub his forehead in a confused sort of way before he slunk off, looking offended. He found nobody, of course; not a trace of anybody—never heard of anything worth belief, at any rate; but he had not been able, somehow, to tear himself away from Colebrook.
Word meanings:
put to rest in Davy Jones’s locker: [Davy Jone’s Locker is a metaphor for the bottomless ocean]. It means that the sailor or ship has been consigned to the depth of the ocean or has drowned
perseverance: Determination
slunk off: leave silently
sardonic: mocking
ditches: gutter
gusto: Enjoyment
skipper: Captain of a ship
Explanation of the above passage—A stranger, who turned out to be Harry Hagberd later in the story, listened with a blank smile as the elderly man shared the story. This old man, Hagberd, used to be a coastal skipper and was eagerly waiting for his son to return. The boy had likely run away and fled to sea, and no one had heard from him since. He might have drowned long ago. Three years earlier, Hagberd had rushed to Colebrook dressed in black, after losing his wife. He got off a third-class train as if he was being chased. He had come because of a letter, which was likely to be a joke. Someone had written to him about a seafarer with a name similar to his son’s, who was rumoured to be with a girl in Colebrook or nearby. The barber asked whether it was funny. He explained how the old man placed ads in London newspapers, offering rewards for any information about Harry Hagberd. The barber described how the grieving father roamed the countryside, travelling by cart and on foot. He asked everyone he met, visiting all the local taverns and inns and stopping passersby to question them. At first, Hagberd was excited, but over time he became more persistent and moved more slowly. Yet, he couldn’t clearly describe what his son looked like. The sailor was thought to be one of two who had deserted a timber ship and was spotted with a girl. However, the old man described his son as around fourteen, an intelligent-looking, spirited boy. When people laughed at him, he would rub his forehead and walk away, looking hurt. Despite his efforts, he found no one and no credible information, but for some reason, he couldn’t leave Colebrook.
Passage:
‘It was the shock of this disappointment, perhaps, coming soon after the loss of his wife, that had driven him crazy on that point,’ the barber suggested, with an air of great psychological insight. After a time the old man abandoned the active search. His son had gone away, but he settled himself to wait. His son had been once at least in Colebrook in preference to his native place. There must have been some reason for it, he seemed to think, some very powerful inducement that would bring him back to Colebrook again.
‘Ha, ha, ha! Why, of course, Colebrook? Where else? That’s the only place in the United Kingdom for your long-lost sons. So he sold up his old home in Colchester, and down he came here. Well, it’s a craze, like any other. Wouldn’t catch me going crazy over any of my youngsters clearing out. I’ve got eight of them at home.’ The barber was showing off his strength of mind amid a laughter that shook the taproom.
Word meanings
inducement: persuade
taproom: a bar in a hotel
Explanation of the above passage—The barber then said that maybe the shock of the disappointment, especially after losing his wife, pushed him to madness. After a while, the old man stopped looking for his son. His son had left, but Old Hagberd chose to stay and wait. At least once, his son had preferred to be in Colebrook rather than his hometown. He thought there had to be a good reason for his son to come back to Colebrook. The barber laughed and said that, of course, it was Colebrook. Where else could his son go? It’s the only place in the UK for lost sons. So, Captain Hagberd sold his old house in Colchester and moved to Colebrook. Well, it’s just a whim, like anything else. The barber said that he wouldn’t get too upset if his kids ran off. He had eight of them at home. The barber laughed, showing his strong mindset as laughter filled the taproom.
Passage:
Strange though, that sort of thing, he would confess with the frankness of superior intelligence, seemed to be catching. His establishment, for instance, was near the harbour, and whenever a sailorman came in for a haircut or a shave—if it was a strange face he couldn’t help thinking directly, ‘Suppose he’s the son of old Hagberd!’ He laughed at himself for it. It was a strong craze. He could remember the time when the whole town was full of it. But he had his hopes of the old chap yet. He would cure him by a course of judicious chaffing. He was watching the progress of the treatment. Next week—next month—next year! When the old skipper had put off the date of that return till next year, he would be well on his way to not saying any more about it. In other matters, he was quite rational, so this, too, was bound to come. Such was the barber’s firm opinion.
Explanation of the above passage—It was strange, he thought, that some ideas seemed to spread easily. For instance, his barbershop was near the harbour, and whenever a sailor came in for a haircut or shave, especially if he was new, he couldn’t help but wonder, if he could be the son of old Hagberd? He laughed at himself for thinking like that. It was quite an obsession. He remembered when the whole town had this same idea. Still, he hoped for the best for the old man. He planned to tease him about it. He was paying attention to how well his plan worked. From next week to next month then to next year. Once the old captain delayed his return until next year, he would be on track to stop mentioning it. In other ways, he was very logical, so he believed this would pass too. That was the barber’s firm belief.
Passage:
Nobody had ever contradicted him; his hair had gone grey since that time, and Captain Hagberd’s beard had turned quite white, and had acquired a majestic flow over the No.1 canvas suit, which he had made for himself secretly with tarred twine, and had assumed suddenly, coming out in it one fine morning, whereas the evening before he had been seen going home in his mourning of broadcloth. It caused a sensation in the High Street— shopkeepers coming to their doors, people in the houses snatching up their hats to run out—a stir at which he seemed strangely surprised at first, and then scared; but his only answer to the wondering questions was that startled and evasive ‘For the present’.
Word meanings
majestic: great
evasive: avoiding
tarred: covered with tar
twine: strong thread
mourning of broadcloth: broadcloth is the cloth used for mourning
Explanation of the above passage—No one had ever challenged him. Since then, his hair had turned grey, and Captain Hagberd’s beard had become completely white, giving him a grand look over his No.1 canvas suit made from tarred twine. Through their beard, Joseph Conrad has beautifully shown the passage of time. He unexpectedly wore it one lovely morning, even though the night before, he had been seen in a mourning outfit made of broadcloth. This surprised people on the High Street. Shopkeepers stepped out of their shops, and residents hurriedly put on their hats to see what was happening. The commotion astonished him, and he seemed nervous. When asked about it, he responded vaguely, saying, it was for the present.
Passage:
That sensation had been forgotten long ago; and Captain Hagberd himself, if not forgotten, had come to be disregarded—the penalty of dailiness—as the sun itself is disregarded unless it makes its power felt heavily. Captain Hagberd’s movements showed no infirmity; he walked stiffly in his suit of canvas, a quaint and remarkable figure; only his eyes wandered more furtively perhaps than of yore. His manner abroad had lost its excitable watchfulness; it had become puzzled and diffident, as though he had suspected that there was somewhere about him something slightly compromising, some embarrassing oddity; and yet had remained unable to discover what on earth this something wrong could be.
He was unwilling now to talk with the townsfolk. He had earned for himself the reputation of an awful skinflint, of a miser in the matter of living. He mumbled regretfully in the shops, bought inferior scraps of meat after long hesitations; and discouraged all allusions to his costume. It was as the barber had foretold. For all one could tell, he had recovered already from the disease of hope; and only Miss Bessie Carvil knew that he said nothing about his son’s return because with him it was no longer ‘next week’, ‘next month’, or even ‘next year’. It was ‘tomorrow’.
Word meanings
dailiness: routine life
skinflint: miser
quaint: Attractive
furtively: guilty nervousness
yore: yesteryear
diffident: lacking confidence
Explanation of the above passage—Captain Hagberd had almost been forgotten. His presence, if remembered, was overlooked due to being a matter of daily occurence, much like the sun that goes unnoticed unless it shines brightly. He walked stiffly in his canvas clothing, appearing unique and notable, though his eyes seemed to move more carefully than before. In public, he no longer acted with eagerness; instead, he looked confused and uncertain, sensing that something was off around him, but he couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
He became hesitant to interact with the locals. He had earned a reputation as a miser who wouldn’t spend money. He muttered complaints in stores, took a long time to buy cheap scraps of meat, and avoided comments about his clothing. As the barber had predicted, he seemed to have moved beyond the hope of his son’s return. Only Miss Bessie Carvil knew that he didn’t talk about it because, for him, it was no longer a matter that would happen next week or next month or even next year. For him, it was just tomorrow which meant the next day everyday.
Passage:
In their intimacy of backyard and front garden, he talked with her paternally, reasonably, and dogmatically, with a touch of arbitrariness. They met on the ground of unreserved confidence, which was authenticated by an affectionate wink now and then. Miss Carvil had come to look forward rather to these winks. At first, they had discomposed her: the poor fellow was mad. Afterwards, she had learned to laugh at them: there was no harm in him. Now she was aware of an unacknowledged, pleasurable, incredulous emotion, expressed by a faint blush. He winked not in the least vulgarly; his thin red face with a well-modelled curved nose had a sort of distinction—the more so that when he talked to her he looked with a steadier and more intelligent glance. A handsome, hale, upright, capable man, with a white beard. You did not think of his age. His son, he affirmed, had resembled him amazingly from his earliest babyhood.
Harry would be one-and-thirty next July, he declared. Proper age to get married to a nice, sensible girl who could appreciate a good home. He was a very high-spirited boy. High-spirited husbands were the easiest to manage. These mean, soft chaps, that you would think butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths, were the ones to make a woman thoroughly miserable. And there was nothing like home—a fireside—a good roof: no turning out of your warm bed in all sorts of weather. ‘Eh, my dear?’
Word meanings
incredulous: unbelievable
intimacy: closeness
dogmatically: unquestionable beliefs
hale: strong and healthy
discomposed: disturbed
arbitrariness: a lack of restrain in authority
Explanation of the above passage—In their backyard and front garden, he spoke to her like a father, being reasonable but also a bit bossy. They shared a strong trust, often shown by a friendly wink. Miss Carvil looked forward to these winks. At first, they made her uncomfortable because she thought he was strange. Later, she learned to laugh at them; he meant no harm. Now, she felt an unexpected, pleasant emotion that made her blush a little. He winked in a friendly way; his thin red face and nicely shaped nose gave him a special charm. When he talked to her, his gaze was steady and intelligent. He appeared to be a handsome, strong, capable man with a white beard, and one wouldn’t be able to guess his age. He said his son looked just like him since he was a baby.
Harry would turn thirty-one next July. He believed it was a good age to marry a sensible girl who would appreciate a nice home. He described Harry as a high-spirited boy. He thought that spirited husbands were the easiest to handle. He warned that the quiet, soft men, who seemed kind, could make a woman unhappy. He emphasised that there is nothing compared to having a warm home, a cosy fire, and a solid roof, so that there is no need to get out of the bed in bad weather.
Passage:
Captain Hagberd had been one of those sailors who pursued their calling within sight of land. One of the many children of a bankrupt farmer, he had been apprenticed hurriedly to a coasting skipper and had remained on the coast all his sea life. It must have been a hard one at first: he had never taken to it; his affection turned to the land, with its innumerable houses, with its quiet lives gathered around firesides. Many sailors feel and profess a rational dislike for the sea, but he was a profound and emotional animosity—as if the love of the stabler element had been bred into him through many generations.
‘People did not know what they let their boys in for when they let them go to sea,’ he expounded to Bessie. ‘As soon make convicts of them at once.’ He did not believe you ever got used to it. The weariness of such a life got worse as you got older. What sort of trade was it in which more than half your time you did not put your foot inside your house? Directly you got out to sea you had no means of knowing what went on at home. One might have thought him weary of distant voyages: and the longest he had ever made had lasted a fortnight, of which the most part had been spent at anchor, sheltering from the weather. As soon as his wife had inherited a house and enough to live on (from a bachelor uncle who had made some money in the coal business) he threw up his command of an East-coast collier with a feeling as though he had escaped from the galleys. After all these years he might have counted on the fingers of his two hands all the days he had been out of sight of England. He had never known what it was to be out of soundings. ‘I have never been further than eighty fathoms from the land’ was one of his boasts.
