Chapter 3 Captivity And Wandering

    Our hero never stirs without encountering a romantic adventure.

　　Noble ladies nearly always take pity on good-looking captains, andSmith was far from ill-favored. The charming Charatza delighted totalk with her slave, for she could speak Italian, and would feignherself too sick to go to the bath, or to accompany the other womenwhen they went to weep over the graves, as their custom is once aweek, in order to stay at home to hear from Smith how it was thatBogall took him prisoner, as the Bashaw had written her, and whetherSmith was a Bohemian lord conquered by the Bashaw's own hand, whoseransom could adorn¹ her with the glory of her lover's conquests.

　　Great must have been her disgust with Bogall when she heard that hehad not captured this handsome prisoner, but had bought him in theslave-market at Axopolis. Her compassion² for her slave increased,and the hero thought he saw in her eyes a tender interest. But shehad no use for such a slave, and fearing her mother would sell him,she sent him to her brother, the Tymor Bashaw of Nalbrits in thecountry of Cambria, a province of Tartaria (wherever that may be).

　　If all had gone on as Smith believed the kind lady intended, he mighthave been a great Bashaw and a mighty³ man in the Ottoman Empire, andwe might never have heard of Pocahontas. In sending him to herbrother, it was her intention, for she told him so, that he shouldonly sojourn⁴ in Nalbrits long enough to learn the language, and whatit was to be a Turk, till time made her master of herself. Smithhimself does not dissent⁵ from this plan to metamorphose him into aTurk and the husband of the beautiful Charatza Tragabigzanda. He hadno doubt that he was commended to the kindest treatment by herbrother; but Tymor "diverted all this to the worst of cruelty."Within an hour of his arrival, he was stripped naked, his head andface shaved as smooth as his hand, a ring of iron, with a long stakebowed like a sickle⁶, riveted⁷ to his neck, and he was scantily⁸ clad ingoat's skin. There were many other slaves, but Smith being the last,was treated like a dog, and made the slave of slaves.

　　The geographer⁹ is not able to follow Captain Smith to Nalbrits.

　　Perhaps Smith himself would have been puzzled to make a map of hisown career after he left Varna and passed the Black Sea and camethrough the straits of Niger into the Sea Disbacca, by some calledthe Lake Moetis, and then sailed some days up the River Bruapo toCambria, and two days more to Nalbrits, where the Tyrnor resided.

　　Smith wrote his travels in London nearly thirty years after, and itis difficult to say how much is the result of his own observation andhow much he appropriated from preceding romances. The Cambrians mayhave been the Cossacks, but his description of their habits and alsothose of the "Crym-Tartars" belongs to the marvels¹⁰ of Mandeville andother wide-eyed travelers. Smith fared very badly with the Tymor.

　　The Tymor and his friends ate pillaw; they esteemed¹¹ "samboyses" and"musselbits" great dainties," and yet," exclaims Smith, "but roundpies, full of all sorts of flesh they can get, chopped with varietyof herbs." Their best drink was "coffa" and sherbet, which is onlyhoney and water. The common victual of the others was the entrailsof horses and "ulgries" (goats?) cut up and boiled in a caldron with"cuskus," a preparation made from grain. This was served in greatbowls set in the ground, and when the other prisoners had raked itthoroughly with their foul¹³ fists the remainder was given to theChristians. The same dish of entrails used to be served not manyyears ago in Upper Egypt as a royal dish to entertain a distinguishedguest.

　　It might entertain but it would too long detain us to repeat Smith'sinformation, probably all secondhand, about this barbarous region.

　　We must confine ourselves to the fortunes of our hero. All his hopeof deliverance from thraldom¹⁴ was in the love of Tragabigzanda, whomhe firmly believed was ignorant of his bad usage. But she made nosign. Providence¹⁵ at length opened a way for his escape. He wasemployed in thrashing in a field more than a league from the Tymor'shome. The Bashaw used to come to visit his slave there, and beat,spurn, and revile¹⁶ him. One day Smith, unable to control himselfunder these insults, rushed upon the Tymor, and beat out his brainswith a thrashing bat--"for they had no flails," he explains--put onthe dead man's clothes, hid the body in the straw, filled a knapsackwith corn, mounted his horse and rode away into the unknown desert,where he wandered many days before he found a way out. If we maybelieve Smith this wilderness¹⁷ was more civilized¹⁸ in one respect thansome parts of our own land, for on all the crossings of the roadswere guide-boards. After traveling sixteen days on the road thatleads to Muscova, Smith reached a Muscovite garrison¹⁹ on the RiverDon. The governor knocked off the iron from his neck and used him sokindly that he thought himself now risen from the dead. With hisusual good fortune there was a lady to take interest in him--"thegood Lady Callamata largely supplied all his wants."After Smith had his purse filled by Sigismund he made a thorough tourof Europe, and passed into Spain, where being satisfied, as he says,with Europe and Asia, and understanding that there were wars inBarbary, this restless adventurer passed on into Morocco with severalcomrades on a French man-of-war. His observations on and tales aboutNorth Africa are so evidently taken from the books of other travelersthat they add little to our knowledge of his career. For some reasonhe found no fighting going on worth his while. But good fortuneattended his return. He sailed in a man-of-war with Captain Merham.

