Preface

　　When I consented to prepare this volume for a series, which shoulddeal with the notables of American history with some familiarity anddisregard of historic gravity, I did not anticipate the seriousnessof the task. But investigation¹ of the subject showed me that whileCaptain John Smith would lend himself easily enough to the purelyfacetious treatment, there were historic problems worthy² of adifferent handling, and that if the life of Smith was to be written,an effort should be made to state the truth, and to disentangle thecareer of the adventurer from the fables³ and misrepresentations thathave clustered about it.

　　The extant biographies of Smith, and the portions of the history ofVirginia that relate to him, all follow his own narrative⁴, and accepthis estimate of himself, and are little more than paraphrases⁵ of hisstory as told by himself. But within the last twenty years some newcontemporary evidence has come to light, and special scholars haveexpended much critical research upon different portions of hiscareer. The result of this modern investigation has been todiscredit much of the romance gathered about Smith and Pocahontas,and a good deal to reduce his heroic proportions. A vague report of--these scholarly studies has gone abroad, but no effort has been madeto tell the real story of Smith as a connected whole in the light ofthe new researches.

　　This volume is an effort to put in popular form the truth aboutSmith's adventures, and to estimate his exploits and character. Forthis purpose I have depended almost entirely⁷ upon originalcontemporary material, illumined as it now is by the labors⁸ ofspecial editors. I believe that I have read everything that isattributed to his pen, and have compared his own accounts with othercontemporary narratives⁹, and I think I have omitted the perusal¹⁰ oflittle that could throw any light upon his life or character. Forthe early part of his career--before he came to Virginia--there isabsolutely no authority except Smith himself; but when he emergesfrom romance into history, he can be followed and checked bycontemporary evidence. If he was always and uniformly untrustworthyit would be less perplexing to follow him, but his liability to tellthe truth when vanity or prejudice does not interfere¹¹ is annoying tothe careful student.

　　As far as possible I have endeavored to let the actors in these pagestell their own story, and I have quoted freely from Capt. Smithhimself, because it is as a writer that he is to be judged no lessthan as an actor. His development of the Pocahontas legend has beencarefully traced, and all the known facts about that Indian--orIndese, as some of the old chroniclers call the female NorthAmericans--have been consecutively¹² set forth⁶ in separate chapters.

　　The book is not a history of early Virginia, nor of the times ofSmith, but merely a study of his life and writings. If my estimateof the character of Smith is not that which his biographers haveentertained, and differs from his own candid¹³ opinion, I can onlyplead that contemporary evidence and a collation¹⁴ of his own storiesshow that he was mistaken. I am not aware that there has been beforeany systematic¹⁵ effort to collate¹⁶ his different accounts of hisexploits. If he had ever undertaken the task, he might havedisturbed that serene¹⁷ opinion of himself which marks him as a man whorealized his own ideals.

　　The works used in this study are, first, the writings of Smith, whichare as follows:

　　"A True Relation," etc., London, 1608.

　　"A Map of Virginia, Description and Appendix," Oxford¹⁸, 1612.

　　"A Description of New England," etc., London, 1616.

　　"New England's Trials," etc., London, 1620. Second edition,enlarged, 1622.

　　"The Generall Historie," etc., London, 1624. Reissued, with date oftitle-page altered, in 1626, 1627, and twice in 1632.

　　"An Accidence: or, The Pathway to Experience," etc., London, 1626.

　　"A Sea Grammar," etc., London, 1627. Also editions in 1653 and 1699.

　　"The True Travels," etc., London, 1630.

　　"Advertisements for the Unexperienced Planters of New England," etc.,London, 1631.

　　Other authorities are:

　　"The Historie of Travaile into Virginia," etc., by William Strachey,Secretary of the colony 1609 to 1612. First printed for the HakluytSociety, London, 1849.

　　"Newport's Relatyon," 1607. Am. Ant. Soc., Vol. 4.

　　"Wingfield's Discourse," etc., 1607. Am. Ant. Soc., Vol. 4.

　　"Purchas his Pilgrimage," London, 1613.

　　"Purchas his Pilgrimes," London, 1625-6.

　　"Ralph Hamor's True Discourse," etc., London, 1615.

　　"Relation of Virginia," by Henry Spelman, 1609. First printed by J.

　　F. Hunnewell, London, 1872.

　　"History of the Virginia Company in London," by Edward D. Neill,Albany, 1869.

