Chapter 11 Chapter 2 Launch of the Ship

"It's always like this, isn't it?" Matiff asked. "What's wrong?" Boscade responded. "Business." "Business will get better, don't worry about it. But you never know, it might get worse!" "Boscade, you?" "Matiff!" "What I want to say, don't be offended!" "Don't be surprised, it depends on the situation!" "Okay...you should leave me." "Leaving you, what do you mean?... Abandoning you?" "right!" "Go on, my dream wrestler! I can't bear you!"

"Really... If you were alone, you wouldn't starve... But I've made you a burden. Without me, you can..." "You mean you have a big belly, don't you?" said Boscade solemnly. "right." "Big?" "right." "No matter how big your stomach is or how tall you are, you can't hold those stupid things you just said!" "Why? Boscade." "You talk more foolishly than your Matiff! Get rid of you, my big fool! If I'm not with you, I ask you, who's playing tricks with you?" "Who?" "Who else does a back and forth on the back of your head?"

"I didn't mean that..." "And who did the splits between your hands?" "My God!..." Facing the string of questions, Matiff couldn't resist. "Honestly... what are you going to do alone if you are faced with a fanatical audience, if there is an unexpected audience?" "Audience!" Matiff murmured. "So, forget it. Let's figure out how to earn dinner money." "I'm not hungry anymore!" "You've been starving? Matiff, you're so hungry!" Boscade said, pulling his partner's jaw down slightly with his hands.Of Matiff's thirty-two teeth, molars are not actually necessary! "Your long canines look like bulldog tusks! That's enough for your molars, I reckon! You're so hungry! If we earn half a florin, you'll eat half of it!" "

"Then what will you do? My dear Boscade." "Me?...One grain of millet is enough! I don't need to be powerful. The more you eat, the fatter you will become, and the fatter you will be, the weirder you will be! My child... listen to me carefully!" "Weird...yes!" "As for me, on the contrary, the less I eat, the thinner I get, and the more bony I get, the weirder I am, don't I?" "Yes." Matiff said naively: "So, Boscard, if I want to get fat, I have to eat! I have to eat a lot!" "Well said! I want to lose weight, so I don't eat!"

"So, if there is only one person's meal..." "I'll give it to you." "If there is a meal for two people?..." "It's still for you! Matiff, a big man like you can be worth two people!" "Four...six...ten!" Hercules shouted.To be honest, even ten people are no match for him. Putting aside the exaggeration of ancient and modern wrestlers, let's look at the facts, all wrestlers who have fought against Matif have all been defeated by him. Just take two things as examples to illustrate his divine power. One night, in a wooden acrobatic arena in the city of Nîmes, a pillar tilted, the room rattled, and the audience panicked.They were in danger of being crushed to death by a collapsing roof, or trampling each other as they poured out of corridors.Matif was there at the time, and he sprinted to the side of the crooked column.Just as the roof was about to collapse, he pressed his shoulders against the wooden pillars. He didn't jump out of the room until all the audience in the hall were safely evacuated.At this moment, the roof collapsed behind him.

This incident shows his physical strength, let's look at his arm strength next. One day on the Carmack Plains, an enraged bull charged from the pen, chased and injured several people.Perhaps more damage would have been done had it not been for Matiff's intervention.Matif ran towards the maddened bull, determined to subdue it.When the bull lowered its head and rushed towards him, he nimbly grabbed the bull's horns and flicked the biceps on his arm, and the bull rolled over and fell to the ground with all four feet in the air.He held down the bull to prevent him from turning over. He didn't stop until the bull was exhausted and unable to hurt people.

There are many things that can prove the supernatural power of Matif.The above examples are enough to make people understand his strength, courage and dedication.He always sacrificed himself to save others regardless of personal safety.So he is a kind-hearted and powerful man.However, as Boscard said, in order to maintain his strength, he must be given things.So whenever there is only one person, or even two people's meal, his partner would rather force Matiff to eat it than to eat it himself.However, that night, the sky was so hazy that there was not even a person's meal. "Fog!" repeated Boscade.

In order to disperse the dense fog, the poor man had to open up his chatter box and make all kinds of amusing grimaces to attract the audience.He walked quickly on the stage, running around for a while, twisting all over his body for a while, making strange faces.He sometimes walks on his feet and sometimes walks on his head - he finds that he is less hungry with his head down. He spoke a jargon that was half Provençal, half Slavic, and made amusing one-liners.In fact, as long as there have been idlers who roam the streets, there have always been clown entertainers telling these jokes. "Come in! Gentlemen, come in!" cried Boscade. "You only pay when you leave...a Cruzeiro, what a joke!"

