The Adventures of Roderick Random

Assisting Sick in Hammocks

The narrator observes the difficulty of attendants reaching those who hang on the inside toward the sides of the ship, as they seem barricaded by those who lie on the outside and entirely out of the reach of all visitation. He watches his friend Thompson administer clysters to patients by thrusting his wig in his pocket, stripping himself to his waistcoat, then creeping on all fours under the hammocks of the sick, and forcing his bare pate between two hammocks to keep them asunder with one shoulder until he completes his duty. Eager to learn the service, the narrator requests permission to perform the next operation of this kind.

Perfume Box Mishap

Following Thompson’s example, the narrator undresses and crawls along beneath the hammocks. When the ship rolls, this motion alarms him, and he lays hold of the first thing within his grasp with such violence that he overturns it. By the smell that issues upon him, he soon discovers he has unlocked a box of the most delicious perfume. His nose being none of the most delicate proves fortunate, as he might otherwise have been severely affected by this vapor, which diffuses itself all over the ship to the utter discomposure of everybody who tarried on the same deck.

Nose Tweaked by Sick Man

The narrator pushes his head with great force between two hammocks toward the middle where the greatest resistance exists. He makes an opening but, not understanding the knack of dexterously turning his shoulder to maintain his advantage, finds himself stuck up as it were in a pillory. The weight of three or four people bears on each side of his neck, putting him in danger of strangulation. While in this defenceless posture, a sick man rendered peevish by his distemper is so enraged at the smell the narrator has occasioned and the rude shock received from his elevation that he seizes the narrator by the nose and tweaks it so unmercifully that the narrator roars with anguish.