　　They made a few unimportant captures, and at length fell in with twoSpanish men-of-war, which gave Smith the sort of entertainment hemost coveted²⁰. A sort of running fight, sometimes at close quarters,and with many boardings and repulses²¹, lasted for a couple of days andnights, when having battered²² each other thoroughly¹² and lost many men,the pirates of both nations separated and went cruising, no doubt,for more profitable game. Our wanderer returned to his native land,seasoned and disciplined for the part he was to play in the NewWorld. As Smith had traveled all over Europe and sojourned inMorocco, besides sailing the high seas, since he visited PrinceSigismund in December, 1603, it was probably in the year 1605 that hereached England. He had arrived at the manly²³ age of twenty-sixyears, and was ready to play a man's part in the wonderful drama ofdiscovery and adventure upon which the Britons were then engaged.

1 adorn   

vt.使美化，装饰

参考例句：

• She loved to adorn herself with finery.她喜欢穿戴华丽的服饰。
• His watercolour designs adorn a wide range of books.他的水彩设计使许多图书大为生色。

2 compassion   

n.同情，怜悯

参考例句：

• He could not help having compassion for the poor creature.他情不自禁地怜悯起那个可怜的人来。
• Her heart was filled with compassion for the motherless children.她对于没有母亲的孩子们充满了怜悯心。

3 mighty   

adj.强有力的；巨大的

参考例句：

• A mighty force was about to break loose.一股巨大的力量即将迸发而出。
• The mighty iceberg came into view.巨大的冰山出现在眼前。

4 sojourn   

v./n.旅居，寄居；逗留

参考例句：

• It would be cruel to begrudge your sojourn among flowers and fields.如果嫉妒你逗留在鲜花与田野之间，那将是太不近人情的。
• I am already feeling better for my sojourn here.我在此逗留期间，觉得体力日渐恢复。

5 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

6 sickle   

n.镰刀

参考例句：

• The gardener was swishing off the tops of weeds with a sickle.园丁正在用镰刀嗖嗖地割掉杂草的顶端。
• There is a picture of the sickle on the flag. 旗帜上有镰刀的图案。

7 riveted   

铆接( rivet的过去式和过去分词 )； 把…固定住； 吸引； 引起某人的注意

参考例句：

• I was absolutely riveted by her story. 我完全被她的故事吸引住了。
• My attention was riveted by a slight movement in the bushes. 我的注意力被灌木丛中的轻微晃动吸引住了。

8 scantily   

adv.缺乏地；不充足地；吝啬地；狭窄地

参考例句：

• The bedroom was scantily furnished. 卧室里几乎没有什么家具。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• His room was scantily furnished. 他的房间陈设简陋。 来自互联网

9 geographer   

n.地理学者

参考例句：

• His grandfather is a geographer.他的祖父是一位地理学家。
• Li Siguang is a famous geographer.李四光是一位著名的地理学家。

10 marvels   

n.奇迹( marvel的名词复数 )；令人惊奇的事物（或事例）；不平凡的成果；成就v.惊奇，对…感到惊奇( marvel的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The doctor's treatment has worked marvels : the patient has recovered completely. 该医生妙手回春，病人已完全康复。 来自辞典例句
• Nevertheless he revels in a catalogue of marvels. 可他还是兴致勃勃地罗列了一堆怪诞不经的事物。 来自辞典例句

11 esteemed   

adj.受人尊敬的v.尊敬( esteem的过去式和过去分词 )；敬重；认为；以为

参考例句：

• The art of conversation is highly esteemed in France. 在法国十分尊重谈话技巧。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He esteemed that he understood what I had said. 他认为已经听懂我说的意思了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

13 foul   

adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规

参考例句：

• Take off those foul clothes and let me wash them.脱下那些脏衣服让我洗一洗。
• What a foul day it is!多么恶劣的天气！

14 thraldom   

n.奴隶的身份，奴役，束缚

参考例句：

15 providence   

n.深谋远虑，天道，天意；远见；节约；上帝

参考例句：

• It is tempting Providence to go in that old boat.乘那艘旧船前往是冒大险。
• To act as you have done is to fly in the face of Providence.照你的所作所为那样去行事，是违背上帝的意志的。

16 revile   

v.辱骂，谩骂

参考例句：

• No man should reproach,revile,or slander another man.人们不应羞辱，辱骂或诽谤他人。|||Some Muslim communities in East Africa revile dogs because they believe that canines ate the body of the Prophet Muhammad.一些东非的穆斯林团体会辱骂狗，因为他们相信是它们吃了先知穆罕默德的尸体。

17 wilderness   

n.杳无人烟的一片陆地、水等，荒漠

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means.荒凉地区的教育不是钱财问题。

18 civilized   

a.有教养的，文雅的

参考例句：

• Racism is abhorrent to a civilized society. 文明社会憎恶种族主义。
• rising crime in our so-called civilized societies 在我们所谓文明社会中日益增多的犯罪行为

19 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

20 coveted   

adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图

参考例句：

• He had long coveted the chance to work with a famous musician. 他一直渴望有机会与著名音乐家一起工作。
• Ther other boys coveted his new bat. 其他的男孩都想得到他的新球棒。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 repulses   

v.击退( repulse的第三人称单数 )；驳斥；拒绝

参考例句：

22 battered   

adj.磨损的；v.连续猛击；磨损

参考例句：

• He drove up in a battered old car.他开着一辆又老又破的旧车。
• The world was brutally battered but it survived.这个世界遭受了惨重的创伤,但它还是生存下来了。

23 manly   

adj.有男子气概的；adv.男子般地，果断地

参考例句：

• The boy walked with a confident manly stride.这男孩以自信的男人步伐行走。
• He set himself manly tasks and expected others to follow his example.他给自己定下了男子汉的任务，并希望别人效之。