But only when there is entry can there be exit.Five or six people stopped in front of the canvas, but none of them wanted to enter their small space. At this moment, Boscade pointed to the beast painted on the cloth with a small stick in a trembling hand, not that he had a zoo for everyone to visit!He meant that these terrible beasts lived in certain parts of Africa and India, and if Matif encountered them on the road, he could swallow them in one mouthful. Burscade continued to drum up audiences.His cries were sometimes interrupted by the sound of Hercules beating a great drum, which sounded like the roar of a cannon.

"Gentlemen, look at the hyena, born in the Cape of Good Hope, it is light and fierce, it can jump over walls, and hunt for prey in graves!" After finishing speaking, he pointed to a field of yellow water and blue grass on the other side of the canvas, and said, "Look, look, gentlemen, please take a look at this interesting rhino that has just turned fifteen months old! It lives in Sumatra. .Its horns are terrible, and it is dangerous to touch ships when crossing the sea." Then he pointed to a pile of green carcasses of animals killed by lions in the foreground: "Gentlemen, please look! The terrible lion in the Atlas Mountains! It lives in the scorching Sahara desert! When it is extremely hot Just go into the cave and hide! If it finds a puddle of water, it jumps in and comes out soaked in water. That's why people call it the Nimed Lion!"

Boscade was parched and exhausted after all the interesting things he had said, but no one came.Matif beat the big drum and almost broke the drum skin, but no one came in, which was really disappointing. Finally, a few strong Dalmatian mountain men came to Matif and stopped to watch like experts. Boscade immediately seized the opportunity and teased them to compete with Matif. "Come in, gentlemen! Good time, good chance! Wrestling match! Empty hands, shoulders to lose! Matif guarantees that the wrestler who puts his trust in him and is willing to fight him will be defeated! Whoever wins the horse Tiff, a padded undershirt! Try it, gentlemen!" Boscade said to the three burly lads.They looked at him in surprise. No matter how honorable it is to take on Matiff, these great lads don't want to risk it.Boscard saw what they were thinking, and immediately changed his words and said that since there was no opponent, the wrestling would be between himself and Matiff.yes!It will be a "competition between dexterity and strength". "Come in! Come in! Come in all together!" cried poor Boscade with all his might. "You're going to see something that's never been seen before! Boscade and Matif fight! Twins in Provence! Yes, twins...not so old...and not born to the same mother! Hmmm How alike we look! . . . especially in my way!" A young man stopped in front of the stage, his face serious, listening to these banal jokes. This young man was at most twenty-two years old, with an upper-middle build.He has fine features, but reveals a bit of seriousness and tiredness after hard work.He likes to meditate by nature, maybe he grew up in bitter water since he was a child.He has big black and bright eyes.He has a short beard, and under the mustache is a mouth that doesn't like to smile.All this clearly shows that he is a Hungarian of Magyar origin.Dressed in plain modern clothing, he seems to have no intention of trying to be trendy.He looked dignified and had the air of a man in a young man. He listened to Boscade's useless flattery, and watched him scurry up and down the stage, and felt pity.Perhaps because of his own painful experience, he could not but sympathize with the suffering of others. "These are French!" he said to himself. "Poor poor man! They must have no income today!" So he wanted to be the only wrestling spectator.It was a charity, at least a disguised charity, and they needed it!He walked to the canvas at the door, and there was a small field inside. "Come in, sir!" cried Pascalde. "We will start the show immediately!" "But, I'm the only one..." the young man said very kindly. "A true artist, sir, cares not for the size of his audience, but the quality of his audience!" replied Boscade with the pride of a joking man. "Permit me..." said the young man, and he took out his purse, took out two florins, and put them in a tin tray in the corner of the table. "What a kind man!" thought Boscade.He turned to his partner and said, "Come on, Matiff! He's paid, let's play him!" However, the only spectator in front of the acrobatic stage in Provence, France, was about to enter but retreated.He had just caught a glimpse of the girl who, a quarter of an hour before, had been listening to the gypsies in the company of her father.The young men and women met each other here, and invariably gave alms to the gypsies and acrobats. It seems that seeing only one side is not enough, the young man caught a glimpse of the girl and forgot his audience identity and seat, and ran towards the girl involuntarily.The girl suddenly disappeared into the crowd. "Hey, sir! . . . sir! . . . your money!" cried Boscade. "The money is not earned, damn it! . . . Where is the other man? He's gone! Ouch!" He looked into the distance, but to no avail.His only "audience" was gone. He looked over at Matiff, who was as dumbfounded as he was. "We are about to start the show, but there are no people to see!" said the giant at last. "It's unlucky!" "Then we're going to start the show too!" Boscade