Word meanings
expounded: explained
fathoms: measure the depth of water
to be out of soundings: to be completely detached from the environment and things around
animosity: strong hostility
east-coast collier: a ship especially designed to transport coal from the eastern coast of the country.
Explanation of the above passage—Captain Hagberd spent his career as a coastal sailor, close to shore. He was one of many children from a struggling farmer and was quickly apprenticed to a local skipper. Throughout his life, he worked along the coast. His early experiences must have been tough; he never fully accepted the sea. Instead, he preferred the land, with its many homes and the peaceful lives of people around the fire. While many sailors express dislike for the sea, he felt a deep emotional hatred for it. It was as if a love for the steadiness of land had been passed down through generations.
He told Bessie that people didn’t realise what they’re signing their boys up for when they let them go to sea and they might as well make convicts of them right away. He believed that no one can adjust to sea life. The exhaustion that comes with it only grows as one ages. A job which kept one away from home for long was not worth it. When one sets sail, they can’t know what’s happening back at their home. Some might think Old Hagberd was tired of long trips, yet the longest time he spent away was just two weeks, much of it at anchor, avoiding bad weather. Once his wife inherited a home and enough money from an uncle who made a fortune in coal, he quit as captain of an East Coast collier. He felt free after years of sailing. He could count how many days he had been out of sight of England. He proudly said that he had never been further than a distance of eighty fathoms from the shore.
Passage:
Bessie Carvil heard all these things. In front of their cottage grew an undersized ash; and on summer afternoons she would bring out a chair on the grass-plot and sit down with her sewing. Captain Hagberd, in his canvas suit, leaned on a spade. He dug every day in his front plot. He turned it over and over several times every year, but was not going to plant anything ‘just at present’.
To Bessie Carvil he would state more explicitly: ‘Not till our Harry comes home tomorrow.’ And she had heard this formula of hope so often that it only awakened the vaguest pity in her heart for that hopeful old man.
Everything was put off in that way, and everything was being prepared likewise for tomorrow. There was a boxful of packets of various flower seeds to choose from, for the front garden. ‘He will doubtless let you have your say about that, my dear,’ Captain Hagberd intimated to her across the railing.
Word meaning
explicitly: clear, making something easy to understand
Explanation of the above passage—Bessie Carvil listened to the conversations around her. An undersized ash tree stood in front of her cottage. On warm summer afternoons, she would set up a chair on the grass and relax while sewing. Captain Hagberd, dressed in his canvas suit, rested on a spade. He dug in his front garden every day, turning the soil over and over, but he wasn’t planning to plant anything at the time.
He told Bessie that he would not plant anything until Harry came home tomorrow. She had heard this hopeful statement so often that it only made her feel a little pity for the optimistic old man.
Everything was on hold, and they were making similar plans for tomorrow. There was a box filled with packets of various flower seeds to choose from for the front garden. Captain Hagberd told her over the railing that Harry would surely let her pick what she liked.
Passage:
Miss Bessie’s head remained bowed over her work. She had heard all this so many times. But now and then she would rise, lay down her sewing, and come slowly to the fence. There was a charm in these gentle ravings. He was determined that his son should not go away again for the want of a home all ready for him. He had been filling the other cottage with all sorts of furniture. She imagined it all new, fresh with varnish, piled up as in a warehouse. There would be tables wrapped up in sacking: rolls of carpets thick and vertical, like fragments of columns; the gleam of white marble tops in the dimness of the drawn blinds. Captain Hagberd always described his purchases to her, carefully, as to a person having a legitimate interest in them. The overgrown yard of his cottage could be laid over with concrete…after tomorrow.
‘We may just as well do away with the fence. You could have your drying line out, quite clear of your flowers.’ He winked, and she would blush faintly.
This madness that had entered her life through the kind impulses of her heart had reasonable details. What if someday his son returned? But she could not even be quite sure that he ever had a son: and if he existed anywhere he had been too long away. When Captain Hagberd got excited in his talk she would steady him by a pretence of belief, laughing a little to salve her conscience.
Word meanings
salve: soothe
ravings: to say very good things
Explanation of the above passage—Miss Bessie focused on her sewing. She had heard this talk many times before this. Sometimes, she would look up, put away her work, and walk slowly to the fence. His gentle rants drew her in. He was determined to make a home for his son so he wouldn’t leave again. He filled the other cottage with all kinds of new furniture. She imagined everything shining with varnish, arranged like in a store. There would be tables covered in burlap, rolls of carpets standing up like columns, and the shine of marble tabletops hidden in the dim light from closed curtains. Captain Hagberd would carefully explain his purchases to her as if she cared. The overgrown yard of his cottage could be paved with concrete… after tomorrow. He told her that they might as well remove the fence and she could hang her clothes to dry without bothering her flowers. He winked, making her blush a little.
This strange feeling that had come into her life through her caring heart had some reason behind it. What if his son returned one day? But she wasn’t sure if he had a son; if he did, he had been gone for too long. When Captain Hagberd got excited while talking, she calmed him down by pretending to believe him, laughing a little to ease her mind.
Word meaning
burlap: coarse cloth made of jute
Passage:
Only once she had tried pityingly to throw some doubt on that hope doomed to disappointment, but the effect of her attempt had scared her very much. All at once over that man’s face there came an expression of horror and incredulity, as though he had seen a crack open out in the firmament.
‘You—you—you don’t think he’s drowned!’
For a moment he seemed to her ready to go out of his mind, for in his ordinary state she thought him more sane than people gave him credit for. On that occasion, the violence of the emotion was followed by a most paternal and complacent recovery.
‘Don’t alarm yourself, my dear,’ he said a little cunningly, ‘the sea can’t keep him. He does not belong to it. None of us Hagberds ever did belong to it. Look at me; I didn’t get drowned. Moreover, he isn’t a sailor at all; and if he is not a sailor he’s bound to come back. There’s nothing to prevent him from coming back…’
His eyes began to wander.
‘Tomorrow.’
Word meanings
firmament: sky
complacent: self-satisfied
Incredulity: lack of belief
Explanation of the above passage—She only tried once to question that hope, which seemed likely to end in disappointment, and the attempt scared her a lot. Suddenly, the man looked horrified, as if something terrible had happened.
He exclaimed that she didn’t think that Harry drowned!
For a moment, she worried he might lose control because she thought he was more rational than most people believed. At that moment, his intense feelings changed to a calmness that felt fatherly and self-satisfied.
He told her with a hint of cleverness not to worry as the sea couldn’t keep him. He wasn’t meant for it. None of the Hagberds belonged to the sea. Old Hagberd told her to look at him; he didn’t drown. Besides, Harry was not a sailor, and if he wasn’t a sailor, he would come back. Nothing could stop him from returning…
His gaze began to wander.
He was waiting for the next day as he was living in a self deluded hope that Harry would come though he knew why he left, but that the only notion he could survive on. Somehow, he knew if he wanted to come, he would have in sixteen years.
Passage:
She never tried again, for fear the man should go out of his mind on the spot. He depended on her. She seemed the only sensible person in the town, and he would congratulate himself frankly before her face on having secured such a level-headed wife for his son. The rest of the town, he confided to her once, in a fit of temper, was certainly queer. The way they looked at you—the way they talked to you! He had never got on with anyone in the place. Didn’t like the people. He would not have left his own country if it had not been clear that his son had taken a fancy to Colebrook.
She humoured him in silence, listening patiently by the fence; crocheting with downcast eyes. Blushes came with difficulty on her dead-white complexion, under the negligently twisted opulence of mahogany-coloured hair. Her father was frankly carroty.
Word meanings
opulence: wealth
queer: strange
Explanation of the above passage—She never tried to speak that again because she was afraid the man might lose his sanity. He depended on her. She seemed to be the only reasonable person in town. He often took pride in telling her that he had found such a sensible wife for his son. One time, during a moment of frustration, he told her that the rest of the town was certainly strange, as the way they looked at him and spoke to him. He had never connected with anyone in Colebrook. He didn’t like the locals. He wouldn’t have left his home if it hadn’t been clear that his son was in Colebrook. She listened to his complaints quietly, sitting by the fence and crocheting with her eyes down. Her pale skin barely showed any blush, framed by her casually styled rich brown hair. Her father had bright red hair.
Passage:
She had a full figure; a tired, unrefreshed face. When Captain Hagberd vaunted the necessity and propriety of a home and the delights of one’s fireside, she smiled a little, with her lips only. Her home delights had been confined to the nursing of her father during the ten best years of her life.
A bestial roaring coming out of an upstairs window would interrupt their talk. She would begin at once to roll up her crochet-work or fold her sewing, without the slightest sign of haste. Meanwhile, the howls and roars of her name would go on, making the fishermen strolling upon the seawall on the other side of the road turn their heads towards the cottages. She would go in slowly at the front door, and a moment afterwards there would fall a profound silence. Presently she would reappear, leading by the hand a man, gross and unwieldy like a hippopotamus, with a bad-tempered, surly face.
Word meanings
vaunted: praised
full figure: round body shape
surly: unfriendly
gross: excessively fat
unwieldy: difficult to move or carry because of heavy weight
profound: feel strongly
confined: very small
bestial roaring: a sound that imitates the roar of a beast
Explanation of the above passage—She had a full figure and looked tired and worn out. When Captain Hagberd talked about the importance of having a home and the comforts of one’s fireside, she smiled faintly, just with her lips. Her experience with home life mostly involved taking care of her father during her best years.
A loud noise from an upstairs window would interrupt their conversation. She would start to tidy up her crochet or put away her sewing without any rush. Meanwhile, her dad would shout her name, making fishermen walking by on the seawall glance over at the cottages. She would slowly walk through the front door, and soon, a deep silence would follow. After a moment, she would come back out, guiding a large man who looked heavy and large, like a hippopotamus, and had a sour, grumpy expression.
Passage:
He was a widowed boat-builder, whom blindness had overtaken years before in the full flush of business. He behaved to his daughter as if she had been responsible for its incurable character. He had been heard to bellow at the top of his voice as if to defy Heaven, that he did not care: he had made enough money to have ham and eggs for his breakfast every morning. He thanked God for it, in a fiendish tone as though he were cursing.
Captain Hagberd had been so unfavourably impressed by his tenant that once he told Miss Bessie, ‘He is a very extravagant fellow, my dear.’
She was knitting that day, finishing a pair of socks for her father, who expected her to keep up the supply dutifully. She hated knitting, and, as she was just at the heel part, she had to keep her eyes on her needles.
‘Of course, it isn’t as if he had a son to provide for,’ Captain Hagberd went on a little vacantly. ‘Girls, of course, don’t require so much—h’m—h’m. They don’t run away from home, my dear.’
‘No,’ said Miss Bessie, quietly.
Captain Hagberd, amongst the mounds of turned-up earth, chuckled. With his maritime rig, his weather-beaten face, and his beard of Father Neptune, he resembled a deposed sea god who had exchanged the trident for the spade.
‘And he must look upon you as already provided for, in a manner. That’s the best of it with the girls. The husbands…’ He winked. Miss Bessie, absorbed in her knitting, coloured faintly.
Word meaning
rig: to control an event in an unfair way in order to get result you want
fiendish tone: extremely cruel and wicked
incurable: something that can’t be cured
bellow: to shout in the loud deep voice
father neptune: an allusion to Roman mythological God of sea called Neptune who held a spade in his hand.
