Late in the evening Hoseason put his head insidethe round - house door.
入夜以后很久，霍西森把头伸进后甲板室，说：
“He re ，”he said，“come out a n d look a t this .”“喂，你们出来看看。”
“Is this a nothe r tra p？”Alan asked. “你又要玩什么把戏？”艾伦问道。
“Don ’t wa s te time ！”the captain cried.“Mybrig ’s in da nge r ！”
“别嗦！我的船遇险了！”船长大声说。
We saw he was serious. Alan and I stepped ondeck. It was cold. The wind blew hard and therewas a full moon. The brig was sailing fast past thewest coast of the island of Mull. She rose suddenlyon the top of a high wave. The captain pointedsouth to a line of rocks. The sea was breaking overthem in great white waves. A little farther on，therewere more rocks.
看 得出来，他讲的是真话。艾伦和我上了甲板。外面很冷，刮着大风，一轮满月挂在天空。双桅船正绕着马尔岛的两岸向前航行。突然，船被一个高大的浪头掀起。船长指了指的面的一排礁石，海水朝着它们冲去，激起一阵阵巨大的白浪。再往南一点，礁石更多。船长说：
“Look！”Hoseason said.“I did not know of the s eroc ks . Are the re ma ny of them？”
“你们看！我没有听说过这里有礁石。是不是有很多呢？”
“S ir，I am no pilot，”Alan replied.“I think the rea re te n mile s of them.”
“先生，我对领航一窍不通。这里的礁石大概有十英里长。”艾伦回答说。
The captain looked at Mr Riach，and Mr Riachlooked at the captain.
船长和里亚契先生面面相觑，不知该怎么办才好。霍西森说：
“If only we ha d Mr S hua n！”Hoseason said.
“The re ’s a wa y through ，I suppos e ？”
“夏先生要是还在就好了！我估计总会有一条航道吧？”
“I don ’t know，”Alan replied，“but I remembe rs ome thing . It is cle a re r ne a r the la nd.”
“那我说不来。不过，我记得好象靠近海岸的地方礁石不多。”艾伦答道。
There were only three seamen on the deck，besides the officers. Most of the others were wounded.
The captain sent Mr Riach up among the sails toexamine the coast.
甲板上除了船长和里亚契先生外，另外只有三名水手，其余的人大都受了伤。船长让里亚契爬上桅杆去察看海岸地形。
“It is cle a re r in by the la nd ，”he shouted。aftera time.
过了一会儿，他大声说：“靠近陆地的地方障碍少一些。”
“We ll，s ir，”Hoseason said to Alan，“we will tryyour wa y. P ra y God you’re righ t！”
霍西森对艾伦说；“那么，先生，咱们就按你说的办吧。但愿上帝保佑你没有说错。”
“Pra y God I am！”Alan said to me.“I’m nots ure .”
艾伦对我说：“但愿是这样！我也没有把握。”
We sailed towards the south - west corner ofMull. The rocks were in our path. Sometimes MrRiach called out to the captain，and the brig turnedaside quickly from sudden danger. Hoseason stoodby the man at the wheel. His face was strong andhard like steel. He had not shown much courage inthe fight. Mr Riach had not done so，either. Now Isaw they were brave at their own work. I respected
我们朝马尔岛的西南角驶去，一路上仍然不断有暗礁。有时候，里亚契先生朝船长大喊几声，船才能急速转舵，绕过突然发现的危险。
霍西森站在舵手旁边，脸板得象钢铁一样坚毅、沉着。跟我们交手时，他的胆量并不大，里亚契先生也同样有点胆小，可是我看到，他们干起本行来却十分勇收。在这一点上我
them for this，especially when I saw Alan ’s whiteface.
对他们很钦佩，特别处我看到艾伦那惨白的脸色时，就更加钦佩他们了。
“Oh，Da vid ，”he said，“this is not the de a th fo rme .”
“啊，大卫，我不应该这样死去。”艾伦说。
“Wha t，Ala n ，”I said，“you re not a fra id？” “什么，艾伦，你不怕死？”我说。
“No，”be said，“but it’s a c old de a th .”
