The Adventures of Roderick Random

第三十六章

The chapter recounts a strange adventure that brings great happiness, during which Crampley’s malicious accusations against the narrator are defeated by the surgeon’s good nature and friendship. The crew returns to Port Royal, where the captain receives command of a larger ship and is succeeded by an elderly commander. Brayl is provided for with a promotion, and orders arrive to sail for England.

Roadside Reunion with Friend Thompson

While returning to the ship by moonlight with Brayl, the narrator is alarmed by a familiar voice behind them. Unable to resist an invitation to enter a roadside house, the narrator discovers the horseman is actually Thompson, whom he had mourned as drowned. The emotional reunion overwhelms the narrator, who initially believes himself deceived by a dream. Honest Brayl weeps alongside them and celebrates their happiness.

Thompson’s Overboard Survival Story

Thompson explains that despair drove him to leap from the Thunder into the sea. After being thoroughly ducked, he regretted his impulsiveness but swam toward passing ships. Though one vessel threw him an old chest for support, no ship stopped for three hours. Eventually a Rhode Island schooner rescued him. The ship’s captain proved to be Thompson’s old schoolfellow, who helped him secure a position as surgeon and overseer on a wealthy planter’s Jamaica estate, where he has fallen in love with the planter’s daughter.

Farewell and Generous Gifts from Thompson

Over ten days together, Thompson lavishes the narrator with poultry, meat, fruit, wine, and rum. Before departing, Thompson forces ten pistoles upon his friend. Upon leaving, he presses four doubloons into the narrator’s hand, and later sends a box containing shirts, waistcoats, caps, and stockings. The narrator, now provided with money and fine clothes, feels like “a gentleman of some consequence.”