Only it was queer to feel the footing
beneath my feet rhythmically rising and falling ... for that's the way
it seemed to my land-legs. But then I never was very sturdy on my legs
... which were then like brittle pipestems.... I sprawled about,
spreading and sliding, as I went to and from the galley, bringing, in
the huge basket, the breakfast, dinner and supper for the cabin....
The sailors called me "Albatross" (from the way an albatross acts when
sprawling on shipdeck). They laughed and poked fun at me.
* * * * *
"Look here, you Yankee rascal," said the captain, when I told him I
never drank ... "I think it would do you good if you got a little smear
of beer-froth on your mouth once in a while ... you'd stop looking
leathery like a mummy ... you've already got some wrinkles on your face
... a few good drinks would plump you out, make a man of you.
"In Germany mothers give their babies a sip from their steins before
they are weaned ... that's what makes us such a great nation."
* * * * *
If I didn't drink, at least the two mates and the sailmaker made up for
me ... we had on board many cases of beer stowed away down in the
afterhold, where the sails were stored. And next to the dining room
there was the space where provisions were kept--together with kegs of
kuemmel, and French and Rhine wines and claret.
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