said, stepping down the little ladder in front of the stage. Playing in front of the long dens in the audience, they might earn two florins.But to be honest, there were no benches at all. At this moment, the port was boiling, the crowd was floating, and hundreds of people cheered towards the sea, "coastal ship...coastal ship!" It was the moment when the small ocean ship was about to launch into the water.The scene of the launch of the ship is fascinating and arouses the strong curiosity of the audience.The squares and piers that had been crowded with people suddenly became empty, while the shipyards where the ships were about to be launched were now overcrowded. Boscade and Matiff knew that there was no hope for the audience at this point.In order to find the only spectator who had almost entered the shed just now, they didn't even close the door-what's the need, they left the performance venue and walked towards the shipyard. The shipyard is located outside Lagwosa Harbour, on a sloping land at the end of a promontory.Shock waves rolled in the sea, and the waves splashed to the shore. Burscard and his companions squeezed their way through the crowd until they reached the head of the crowd.Even in their most profitable performances, their stage has never had so many audiences, such a crowd, such enthusiasm!what!Art has fallen! The pillars on both sides of the coaster have been removed, and it is ready to be launched at any time.The anchor is ready.When the hull slips into the water, as long as the iron anchor is dropped, the forward rush of the hull can be stopped immediately.Otherwise, the boat will rush far out in the slide.Although this is a small seagoing ship only about 50 meters long, due to its rather large hull, various precautions must be taken when launching it into the water.Workers from two shipyards stood on deck near the Dalmatian flagpole aft, while two others stood at the bow, handling the anchor handling.The operation of launching the small ship is carried out behind the ship.The stern keel rests in a soaped chute.Due to the effect of the weight of the ship, the gliding becomes faster and faster, and the small seagoing ship automatically slides into the seawater. Six carpenters have picked up their hammers and driven several wedges into the bottom of the keel at the front of the hull, so that the hull can be slightly off the berth, causing shaking, and leading the boat into the water. There was silence all around, and everyone watched the action with great interest. At this time, a two-masted yacht of about 350 tons appeared at the bend of the southern promontory of Gravosa Port. It tried to go around the overhanging part of the shipyard and sail into the harbor.As the wind was blowing from the northwest, the crew hoisted the sail on the port side so that the yacht could go downwind so as to reach the anchorage.The yacht will arrive in less than ten minutes.Now, like looking at a ship through a long telescope, yachts are getting bigger and bigger in people's eyes. In order to enter the port, the yacht must pass through the water surface where the small seagoing ship will be launched.In order to avoid accidents, as soon as the yacht sends out a signal, the launching operation of the small seagoing vessel should stop.Resume operations after the yacht has passed the channel.It can be imagined that one ship is coming from the side, and the other ship is going forward at high speed. If the two ships collide, it will definitely bring a huge disaster to the yacht. The workers stopped hammering the wedges, and the workers who were in charge of pulling out the mast bolts received the waiting order, and it took only a few minutes before and after. The yacht was coming quickly, and the preparations for mooring on the yacht could be seen, and the uppermost sections of the two masts had just fallen down.Although the big sail and the fore-sail were lowered at the same time, the speed of the ship was still very fast due to the action of the two three-soled sails and the effect of inertia. All eyes turn to this magnificent yacht.Its white sails seem to be plated with gold in the light of the setting sun.The sailors are dressed in oriental eyes and red hats, and are busy operating.The captain stood behind the helmsman, calmly issued orders and directed the operation. The yacht just appeared in front of the shipyard, and it was about to round the last promontory of the port.Suddenly there was a scream, and the little ocean wheel just slipped.For unknown reasons, the mast bolts fell off and the hull began to slide forward.At this time, the right chord of the yacht was just facing the small seagoing ship that was launched. The two ships are about to collide, and there is neither time nor way to stop it. What can be done!The sailors on the yacht screamed wildly, echoing the shouts of the crowd on the shore, and mixed together. Still maintaining his composure, the captain gave the order to speed up.However, even the fastest speeds will not be able to get the yacht out of the way or through the channel to avoid a collision.Because the little sea boat is already sliding forward in a funny way.Due to the friction, white smoke rose from the bow and became thicker, and the stern had dipped into the water of the bay.The situation is extremely critical! Suddenly a man jumped out from the crowd and grabbed the mooring line at the bow.It would be useless to hold the ship's cable by pedaling, the ship