And I Thought I Knew What a Buccaneer Was Like

Fabrizio del Wrongo writes:

TreasureIsland4

As I was waiting, a man came out of a side room, and at a glance I was sure he must be Long John. His left leg was cut off close by the hip, and under the left shoulder he carried a crutch, which he managed with wonderful dexterity, hopping about upon it like a bird. He was very tall and strong, with a face as big as a ham — plain and pale, but intelligent and smiling. Indeed, he seemed in the most cheerful spirits, whistling as he moved about among the tables, with a merry word or a slap on the shoulder for the more favoured of his guests.

Now, to tell you the truth, from the very first mention of Long John in Squire Trelawney’s letter I had taken a fear in my mind that he might prove to be the very one- legged sailor whom I had watched for so long at the old Benbow. But one look at the man before me was enough. I had seen the captain, and Black Dog, and the blind man, Pew, and I thought I knew what a buccaneer was like — a very different creature, according to me, from this clean and pleasant-tempered landlord.

I plucked up courage at once, crossed the threshold, and walked right up to the man where he stood, propped on his crutch, talking to a customer.

“Mr. Silver, sir?” I asked, holding out the note.

“Yes, my lad,” said he; “such is my name, to be sure. And who may you be?” And then as he saw the squire’s letter, he seemed to me to give something almost like a start.

“Oh!” said he, quite loud, and offering his hand. “I see. You are our new cabin-boy; pleased I am to see you.”

And he took my hand in his large firm grasp.

— Robert Louis Stevenson

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About Fabrizio del Wrongo

Recovering liberal arts major. Unrepentant movie nut. Aspiring boozehound.
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4 Responses to And I Thought I Knew What a Buccaneer Was Like

  1. Faze's avatar Faze says:

    In my mind, Long John Silver I’ve always pictured LJS as looking something like a one-legged Nick Nolte, based on that very specific description. Over course, Robert Newton’s priceless Disney LJS overrides all previous conceptions.

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    • Fabrizio del Wrongo's avatar Fabrizio del Wrongo says:

      Long John strikes me as the best thing in “Treasure Island.” What a great and memorable character. Like a malevolent Falstaff.

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  2. Gavin Bledsoe's avatar Gavin Bledsoe says:

    First novel I read at the age of seven. Magic.

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  3. Fenster's avatar Fenster says:

    The change from the tight frock-coat, silk cap, and kid gloves of
    an undergraduate at Harvard, to the loose duck trousers, checked
    shirt, and tarpaulin hat of a sailor, though somewhat of a
    transformation, was soon made; and I supposed that I should pass
    very well for a Jack tar. But it is impossible to deceive the
    practised eye in these matters; and while I thought myself to be
    looking as salt as Neptune himself, I was, no doubt, known for a
    landsman by every one on board as soon as I hove in sight. A
    sailor has a peculiar cut to his clothes, and a way of wearing
    them which a green hand can never get. The trousers, tight round
    the hips, and thence hanging long and loose round the feet, a
    superabundance of checked shirt, a low-crowned, well-varnished
    black hat, worn on the back of the head, with half a fathom of
    black ribbon hanging over the left eye, and a slip-tie to the
    black silk neckerchief, with sundry other minutiae, are signs, the
    want of which betrays the beginner at once. Besides the points in
    my dress which were out of the way, doubtless my complexion and
    hands were quite enough to distinguish me from the regular salt
    who, with a sunburnt cheek, wide step, and rolling gait, swings
    his bronzed and toughened hands athwart-ships, half opened, as
    though just ready to grasp a rope.

    Richard Henry Dana, Two Years Before the Mast

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