Explanation of the above passage—He was a boat builder who lost his wife and became blind years ago at the peak of his career. He treated his daughter like she was responsible for his condition. He often shouted, challenging fate, that he didn’t care: he had made enough money to enjoy ham and eggs for breakfast every day of his life. With a dark tone, he expressed gratitude for it.
Captain Hagberd had a very low opinion of his tenant. He once told Miss Bessie that her father is quite an extravagant man. That day, she was busy knitting socks for her father, who expected her to keep doing this. She hated knitting, and since she was at the heel section, she had to keep her eyes on her needles.
Captain Hagberd continued, somewhat distractedly, that her father didn’t have a son to take care of and daughters don’t need as much money as sons needed. They didn’t leave home as easily, either.
Miss Bessie replied quietly, agreeing with him.
Amidst the turned soil, Captain Hagberd chuckled. With his sailor’s clothes, weathered face, and beard like Father Neptune, he looked like a fallen sea god who had traded his spear for a shovel.
Captain Hagberd told her that her father must have thought that she had already been taken care of in some way. That’s the advantage with the girls, that they have husbands. He winked. Miss Bessie, focused on her knitting, blushed slightly.
Passage:
‘Bessie! My hat!’ old Carvil bellowed out suddenly. He had been sitting under the tree mute and motionless, like an idol of some remarkably monstrous superstition. He never opened his mouth but to howl for her, at her, sometimes about her; and then he did not moderate the terms of his abuse. Her system was never to answer him at all; and he kept up his shouting till he got attended to— till she shook him by the arm, or thrust the mouthpiece of his pipe between his teeth. He was one of the few blind people who smoked. When he felt the hat being put on his head he stopped his noise at once. Then he rose, and they passed together through the gate.
Explanation of the above passage—Old Carvil suddenly shouted for her, asking for his hat. He had been sitting quietly under the tree, still and silent, like a large statue. He spoke primarily to call for her using harsh words. Bessie chose not to respond right away. He continued to shout until she noticed him—until she either grabbed his arm or put the mouthpiece of his pipe in his mouth. He was one of the rare blind people who smoked. When he felt the hat on his head, he stopped shouting. Then he stood up, and they went through the gate together.
Passage:
He weighed heavily on her arm. During their slow, toilful walks she appeared to be dragging with her for a penance the burden of that infirm bulk. Usually, they crossed the road at once (the cottages stood in the fields near the harbour, two hundred yards away from the end of the street), and for a long, long time they would remain in view, ascending imperceptibly the flight of wooden steps that led to the top of the sea-wall. It ran on from east to west, shutting out the Channel like a neglected railway embankment, on which no train had ever rolled within the memory of man. Groups of sturdy fishermen would emerge upon the sky, walk along for a bit, and sink without haste. Their brown nets, like the cobwebs of gigantic spiders, lay on the shabby grass of the slope; and looking up from the end of the street, the people of the town would recognise the two Carvils, by the creeping slowness of their gait. Captain Hagberd, pottering aimlessly about his cottages, would raise his head to see how they got on in their promenade.
Word meanings
infirm: weak
imperceptibly: subtly
promenade: a wide oath where people walk beside the sea in a town on the coast pottering: to spend your time doing small jobs that you enjoy
gait: the way somebody walks
toilful: demanding
bulk: heavy
Explanation of the above passage—He placed his heavy weight on her arm. During their slow and tiring walks, it felt like she was dragging his heavy form as a punishment. Usually, they would quickly cross the road as the cottages were in the fields near the harbour, a few hundred yards from the end of the street, and they would remain in view for a long time, slowly walking up the wooden steps that led to the top of the sea wall. This wall stretched from east to west, blocking the Channel like an unused railway embankment, where no trains had run for as long as anyone could remember. Strong fishermen would sometimes show up against the skyline, walk for a bit, and then gradually head down. From the end of the street, the townspeople recognised the two Carvils by their slow pace. Captain Hagberd, wandering around his cottages, would look up to see how they were doing on their walk.
Passage:
He advertised still in the Sunday papers for Harry Hagberd. These sheets were read in foreign parts to the end of the world, he informed Bessie. At the same time, he seemed to think that his son was in England—so near to Colebrook that he would of course turn up ‘tomorrow’. Bessie, without committing herself to that opinion in so many words, argued that in that case, the expense of advertising was unnecessary; Captain Hagberd had better spend that weekly half-crown on himself. She declared she did not know what he lived on. Her argumentation would puzzle him and cast him down for a time. ‘They all do it,’ he pointed out. There was a whole column devoted to appeals after missing relatives. He would bring the newspaper to show her. He and his wife had advertised for years; only she was an impatient woman. The news from Colebrook had arrived the very day after her funeral; if she had not been so impatient she might have been here now, with no more than one day more to wait. ‘You are not an impatient woman, my dear.’
‘I’ve no patience with you, sometimes,’ she would say.
Word meaning
Half-crown: former British coin equal to two shillings and sixpence
Cast him down: to make someone feel downhearted or depressed
Explanation of the above passage—He kept placing ads in Sunday newspapers for Harry Hagberd. He told Bessie that people from far away read these papers. He believed that his son was in England, close enough to Colebrook that he would show up the next day. Bessie didn’t directly agree but argued that if that were true, spending money on ads was useless. Captain Hagberd would be better off using that money for himself. She wondered how he managed to get by. Her thoughts would confuse him and upset him for some time. He argued that all people did it. There was a whole column filled with people looking for missing family members. He wanted to show her the newspaper. He and his wife had been looking for their son for years, but she was an impatient woman. They had received news from Colebrook the day after her funeral; if she hadn’t been so impatient, she could have been alive, with just one more day to wait. He said to his wife that she wasn’t an impatient woman. To that, she would reply that sometimes, even Bessie had no patience in dealing with him.
Passage:
If he still advertised for his son he did not offer rewards for information any more: for, with the muddled lucidity of a mental derangement, he had reasoned himself into a conviction as clear as daylight that he had already attained all that could be expected in that way. What more could he want? Colebrook was the place, and there was no need to ask for more. Miss Carvil praised him for his good sense, and he was soothed by the part she took in his hope, which had become his delusion; in that idea which blinded his mind to truth and probability, just as the other old man in the other cottage had been made blind, by another disease, to the light and beauty of the world.
But anything he could interpret as a doubt—any coldness of assent, or even a simple inattention to the development of his projects of a home with his returned son and his son’s wife—would irritate him into flings and jerks and wicked side glances. He would dash his spade into the ground and walk to and fro before it. Miss Bessie called it his tantrums. She shook her finger at him. Then, when she came out again after he had parted with her in anger, he would watch out of the corner of his eyes for the least sign of encouragement to approach the iron railings and resume his fatherly and patronising relations.
Word meanings
lucidity: easy to understand
derangement: mental disturbance
delusion: a false belief
wicked: evil or morally wrong
irritate him into flings: intentionally annoy someone that eventually leads to fleeting connections
side- glance: showing disapproval
Explanation of the above passage—He stopped offering rewards for information about his son. He believed he had already done everything necessary. He thought he had all he needed in Colebrook. Miss Carvil praised his good judgment, and he felt comforted by her support. His hope had turned into a delusion. This belief in hope blurred his view of reality, similar to how Bessie’s father in another cottage lost sight of the beauty around him due to a different issue.
Any sign of doubt, disagreement, or indifference about Old Hagberd plans for a home with his son and his son’s wife would made him act out. He would dig with his spade and pace back and forth. Miss Bessie called these his tantrums and would scold him. After she left, he would sneak glances at her, looking for any sign of support to approach the iron railings and continue his fatherly behaviour.
Passage:
For all their intimacy, which had lasted some years now, they had never talked without a fence or a railing between them. He described to her all the splendours accumulated for the setting up of their housekeeping but had never invited her to an inspection. No human eye was to behold them till Harry had his first look. Nobody had ever been inside his cottage: he did his housework, and he guarded his son’s privilege so jealously that the small objects of domestic use he bought sometimes in the town were smuggled rapidly across the front garden under his canvas coat. Then, coming out, he would remark apologetically, ‘It was only a small kettle, my dear.’
And, if not too tired with her drudgery, or worried beyond endurance by her father, she would laugh at him with a blush, and say: ‘That’s all right, Captain Hagberd; I am not impatient.’
‘Well, my dear, you haven’t long to wait now,’ he would answer with a sudden bashfulness, looking uneasily, as though he had suspected that there was something wrong somewhere.
Word meaning
intimacy: closeness
endurance: tolerance
drudgery: menial work
splendours: grandeur
Explanation of the above passage—Even though they had a close relationship for years, they never spoke without a barrier between them. He would tell her about the great things he was gathering for their home, but he never asked her to see them. No one could see those things until Harry had his first look. No one had ever been inside his cottage. He did all his household tasks and fiercely protected his son’s privacy. When he bought small things in town, he quickly hid them under his canvas coat as he walked through the yard. When he came out, he would cover up by saying that it was just a little kettle.
If she wasn’t too tired from her chores or too stressed by her father, she would smile at him and blush, saying that it was perfectly fine and she was not in a hurry.
He would reply that she wouldn’t have to wait much longer. He would look around nervously as if he sensed something was wrong. It’s the same ‘something wrong’, he has mentioned in the end, he was avoiding the reality and chose to be self deluded, as he knew if he couldn’t face it, that’s the reason he locked himself in the room.
Passage:
Every Monday she paid him his rent over the railings. He clutched the shillings greedily. He grudged every penny he had to spend on his maintenance, and when he left her to make his purchases his bearing changed as soon as he got into the street. Away from the sanction of her pity, he felt himself exposed without defence. He brushed the walls with his shoulder. He mistrusted the queerness of the people: yet, by then, even the town children had left off calling after him, and the tradesmen served him without a word. The slightest allusion to his clothing had the power to puzzle and frighten especially as if it were something utterly unwarranted and incomprehensible.
Word meanings
queerness: strange
Explanation of the above passage—Every Monday, she gave him his rent over the railings. He took the shillings eagerly. He hated spending money on himself, and when he went out to shop, his posture would get changed. Away from her kindness, he felt weak and exposed. He leaned against the walls as he walked. He was wary of the strange behaviour of others, and by then, even the local children had stopped speaking to him, while shopkeepers helped him in silence. If anyone mentioned his clothes, it confused and frightened him, as if it were something completely unfair and strange.
Passage:
In the autumn, the driving rain drummed on his sailcloth suit saturated almost to the stiffness of sheet iron, with its surface flowing with water. When the weather was too bad, he retreated under the tiny porch, and, standing close against the door, looked at his spade left planted in the middle of the yard. The ground was so much dug up all over, that as the season advanced it turned into a quagmire. When it froze hard, he was disconsolate. What would Harry say? And as he could not have so much of Bessie’s company at that time of year, the roars of old Carvil that came muffled through the closed windows, calling her indoors, exasperated him greatly.
Word meaning
quagmire: a soft boggy area of the land that gives way underfoot
disconsolate: unhappy
Explanation of the above passage—During autumn, heavy rain soaked his sailcloth suit, making it feel as stiff as metal, water pooling on it. When the weather got really bad, he would stand under the small porch near the door and look at his spade stuck in the yard. The ground had become so disturbed that it turned into a muddy mess as the season went on. When the frost hardened it, he felt a deep sense of sadness, about what would Harry think of it. Since he couldn’t spend much time with Bessie that season, he felt annoyed by the muffled shouts of old Carvil calling her inside through the closed windows.
Passage:
‘Why don’t that extravagant fellow get you a servant?’ he asked impatiently one mild afternoon. She had thrown something over her head to run out for a while.
