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he wished the crew to listen much to his discourses。 Frank; hearing this; bade Amyas leave the offender to him; and so began upon him with
〃Come hither; thou recreant Jack; thou lily…livered Jack; thou hysterical Jack。 Tell me now; thou hast read Plato's Dialogues; and Aristotle's Logic?〃
To which Jack very meekly answered; 〃Yes。〃
〃Then I will deal with thee after the manner of those ancient sages; and ask whether the greater must not contain the less?〃
Jack。 Yes; sure。
Frank。 And that which is more than a part; contain that part; more than which it is?
Jack。 Yes; sure。
Frank。 Then tell me; is not a priest more than a layman?
Jack (who was always very loud about the dignity of the priesthood; as many of his cloth are; who have no other dignity whereon to stand) answered very boldly; 〃Of course。〃
Frank。 Then a priest containeth a man; and is a man; and something overviz; his priesthood?
Jack (who saw whither this would lead)。 I suppose so。
Frank。 Then; if a priest show himself no man; he shows himself all the more no priest?
〃I'll tell you what; Master Frank;〃 says Jack; 〃you may be right by logic; but sharks aren't logic; nor don't understand it neither。〃
Frank。 Nay but; my recalcitrant Jack; my stiff…necked Jack; is it the part of a man to howl like a pig in a gate; because he thinks that is there which is not there?
Jack had not a word to say。
Frank。 And still more; when if that had been there; it had been the duty of a brave man to have kept his mouth shut; if only to keep salt water out; and not add the evil of choking to that of being eaten?
〃Ah!〃 says Jack; 〃that's all very fine; but you know as well as I that it was not the Spaniards I was afraid of。 They were Heaven's handiwork; and I knew how to deal with them; but as for those fiends' spawn of sharks; when I saw that fellow take the fish alongside; it upset me clean; and there's an end of it!〃
Frank。 Oh; Jack; Jack; behold how one sin begets another! Just now thou wert but a coward; and now thou art a Manichee。 For thou hast imputed to an evil creator that which was formed only for a good end; namely; sharks; which were made on purpose to devour useless carcasses like thine。 Moreover; as a brother of the Rose; thou wert bound by the vow of thy brotherhood to have leaped joyfully down that shark's mouth。
Jack。 Ay; very likely; if Mistress Rose had been in his stomach; but I wanted to fight Spaniards just then; not to be shark…bitten。
Frank。 Jack; thy answer savors of self…will。 If it is ordained that thou shouldst advance the ends of the Brotherhood by being shark…bitten; or flea…bitten; or bitten by sharpers; to the detriment of thy carnal wealth; or; shortly; to suffer any shame or torment whatsoever; even to strappado and scarpines; thou art bound to obey thy destiny; and not; after that vain Roman conceit; to choose the manner of thine own death; which is indeed only another sort of self…murder。 We therefore consider thee as a cause of scandal; and a rotten and creaking branch; to be excised by the spiritual arm; and do hereby excise thee; and cut thee off。
Jack。 Nay faith; that's a little too much; Master Frank。 How long have you been Bishop of Exeter?
Frank。 Jack; thy wit being blinded; and full of gross vapors; by reason of the perturbations of fear (which; like anger; is a short madness; and raises in the phantasy vain spectres;videlicet; of sharks and Spaniards); mistakes our lucidity。 For thy Manicheeism; let his lordship of Exeter deal with it。 For thy abominable howling and caterwauling; offensive in a chained cur; but scandalous in a preacher and a brother of the Rose; we do hereby deprive thee of thine office of chaplain to the Brotherhood; and warn thee; that unless within seven days thou do some deed equal to the Seven Champions; or Ruggiero and Orlando's self; thou shalt be deprived of sword and dagger; and allowed henceforth to carry no more iron about thee than will serve to mend thy pen。
〃And now; Jack;〃 said Amyas; 〃I will give thee a piece of news。 No wonder that young men; as the parsons complain so loudly; will not listen to the Gospel; while it is preached to them by men on whom they cannot but look down; a set of softhanded fellows who cannot dig; and are ashamed to beg; and; as my brother has it; must needs be parsons before they are men。
Frank。 Ay; and even though we may excuse that in Popish priests and friars; who are vowed not to be men; and get their bread shamefully and rascally by telling sinners who owe a hundred measures to sit down quickly and take their bill and write fifty: yet for a priest of the Church of England (whose business is not merely to smuggle sinful souls up the backstairs into heaven; but to make men good Christians by making them good men; good gentlemen; and good Englishmen) to show the white feather in the hour of need; is to unpreach in one minute all that he had been preaching his life long。
〃I tell thee;〃 says Amyas; 〃if I had not taken thee for another guess sort of man; I had never let thee have the care of a hundred brave lads' immortal souls〃
And so on; both of them boarding him at once with their heavy shot; larboard and starboard; till he fairly clapped his hands to his ears and ran for it; leaving poor Frank laughing so heartily; that Amyas was after all glad the thing had happened; for the sake of the smile which it put into his sad and steadfast countenance。
The next day was Sunday; on which; after divine service (which they could hardly persuade Jack to read; so shamefaced was he; and as for preaching after it; he would not hear of such a thing); Amyas read aloud; according to custom; the articles of their agreement; and then seeing abreast of them a sloping beach with a shoot of clear water running into the sea; agreed that they should land there; wash the clothes; and again water the ship; for they had found water somewhat scarce at Barbados。 On this party Jack Brimblecombe must needs go; taking with him his sword and a great arquebuse; for he had dreamed last night (he said) that he was set upon by Spaniards; and was sure that the dream would come true; and moreover; that he did not very much care if they did; or if he ever got back alive; 〃for it was better to die than be made an ape; and a scarecrow; and laughed at by the men; and badgered with Ramus his logic; and Plato his dialectical devilries; to confess himself a Manichee; and; for aught he knew; a turbaned Turk; or Hebrew Jew;〃 and so flung into the boat like a man desperate。
So they went ashore; after Amyas had given strict commands against letting off firearms; for fear of alarming the Spaniards。 There they washed their clothes; and stretched their legs with great joy; admiring the beauty of the place; and then began to shoot the seine which they had brought on shore with them。 〃In which;〃 says the chronicler; 〃we caught many strange fishes; and beside them; a sea… cow full seven feet long; with limpets and barnacles on her back; as if she had been a stick of drift…timber。 This is a fond and foolish beast: and yet pious withal; for finding a corpse; she watches over it day and night until it decay or be buried。 The Indians call he