　　"William Stith's History of Virginia," 1753, has been consulted forthe charters and letters-patent. The Pocahontas discussion has beenfollowed in many magazine papers. I am greatly indebted to thescholarly labors of Charles Deane, LL.D., the accomplished¹⁹ editor ofthe "True Relation," and other Virginia monographs²⁰. I wish also toacknowledge the courtesy of the librarians of the Astor, the Lenox,the New York Historical, Yale, and Cornell libraries, and of Dr. J.

　　Hammond Trumbull, the custodian²¹ of the Brinley collection, and thekindness of Mr. S. L. M. Barlow of New York, who is ever ready togive students access to his rich "Americana."C. D. W.

　　HARTFORD, June, 1881

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

3 fables   

n.寓言( fable的名词复数 )；神话，传说

参考例句：

• Some of Aesop's Fables are satires. 《伊索寓言》中有一些是讽刺作品。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Little Mexican boys also breathe the American fables. 墨西哥族的小孩子对美国神话也都耳濡目染。 来自辞典例句

4 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

5 paraphrases   

n.释义，意译( paraphrase的名词复数 )v.释义，意译( paraphrase的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

6 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

7 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

8 labors   

v.努力争取(for)( labor的第三人称单数 )；苦干；详细分析；（指引擎）缓慢而困难地运转

参考例句：

• He was tiresome in contending for the value of his own labors. 他老为他自己劳动的价值而争强斗胜，令人生厌。 来自辞典例句
• Farm labors used to hire themselves out for the summer. 农业劳动者夏季常去当雇工。 来自辞典例句

9 narratives   

记叙文( narrative的名词复数 )； 故事； 叙述； 叙述部分

参考例句：

• Marriage, which has been the bourne of so many narratives, is still a great beginning. 结婚一向是许多小说的终点，然而也是一个伟大的开始。
• This is one of the narratives that children are fond of. 这是孩子们喜欢的故事之一。

10 perusal   

n.细读，熟读；目测

参考例句：

• Peter Cooke undertook to send each of us a sample contract for perusal.彼得·库克答应给我们每人寄送一份合同样本供阅读。
• A perusal of the letters which we have published has satisfied him of the reality of our claim.读了我们的公开信后，他终于相信我们的要求的确是真的。

11 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

12 consecutively   

adv.连续地

参考例句：

• He was actually too depleted to think consecutively about anything. 他已经打不起一点精神，根本谈不上好好思考一下。 来自辞典例句
• In any game, the right to serve shall pass consecutively. 在一局中，不错的发球挨次应该是。 来自互联网

13 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。

14 collation   

n.便餐；整理

参考例句：

• It was in this retreat that Mr. Quilp ordered a cold collation to be prepared.奎尔普先生就是在这个别墅里预定冷点的。
• I was quite taken with your line of photocopiers with collation and stapling capability.我被贵公司能够自动整理和装订的系列复印机吸引住了。

15 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

16 collate   

vt.(仔细)核对，对照；(书籍装订前)整理

参考例句：

• They have begun to collate their own statistics on racial abuse. 他们已经开始整理自己有关种族歧视的统计数据。
• You may collate the latter with the earlier edition. 你可将新版与旧版相对照。

17 serene   

adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的

参考例句：

• He has entered the serene autumn of his life.他已进入了美好的中年时期。
• He didn't speak much,he just smiled with that serene smile of his.他话不多，只是脸上露出他招牌式的淡定的微笑。

18 Oxford   

n.牛津（英国城市）

参考例句：

• At present he has become a Professor of Chemistry at Oxford.他现在已是牛津大学的化学教授了。
• This is where the road to Oxford joins the road to London.这是去牛津的路与去伦敦的路的汇合处。

19 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

20 monographs   

n.专著，专论( monograph的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The scholarly monographs were published as pamphlet. 学术专著是以小册子形式出版的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Subsequent individual monographs will proceed at increasing levels of sophistication. 此后几集将继续提高论述水平。 来自辞典例句

21 custodian   

n.保管人，监护人；公共建筑看守

参考例句：

• Benitez believes his custodian is among the top five in world football.贝尼特斯坚信他的门将是当今足坛最出色的五人之一。
• When his father died his uncle became his legal custodian.他父亲死后，他叔叔成了他的法定监护人。