‘I don’t know,’ said the pale Bessie, wearily, staring away with her heavy-lidded, grey, and unexpectant glance. There were always smudgy shadows under her eyes, and she did not seem able to see any change or any end to her life.
‘You wait till you get married, my dear,’ said her only friend, drawing closer to the fence. ‘Harry will get you one.’
His hopeful craze seemed to mock her want of hope with such bitter an aptness that in her nervous irritation she could have screamed at him outright. But she only said in self-mockery, and speaking to him as though he had been sane, ‘Why, Captain Hagberd, your son may not even want to look at me.’
He flung his head back and laughed, his throaty affected cackle of anger.
‘What! That boy? Not want to look at the only sensible girl for miles around? What do you think I am here for, my dear—my dear—my dear? What? You wait. You just wait. You’ll see tomorrow. I’ll soon—’
‘Bessie! Bessie! Bessie!’ howled old Carvil inside. ‘Bessie!—my pipe!’ That fat blind man had given himself up to a very lust of laziness. He would not lift his hand to reach for the things she took care to leave at his very elbow. He would not move a limb; he would not rise from his chair, he would not put one foot before another in that parlour (where he knew his way as well as if he had his sight) without calling her to his side and hanging all his atrocious weight on her shoulder. He would not eat one single mouthful of food without her close attendance. He had made himself helpless beyond his affliction, to enslave her better. She stood still for a moment, setting her teeth in the dusk, then turned and walked slowly indoors.
Word meanings
affliction: Suffering
atrocious: brutal
Explanation of the above passage—He asked impatiently one mild afternoon why didn’t her extravagant father get her a servant. She had covered her head to run out for a while.
The pale Bessie, wearily, staring away with her heavy-lidded, grey, and unexpectant glance, replied that she didn’t know. There were always smudgy shadows under her eyes which indicated sleeplessness and stress, and she did not seem able to see any change in her life or any end to her ordeals
Her only friend, Old Hagberd, drawing closer to the fence, said that she should wait till she gets married and Harry would get her a servant.
His hopeful craze seemed to mock her want of hope with such bitter aptness that, in her nervous irritation, she could have screamed at him outright. But she only said as if to make fun of herself, and speaking to him as though he had been sane, she asked him that his son may not even want to look at her.
He flung his head back and laughed, his throaty laughter affected a cackle of anger.
Captain Hagberd didn’t believe her and exclaimed that his boy wouldn’t look at the only sensible girl for miles around. What did she think he was there for? He told her to wait and see the next day; she would soon…
Their conversation halted when the old Carvil inside howled at Bessie for his pipe. Her fat blind father had developed a desire for being lazy. He would not lift his hand to reach for the things she left near him. He would not move a limb; he would not rise from his chair, he would not put one foot before another in that parlour, where he knew his way as well as if he had his sight, without calling her to his side and hanging all his atrocious weight on her shoulder. He would not eat a single bite of food without Bessie attending to him. He had made himself helpless beyond his affliction, to enslave her better. She stood still there for a while, meditating about everything around her leaves her agitated, then she turned around and walked slowly inside. She has lost the vigor of her youth due to the drudgery she has been going through.
Passage:
Captain Hagberd went back to his spade. The shouting in Carvil’s cottage stopped, and after a while the window of the parlour downstairs was lit up. A man coming from the end of the street with a firm leisurely step passed on but seemed to have caught sight of Captain Hagberd because he turned back a pace or two. A cold white light lingered in the western sky. The man interestingly leaned over the gate.
‘You must be Captain Hagberd,’ he said, with easy assurance.
The old man spun round, pulling out his spade, startled by the strange voice.
‘Yes, I am,’ he answered nervously.
The other, smiling straight at him, uttered slowly: ‘You’ve been advertising for your son, I believe?’
‘My son Harry,’ mumbled Captain Hagberd, off his guard for once. ‘He’s coming home tomorrow.’
‘The devil he is!’ The stranger marvelled greatly, and then went on, with only a slight change of tone: ‘You’ve grown a beard like Father Christmas himself.’
Word meaning
pace: speed
lingered: stay
Explanation of the above passage—Captain Hagberd continued to work with his spade. The noise from Carvil’s cottage faded, and soon the downstairs parlour window lit up. A man walked calmly along the street. He noticed Captain Hagberd and paused to look back. A cold white light appeared in the sky to the west. The man leaned over the gate.
The man confidently said to the old man that he must be Captain Hagberd.
Captain Hagberd turned around, surprised by the unfamiliar voice.
He agreed cautiously.
The stranger smiled and asked clearly if he was looking for his son.
Captain Hagberd was taken aback, and told him that his son was coming home the next day. The stranger was surprised after hearing that and exclaimed if it was true. He then added, with a slight change in tone, that he had grown a beard like Father Christmas.
Passage:
Captain Hagberd drew a little nearer and leaned forward over his spade. ‘Go your way’, he said, resentfully and timidly at the same time, because he was always afraid of being laughed at. Every mental state, even madness, has its equilibrium based on self-esteem. Its disturbance causes unhappiness: and Captain Hagberd lives amongst a scheme of settled notions which pained him to feel disturbed by people’s grins. Yes, people’s grins were awful. They hinted at something wrong: but what? He could not tell, and that stranger was grinning—had come on purpose to grin. It was bad enough on the streets, but he had never before been outraged like this.
The stranger, unaware how near he was to have his head laid open with a spade, said seriously: ‘I am not trespassing where I stand, am I? I fancy there’s something wrong with your news. Suppose you let me come in.’
‘You come in!’ murmured old Hagberd, with inexpressible horror.
‘I could give you some real information about your son— the very latest tip if you care to hear.’
‘No,’ shouted Hagberd. He began to pace wildly to and fro, he shouldered his spade, and he gesticulated with his other arm. ‘Here’s a fellow—a grinning fellow, who says there’s something wrong. I’ve got more information than you’re aware of. I’ve all the information I want. I’ve had it for years—for years—for years—enough to last me till tomorrow. Let you come in, indeed! What would Harry say?’
Word meanings
equilibrium: balance
gesticulated: gesture
resentful: irritated for being treated unfairly
fancy: liking for
timidly: lacking confidence
self-esteem: self-worth
notions: a belief
grins: broad smile
outraged: angry
Explanation of the above passage—Captain Hagberd moved slightly closer and leaned over his spade. He said with irritation though lacking confidence, to let him be, as he always feared being laughted at. Every mental condition, even madness, is in balance to normalcy based on the worth of the person as per his own opinion. Disrupting this balance leads to distress, and Captain Hagberd existed within a framework of established beliefs, which made him feel uneasy with the laughter of others. Yes, the laughter of others was dreadful. It suggested something was amiss, but he could not figure out what, and that stranger was grinning, Captain Hagberd felt that he had come with the intent to do so. The public opinion was bad enough about him, but he had never been so insulted.
The stranger, was unaware that he was about to having his head split open with a spade because he was arousing the old man’s anger and replied earnestly that he was not on his property. He thought there was something wrong with his information. He asked why he wasn’t let inside the house.
Old Hagberd exclaimed in horror that he should let him come in. Though the stranger even told Captain Hagberd that he would give the latest information on his son, but Old Hagberd declined his offer while walking to and fro, he told him that he had more information than the stranger had. He had all the information for years, enough to last him till the next day. He wondered what Harry would say if he let the stranger in.
Passage:
Bessie Carvil’s figure appeared in black silhouette on the parlour window: then, with the sound of an opening door, flitted out before the other cottage, all black, but with something white over her head. These two voices beginning to talk suddenly outside (she had heard them indoors) had given her such an emotion that she could not utter a sound.
Captain Hagberd seemed to be trying to find his way out of a cage. His feet squelched in the puddles left by his industry. He stumbled into the holes of the ruined grassplot. He ran blindly against the fence.
‘Here, steady a bit!’ said the man at the gate, gravely, stretching his arm over and catching him by the sleeve. ‘Somebody’s been trying to get at you. Hello! What’s this rig you’ve got on? Storm canvas, by George!’ He had a big laugh. ‘Well, you are a character!’
Captain Hagberd jerked himself free and began to back away shrinking. ‘For the present,’ he muttered, in a crestfallen tone.
‘What’s the matter with him?’ The stranger addressed Bessie with the utmost familiarity, in a deliberate, explanatory tone. ‘I didn’t want to startle the old man’. He lowered his voice as though he had known her for years. ‘I dropped into a barber’s on my way, to get a two-penny shave, and they told me there he was something of a character. The old man has been a character all his life.’
Word meaning
crestfallen: sad
silhouette: shadow
flitted out: to leave a place quickly
industry: the digging he was doing on his fence
rig: equipment
gravely: serious
utter: voice out
squelch: sound made by walking on the mud
Explanation of the above passage—Bessie Carvil stood by the parlour window, her silhouette visible before she walked out in front of the other cottage. She was dressed all in black, except for her head that was covered with a white cloth. When she heard two voices talking outside, she felt so emotional that she couldn’t speak.
Captain Hagberd struggled to get free from a trap. His feet made the sound of walking in the puddles. He stumbled into the holes in the ruined grass and bumped into the fence without looking.
The man at the gate told him to be steady. He reached out to grab Hagberd’s sleeve and told him, somebody had been trying to get to him. He also made fun of the outfit he was wearing. He laughed heartily and told him that he was a character!
Captain Hagberd pulled away from him and nervously started to back off. He said in a sad voice that it was enough. Old Hagberd had been escaping from reality by passing the time. He chooses to live in self-delusion, which others mistook as hope.
The stranger asked Bessie, what was the matter with Old Hagberd. He asked her as if they were familiar, explaining as though she had known him for years. He explained that he didn’t mean to startle the old man. He lowered his voice as if they were friends. He told them that he stopped by a barber for a quick shave, and they told him that Captain Hagberd is somewhat of a character. That old man has always been a character.
Passage:
Captain Hagberd, daunted by the allusion to his clothing, had retreated inside, taking his spade with him; and the two at the gate, startled by the unexpected slamming of the door, heard the bolts being shot, the snapping of the lock, and the echo of an affected gurgling laugh within.
‘I didn’t want to upset him,’ the man said, after a short silence. ‘What’s the meaning of all this? He isn’t quite crazy?’
‘He has been worrying a long time about his lost son,’ said Bessie, in a low, apologetic tone.
‘Well, I am his son.’
‘Harry!’ she cried—and was profoundly silent.
‘Know my name? Friends with the old man, eh?’
‘He’s our landlord,’ Bessie faltered out, catching hold of the iron railing.
‘Owns both of them rabbit-hutches, does he?’ commented young Hagberd scornfully: ‘just the thing he would be proud of. Can you tell me who’s that chap coming tomorrow? You must know something about it. I tell you, it’s a swindle on the old man—nothing else.’
She did not answer, helpless before an insurmountable difficulty, appalled before the necessity, the impossibility and the dread of an explanation in which she and madness seemed involved together.
‘Oh—I am so sorry,’ she murmured.
‘What’s the matter?’ he said, with serenity. ‘You needn’t be afraid of upsetting me. It’s the other fellow that’ll be upset when he least expects it. I don’t care a hang, but there will be some fun when he shows his mug tomorrow. I don’t care for the old man’s pieces, but right is right. You shall see me put a head on that coon—whoever he is!’
Word meanings
insurmountable: unconquerable
rabbit-hutches: cage
care a hang: to show no interest
serenity: calmness
appalled: disgusted
swindle: fraud
echo: sound repetition
gurgling: hollow bubbling sound
scornfully: hateful
daunted: intimated
slamming: forcefully shut
insurmountable: too great to overcome
Explanation of the above passage—Captain Hagberd, upset by the comment about his clothes, went inside with his spade. The two people at the gate jumped when they heard the door slam. Then, they heard bolts being shot, the lock snapping, and a strange laugh from inside.
