Now and thenthey made a bit of money. Sometimes a mail steamer would come in, and CaptainNichols, having scraped acquaintance with the timekeeper, would succeed ingetting the pair of them a job as stevedores. When it was an English boat, theywould dodge into the forecastle and get a hearty breakfast from the crew. Theytook the risk of running against one of the ship's officers and being hustleddown the gangway with the toe of a boot to speed their going.

"There'sno harm in a kick in the hindquarters when your belly's full, " saidCaptain Nichols, "and personally I never take it in bad part. An officer'sgot to think about discipline. "

I had a livelypicture of Captain Nichols flying headlong down a narrow gangway before theuplifted foot of an angry mate, and, like a true Englishman, rejoicing in thespirit of the Mercantile Marine.

There wereoften odd jobs to be got about the fish-market. Once they each of them earned afranc by loading trucks with innumerable boxes of oranges that had been dumpeddown on the quay. One day they had a stroke of luck: one of theboarding-masters got a contract to paint a tramp that had come in fromMadagascar round the Cape of Good Hope, and they spent several days on a plankhanging over the side, covering the rusty hull with paint. It was a situationthat must have appealed to Strickland's sardonic humour. I asked CaptainNichols how he bore himself during these hardships.

"Neverknew him say a cross word, " answered the Captain. "He'd be a bitsurly sometimes, but when we hadn't had a bite since morning, and we hadn'teven got the price of a lie down at the Chink's, he'd be as lively as acricket. "

I was notsurprised at this. Strickland was just the man to rise superior to circumstances,when they were such as to occasion despondency in most; but whether this wasdue to equanimity of soul or to contradictoriness it would be difficult to say.

偶然他们也有机会挣到一点儿钱。有时候一艘邮轮开进港，尼柯尔斯船长同雇用计时员攀上交情，会给两人找个临时装卸工的活儿。如果是一艘英国船，他们会溜进前甲板下面的舱房里，在水手那里饱餐一顿。当然，这样做要冒一定的风险，如果遇见船上的高级船员，他们就要从跳板上被赶下来，为了催他们动作快一些，屁股后面还要挨一靴子。

“一个人只要肚子吃饱，屁股叫人踢一脚算不得什么，”尼柯尔斯船长说，“拿我个人说，我是从来不生气的。高级船员理应考虑船上的风纪的。”

我的脑子里活生生地出现一幅图画：一个气冲冲的大副飞起一脚，尼柯尔斯船长脑袋朝下地从窄窄的跳板上滚下来；象一个真正的英国人那样，他对英国商船队的这种纪律严明的精神非常高兴。

在鱼市场里也不时能够找点零活儿干。还有一次，卡车要把堆在码头上的许多筐桔子运走，思特里克兰德同尼柯尔斯船长帮助装车，每人挣了一法郎。有一天两人很走运：一条从马达加斯加绕过好望角开来的货轮需要上油漆，一个开寄宿店的老板弄到包工合同，他们两个人一连几天站在悬在船帮旁边的一条木板上，往锈迹斑斑的船壳上涂油漆。这件差事肯定很投合思特里克兰德的惯受讽嘲的脾气。我向尼柯尔斯船长打听，在那困顿的日子里，思特里克兰德有什么反应。

“从来没听他说过一句丧气话，”船长回答说，“有时候他有点儿闷闷不乐，但是就是在我们整天吃不到一口饭，连在中国佬那里歇宿的房钱都弄不到手的时候，他仍然象蛐蛐一样欢蹦乱跳。”

我对此并不觉得惊奇。思特里克兰德正是超然于周围环境之外的人，就是在最沮丧的情况下也是如此。这到底是由于心灵的宁静还是矛盾对立，那是难以说清的。