Now, if you can bring yourself to imagine what he feels like who, having remained in dire1 and horrible distress2 for many weary days, suddenly sees salvation3 coming to him, you will know what we felt as we gazed through the port-hole and saw that noble English ship draw near with the English flag flying at her mast-head. If you have ever been in like peril4 yourself you will understand it better. A man condemned5 to die and suddenly reprieved6; another suddenly released from awful slavery; a third suffering from heavy sorrow and suddenly overwhelmed with good tidings—any of these will know what we felt.
“An English ship!” cried Pharaoh. “Thanks be to God—an English ship!”
[Pg 189]
And straightway there rose from the crowded benches on our deck a strange and marvelous babble7 of sound. Some burst into tears of thankfulness and relief, some howled like wild beasts because of their chains, some cursed and blasphemed because there was small chance of the English ship’s folk knowing our condition. Others shouted and yelled for help; the men sitting next the port-holes thrust forth8 their heads and cried loudly across the waters, though the ship was yet a good mile away. Every man betrayed his emotion and his misery9 in some way: here they tugged11 at the chains which bound them, there they showed their teeth at the Spaniards, snarling12 and snapping like dogs chained to a staple13 in the wall. And then the overseers fell upon us once more, and their great hide-whips descended14 mercilessly upon our shoulders, so that we were forced to tug10 at the oars16 with redoubled force, and the galleon17 shot forward again [Pg 190]under a storm of yells and cries and loud groans18.
“Yon is an English ship, as I live,” said Pharaoh, as we tugged at our oar15. “And she will overhaul19 us. Pray God she does not slay20 a score of us in this rat-trap by her first shot. If she only knew what we know. Listen, master!”
Over the strip of sea that separated us came the dull, heavy roar of a cannon21-shot. They were firing at us in order to make the Spaniard lay-to. But Captain Manuel Nunez had no intention of acceding22 to the Englishman’s wishes in that respect, and it was evident that he was crowding on all sail, and making every possible effort to escape that terrible ship which overhauled23 him hand over hand. On deck we heard the Spaniards rushing hither and thither24, the mates and boatswain shrieking25 and yelling orders to the crew, the armorer and the soldiers making ready the ordnance26 and small arms. Now and then we caught the [Pg 191]voice of Nunez, cool and collected as usual, but very fierce and determined27; and once the pale face of Frey Bartolomeo appeared, and we heard him admonishing28 the overseers to lay on with their whips.
“We are like to be flayed29 alive if this goes on much longer,” muttered Pharaoh as the lash30 curled about his shoulders again. “Oh, if we were but free and had some weapon in our hands! Lay on, ye murderous villains31, lay on! Your reign32 is well-nigh over. Master, hold up a while longer. See there!”
Another puff33 of white smoke burst from the English ship’s side, followed by a dull roar, and, immediately after, by a loud crashing and splintering of the deck above our heads. Then came shrieks34, groans, and loud cries of pain. The shot had swept the deck. Fathom35 by fathom the English ship overhauled us. Through our port-hole we could see her deck swarming36 with men armed to the teeth. On her poop [Pg 192]stood a little knot of men evidently in command, and one of these was directing the boatswain with outstretched arm.
“I see their plan,” said Pharaoh; “they have seen the oars, and they are minded not to fire upon us again for fear of killing37 or wounding the captives. They are going to lay their ship alongside ours and board us.”
So the ship came nearer and nearer, sailing nearly twice as fast as our great lumbering38 galleon, and at last we could make out the faces of the men on deck. And suddenly Pharaoh set up a great cry that made every Englishman on our deck turn to him with astonishment39.
“’Tis Francis Drake!” he cried. “God be thanked, ’tis Francis Drake himself! See yonder, lads, there he stands on the poop. Are there any men here that ever served under Francis Drake? If so, let them look out at yonder captain and speak.”
[Pg 193]
“’Tis Francis Drake and no other!” cried one. “I know him by the gold band round his scarlet40 cap. He always wears that at sea. Now may God be praised for this deliverance.”
But there was much to be done ere our deliverance could be accomplished41. Nay42, indeed, it seemed as if our cruel jailers were minded to murder us before ever help would come, for they proceeded to beat us so unmercifully with their whips that many of us sank down faint and bleeding, and lay like dead men. But the rest of us kept up because of the fierce excitement.