The man said after a moment that he didn’t want to upset him. He further asked Bessie, what was going on and whether he was completely mad.
Bessie said quietly, sounding apologetic that Captain Hagberd had been worried for a long time about his missing son.
He told Bessie that he was his son.
She exclaimed, “Harry!” then went silent.
He asked her if she knew his name. He questioned if she was friends with the old man.
Bessie said carefully that he was their landlord, holding on to the iron railing. The young Hagberd asked with disgust if he owned those rabbit hutches, as they sounded just like him. He asked her if she could tell him who was coming the next day. She must know something. He could bet that it was a scam on the old man and nothing more.
She stayed quiet, feeling overwhelmed and scared, unsure how to explain what was happening.
She whispered an apology to him.
He asked calmly what was wrong. He told her that she didn’t need to worry about upsetting him. The other guy would be the one surprised when he showed up. He didn’t care about the old man’s money, but it would be fun to confront that guy, whoever he was.
Passage:
He had come nearer and towered above her on the other side of the railings. He glanced at her hands. He fancied her, and it occurred to him that she had her part perhaps in that little game that was to be sprung on his old man tomorrow. He had come just in time to spoil their sport. He was entertained by the idea— scornful of the baffled plot. But all his life he had been full of indulgence for all sorts of women’s tricks; she was trembling very much; her wrap had slipped off her head. ‘Poor devil!’ he thought. ‘Never mind about that chap. I daresay he’ll change his mind before tomorrow. But what about me? I can’t loaf about the gate till the morning.’
She burst out: ‘It is you—you that he’s waiting for. It is you who will come tomorrow.’
He murmured ‘Oh! It’s me!’ blankly, and they seemed to become breathless together. He was pondering over what he had heard; then, without irritation, but perplexed, he said: ‘I don’t understand. I hadn’t written anything. It’s my chum who saw the paper and told me—this very morning… Eh? what?’
He bent his ear; she whispered rapidly, and he listened for a while, muttering the words ‘yes’ and ‘I see’ at times. Then, ‘But why won’t today do?’ he queried at last.
‘You didn’t understand me!’ she exclaimed impatiently. The clear streak of light under the clouds died out in the west. Again he stooped slightly to hear better; and the deep night buried everything of the whispering woman and the attentive man, except the familiar contiguity of their faces, with its air of secrecy and caress.
Word meanings
Contiguity: closeness
caress: stroke
chum: close friend
perplexed: confused
pondering over: thinking about something
Loaf about the gate: to be idle
Towered: taller than the person near
Fancied: liking for
baffled: puzzled
Scornful: contempt
Explanation of the above passage—He stepped closer being taller than her from across the railings, he noticed her hands were shaking, and wondered if she was part of a plan of his father that was about to happen the next day. He arrived just in time to spoil their fun, which amused him; he felt contempt for their failed scheme. However, he had often overlooked the tricks of various women in his life. She was trembling, and her wrap had slipped from her head. He thought they should forget about that guy. He was sure the man who would be coming would change his mind before the next day, but he thought about himself. He couldn’t just wait at the gate until morning.
She told him that it was him, the son of Captain Hagberd for whom he had been waiting, but he was supposed to come the next day
He responded surprisingly that it’s him, in a dazed way, and they both held their breath for a moment. He thought about what she said, then spoke, not annoyed but confused that he didn’t understand. He didn’t write anything. His friend had seen the notice and told him, just that morning.
He leaned in closer. She spoke quickly, and he listened carefully, saying “yes” and “I see” now and then. Then he asked her why could the Captain’s son not arrive that day instead of the next day.
She replied that he didn’t understand her, with a voice showing impatience. As dusk fell, the bright light beneath the clouds faded. He bent down again to hear her better. The thick night covered everything around them, except for the closeness of their faces, filled with a sense of secrecy and tenderness.
Passage:
He squared his shoulders; the broad-brimmed shadow of a hat sat cavalierly on his head. ‘Awkward, this, eh?’ he appealed to her. ‘Tomorrow? Well, well! Never heard of anything like this. It’s all tomorrow, then, without any sort of today, as far as I can see.’
She remained still and mute.
‘And you have been encouraging this funny notion,’ he said.
‘I never contradicted him.’
‘Why didn’t you?’
‘What should I?’ she defended herself. ‘It would only have made him miserable. He would have gone out of his mind.’
‘His mind!’ he muttered and heard a short nervous laugh from her.
‘Where was the harm? Was I to quarrel with the poor old man? It was easier to half believe it myself.’
‘Aye, aye,’ he meditated intelligently. ‘I suppose the old chap got around you somehow with his soft talk. You are good-hearted.’
Her hands moved up in the dark nervously. ‘And it might have been true. It was true. It has come. Here it is. This is the tomorrow we have been waiting for.’
Word meaning
mute: silent
notion: belief
contradicted: refute
squared his shoulder: stand errect
broad brimmed: hat with a wide brim
cavalierly: proudly
Explanation of the above passage—He wore a hat on his head, which he found awkward to carry. He was astonished how the old man was putting things off to the next day. He had never heard such things before.
It was all the next day and nothing would happen that day. The stranger says that he could see that as per Hagberd’s idea, nothing would ever happen because everyday, he would say that it was to happen the next day which never actually came.
She remained still and silent. He questioned her that she had been encouraging Old Hagberd self-delusion of his son’s coming back the next day. To this, she replied that she never contradicted him. He asked her why she didn’t. She defended herself, by asking him what she could do. It would only have made him sad. He would have gone out of his mind. He muttered, ‘his mind’ and heard a short, nervous laugh from her. She asked him, where was the harm? Was she to quarrel with the poor old man? It was easier to half believe it herself. He agreed. Harry supposed that his father had gotten around her somehow with his soft talk. She was good-hearted. Her hands moved up in the dark nervously. She answered him that it might have been true. It was true. It had come. Here it was. This was the next day that they have been waiting for.
Passage:
She drew a breath, and he said good-humouredly: ‘Aye, with the door shut. I wouldn’t care if… And you think he could be brought round to recognise me… Eh? What?… You could do it? In a week you say? H’m, I daresay you could—but do you think I could hold out a week in this dead-alive place? Not me. I want either hard work, an all-fired racket, or more space than there is in the whole of England. I have been in this place, though, once before, and for more than a week. The old man was advertising for me then, and a chum I had with me had a notion of getting a couple of quid out of him by writing a lot of silly nonsense in a letter. That lark did not come off, though. We had to clear out—and none too soon. But this time I have a chum waiting for me in London, and besides…’
Bessie Carvel was breathing quickly.
‘What if I tried a knock at the door?’ he suggested. ‘Try,’ she said.
Captain Hagberd’s gate squeaked, and the shadow of his son moved on, then stopped with another deep laugh in the throat, like the father’s, only soft and gentle, thrilling to the woman’s heart, awakening to her ears.
‘He isn’t frisky—is he? I would be afraid to lay hold of him. The chaps are always telling me I don’t know my strength.’
‘He’s the most harmless creature that ever lived,’ she interrupted.
‘You wouldn’t say so if you had seen him chasing me upstairs with a hard leather strap,’ he said; ‘I haven’t forgotten it in sixteen years.’
She got warm from head to foot under another soft subdued laugh. At the rat-tat-tat of the knocker, her heart flew into her mouth.
‘Hey, Dad! Let me in. I am Harry, I am. Straight! Come back home a day too soon.’
One of the windows upstairs ran up.
‘A grinning information fellow,’ said the voice of old Hagberd, up in the darkness. ‘Don’t you have anything to do with him? It will spoil everything.’
She heard Harry Hagberd say, ‘Hallo, dad’, then a clanging clatter. The window rumbled down, and he stood before her again.
‘It’s just like old times. Nearly walloped the life out of me to stop me from going away, and now I come back he throws a confounded shovel at my head to keep me out. It grazed my shoulder.’
Word meanings
walloped: trike hard
frisky: lively
quid: one pound sterlings
come off: meetup with
lark: business
Explanation of the above passage—She took a deep breath, and he joked about it, by asking her whether they were waiting for him with their door closed. He wondered if Captain Hagberd wanted to recognize his son in the first place. He even asked her if she could do it. She says that he has to give her a week and he guessed it’s possible, but he asks her if she thinks he can stand a week in that dull place. There is no way he could stay in Colebrook for a week. He needs to work hard, a lot of noise, or more space than there is in all of England. He has been here before, for more than a week back then. The old man was looking for him, and a friend thought he could make some money writing a bunch of nonsense in a letter. That didn’t work out. They had to leave quickly and it was just in time. But this time, he has a friend waiting for him in London. Bessie Carvel was breathing quickly. He suggested, what if he tried knocking on the door. She told him to go ahead. Captain Hagberd’s gate creaked open, and his son’s shadow moved, then stopped with a soft chuckle, like his father’s but gentler, stirring feelings inside her and awakening her senses. Harry asked her if he was lively as he would be careful trying to grab him. People always said that he didn’t know his strength. She answered that Old Hagberd was the most harmless one he could ever imagine. He then told her that she wouldn’t think so if she had seen him chase his son up the stairs with a heavy leather strap, he could still remember that after sixteen years. Another soft laugh filled her with warmth. When she heard the knocker tap, her heart raced. He told Old Haggard that he had returned a day earlier and he should let him come in. An upstairs window opened. Old Hagberd’s voice called from the shadows to stay away from him. It would ruin everything.
Harry Hagberd replied with a Hello, which was followed by a loud crash. The window slammed shut, and Harry stood in front of her again. He then told her that it was just like the old days. Old Hagberd almost hit him to stop him from leaving, and now that he is back, he throws a shovel at his head to keep him out. It had just barely scratched his shoulder.
Passage:
She shuddered.
‘I wouldn’t care,’ he began, ‘only I spent my last shillings on the railway fare and my last twopence on a shave—out of respect for the old man.’
‘Are you Harry Hagberd?’ she asked swiftly. ‘Can you prove it?’
‘Can I prove it? Can anyone else prove it?’ he said jovially. ‘Prove with what? What do I want to prove? There isn’t a single corner in the world, barring England, perhaps, where you could not find some man, or more likely a woman, that would remember me for Harry Hagberd. I am more like Harry Hagberd than any man alive: and I can prove it to you in a minute if you will let me step inside your gate.’
‘Come in,’ she said.
He then entered the front garden of the Carvils. His tall shadow strode with a swagger; she turned her back on the window and waited, watching the shape, of which the footfalls seemed the most material part. The light fell on a tilted hat; a powerful shoulder, that seemed to cleave the darkness; on a leg stepping out. He swung about and stood still, facing the illuminated parlour window at her back, turning his head from side to side, laughing softly to himself.
‘Just fancy, for a minute, the old man’s beard stuck onto my chin. Hey? Now say. I was the very spit of his from a boy.’
‘It’s true,’ she murmured to herself.
‘And that’s about as far as it goes. He was always one of your domestic characters. Why, I remember how he used to go about looking very sick for three days before he had to leave home on one of his trips to South Shields for coal. He had a standing charter from the gas works. You would think he was off on a whaling cruise—three years and a tail. Ha, ha! Not a bit of it. Ten days on the outside. The Skimmer of the Seas was a smart craft. Fine name, wasn’t it? Mother’s uncle owned her…’
He interrupted himself, and in a lowered voice, ‘Did he ever tell you what mother died of?’ he asked.
‘Yes,’ said Miss Bessie, bitterly. ‘From impatience.’
