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The mate looked a moment; but he would let no one be before him in daring.
大副愣怔了好一会儿。不过，他不会让前面的任何人冲上前的。
He sprang forward, "Hurrah, men! rig out the topmast studding sail boom! Lay aloft, and I'll send the rigging up to you!"
只见他一个箭步，“好哇，随我来！到中桅这儿扣住帆！固定在帆索高处，我这就支援你们！”
We sprang aloft into the top; lowered a girtline down, by which we hauled up the rigging;
我们一窝蜂地涌到中桅，将桅顶吊索放倒，我们好向上拉帆缆，
rove the tacks and halyards; ran out the boom and lashed it fast, and sent down the lower halyards as a preventer.
这时，船赶紧抢风掉向，放升降索。待伸出帆桁后连忙拉紧，把升降索压低作为辅助索。
It was a clear starlight night, cold and blowing; but everybody worked with a will.
显然，这是个惊心动魄的夜晚，冷风阵阵；不过，每个人都凭着一个信念坚持着。
Some, indeed, looked as though they thought the "old man" was mad, but no one said a word.
确实，有些人看上去好像以为这个“老头儿”简直疯了，但没有人发半句怨言。
We had had a new top mast studding sail made with a reef in it,
我们还备了一个新的中桅副翼帆，里面装有缩帆部，
a thing hardly ever heard of, and which the sailors had ridiculed a good deal,
这东西以前几乎没听说过，为此船员曾打趣说这可是一桩好买卖，
saying that when it was time to reef a studding sail it was time to take it in.
还说啥时候收缩副翼帆，啥时候装进去。
But we found a use for it now; for, there being a reef in the topsail, the studding sail could not be set without one in it also.
但是，我们发现正好现在就能派上用场；因为中桅有缩帆部的话，副翼帆就不必加缩帆部了。
To be sure, a studding sail with reefed topsails was rather a novelty; yet there was some reason in it,
可以肯定的是，带装有缩帆部中桅的副翼帆是个相当新奇的东西；然而，有理由在里面加缩帆部，
for if we carried that away, we should lose only a sail and a boom; but a whole topsail might have carried away the mast and all.
因为如果我们无法控制的话，我们失去的仅仅是船帆和帆桁而已，但是整个中桅也许会使索具和所有东西都失控。
