001 船难

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For seven days our ship had been tossed at sea

我们的船已经在海上颠簸了七天。

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The broken masts had gone overboard

断裂的桅杆早已掉进海里。

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Leaks had sprung everywhere, and the water was rising rapidly as the raging storm grew stronger

到处都出现了裂缝，随着肆虐的风暴越来越强，船里的水正迅速上涨。

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My wife, Elizabeth, gathered our four young sons around her in our cabin

我的妻子伊丽莎白把四个年幼的儿子聚拢在船舱里，围在她身边。

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She was encouraging them with calm and loving words

她正用平静而慈爱的话语鼓励着他们。

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This was not the scene we had pictured when we set out from Switzerland to establish a new colony

这可不是我们从瑞士出发去建立新殖民地时所想象的场景。

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Amid the roar of the thundering waves, I suddenly heard a seaman cry," Land! Land!"

在一片雷鸣般的波涛怒吼声中，我突然听到一个水手喊道：“陆地！陆地！”

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At the same instant, the ship struck something with a jolt that threw everyone to the deck of the cabin

就在同一瞬间，船猛然撞上了什么东西，把每个人都甩到了船舱的地板上。

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Above the dreadful sounds of the ship breaking up, I heard the captain shout," Lower the lifeboats! Abandon ship!"

在船体碎裂的可怕声音之上，我听到船长喊道：“放下救生艇！弃船！”

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" Abandon ship!" I exclaimed. The words went like a dagger through my heart

“弃船！”我惊叫道。这些话像一把匕首刺穿了我的心。

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But seeing my children's terror, I hid my own fear

但看到孩子们的恐惧，我藏起了自己的害怕。

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" Take courage, my boys!" I cried." We're all still above water

“鼓起勇气，孩子们！”我喊道。“我们都还活着。

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There is land nearby. Let's do our best to reach it."

附近有陆地。让我们尽力到达那里。”

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With that I went up on deck

说完我便上了甲板。

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Imagine my horror when I saw all the lifeboats out on the water

想象一下我看到所有救生艇都在水上时有多恐惧。

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The crew had abandoned us!

船员们已经抛弃了我们！

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But as I looked around in despair, I realized that our situation was not hopeless

但当我绝望地环顾四周时，我意识到我们的处境并非毫无希望。

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Although the bow of the ship had been destroyed, our cabin remained unbroken in the stern

虽然船头已被毁坏，但我们在船尾的船舱仍然完好无损。

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I could just make out some land through the rain

透过雨幕，我隐约能辨认出一些陆地。

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I returned to my family and forced a smile

我回到家人身边，强颜欢笑。

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" If the wind and waves die down tomorrow, we can go ashore."

“如果明天风浪平息了，我们就可以上岸了。”

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" Then we must find food," said my wife

“那我们得找食物，”我的妻子说。

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" We'll need all our strength tomorrow."

“明天我们需要全部的力气。”

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After a good supper, the three youngest boys — Ernest, 13; Jack, 11; and Franz, 8 — were soon asleep

美美地吃过晚饭后，三个较小的男孩——13岁的欧内斯特、11岁的杰克和8岁的弗朗茨——很快就睡着了。

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But at 15, Fritz was old enough to understand the danger and to stay up with us

但弗里茨15岁了，已经大到能明白眼前的危险，所以陪着我们熬夜。

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" Father, you and I can swim," he said

“爸爸，你和我都会游泳，”他说。

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" But don't you think we should make life preservers for Mother and the boys?"

“但你不觉得我们应该给妈妈和弟弟们做些救生衣吗？”

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" An excellent idea!" I told Fritz

“好主意！”我对弗里茨说。

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" Let's make some right now in case we need to escape the ship during the night."

