| 1. | Faria , the worthy master of the young amelia the name of the genoese tartan knew a smattering of all the tongues spoken on the shores of that large lake called the mediterranean , from the arabic to the proven ? al , and this , while it spared him interpreters , persons always troublesome and frequently indiscreet , gave him great facilities of communication , either with the vessels he met at sea , with the small boats sailing along the coast , or with the people without name , country , or occupation , who are always seen on the quays of seaports , and who live by hidden and mysterious means which we must suppose to be a direct gift of providence , as they have no visible means of support
少女阿梅丽号这艘热那亚独桅船的船名上这位可敬的船长，虽然没受过法利亚神甫的教导，却几乎懂得地中海沿岸的各种语言，从阿拉伯语到普罗旺斯语，都能一知半解地说上几句，所以他不必雇用翻译，多一个人总是多一个累赘，而且常常多一个泄漏秘密的机会。这种语言上的能力，使他和人交换信息非常方便，不论是和他在海上所遇到的帆船，和那些沿着海岸航行的小舟，或和那些来历不明的人，这种人，没有姓名，没有国籍，没有明白的称呼，在海口的码头上可以看到他们，他们靠着那种秘密的经济来源生活，而由于看不出他们经济的来源，我们只能称他们是靠天过活的。 |
