Dneprovsky sailor by Alexandr Kuprin. Short summary

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Some Dnepropetrovsk captains undeservedly received their title and have never been on a long voyage, but love to tell fantastic stories about their adventures.

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Captains who sail the Dnieper for short voyages often have not earned their rank, but have achieved it «by all the right and wrong ways.»

Such sailors entered the ship as ordinary controllers. They like to call themselves long-distance navigators, although they have never been beyond the Dnieper. But that doesn’t stop them from telling incredible stories about terrible accidents, battles with pirates and their other adventures.

Such captains do not know what to do in emergency situations, and in the case of shipwreck in the first place save themselves, not the passengers of the ship. Even non-serious problems become violent accidents for them.

Such seafarers are often called «Swiss sailors»: they look like real captains only outwardly, but in fact they have neither captaining skills nor experience.