The Master of Ballantrae(杜里世家)
Robert Louis Stevenson
To Sir Percy Florence and Lady Shelley
Here is a tale which extends over many years and travels into
many countries. By a peculiar fitness of circumstance the writer
began, continued it, and concluded it among distant and diverse
scenes. Above all, he was much upon the sea. The character and
fortune of the fraternal enemies, the hall and shrubbery of
Durrisdeer, the problem of Mackellar's homespun and how to shape it
for superior flights; these were his company on deck in many
star-reflecting harbours, ran often in his mind at sea to the tune
of slatting canvas, and were dismissed (something of the suddenest)
on the approach of squalls. It is my hope that these surroundings
of its manufacture may to some degree find favour for my story with
seafarers and sea-lovers like yourselves.
And at…