Presently the English ship was within a boat’s length of us, and then she slowly crashed against our side, the brass43 muzzles44 of her guns, in some cases, coming through our ports. Meanwhile the Spaniards had not been idle, for their gunners were plying45 their cannon with all possible speed, and the noise and confusion was horrible. But yet never a shot did the Englishman fire, [Pg 194]but their ship closed steadily46 upon us. At last we heard the grappling-irons thrown out and made fast, and knew that the two ships were locked together, like lions that fasten teeth and claws in each other and will not loose their grip till death comes.
Then began a noise and confusion as if all the devils of hell had suddenly been let loose. We heard the shouts of the Englishmen, hoarse47 and deep, and the shriller cries of the Spaniards, above the roaring of the guns. On deck there sounded the wild rush and hurry of feet as the combatants were driven hither and thither. The overseers had thrown down their whips and fled to the upper decks as soon as the English boarded, and now we captives sat breathless and bleeding, listening to the noise above us and longing48 for release, so that we too might join in the fight.
Suddenly there leapt through one of the ports a brawny49 Englishman, armed not with sword or pike, but with hammer and [Pg 195]chisel, and he was speedily followed by half-a-dozen more, armed in similar fashion.
“Are there Englishmen here?” roared the first as he tumbled in amongst us. “Speak, lads, if ye be English!”
And at that there went up such a roar as was like to burst open the deck above us. Men stretched out their hands and arms to these great English sailors as if they were angels, and prayed them to knock off their bonds. So they, staring stupidly at us for a moment,—as is the manner of Englishmen when they see something which they do not understand,—suddenly fell to and knocked away our chains and padlocks, while we wept over them and blessed them as our saviors. And meanwhile others had handed in pikes and swords and glaives through the ports, and others were guarding the ladder against the Spaniards, in case any of them should come below. But they were too [Pg 196]busy on the upper decks to have even a thought of us, and so we were uninterrupted, and ere long every man of us was free of his chains.
“Now, lads!” cried the big man who had first leapt in upon us, “can ye fight, or are ye too weak for a brush? If any man thinks he can hold pike or sword, let him pick his weapon and follow me.”
Some of us could fight and some could not. Here and there a man was only released from his chains to fall upon the deck and die. Others, suddenly made free, found on striving to rise from the benches that the use of their legs was gone. Others again, whose minds had suffered under those long months of fiendish torture, were no sooner released than they became utterly50 mad, and fell to laughing and gibbering at their preservers. But many of us, weak as we were, felt the strength of ten men come into our arms, and we seized eagerly upon the weapons offered to us, and followed [Pg 197]the sailors up the gangway with a fierce resolve to call our late oppressors to a final account.
On the upper deck the fight was raging furiously. The Spaniards, furious and desperate, were massed together in a solid body, keeping back the Englishmen by sheer skill. Already between the gangways and the bulwarks51 lay a great heap of dead and dying. High above the combatants on the poop stood Nunez, his pale face set and drawn52, watching the progress of the fight with gleaming eyes and compressed lips. From the tops the sharp-shooters were pouring showers of arrows into the English ship, but the guns had ceased, and the gunners lay dead beside them.
We dashed on deck with a great cry, and for an instant the whole body of combatants turned and looked at us. A strange and awful sight we must needs have presented at that moment. There was scarcely a rag [Pg 198]upon us, our hair was long and unkempt, our shoulders were torn and bleeding from the effects of the lashes53 lately laid on them, and our entire aspect must have resembled that of wild beasts rather than of men. I saw Nunez turn paler as he caught sight of us, and heard the English storm of execration54 burst forth over the noise and confusion of the fight. Then we fell upon the Spaniards from behind, and after that all was red, and I seemed to do naught55 but strike and strike again, unconscious of pain or wounds or anything but a fierce desire to be avenged56 on the villains who had wrought57 such cruelty upon me.
Howbeit, after a time I felt myself dragged by a friendly hand out of the thick of the fight and led across the bulwarks to the English ship, where I was presently conducted on to the poop, into the presence of a man whom I at once knew to be some great captain. He was of middle height, with a high forehead, crisp brown hair, [Pg 199]very steady gray eyes, and a hard, fierce mouth, slightly covered by a beard and moustache. He wore a loose, dark, seaman’s shirt, belted at the waist, and about his neck was a plaited cord, having attached to it a ring, with which his fingers played as he spoke58 to me. On his head was a scarlet cap with a gold band, even as the man in the galleon had said.
Such was my first glimpse of the great captain, Francis Drake, then thirty years of age, and making his first voyage round the world. I stood staring at him for a moment, and he at me, and I know not which was most interested in the other.
“Who art thou, friend?” he inquired, presently.
