Chapter 16
CHAPTER 16
Yes, despite the Dansker's pithy insistence as to the Master-at-arms being at the bottom of these strange experiences of Billy on board the Indomitable, the young sailor was ready to ascribe them to almost anybody but the man who, to use Billy's own expression, "always had a pleasant word for him." This is to be wondered at. Yet not so much to be wondered at. In certain matters, some sailors even in mature life remain unsophisticated enough. But a young seafarer of the disposition of our athletic Foretopman, is much of a child-man. And yet a child's utter innocence is but its blank utterblank utter] Originally, HM wrote in ink "a child's utter innocence is but its blank ignorance." Revising in dark pencil, he deleted the first "utter" in "utter innocence," leaving it without an adjective. He then deleted "blank" and added "utter" to give "a child's innocence is but its utter ignorance." He then reversed his revision by restoring "blank" and the first "utter." However, he did not delete his second "utter," which results in the present still coherent wording. It is also possible that HM's multi-strike-through of "blank" constitutes a deletion of his restoration, leaving us with a second, intentionally redundant reading of "utter innocence ... utter ignorance." HS and NN emend by deleting the undeleted second "utter" to give "utter innocence ... blank ignorance." MEL retains the possibly unresolved revision text as is. ignorance, and the innocence more or less wanes as intelligence waxes. But in Billy Budd intelligence, such as it was, had advanced, while yet his simplemindedness remained for the most part unaffected. Experience is a teacher indeed; yet did Billy's years make his experience small;small. Besides Hehe had none of that intuitive knowledge of the bad which in natures not good or incompletely so foreruns experience, and therefore may pertain, as in some instances it too clearly does pertain, even to youth.
And what could Billy know of man except of man as a mere sailor? And the old-fashioned sailor, the veritable man-before-the-mast, the sailor from boyhood up, he, tho'though indeed of the same species as a landsman is in some respects singularly distinct from him. The sailor is frankness, the landsman is finesse. Life is not a game with the sailor, demanding the long head; no intricate game of chess where few moves are made in straightforwardness, and ends are attained by indirection; an oblique, tedious, barren game hardly worth that poor candle burnt out in playing it.
Yes, Asas a class, sailors are in character a juvenile race. Even their deviations are marked by juvenility. And this more especially holding true with the sailors of Billy's time. Then, too, certain things which apply to all sailors, do more pointedly operate here &and there, upon junior oneonesones] In revision, HM attempted to convert "to the younger one" to "upon junior ones," but he neglected to pluralize "one." HS emends to "the junior one." MEL emends to "junior ones," as does NN.. Every sailor, too (no comma in MS)too, is accustomed to obey orders without debating them; his life afloat is externally ruled for him; he is not brought into that promiscuous commerce with mankind where unobstructed free agency on equal terms—equal superficially, at least—soon teaches one that unless upon occasion he exercise a distrust keen in proportion to the fairness of the appearance, some foul turn may be served him. A ruled undemonstrative distrustfulness is so habitual, not with business-men so much, as with men who know their kind in less shallow relations than business, namely, certain men-of-the-world, that they come at last to employ it all but unconsciously; and some of them would very likely feel real surprise at being charged with it as one of their general characteristics.