Hauff’s Tales

continued from No. 1

THE TALE OF THE GHOST SHIP

Chapter II

We climbed up the rope. A fearful sight met my eyes as I stepped on board. On the bloodstained deck more than twenty corpses, clad in Turkish robes, lay spread-eagled. At the mainmast sat a man, richly dressed, with a sword in his hand. He, too, was dead. My legs turned to stone, I could scarcely breathe. At last my companion reached the deck. He, too, stood transfixed with horror at the scene. Eventually we plucked up courage and moved forward. At each step we looked over our shoulder, afraid of seeing a fresh sight to chill our blood. But everything remained unchanged. Around us stretched the boundless ocean and we were the only two living creatures in all that vast emptiness. We dared not speak aloud for fear that the dead captain should turn on us his staring eyes, or that one of the corpses should raise its ghastly head. At last we reached the top of the companionway leading to the cabins below. We stopped involuntarily and gazed speechlessly at each other, lacking the courage to voice our thoughts.
Finally my servant spoke: “Oh sir,” he said, “something frightful has happened here! Let’s go downstairs! It’s impossible to stay here among the dead!”
He voiced my very thoughts. We plucked up courage and went below. Here, too, everything was as silent as the grave, except for the hollow sound of our footsteps in the dimly-lit corridor. We stopped outside a door. I placed my ear to it and listened. Dead silence. I opened it and stepped into a large cabin. Inside everything was in great disorder. Clothes, weapons and other articles were strewn about the floor. Not a single thing was in its place. We went from cabin to cabin and everywhere found rich stores of silk, pearls, sugar and other costly wares. The sight of these raised my spirit. I thought as there was not a living soul aboard, I was entitled to keep them. My servant, Abraham, however, pointed out that in our present condition the finds were worthless, for we were obviously far from the mainland and without help we could never hope to reach it.
We also found ample supplies of food and drink. We had a bite and felt refreshed. We went up on deck again. But once again we were overcome with horror at the sight of the corpses. We decided to get rid of them by throwing them overboard. But what was our dismay when we found that we could not move them an inch. They lay as though frozen to the deck. We could not pull the captain away from the mast and even could not wrest the sword from his hand.
The day passed in sober reflection, and when night fell I told Abraham to lie down and rest. I intended to stay on deck and try to think of a way of saving ourselves. But after a couple of hours or so, when the moon came out, against my will I lay down to sleep on the deck in the shelter of a large barrel. It was more like a trance than sleep, for I heard quite plainly the beating of waves against the side of the ship and the whining of the wind in the rigging. All at once I thought I heard steps on the deck and the sound of voices. An invisible power seemed to fetter my limbs and I was unable to open my eyes. The voices grew clearer and at times I seemed to hear an officer’s voice ordering the sail to be shortened and ropes to be made fast. Gradually, my senses left me and I fell asleep, and, as from a great distance the clash of arms came to me.
It was late when I awoke. The sun was already high in the heavens and its rays were falling on my face. I looked wonderingly around me: the storm, the ship, the dead, everything I had heard in the night, all seemed a dream. But when I stood up, I saw that nothing had changed since the previous evening. The bodies still lay motionless on the deck, the captain sat immobile at the mast. I smiled wryly at my dream and went to look for Abraham. He was sitting pensively in the cabin.
“Oh, my master!” he called out when he saw me. “I would sooner lie at the bottom of the sea than spend another night on this accursed ship!”
I asked him what was the matter and he replied:
“I slept for a few hours, but was woken by the sound of someone running about on the deck above my head. At first I thought it was you, but soon realized this could not be so, for the noise was too great. Finally, heavy footsteps descended the stairs. Then I saw a man in a scarlet cloak that was sitting at the table and drinking and singing loudly.”
As my servant spoke I realized that my own dream had been no dream at all. I had really heard the dead. The prospect of a voyage in such company was terrible.

ACTIVITIES & EXERCISES

I. Comprehension Task

Match the sentence beginning on the left with the correct ending on the right.

Answers: 1. f; 2. g; 3. a; 4. b; 5. c; 6. j; 7. d; 8. e; 9. j; 10. i

II. Grammar

Adjective or adverb? Choose the correct word.

1. We stopped involuntarily / involuntary and gazed speechless / speechlessly at each other.
2. It’s impossible / impossibly to stay here among the dead!”
3. It was late / lately when I awoke.
4. I looked wonderingly / wondering around me: the storm, the ship, the dead, everything I had heard in the night, all seemed a dream.
5. My legs turned to stone; I could scarcely / scarce breathe.
6. He was sitting pensively / pensive in the cabin
7. Then I saw a man in a scarlet cloak that was sitting at the table and singing loudly / loud.
8. The prospect of a voyage in such company was terrible / terribly.
9. I smiled wry / wryly at my dream and went to look for Abraham.
10. The bodies still lay motionless / motionlessly on the deck, the captain stood immobile at the mast.

Answers: 1. involuntarily, speechlessly; 2. impossible; 3. late; 4. wonderingly; 5. scarcely; 6. pensively; 7. loudly; 8. terrible; 9. wryly; 10. motionless

III. Pronunciation Task

1. Look at the underlined letters of the words below. They sound [?], not [нг]. There is no similar sound in the Russian language. Practice saying these words.

everything, seeing, living, lacking, something, thing, throwing, saving, beating, whining, rigging, falling, evening, sitting, running, drinking, singing.

2. Find the sentences with these words in the text and read them; mind the pronunciation of “-ing”.

IV. Vocabulary

Compound nouns and adjectives. Take one word from column A and one word from column B to form a compound noun or adjective. Compound words are written:

– as two words;
– as one word;
– as two words joined by a hyphen

Answers: 1. d; 2. e; 3. a; 4. l; 5. k; 6. b; 7. j; 8. c; 9. f; 10. g; 11. h; 12. i

V. Speaking

Imagine that you are: a) the narrator of the story; b) Abraham.
Describe your feelings using some of the following expressions:

a fearful sight; could scarcely breathe; plucked up courage; turned to stone; transfixed with horror; dared not speak aloud; gazed speechlessly; staring eyes; stopped involuntarily; dead silence; overcome with horror; more like a trance than sleep; an invisible power; unable to open my eyes; afraid of seeing fresh sight to chill our blood; the only two living creatures in all that vast emptiness

to be continued