He made no sound for a while; then brusquely: ‘They were so afraid I would turn out badly that they fairly drove me away. Mother nagged at me for being idle, and the old man said he would cut my soul out of my body rather than let me go to sea. Well, it looked as if he would do it too—so I went. It looks to me sometimes as if I had been born to them by a mistake—in that other hutch of a house.’
‘Where ought you to have been born by rights?’ Bessie Carvil interrupted him defiantly.
Word meanings
cleave: split
brusquely: blunt
hutch: a cupboard
whaling cruise: a voyage on a whaling ship, which is a large ship that used to hunt whales.
the spit of his: to look extremely similar to someone
defiantly: not willing to accept criticism
years and a tail: tail coverage, which is an optional extension of insurance coverage that can last for three years or more.
Explanation of the above passage—She trembled a little. He said he wouldn’t mind but he had spent his last coins on the train fare and his final two pence for a shave, out of respect for the old man. She asked quickly if he was Harry Hagberd and if he could prove it to her. He asked her if anyone could prove it. There isn’t a single place in the world, maybe even in England, where someone, probably a woman, wouldn’t remember him as Harry Hagberd. He looked more like Harry Hagberd than anyone else alive. He can show her that right away if she could let him through her gate. She told him to come inside. He stepped into the Carvils’ front garden. His tall shadow moved confidently. She turned away from the window and waited, watching the figure, where the footsteps seemed to be the most real part. The light showed a tilted hat and a strong shoulder cutting through the dark. He turned around, stopped, and faced the lighted parlour window behind her, moving his head side to side and chuckling softly to himself. He told her to imagine the old man’s beard on his chin for a second and asked what she thought about it. He had looked like his dad since he was a boy. She murmured and agreed to herself. He then went on to describe old Hagberd. He told her that he was always one of those homey types. He remembered how Old Hagberd would act sick for three days before going to South Shields for coal. He had a guaranteed contract with the gas works. One would think he was off on a whaling trip for three years or more. Harry laughed at these misconceptions. He disagreed with this. Just ten days at most. The Skimmer of the Seas was a good ship. Great name, his mother’s uncle owned it.
He stopped his thought and in a softer voice, asked her if he ever told her what his mother died from. To this, Miss Bessie, bitterly replied that she died from impatience.
He was quiet for a moment, then suddenly said that his parents were worried he would turn out badly, so they practically forced him away. His mother nagged him for being lazy, and the old man said he would cut his soul out before letting him go to sea. Sometimes, it felt like he was an accident to them, living in the other small house. Bessie Carvil added defiantly that according to Harry, which house was better for him to be born into.
Passage:
‘In the open, upon a beach, on a windy night,’ he said, quick as lightning. Then he mused slowly. ‘They were characters, both of them, by George; and the old man keeps it up well—doesn’t he? A damned shovel on the—Hark! Who’s making that row? “Bessie, Bessie.” It’s in your house.’
‘It’s for me,’ she said with indifference.
He stepped aside, out of the streak of light. ‘Your husband?’ he inquired, with the tone of a man accustomed to unlawful trysts. ‘Fine voice for a ship’s deck in a thundering squall.’
‘No; my father. I am not married.’
‘You seem like a fine girl, Miss Bessie dear,’ he said at once.
She turned her face away.
‘Oh, I say,—what’s up? Who’s murdering him?’
‘He wants his tea.’ She faced him, still and tall, with averted head, with her hands hanging clasped before her.
‘Hadn’t you better go in?’ he suggested, after watching for a while the nape of her neck, a patch of dazzling white skin and soft shadow above the sombre line of her shoulders. Her wrap had slipped down to her elbows. ‘You’ll have all the town coming out presently. I’ll wait here a bit.’
Her wrap fell to the ground, and he stooped to pick it up: she had vanished. He threw it over his arm, and approaching the window squarely he saw the monstrous form of a fat man in an armchair, an unshaded lamp, the yawning of an enormous mouth in a big feat face encircled by a ragged halo of hair,—Miss Bessie’s head and bust. The shouting stopped; the blind ran down. He lost himself in thinking how awkward it was. Father was mad; no getting into the house. No money to get back; a hungry chum in London who would begin to think he had been given the go-by. ‘Damn!’ he muttered. He could break the door in, certainly; but they would perhaps bundle him into chokey for that without asking questions—no great matter, only he was confoundedly afraid of being locked up, even by mistake. He turned cold at the thought. He stamped his feet on the sodden grass.
Word meanings
chokey: imprisonment
ragged: torn
halo: ring of light
mused: pondered
given the go-by: to disregard
sombre: dull
nape of her neck: the back of her neck, where the neck meets the head
keeps it up: to encourage someone
by George: a type of swearing
Explanation of the above passage—He answered that he would like to be born in the open air, on a beach, during a breezy night. He contemplated slowly that they were both characters and swore that the old man maintains it well after seeing his shovel on the fence. He asked her who was causing that commotion. Meanwhile, Bessie’s father called out to her, voices of someone called Bessie were heard coming from her house. She replied casually that the voice was calling her. He moved aside, out of the beam of light. He asked her if it was her husband, in a tone typical of someone familiar with secret meetings.
He said that it was a great voice for a ship’s deck in a roaring storm. He meant that the voice was so loud that it could be used to call out for help when a ship would be stuck in a storm.
To this, she disagreed that it was her father and she was n’t married. He said that she appeared to be a fine young lady. She turned her face away. Harry asked her what was happening and who was murdering.
She faced him, tall and still, with her head turned away, hands clasped in front of her, she told him that her father wanted his tea.
He proposed that wouldn’t it be better for her to go inside, after observing for a while the back of her neck, a patch of bright white skin and soft shadow above the dark line of her shoulders. Her wrap had slipped down to her elbows. He said that she would have the whole town coming out soon (because of the loud voices calling her), and he would wait there for a while. Her wrap fell to the ground, and he bent to retrieve it, but she had disappeared. He draped it over his arm, and as he approached the window boldly, he noticed the huge shape of a stout man in an armchair, an unlit lamp, the gaping of a large mouth in a big, round face surrounded by a ragged frizz of hair and Miss Bessie’s head and upper body. The shouting ceased and the blind man came down. He became lost in thought about how awkward the situation was. His father was angry and there was no way to enter the house. No money to return; a hungry friend in London who would start to think he had been ditched. He muttered,’Damn!’. He could certainly break in the door; however, they might throw him into jail for that without asking questions, which wasn’t a big deal for him, but he was incredibly anxious about being locked up, even mistakenly. The thought made him shiver. He stomped his feet on the soaked grass.
Passage:
‘What are you?—a sailor?’ said an agitated voice.
She had flitted out, a shadow herself, attracted by the reckless shadow waiting under the wall of her home.
‘Anything. Enough of a sailor to be worth my salt before the mast. Came home that way this time.’
‘Where do you come from?’ she asked.
‘Right away from a jolly good spree,’ he said, ‘by the London train—see? Ough! I hate being shut up on a train. I don’t mind a house so much.’
‘Ah,’ she said; ‘that’s lucky.’
‘Because in a house you can at any time open the blamed door and walk away straight before you.’
‘And never come back?’
‘Not for sixteen years at least,’ he laughed. ‘To a rabbit hutch, and get a confounded old shovel…’
‘A ship is not very big,’ she taunted.
‘No, but the sea is great.’
She dropped her head, and as if her ears had been opened to the voices of the world, she heard beyond the rampart of sea-wall the swell of yesterday’s gale breaking on the beach with monotonous and solemn vibrations, as if all the earth had been a tolling bell.
‘And then, why, a ship’s a ship. You love her and leave her, and a voyage isn’t a marriage.’ He quoted the sailor’s saying lightly.
‘It is not a marriage,’ she whispered.
‘I never took a false name, and I’ve never yet told a lie to a woman. What lie? Why, the lie—. Take me or leave me, I say: and if you take me, then it is…’ He hummed a snatch very low, leaning against the wall.
Oh, oh, ho! Rio!…
And fare thee well,
My bonnie young girl,
We’re bound to Rio… Grande.
‘Capstan song,’ he explained. Her teeth chattered. ‘You are cold,’ he said. ‘Here’s that affair of yours I picked up.’ She felt his hands about her, wrapping her closely. ‘Hold the ends together in front,’ he commanded.
‘What did you come here for?’ she asked, repressing a shudder.
‘Five quid,’ he answered promptly. ‘We let our spree go on a little too long and got hard up.’
‘You’ve been drinking?’ she said.
Word meanings
confounded: anger
flinted: move quickly
Capstan’s songs: songs about guilt, depression, and the human experience.
repressing a shudder: to stop the involuntary shaking movement that is a shudder.
reckless: careless
breaking on: smashing
rampart: defensive wall
chattered: clicking together sound
jolly good spree: a very enjoyable period
snatch: grab
the swell of yesterday’s gale: the waves created by the gale winds.
worth my salt: competent at the job
Explanation of the above passage—Bessie asked Harry, what was he doing for a living and whether he was a sailor. She came like a shadow, drawn to the man standing near her house. To this, he replied that he was just enough of a sailor to prove himself before the mast. He came back that way this time. She asked him where he came from. He told her that he had come right from a fun party on the London train. He hates being stuck on a train. A house doesn’t bother him as much.
She considers him lucky. He replied that it’s because, in a house, one can always swing open the door and step outside. She queried that like he did before and never came back. He laughed at her statement and said that not for at least sixteen years. He mocked the lifestyle he would have been having if he had come. He would have come to a rabbit’s den, only to grab an old shovel. She jokingly argued that the ship wasn’t that big. He justified that the ship isn’t big but the ocean is huge. She lowered her head, and as if she could hear the world better, she noticed the waves from the storm crashing on the shore with a steady, serious sound, like a tolling bell. According to him, a ship is a ship. One can love her and then leave her, but a journey through a ship isn’t like a marriage. She whispered to him that it wasn’t a marriage. To this, he replied that he had never used a fake name, and he had never lied to a woman. He asked her what he could lie about, either accept or reject him. If she chooses him it would become… He interrupted the conversation by singing the song. He softly hummed a bit, leaning against the wall.
Oh, oh, ho! Rio!…
And farewell,
My lovely young girl,
We’re bound for Rio… Grande.
‘Capstan song,’ he explained. She shivered. He said that she was cold, and he gave her the cloth that he picked up. He wrapped her with the cloth to keep her warm. He told her to hold the ends together in front. She asked him, hiding her shiver, about what he came to Colebrook for. To this, he replied that he came for five quid. He and his friends were having fun on the boat but it went longer than expected which ended them short on cash. She queried if he had been drinking.
Passage:
‘Blind three days; on purpose. I am not given that way—don’t you think? There’s nothing and nobody that can get over me unless I like it. I can be as steady as a rock. My chum sees the paper this morning and says to me: “Go on, Harry: loving parent. That’s five quid sure.” So we scraped all our pockets for the fare. Devil of a lark!’
‘You have a hard heart, I am afraid,’ she sighed.
‘What for? For running away? Why! He wanted to make a lawyer’s clerk of me—just to please himself. Master in his own house; and my poor mother egged him on—for my good, I suppose. Well, then—so long; and I went. No, I tell you: the day I cleared out, I was all black and blue from his great fondness for me. Ah! He was always a bit of a character. Look at that shovel, now. Off his chump? Not much. That’s just exactly like my dad. He wants me here just to have somebody to order about. However, we two were hard up; and what’s five quid to him—once in sixteen hard years?’
‘Oh, but I am sorry for you. Did you never wait to come back home?’
‘Be a lawyer’s clerk and rot here—in some such place as this?’ he cried in contempt. ‘What! If the old man set me up in a home today, I would kick it down about my ears—or else die there before the third day was out.’
