The White Ship

The night was dark, and a stormy wind was blowing, when the White Ship set sail from the shore of France. Prince William of England and his sister and their young friends were going back to their own land, after a visit to the French king.

The English king, Henry I, with his courtiers, had sailed earlier, and had now almost reached home. But the prince would not go with them, he wished to make merry before starting.

There had been eating, and drinking, and dancing, and singing on board the White Ship, and everyone was merry.

But the sailors had drunk¹ so much wine that they could not see to steer² aright. Soon there was a crash, and the ship trembled³. It had struck a rock, and was sinking.

Then the sounds of merriment were changed to cries of fear. "Save us!" shrieked⁴ the terrified⁵ people. "Save the prince," cried the captain, "the rest of us must die!" There was only one small boat on the ship, and Prince William was put into this, and rowed away. But he had not gone far, when he heard his sister crying to him to save her.

"Go back!" shouted he. The boat was rowed back, but when it came near the ship, so many people jumped into it, that it was overturned⁶ and all in it were drowned.

Soon the White Ship sank also, and of all the gay⁷ company upon it only one man was saved.

When King Henry heard that his only son was dead, he was very sorrowful, and it is said that no man ever again saw a smile upon his face.

1 drunk   

adj.醉酒的；(喻)陶醉的；n.酗酒者，醉汉

参考例句：

• People who drives when they are drunk should be heavily penalised.醉酒驾车的人应受重罚。
• She found him drunk when she came home at night.她晚上回家时，经常发现他醉醺醺的。

2 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

3 trembled   

v.发抖( tremble的过去式和过去分词 )；焦虑；颤动；轻轻摇晃

参考例句：

• They all trembled at the prospect of an enemy invasion. 他们想到敌人可能入侵都不寒而栗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The whole house trembled as the train went by. 火车开过时，整座房子都颤动了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 shrieked   

v.尖叫( shriek的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She shrieked in fright. 她吓得尖叫起来。
• Li Mei-t'ing gave a shout, and Lu Tzu-hsiao shrieked, "Tell what? 李梅亭大声叫，陆子潇尖声叫：“告诉什么？ 来自汉英文学 - 围城

5 terrified   

adj.很害怕的，极度惊慌的，吓坏了的v.使恐怖，使惊吓，恐吓( terrify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the crying of terrified children 小孩受了惊吓的哭声
• I'm terrified of flying. 我十分害怕坐飞机。

6 overturned   

adj. 倒转的 动词overturn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The car skidded and overturned. 汽车打滑翻倒了。
• When a bird's nest is overturned, no egg can remain intact. 覆巢之下无完卵。

7 gay   

adj.同性恋的；色彩鲜艳的；n.(男)同性恋者

参考例句：

• I don't know he was a gay person.我不知道他是同性恋者。
• Spring comes round to the earth again and everything looks fresh and gay.春回大地，万象更新。