“不怕。不过，这样死太惨。”
他说。
The sea was still very rough，but at last Mr Riachcalled out again. He could see clear water ahead.
海上风浪仍然很大，但里亚契先生终于喊着说，他看清前面没有礁石了。
“You we re righ t，”Hoseason said to Alan.“Youha ve s a ve d tbe brig ，s ir.”
“你的估计对了，救了我们的船，先生。”霍西森对艾伦说。
Suddenly Mr Riach cried：“The re ’s a rock onour right！”At the same moment ，the wind droppedout of the sails. Tbe brig turned round sharply，andstruck the rock. We all fell on the deck.
突 然，里亚契先生又高喊道：
“右前方有个暗礁！”语音刚落，风向变了。我们的船一打横，撞上了那个暗礁。我们都跌倒在甲板上。
I was on my feet in a minute. The moonlightshowed me that the rock was near a little island.
The waves broke over the poor brig and beat her againstthe rock. She was breaking to pieces. Thenoise of the sails，the sound of the wind，filled myears. In the forecastle. the wounded men were cryingout.
我 很快站了起来。凭着月光，看到那暗礁离一个小岛不远。一排排巨浪冲击着我们那可怜的双桅船，把它抛到暗礁上。船被撞得七零八落，船帆在我耳边呜呜作响，风声在我耳边呼呼而过。水手舱里那些受了伤的水手哭爹叫娘地喊着救命。
Mr Riach and the seamen on the deck were lift- ing the skiff. I ran over and helped them.
见亚契先生和甲板上的那几名水手正要把船上的小艇往下放，我跑过大给他们帮忙。
The captain did not move. He was holding themain ropes. Each time the brig struck against therock，he cried out. The Covenant was like wife andchild to him. He had let Mr Shuan do anything toRansome，but he could not bear the cruel sea on hisship.
船长紧紧抓住护桅索，一动也没有动。双桅船每往那块暗礁上撞一次，他都要大喊一声。“契约号”
对他就象妻子儿女一样亲切。他可以任凭夏先生虐待兰塞姆，但不能容忍可恶的大海对自己的船肆虐。
I looked across at the shore.
我向海岸上望去，问艾伦道：
“Wha t la nd is tha t？”I asked Alan. “那是什么地方？”
“The wors t for me ，”he answered.“It is the la ndof the Campbe lls .”
“我倒霉透了，那是坎贝尔家族居住的地方。”他回答说。
We had pushed the skiff to the side of thebrig. Suddenly a seaman called out ，“For God ’ss a ke ，hold on！”A great wave came. It lifted the brigright up，and turned her over. It knocked me intothe sea.
我们把小艇已经推到船的一边了。突然，一名水手尖声叫道：“抓紧！千万别放松！”一个浪头排山倒海地打来，把双桅船高高冲起，扣了个过儿，把我也掀进海里。
I went down and drank a lot of water. Then Icame up，and went down again. The waves beat onme，and threw me up. They covered me again，anddrove me along. a great distance. At last I found Iwas holding on to something. It was a spar from theship’s sails. I floated into calm water.
我 沉了下去，喝了几口海水。
然后，浮了上来，又沉了下去。海浪劈头盖脑地朝我冲打着，把我抛到半空，又把我压下去，冲出好远。后来我觉得自己抓住了一件东西，原来是一根帆柱，于是我漂到平静的海面上。
I was now a long way from the brig. I shouted，but nobody heard me.
我离开双桅船很远了。我大声呼叫，可是没有人应声。
The little island was near. I could see therocks on it，and the bushes of heather. I wanted to
我漂近了那座小岛。岛上的岩石和灌木丛已经在望了。我想在那
land there but I could not swim very well. I held onto the spar with my arms. I kicked with both feet，and soon I was moving through the water. It washard work，but after an hour I reached a little bay.
It was a lonely place，but I was grateful to God. Thewater was less deep，here，and I waded ashore.
儿上岸，可是我的水性不好。我的两只胳膊抱住那根帆柱，两脚扑腾着，很快就向前移动了。那可真费力气。不过一个小时后，我游到了一个小海港。虽然那地方人迹罕至，可我还是感谢上帝。海湾的水较浅，我趟水上了岸。
