of Trafalgar and Livorno41, a knight of the Legion of Horror42. I’m a captain, and I don’t devour my shipmates! If I’m a wolf that still doesn’t mean I…, I… well, I’m a vegetarian43, if you want to know!
“What?!” Mike, Camel and Moosie said all together. “A vegetarian wolf?!”
Wolf felt that he had already said too much. But he gathered himself up with feeling and dignity, and said:
“Yes, it’s my rule of life! I don’t eat anybody!”
“That’s great!” Moosie exclaimed. “A vegetarian wolf is the best wolf in the world! Now I’m not afraid to sail with you.”
“Yes…” pronounced Camel, “‘O tempora! O mores!’, which translated from the Latin means ‘Oh, the times! Oh, the morals!’ I hope at least that Wolf doesn’t eat cactus yet.”
Chapter 6. Getting the Name
“Wait!” Mike said, “what are we going to name our ship?”
“Indeed!” wheezed Captain Wolf, “you mean she hasn’t got a name?”
“No ship can exist without a name!” Camel observed.
Mike thought about it. He had read a lot of books about ships and the sea that had names of lots of different ships, but none of them seemed to fit.
“Maybe we should name her Poseidon?” Mike suggested. “After all, he’s the god of the sea!”
“Such a name is hardly suitable for a small brig”, Camel retorted.
“Then let’s call her Fair Wind!” Mike said.
“Fair winds in me gob!” Captain Wolf said, disagreeing. “With a name like that ye’ll have to whistle for a fair wind!44”
“But that’s just a superstition!45” Mike retorted.
“You can think what ye like, but I’m not setting sail on no ship named Fair Wind!” Wolf said, unexpectedly adding: “And by the way, ships are often named in honour of famous captains. Why don’t we call her the Sea Wolf?”
“No!” Moosie said, terrified, “I’m not sailing on a wolf, even if it’s a sea wolf. It’s too scary!”
“The name does indeed sound exceedingly rapacious,46” Camel said, supporting Moosie, “furthermore, in the event of any untoward incident, we would look foolish. Think of the newspaper headlines: ‘Sea Wolf Loses Control, Founders on Reef off South America.’”
“Bite yer tongue!” Captain Wolf swore, but he didn’t insist on the name any longer.
“Then let’s name the ship the Sea Moose!” Moosie said. “I’m not afraid of anybody laughing at me, as long as we don’t drown!”
“You may as well call her the Sea Camel,” Captain Wolf parried, “at least then we’ll win a prize for the silliest name.”
“It appears to me that we are forgetting our young friend,” said Camel, pointing his hoof at Mike, “the construction of the ship was his idea.”
Mike felt his cheeks turn red.
“If anybody is worthy of the honour to have the ship named after him, it is our young friend,” Camel continued.
All the animals agreed to this proposal, but they got no further; they couldn’t call her Captain Mike, because Mike wasn’t the captain. A number of exotic names were suggested: Floating Mike, Mike and Company, Young Friend of Animals, but none of them seemed right.
“Hold on!” Camel said. “This reminds me of something! In my youth I read a quite illuminating book. A man gathered a collection of various animals on his ship so that they wouldn’t drown.”
“And they didn’t drown?” Mike asked.
“No,” Camel answered, “as far as I can recall, the story had a happy ending. But I’ve forgotten the name of the ship.”
“Was it a frigate, a battleship, a yacht, a cruiser, a destroyer, a steamship, a schooner, a launch or a barge?” Captain Wolf suggested, ticking off the names. “Maybe it was a submarine?”
“Nothing like that,” Camel said, “it was a long time ago, when ships like that didn’t exist.”
Mike was getting bored with thinking about a name for the ship. He went over to the window and moved the curtains apart. “Wow”, he said looking out the window. “Look at the beautiful rainbow. I’ve never seen one in wintertime before.”
“Ah, an arc en ciel, as they say in French,” Camel replied, “an arc in the sky.”
“That means good luck for our voyage”, Wolf added.
“Yes…” Camel said, thinking. “Of course!” he exclaimed suddenly. “An ark! That’s what we’ll call the ship. Just like in the book!”
“That’s a strange name,” Captain Wolf said, surprised. “I’ve been to sea on twenty seven different types of ships, but I’ve never gone on an ark!”
“So the ship will be named Mike’s Ark?” Moosie asked.
Everybody liked the name. But Mike said:
“Thanks, everybody. But if the ship is going to have my name, it should be my grown-up name.”
“What do you mean, my young friend?” Camel inquired.
“It’s like this,” Mike said, “My daddy calls me Michael, like an adult. A ship should have a grown-up name. Let’s call our ship Michael’s Ark.”
“A wise proposal,” Camel observed. Let’s write that on the side. “Vox emissa volat, litera scripta manet’ which in Latin means “the spoken word flies away, the written remains’, concluded Camel, adding: “‘Ita fiat! Dixi!47’”
Chapter 7. First Adventures
“Weigh anchor, cast off all lines!” Wolf cried, “Steady on two points to port48! Secure the jib49!”
Michael’s Ark slid away from the pier and gaily flew from the harbour.
The place that the ship set sail from had a very pretty, but long name: “Newfoundland’. Why it was “Newfoundland’ Mike really didn’t know. He had spun and spun the globe, checking the names of the seas and oceans, and finally found this island with the beautiful name. Dreamer approved
Famous naval battles that took place very many years ago.
Wolf confused top French award “Legion of Honor”. But it’s unlikely that he ever got it
Wolf doesn’t eat meat.
Sailors say that whistling on board ship is bad luck, except when there’s no wind; then you have to whistle to make the wind come up.
Like when a black cat crosses your path, or walking under a ladder.
Like an animal that preys on other animals.
Let it be! I have spoken!
A “point” is 1/32 of the distance around a circle. “Port” means left. Turning “two points to port” means turning left 22.5%.
A “jib” is a triangular sail that is attached to the bow of a brig.