‘And where else is it that you hope to die?’
Word meanings
Chump: foolish
devil of a lark: a particularly mischievous or exciting bit of fun, essentially a hell of a good time
scraped: injury
egged him on: to encourage someone to do something
cleared out: to leave
hard heart: cold-hearted
black and blue: bruises
Explanation of the above passage—Harry had been drinking for three days. He doesn’t usually act that way. Nothing and no one can control him unless he lets them to. He can stay calm and steady like a rock. That morning, his friend saw the newspaper and said that he should visit his devoted father, especially for five quid. So, they gathered their spare money for the fare. Bessie worries that he was a cold-hearted man. He questioned her, if she considered him like that only because he left his home sixteen years ago. To this, he clarified himself, by saying that Old Hagberd wanted to make him a lawyer’s clerk just to please himself. His mother went along with his husband’s notions, probably for his good, but that’s in the past, so he chose to leave. On the day he left, the Old Hagberd’s love for him had left him hurt and bruised. He always had a strange side. He told her to look at the shovel. The old Hagberd keeps him around just to boss him. However, his father, too, needed money, but what was five quid to him, that too, once in the sixteen hard years. She felt sorry for him. She asked if he ever thought about going back home. He questioned her what he should come back for, to become a lawyer’s clerk and waste away in a place like this. If the old man gave him a house today, he would tear it down or he would rather die there before the third day is up. She asked him, where else would he like to die.
Passage:
‘In the bush somewhere; in the sea; on a blamed mountain-top for choice. At home? Yes! The world’s my home, but I expect I’ll die in a hospital someday. What of that? Any place is good enough, as long as I’ve lived; and I’ve been everything you can think of almost but a tailor or soldier. I’ve been a boundary rider; I’ve sheared sheep; humped my swag; and harpooned a whale. I’ve rigged ships, prospected for gold, and skinned dead bullocks,—and turned my back on more money than the old man would have scraped in his whole life. Ha, ha!’
He overwhelmed her. She pulled herself together and managed to utter, ‘Time to rest now.’
He straightened himself up, away from the wall, and in a severe voice said, ‘Time to go.’
But he did not move. He leaned back again and hummed thoughtfully a bar or two of an outlandish tune.
She felt as if she were about to cry. ‘That’s another of your cruel songs,’ she said.
Word meanings
outlandish: unfamiliar
rigged: set up
rigged ships: process of setting up and arranging various components on a sailing vessel.
sheared: cut the wool off
humped my swag: an informal expression that means to carry one’s belongings on one’s back, especially when referring to a tramp.
sheared sheep: a sheep that has had its wool cut off
harpooning a whale: the act of killing a whale with a barbed spear or projectile.
Explanation of the above passage—He said that he could die anywhere in the bush, in the ocean, or on a difficult mountain. If he had to pick, he would say home. The world feels like his home, but he expects he will die in a hospital one day, but that’s fine with him. Moreover, any place is fine, as long as he has lived fully. He has done almost everything except to be a tailor or a soldier. He has worked as a boundary rider, shorn sheep, carried his gear, and hunted whales. He has rigged ships, searched for gold, and skinned dead cattle. He has walked away from more wealth than his father could have earned in his entire life. He surprised her. She took a moment to gather herself and said that it was time to rest now. He stood up straight, moved away from the wall, and said firmly that it was time to go. But he didn’t move. He leaned back again and softly hummed a few lines of a strange song.
She felt like she might cry. She said that’s another one of his tough songs.
Passage:
‘Learned it in Mexico—in Sonora.’ He talked easily. ‘It is the song of the Gambusinos. You don’t know? The song of restless men. Nothing could hold them in one place— not even a woman. You used to meet one of them now and again, in the old days, on the edge of the gold country, away north there beyond the Rio Gila. I’ve seen it. A prospecting engineer in Mazatlan took me along with him to help look after the waggons. A sailor’s a handy chap to have about you anyhow. It’s all a desert: cracks in the earth that you can’t see the bottom of; and mountains—sheer rocks standing up high like walls and church spires, only a hundred times bigger. The valleys are full of boulders and black stones. There’s not a blade of grass to see; and the sun sets more red over that country than I have seen it anywhere—blood-red and angry. It is fine.’
‘You do not want to go back there again?’ she stammered out.
He laughed a little. ‘No. That’s the blamed gold country. It gave me the shivers sometimes to look at it—and we were a big lot of men together, mind; but these Gambusinos wandered alone. They knew that country before anybody had ever heard of it. They had a sort of gift for prospecting, and the fever of it was on them too, and they did not seem to want the gold very much. They would find some rich spot, and then turn their backs on it; pick up perhaps a little—enough for a spree—and then be off again, looking for more. They never stopped long where there were houses: they had no wife, no chick, no home, never a chum. You couldn’t be friends with a Gambusino; they were too restless—here today, and gone, God knows where, tomorrow. They told no one of their finds, and there has never been a Gambusino well-off. It was not for the gold they cared; it was the wandering about looking for it in the stony country that got into them and wouldn’t let them rest: so that no woman yet born could hold a Gambusino for more than a week. That’s what the song says. It’s all about a pretty girl who tried hard to keep hold of a Gambusino lover so that he would bring her lots of gold. No fear! Off he went, and she never saw him again.’
Word meanings
boulder: rock
spree: unrestrained activity
On the edge of: very close to something, often implying a precarious or critical situation
handy: useful
spire: a tall, pointed structure that sits on top of a building or tower.
Explanation of the above passage—He told her that he learned it in Mexico. It’s the tune of the Gambusinos and he even told her that she wouldn’t have any knowledge about it. It’s the song of restless souls. Nothing can keep them in one place, not even a woman. In the past, one can see them on the edges of the gold region, far north past the Rio Gila. He had seen it himself. A mining engineer in Mazatlan took him along to help him manage the wagons. According to him, a sailor is useful to have around. The area is all desert: deep cracks in the ground, and huge mountains with sheer cliffs that rise like walls, much larger than church spires. The valleys are full of rocks and dark stones. There’s not a single blade of grass in sight, and the sunset over that land is blood-red and fierce, more than anywhere else he has seen, it was beautiful. She asked if he wanted to go back. He chuckled softly and disagreed with it. That’s the cursed gold area. Just looking at it gave him the chills and Gambusinos were a group of big men, but they travelled alone. Gambusinos knew that land long before anyone else. They were good at finding gold, but they didn’t seem too interested in it. They would find a rich spot, then walk away; maybe take just a little enough for a fun time and then move on again in search of more. They never stayed long where there were homes: they had no wives, children, friends and a place to call home. He told her that she couldn’t connect with Gambusino as they were too restless. They would be here today and gone tomorrow. They never shared their finds, and no Gambusino ever became rich. They didn’t care about the gold but the journey through the rocky land was what kept them moving. No woman could keep a Gambusino longer than a week. That’s what the song was about. It tells of a beautiful girl who desperately tried to keep her Gambusino lover so he would bring her lots of gold, but to no luck. Yet, he went away and she never saw him again.
Passage:
‘What became of her?’ she breathed out.
‘The song doesn’t tell. Cried a bit, I daresay. They were the fellows: kiss and go. But it’s looking for a thing—something… Sometimes I think I am a sort of Gambusino myself.’
‘No woman can hold you, then, she began in a brazen voice, which quavered suddenly before the end.
‘No longer than a week,’ he joked, playing upon her very heartstrings with the gay, tender note of his laugh; ‘and yet I am fond of them all. Anything for a woman of the right sort. The scrapes they got me into, and the scrapes they got me out of! I love them at first sight. I’ve fallen in love with you already, Miss—Bessie’s your name—eh?’
She backed away a little, and with a trembling laugh: ‘You haven’t seen my face yet.’
He bent forward gallantly. ‘A little pale: it suits some. But you are a fine figure of a girl. Miss Bessie.’
She was all in a flutter. Nobody had ever said so much to her before.
His tone changed. ‘I am getting middling hungry, though. Had no breakfast today. Couldn’t you scare up some bread from that tea for me, or—’
She was gone already. He had been on the point of asking her to let him come inside. No matter. Anywhere would do. Devil of a fix! What would his chum think?
Word meanings
Chum: a close friend
gallantly: heroic
brazen: bold
scraped: injury
devil of a fix: a seafaring saga
Explanation of the above passage—She asked what happened to Gambusino’s lover in the song. He told her that the song doesn’t say anything about that. She probably cried a little. Those types of guys kiss and then leave, but they search for something special. He thinks sometimes he might be a bit like Gambusino himself. She replied boldly, though her voice wavered a bit at the end, that no woman can keep them around, then. He joked that it was not longer than a week. With that, he pulled at her heartstrings with his light laughter. He told her that he cared for all the women. He would do anything for the right woman. They’ve gotten him into trouble and pulled him out again. He falls in love at first sight. He has already fallen for her. He recalled her name. She stepped back a little, laughing nervously and told him that he hadn’t even seen her face yet. He leaned in slightly and told her that she was a bit pale, but that looked good on her. She was a striking girl. She felt flustered. No one had ever said so much to her before. His tone changed, and he told her that he was getting quite hungry, as he didn’t had his breakfast that day and asked her if she could find him some bread and tea, but before he could complete his sentence, she had already left. He almost asked to come in but it didn’t matter as he could manage. He pondered about the tricky situation he was in and what was his friend thinking about him.
Passage:
‘I didn’t ask you as a beggar,’ he said jestingly, taking a piece of bread and butter from the plate she held before him. ‘I asked as a friend. My dad is rich, you know.’
‘He starves himself for your sake.’
‘And I have starved for his whim,’ he said, taking up another piece.
‘All he has in the world is for you,’ she pleaded.
‘Yes, if I come here to sit on it like a dam’ toad in a hole. Thank you; and what about the shovel, eh? He always had a queer way of showing his love.’
‘I could bring him round in a week,’ she suggested timidly.
He was too hungry to answer her; and, holding the plate submissively to his hand, she began to whisper up to him in a quick, panting voice. He listened, amazed, eating slower and slower, till at last his jaws stopped altogether. ‘That’s his game, is it?’ he said, in a rising tone of scathing contempt. An ungovernable movement of his arm sent the plate flying out of her fingers. He shot out a violent curse.
She shrank from him, putting her hand against the wall.
‘No!’ he raged. ‘He expects! Expects me—for his rotten money!… Who wants his home? Mad—not he! Don’t you think so? He wants his way. He wanted to turn me into a miserable lawyer’s clerk, and now he wants to make me a blamed tame rabbit in a cage. Of me! Of me! His subdued angry laugh frightened her now.
‘The whole world ain’t a bit too big for me to spread my elbows in, I can tell you—what’s your name—Bessie—let alone a dam’ parlour in a hutch. Marry! He wants me to marry and settle! And as likely as not he has looked out for the girl too—dash my soul! And do you know Judy, may I ask?’
She shook all over with noiseless dry sobs, but he was fuming and fretting too much to notice her distress. He bit his thumb with rage at the mere idea. A window rattled up.