would pull people away.Fortunately, there was an iron stake tied to the ship's cable, and one end was deeply buried in the ground.When it was too late, the man wound the cable around the iron stake, risking being strangled and squeezed into meat paste.Wrap around and loosen, and then hold on with superhuman strength - a total of ten seconds or so.At this time, the cable was pulled.But these ten seconds were enough to avoid a disaster.The small sea vessel slipped into the water of the harbor, swayed back and forth for a while and floated up again, and then sped towards the channel, passing by less than a foot away from the stern of the yacht, and did not stop until the anchor was dropped and the anchor cable was pulled tight. down. The yacht was saved! As for the man who rescued the ship, because of his quick and unexpected action, no one came to help in time.That man is Matif the Hercules. "Ah! Good! Great!" cried Boscade, running to his companions.He was held in the arms of his companions, this time it was not a show of hand skills, but a hug with him——the hug almost made him suffocate. At this time, there was thunderous applause from all directions, and the crowd surrounded Hercules.Hercules, however, was as humble and ordinary as those who had made the Twelve Great Merits. He had no idea why the public sentiment was so enthusiastic. Five minutes later, the yacht anchored in the middle of the bay, and then a gorgeous six-oared boat ferried the owner to the pier. He was a tall man in his fifties, with almost white hair and a gray beard cut in an Oriental pattern.His face was a little tanned, his facial features were regular, and he was still handsome.A pair of big black eyes are piercing, shooting out an inquiring look.His demeanor was refined and dignified, and he made a deep impression on the first meeting.He was dressed in nautical attire: dark blue trousers, a jacket of the same color with gold buttons and a black leather belt girdled under it, and a brown cloth top hat.It all seemed to fit perfectly.It can be seen that although he is over fifty years old, he is still in good shape and strong physique. Immediately after landing, this resolute and powerful figure walked towards the two acrobats surrounded by cheering crowds.The crowd stepped aside to let him pass.When he walked up to Matiff, his first action was not to look for a purse, take out money, and give a lot of money, no!He stretched out his hands to the acrobat and said to him in Italian: "Thank you, my friend, for what you have done just now!" Matiff was flattered and ashamed. "Yes! . . . well done! . . . well done! Mattife!" repeated Bescade in the Provençal dialect. "Are you French?" asked the stranger. "Frencher than the French! Frenchmen from the south of France!" replied Boscade proudly. The stranger looked at them with sympathy and excitement.Their clothes are ragged, and they are very poor.Two poor street performers stood in front of him: one of them had just risked his life for him.Otherwise, the collision between the small ocean liner and the yacht will definitely cause heavy casualties. "Please come and meet me on board," he said to them. "When? Your Royal Highness." Boscade asked, and at the same time gave a salute with graceful movements. "Tomorrow morning, as soon as I go to work." "At work!" said Boscade.Matiff didn't speak, but shook the giant up and down to express his agreement. The crowd continued to surround the adventurous hero.He would have been lifted aloft had he not been of such a prodigious weight that it awed the staunchest and strongest.Burscade, being a considerate man, felt that he should take advantage of the good mood of the crowd.So when the strangers shook hands and walked towards the pier, they called out in cheerful and inviting voices. "Wrestling! Gentlemen, Matif Lux and Boscade wrestling! Come in, gentlemen, come in! Pay when you come out. You can pay if you want to go in!" This time he responded with a hundred responses, and the audience flocked to follow him. It was truly an unprecedented event. The venue seemed too small on this day, and many people couldn't squeeze in, so they had to refund their money! The strange young man had just walked a few steps towards the pier when he met the girl and her father.They were also here to watch the fun just now. A young man followed them and came up to say hello to them.The girl's father answered with pride—a fact that the stranger perceived.When the stranger came up to the father, he could not restrain his disgust, and a gleam of contempt shone from his eyes.However, the girl's father took the initiative to walk up to the strange young man and said respectfully: "Sir, did you escape the catastrophe just now because of the bravery of this acrobat?" "It is so, sir," replied the stranger.He was so emotional that he couldn't contain it, and even the tone of his voice changed. Then he asked the other party: "May I ask you, sir, your surname?" "Mr. Silas Doronta of Raguza City." The old banker of Trieste replied. "May I know who the owner of this yacht is?" "Doctor Antekit," replied the stranger. Afterwards, the two exchanged goodbyes.At the same time, the applause and cheers of the French acrobats were resounding through the sky. That night, Matiff not only ate his belly full, that is to say, ate a lot, but also left a meal.This portion is enough for his upright little friend to have a full meal.

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