a burlesque biography 4

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a burlesque biography

Hardly a day passed over his head that he did not go idling about the ship with his nose in the air, sneering about the commander, and saying he did not believe Columbus knew where he was going to or had ever been there before.

over his head: What does this mean? Is it a sarcastical sentense?

nose in the air: I can guess it's something arrogant. But I don't know the exact meaning.

The memorable cry of "Land ho!" thrilled every heart in the ship but his. He gazed awhile through a piece of smoked glass at the penciled line lying on the distant water, and then said: "Land be hanged--it's a raft!"

land ho!: What does "ho" mean? Is this English? In sailor's languages, are there words coming from other countries?

smoked: Does this mean the glasses were smoked with fire? Or it's only the color of it?

penciled line: I guess it means the island. But I still don't know what's the penciled line by its original meaning. A very thin pencil mark?

Land be hanged: damn land? Is my understanding right?

raft: a little boat made of leather?

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1, To say that the day had passed "over his head" simply means that the day has passed. The sun id overhead, therefore the day is described the same way. It's not necessarily sarcastic, merely powtic.

2."Nose in the air" is a common colloquial expression, indicating, as you rightly surmise, arrogance and a disdain for one's immediate surroundings.

3. "Land ho!" is a comon nautical expression, what a sailor shouts when first sighting land from shipboard. The word "ho" has no meaning, it is just an exclamation, sort of like yelling "Oh, there's land there!"

4. Smoked glasses are just coloured glasses, what today we would call sunglasses.

5. You're right. "Land be hanged" is the same as "Damn land."

6. A raft is a makeshift floating device, usually made of logs lashed together. I've never heard of it being made of leather. What made you surmise that?

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I think of leather because of a floating device used in our country. It's full of air, just like a buoy quoit(do you call it so?). And it is like a boat. It can hold four to six people(I'm not quite sure.) And if a ship is in danger, it can be used to rescue sailors, just like several buoy quoits can do. In some foreign movies, I can see this kind of thing on a pirate's ship.

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A raft can actually be made out of anything that will float but most commonly it is just wood, lashed with rope or vines. Whatever the materials, it would still be called a raft.

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http://www.acclaimimages.com/_gallery/_SM/0248-0604-0913-5915_SM.jpg

Your curiosity is the result of my misleading word "leather", it should be rubber, yes, a rubber raft. I make a mistake. So, I think now you are aware of what I'm talking.

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Quote:

penciled line: I guess it means the island. But I still don't know what's the penciled line by its original meaning. A very thin pencil mark?

And about this question, what would you say?

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Oh, sorry. Didn't realize I skipped that. By 'penciled line' the author just means that the line he saw in the water was so thin it looked as though it might have been drawn with a pencil. In other words, it had no weight to it.

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Thank you very much. A very clear answer indeed.

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a burlesque biography 4

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