Royal54-05-0231The Black Mate

The National Broadcasting Company presents, transcribed Sir Ralph Richardson in Theatre Royal. This is Ralph Richardson. Our story today is by Joseph Conrad. Many of you will be familiar with his wonderful tales of the sea.

Conrad himself was a sailor by adoption. Born in Poland, he made the sea his profession, and he spent a good part of his life upon it. This tale, unlike many of his best known, is acomaget.

But everything he wrote means the very spirit of the life he knew so well. I myself will play the part of Captain John, in this adaptation of Joseph Conrad's story, The Black Mate. MUSIC You know, John's is of the opinion that every sailor about 40 years of age ought to be poisoned.

Shipmasters an actual command, except him. He's beaten up to make an exception in your own case. Nice! So many words of joke, but nowadays if a ship's got a pain as he had told she's got to be driven hard on the passage and in the harbor.

See, there's no place for those of the men. Only young men and men in their prime are equal to the modern conditions of push and hurry. You seem to forget that this is 1884. Well, we're agreed about the year, anyhow.

Well, I know you think I'm hard, hard, it's not sympathetic. Well, I'm not very. I never want to see the day when steam navigation does away with sale. It'll be a bad day for all of us.

There's too much in this bowing down the speed and what they call progress. I think you're right there, careful. Don't blame me for insisting on younger men for my ship. I'm only carrying out the policy of the owners.