“我们现在就做一些，以防半夜需要弃船逃生。”

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We searched the ship and soon got hold of enough empty flasks and canisters

我们搜遍全船，很快就找到了足够的空瓶子和空罐子。

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Connecting them together, we made life preservers, which we all quickly put on

我们把它们连在一起，做成了救生衣，然后大家迅速都穿上了。

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Fritz and his brothers now slept soundly while Elizabeth and I kept watch all night

弗里茨和弟弟们现在睡得很香，而伊丽莎白和我则守了一整夜。

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The next morning we gathered on the remaining portion of the deck

第二天早晨，我们聚在残存的甲板上。

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" Where are the sailors?" asked my youngest son, Franz

"水手们去哪儿了？"我最小的儿子弗兰兹问道。

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" Have they taken away all the boats?" asked Jack

"他们把所有的救生艇都带走了吗？"雅克问道。

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I nodded gravely

我沉重地点了点头。

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" The sea will soon be calm enough for swimming," Fritz reassured his younger brothers

"海面很快就会平静下来，足够游泳了。"弗里茨安慰弟弟们。

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" That's fine for you and Father!" exclaimed Ernest

"对你和爸爸来说当然没问题！"欧内斯特大声说。

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" But think of Mother and the rest of us!

"可你想想妈妈和我们几个吧！

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Why not build a raft so we can all go ashore together?"

我们为什么不造个木筏，大家一起上岸呢？"

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" It would be difficult to build a raft that would carry us safely," I said

“要造一个能安全载我们走的木筏，恐怕很难。”我说。

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" But let's think about that while we explore the ship to see what might be of use to us."

“不过，我们一边搜寻船上有什么可用的东西，一边考虑这个吧。”

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While I checked on the food and water, my wife took Franz to help her feed the animals on board

我去查看食物和水，妻子则带着弗朗茨帮忙喂船上的动物。

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Jack went to the captain's cabin

杰克去了船长室。

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When he opened the door, out sprang two large but friendly dogs!

他一打开门，就窜出两只体型很大但很友善的狗！

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Back in our cabin we displayed our treasures

回到我们的船舱，我们把找到的宝贝都摆了出来。

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Fritz brought a couple of guns, powder flasks, and plenty of bullets

弗里茨拿来了几支枪、火药瓶和许多子弹。

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Ernest had nails, a saw, and a hammer while other tools stuck out of his pockets

欧内斯特拿了钉子、一把锯子和一把锤子，口袋里还鼓鼓囊囊地塞着其他工具。

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" Look at these nice sharp hooks!" said little Franz, proudly showing us a box of fishhooks

“看这些漂亮又锋利的鱼钩！”小弗朗茨说着，自豪地给我们看一盒鱼钩。

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" Well done, Franz!" I said." Those may save our lives by keeping us fed."

“干得好，弗朗茨！”我说。“这些鱼钩或许能让我们有东西吃，从而救我们的命。”

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" I have some good news," said my dear wife

“我有个好消息，”我亲爱的妻子说。

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" Some useful animals are still alive: a cow, a donkey, two goats, six sheep, and a fine pig."

“有些有用的动物还活着：一头奶牛、一头驴子、两只山羊、六只绵羊，还有一头不错的猪。”

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" Now we just have to figure out how to get ashore," I said

“现在我们只需要想办法上岸了。”我说。

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" Can't we each get into a big tub and float there?" said Jack

“我们能不能每人坐进一个大木盆里漂过去？”杰克说。

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" I've often sailed like that around the pond at home."

“我在家里的池塘就经常那样划着玩。”

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" A splendid idea!" I said

“好主意！”我说。

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We soon found four tall wooden casks floating in the hold

我们很快在底舱找到了四个漂浮着的高大木桶。

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After dragging them on deck, we managed — with some difficulty — to saw them in half

把它们拖上甲板后，我们费了些力气，成功把它们锯成了两半。

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I was proud of our work, but my wife looked in dismay at the eight tubs

我对我们的成果很自豪，但妻子却沮丧地看着那八个木盆。

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" I'll never get into one of those!" she declared

“我绝不坐进这种东西里！”她宣称道。

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" Just wait," I said

“等着瞧，”我说。

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I arranged my tubs in a row, connecting them with planks along the bottom and sides

我把木盆排成一排，用木板沿着底部和两侧把它们连接起来。

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When I finished, I was confident our boat would be perfectly safe in smooth water

完成后，我很有信心，我们这艘小船在平静的水面上会非常安全。

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There was only one problem: Our boat was so heavy that we couldn't move it an inch

只是有一个问题：我们的船太重了，我们一点都挪不动它。