Word meaning
jestingly: jokingly
scathing: scornful
hutch: cage
contempt: disrespect
dash my soul: a dramatic expression meaning destroy my soul or completely upset me
fretting: anxious
Explanation of the above passage—He remarked jokingly, that he didn’t ask her like a beggar, grabbing a slice of bread-and-butter from the plate she presented to him, as he consideredthe meal as meager. He asked her as a companion as she knows his father is wealthy. She told him that Old Hagberd starved himself for his benefit. He answered back to her that he starved himself for his fanciful wish, reaching for another bite. She urged him by saying that everything the Old Hagberd has in life is for him. He argued that if he came here to lounge around like a stupid toad in a hole but what about the shovel he threw at him. He always had a strange way of showing his affection. She proposed hesitantly that she could convince him in a week. He was too hungry to respond to her and, holding the plate obediently in his hand, she began whispering to him in a hurried, breathless tone. He listened, astonished, eating more and more slowly until, eventually, his jaw came to a complete stop. He said with escalating scorn about his plan. He threw the plate flying from her grasp. He released an intense curse. She flinched back in fear, pressing her hand against the wall. He shouted in anger and disagreed with it. According to him, Old Hagberd expects him to stay for his filthy money, but he doesn’t need his house. He wants to live his life in his way. Sixteen years ago, Old Hagberd wished to make him a miserable clerk in a law office, and now he wants him to become a blamed tame rabbit, but Harry wants to be free and doesn’t want to marry and settle. He asked her if the old Hagberd had looked for the girl, too. He even mentioned one girl, named Judy. Amidst all, he ignored Bessie’s distress.
Passage:
‘A grinning, information fellow,’ pronounced old Hagberd dogmatically, in measured tones. And the sound of his voice seemed to Bessie to make the night itself mad—to pour insanity and disaster on the earth. ‘Now I know what’s wrong with the people here, my dear. Why, of course! With this mad chap going about. Don’t you have anything to do with him, Bessie? Bessie, I say!’
They stood as if dumb. The old man fidgeted and mumbled to himself at the window. Suddenly he cried piercingly: ‘Bessie—I see you. I’ll tell Harry.’
She made a movement as if to run away, but stopped and raised her hands to her temples. Young Hagberd, shadowy and big, stirred no more than a man of bronze. Over their heads, the crazy night whimpered and scolded in an old man’s voice.
‘Send him away, my dear. He’s only a vagabond. What you want is a good home of your own. That chap has no home—he’s not like Harry. He can’t be Harry. Harry is coming tomorrow. Do you hear? One day more,’ he babbled more excitedly; ‘never you fear—Harry shall marry you.’
His voice rose very shrill and mad against the regular deep soughing of the swell coiling heavily about the outer face of the sea wall.
‘He will have to. I shall make him, or if not—he swore a great oath—‘I’ll cut him off with a shilling tomorrow, and leave everything to you. I shall. To you. Let him starve.’
The window rattled down.
Harry drew a deep breath and took one step towards Bessie. ‘So it’s you—the girl,’ he said, in a lowered voice. She had not moved, and she remained half-turned away from him, pressing her head in the palms of her hands. ‘My word!’ he continued, with an invisible half-smile on his lips. ‘I have a great mind to stop…’
Her elbows were trembling violently.
‘For a week,’ he finished without a pause.
She clapped her hands to her face.
He came up quite close and took hold of her wrists gently. She felt his breath on her ear.
‘It’s a scrape I am in—this, and it is you that must see me through.’ He was trying to uncover her face. She resisted. He let her go then, and stepping back a little, ‘Have you got any money?’ he asked. ‘I must be off now.’
She nodded quickly, her shamefaced head, and he waited, looking away from her, where, trembling all over and bowing her neck, she tried to find the pocket of her dress.
‘Here it is!’ she whispered. ‘Oh, go away! Go away for God’s sake! If I had more—more—I would give it all to forget—to make you forget.’
Word meanings
Rattled: sharp noises
swell: waves
soughing: rushing sound
babbled: talk rapidly
dogmatically: unyielding
grinning: smile broadly
Explanation of the above passage—Old Hagberd said firmly if it was the grinning information fellow. His voice made Bessie feel like the night was going crazy and on the verge of bringing disaster. Old Hagberd asked her about the what was wrong with the people of Colebrook and considers Harry as the madman wandering about. He told Bessie to stay away from him. They stood there in silence. The old man fidgeted by the window, then shouted to Bessie that he saw her and he would tell Harry about it. Bessie moved like she wanted to run, but stopped and held her head. Young Hagberd stood still like a statue. The strange night seemed to complain in an old man’s voice. Old Hagberd told Bessie to get rid of the information fellow as he is just a wanderer. She needs a good home, and that man is not like Harry. He can’t be Harry, as he is coming the next day. Just one more day and stop getting worried as Harry will marry her. His voice grew louder and crazier against the steady sound of the waves outside. He told her that Harry would have to marry her. He will make him, or else, he swore an oath that he’ll cut him off from his property the next day and leave everything to her and let him starve. He slammed the window shut. Harry took a deep breath and stepped closer to Bessie. He told her that she was the girl Old Hagberd wanted him to settle down with. She didn’t move, still holding her head in her hands. He said to her that he told her the same thing about his father and he is brilliant at decoding Old Hagberd’s scheme. Her elbows shook. He told her she wanted him to stay for a week. She covered her face with her hands. He moved closer and gently held her wrists. Bessie felt his breath near her ear. He told her that he needed her help to get out of this mess, trying to see her face. She turned away. He stepped back and asked if she had any money. He wants to leave right away. She quickly nodded, feeling embarrassed, and he turned away as she searched for her dress pocket. She gave it to him and requested to leave her alone. If she had more money, she would give it all just to make him forget.
Passage:
He extended his hand. ‘No fear! I haven’t forgotten a single one of you in the world. Some gave me more than money—but I am a beggar now—and you women always had to get me out of my scrapes.’
He swaggered up to the parlour window, and in the dim light filtering through the blind, looked at the coin lying in his palm. It was a half-sovereign. He slipped it into his pocket. She stood a little on one side, with her head drooping, as if wounded; with her arms hanging passive by her side, as if dead.
‘You can’t buy me in,’ he said, ‘and you can’t buy yourself out.’
He set his hat firmly with a little tap, and the next moment she felt herself lifted in the powerful embrace of his arms. Her feet lost the ground; her head hung back; he showered kisses on her face with a silent and overmastering ardour, as if in haste to get at her very soul. He kissed her pale cheeks, her hard forehead, her heavy eyelids, her faded lips; and the measured blows and sighs of the rising tide accompanied the enfolding power of his arms, the overwhelming might of his caresses. It was as if the sea, breaking down the wall protecting all the homes of the town, had sent a wave over her head. It passed on; she staggered backwards, with her shoulders against the wall, exhausted, as if she had been stranded there after a storm and a shipwreck.
She opened her eyes after a while; and, listening to the firm, leisurely footsteps going away with their conquest, began to gather her skirts, staring all the time before her. Suddenly she darted through the open gate into the dark and deserted street.
‘Stop!’ she shouted. ‘Don’t go!’
And listening with an attentive poise of the head, she could not tell whether it was the beat of the swell or his fateful tread that seemed to fall cruelly upon her heart. Presently every sound grew fainter, as though she were slowly turning into stone. A fear of this awful silence came to her—worse than the fear of death. She called upon her ebbing strength for the final appeal:
‘Harry!’
Word meanings
ebbing: flow back
poise: balance
tread: walk
ardour: passion
staggered: walk unsteady
buy out: to pay someone to give ownership
beat of the swell: the rhythmic pattern of larger wave
swaggered: walked confidently
scrapes: scratches
Explanation of the above passage—He reached his hand and told her not to be afraid. He remembers all the women. Some women helped him more than with money, but now he was a beggar and these women always rescued him from trouble. He walked over to the parlour window and looked at the coin in his hand. It was a half-sovereign. He put it in his pocket. She stood slightly to the side, with her head down, looking hurt; her arms hung limply at her sides as if she were lifeless. He told her that she can’t buy him and she can’t buy her way out, either. He adjusted his hat, then suddenly lifted her in his strong arms. Her feet left the ground, and her head hung back as he kissed her face with intense passion, as if trying to reach for her very soul. He kissed her pale cheeks, forehead, eyelids, and faded lips. The steady rhythm of the rising tide matched the power of his embrace and the strength of his kisses. It felt like a wave had crashed over her, just as the sea breaks through barriers that protect the homes. Afterwards, she staggered backwards, leaning against the wall, drained as if she had survived a storm and a shipwreck. After a moment, she opened her eyes. Hearing his steady footsteps walking away, she began to gather her skirts and stared ahead. Suddenly, she rushed through the open gate into the quiet street. She shouted for him to stop and don’t leave. Listening carefully, she couldn’t tell if it was the sound of the waves or his footsteps that felt painful to her heart, but soon, all sound around her faded, as if she were slowly turning to stone. She felt a deep fear of the heavy silence, worse than the fear of death. She called out to him, with her fading strength for one last time “Harry!”
Passage:
Not even the dying echo of a footstep. Nothing. The thundering of the surf, the voice of the restless sea itself, seemed stopped. There was not a sound—no whisper of life, as though she were alone, and lost in that stony country of which she had heard, where madmen go looking for gold and spurn the find.
Captain Hagberd, inside his dark house, had kept on the alert. A window ran up; and in the silence of the stony country a voice spoke above her head, high up in the black air—the voice of madness, lies and despair—the voice of inextinguishable hope. ‘Is he gone yet—that information fellow? Do you hear him about, my dear?’
She burst into tears. ‘No! No! No! I don’t hear him any more,’ she sobbed.
He began to chuckle up there triumphantly. ‘You frightened him away. Good girl. Now we shall be all right. Don’t you be impatient, my dear? One day more.’
In the other house old Carvil, wallowing regally in his armchair with a globe lamp burning by his side on the table, yelled for her in a fiendish voice: ‘Bessie! Bessie! You, Bessie!’
She heard him at last, and, as if overcome by fate, began to totter silently back towards her stuffy little inferno of a cottage. It had no lofty portal, no terrific inscription of forfeited hopes—she did not understand wherein she had sinned.
Captain Hagberd had gradually worked himself into a state of noisy happiness up there.
‘Go in! Keep quiet!’ she turned upon him tearfully, from the doorstep below.
He rebelled against her authority in his great joy at having got rid at last of that ‘something wrong’. It was as if all the hopeful madness of the world had broken out to bring terror upon her heart, with the voice of that old man shouting of his trust in an everlasting tomorrow.
Word meanings
inscription: writings
inferno: hell
surf: breaking waves of ocean
fiendish: cruel
chuckle: laugh inwardly
totter: move feebly
Explanation of the above passage—Nothing stirred in the quiet. The sound of crashing waves filled the air, but there was no life around. It felt as if she was alone in a desolate place, like a land where people searching for gold ended up lost and mad. Captain Hagberd waited inside his dark house, listening closely. Suddenly, his voice called down from high in the darkness. It sounded mad, filled with lies and despair—but it also held a strange hope. He asked her if that information fellow has left and can she hear him. She burst into tears, and told him that she couldn’t hear him anymore. He laughed triumphantly from above. He told her that she scared him away! They will be alright now. She should be patient. He told her to wait for one more day.
In the other house, old Carvil yelled for her angrily, calling out her name. Finally, she heard him. Giving in to her fate, she walked slowly back to her cramped little cottage. It didn’t have a grand entrance or a sign of lost hope, she didn’t understand what she had done wrong. Captain Hagberd felt a noisy happiness as he celebrated getting rid of that ‘something wrong’. It was like all the madness in the world had exploded, making her heart race with fear, as she heard the old man’s voice talking about faith in a better tomorrow. The reference to ‘something wrong’ is the reality Old Hagberd has been running away from and faith in tomorrow is the self-delusion he has been living in.
Conclusion
The story Tomorrow by Joseph Conrad gives a profound moral lesson about the complicated relationships between parents and their children. Students can take help of the post to understand the lesson and also learn the difficult word meanings to get a better grasp over the story. This lesson includes the summary of Tomorrow which will help students of class 12 to get a quick recap of the story.