“An English gentleman, sir, kidnaped by the Spaniards and carried to Mexico, where I have undergone torments59 at the hands of the Inquisitors. I was a galley60 slave on board yonder vessel61.”
“How many Englishmen are there with you?”
[Pg 200]
“At least forty.”
“Does the ship carry treasure?”
“Yes, sir,” I answered; “and she also carries two of the most cruel wretches62 that ever walked the earth.”
“Who are they, friend?”
He turned and gave some orders to an officer who stood by. Then he gave his attention to the Spanish ship again, so I caught up my weapon and rushed back over the side, eager to find Pharaoh Nanjulian.
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收听单词发音
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1
dire
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| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
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distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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3
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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4
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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5
condemned
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| adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词 | |
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6
reprieved
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| v.缓期执行（死刑）( reprieve的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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7
babble
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| v.含糊不清地说，胡言乱语地说，儿语 | |
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8
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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misery
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| n.痛苦，苦恼，苦难；悲惨的境遇，贫苦 | |
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10
tug
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| v.用力拖(或拉)；苦干；n.拖；苦干；拖船 | |
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11
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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12
snarling
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的现在分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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13
staple
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| n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类 | |
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14
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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15
oar
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| n.桨，橹，划手；v.划行 | |
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16
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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17
galleon
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| n.大帆船 | |
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18
groans
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| n.呻吟，叹息( groan的名词复数 )；呻吟般的声音v.呻吟( groan的第三人称单数 )；发牢骚；抱怨；受苦 | |
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19
overhaul
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| v./n.大修，仔细检查 | |
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20
slay
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| v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮 | |
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21
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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22
acceding
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| v.（正式）加入( accede的现在分词 )；答应；（通过财产的添附而）增加；开始任职 | |
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23
overhauled
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| v.彻底检查( overhaul的过去式和过去分词 )；大修；赶上；超越 | |
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24
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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25
shrieking
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| v.尖叫( shriek的现在分词 ) | |
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26
ordnance
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| n.大炮，军械 | |
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27
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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28
admonishing
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| v.劝告( admonish的现在分词 )；训诫；（温和地）责备；轻责 | |
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29
flayed
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| v.痛打( flay的过去式和过去分词 )；把…打得皮开肉绽；剥（通常指动物）的皮；严厉批评 | |
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30
lash
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| v.系牢；鞭打；猛烈抨击；n.鞭打；眼睫毛 | |
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31
villains
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| n.恶棍( villain的名词复数 )；罪犯；（小说、戏剧等中的）反面人物；淘气鬼 | |
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32
reign
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| n.统治时期，统治，支配，盛行；v.占优势 | |
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33
puff
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| n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气 | |
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34
shrieks
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| n.尖叫声( shriek的名词复数 )v.尖叫( shriek的第三人称单数 ) | |
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35
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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36
swarming
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| 密集( swarm的现在分词 )； 云集； 成群地移动； 蜜蜂或其他飞行昆虫成群地飞来飞去 | |
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37
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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38
lumbering
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| n.采伐林木 | |
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39
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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40
scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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41
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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42
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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43
brass
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| n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器 | |
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44
muzzles
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| 枪口( muzzle的名词复数 )； （防止动物咬人的）口套； （四足动物的）鼻口部； （狗）等凸出的鼻子和口 | |
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45
plying
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| v.使用（工具）( ply的现在分词 )；经常供应（食物、饮料）；固定往来；经营生意 | |
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46
steadily
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| adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地 | |
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47
hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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48
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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49
brawny
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| adj.强壮的 | |
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50
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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51
bulwarks
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| n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 )；保障；支柱；舷墙 | |
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52
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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53
lashes
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| n.鞭挞( lash的名词复数 )；鞭子；突然猛烈的一击；急速挥动v.鞭打( lash的第三人称单数 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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54
execration
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| n.诅咒，念咒，憎恶 | |
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55
naught
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| n.无，零 [=nought] | |
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56
avenged
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| v.为…复仇，报…之仇( avenge的过去式和过去分词 )；为…报复 | |
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57
wrought
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| v.引起；以…原料制作；运转；adj.制造的 | |
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58
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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59
torments
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| （肉体或精神上的）折磨，痛苦( torment的名词复数 )； 造成痛苦的事物[人] | |
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60
galley
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| n.（飞机或船上的）厨房单层甲板大帆船；军舰舰长用的大划艇； | |
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61
vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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62
wretches
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| n.不幸的人( wretch的名词复数 )；可怜的人；恶棍；坏蛋 | |
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63
monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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