Book 1 Unit 2
At sixty-five Francis Chichester set out to sail single-handed round the world. This is the story of that adventure.
Sailing Round the World
Before he sailed round the world single-handed, Francis Chichester had already surprised his friends several times. He had tried to fly round the world but failed. That was in 1931.
The years passed. He gave up flying and began sailing. He enjoyed it greatly. Chichester was already 58 years old when he won the first solo transatlantic sailing race. His old dream of going round the world came back, but this time he would sail. His friends and doctors did not think he could do it, as he had lung cancer. But Chichester was determined to carry out his plan. In August, 1963, at the age of nearly sixty-five, an age when many men retire, he began the greatest voyage of his life. Soon, he was away in this new 16-metre boat, Gipsy Moth.
Chichester followed the route of the great nineteenth century clipper ships. But the clippers had had plenty of crew. Chicheater did it all by himself, even after the main steering device had been damaged by gales. Chichester covered 14, 100 miles before stopping in Sydney, Australia. This was more than twice the distance anyone had previously sailed alone.
He arrived in Australia on 12 December, just 107 days out from England. He received a warm welcome from the Australians and from his family who had flown there to meet him. On shore, Chichester could not walk without help. Everybody said the same thing: he had done enough; he must not go any further. But he did not listen.
After resting in Sydney for a few weeks, Chichester set off once more in spite of his friends' attempts to dissuade him. The second half of his voyage was by far the more dangerous part, during which he sailed round the treacherous Cape Horn.
On 29 January he left Australia. The next night, the blackest he had ever known, the sea became so rough that the boat almost turned over. Food, clothes, and broken glass were all mixed together. Fortunately, bed and went to sleep. When he woke up, the sea had become calm the nearest person he could contact by radio, unless there was a ship nearby, Wild be on an island 885 miles away.
After succeeding in sailing round Cape Horn, Chichester sent the following radio message to London:" I feel as if I had wakened from a nightmare. Wild horses could not drag me down to Cape Horn and that sinister Southern Ocean again."
Just before 9 o'clock on Sunday evening 28 May, 1967, he arrived back in England, where a quarter of a million people were waiting to welcome him. Queen Elizabeth II knighted him with the very sword that Queen Elizabeth I had sailed round the world for the first time. The whole voyage from England and back had covered 28, 500 miles. It had taken him nine months, of which the sailing time was 226 days. He had done what he wanted to accomplish.
Like many other adventurers, Chichester had experienced fear and conquered it. In doing so, he had undoubtedly learnt something about himself. Moreover, in the modern age when human beings depend so much on machines, he had given men throughout the world new pride.
課文翻譯
弗朗西斯·奇切斯特在六十五歲時開始了隻身環球航行。本文記述的就是這一冒險故事。
環球航行
弗朗西斯·奇切斯特在獨自駕船作環球航行之前，已有好幾次讓他的朋友們感到吃驚了。他曾試圖環球飛行，但沒有成功。那是1931年。
好多年過去了。他放棄了飛行，開始航海。他領略到航海的巨大樂趣。奇切斯特在首屆橫渡大西洋單人航海比賽中奪魁時，已經五十八歲。他週遊世界的宿願重又被喚起，不過這一次他是要駕船環遊。由於他患有肺癌，朋友們和醫生們都認為他不該去，但奇切斯特決意實施自己的計劃。1966年8月，在他快滿六十五歲的時候——許多人在這個年齡已經退休——他開始了一生中最了不起的一次航海。不久，他就駕著那艘16米長的新船吉普賽·莫思號啟程出海了。
奇切斯特沿著19世紀大型三桅帆船的航線航行。不過，三桅帆船擁有眾多船員，而奇切斯特卻是獨個兒揚帆破浪，即使在主要轉舵裝置被大風颳壞之後仍是這樣。奇切斯特一直航行了14 100英裡，到了澳大利亞的雪梨港才停船靠岸。這段航程比以往單人駕舟航海的最遠航程還多一倍多。
他於12月12日抵達澳大利亞，這一天正是他離開英國的第107天。他受到澳大利亞人和乘飛機專程前去迎接他的家人們的熱烈歡迎。奇切斯特上岸後，得由人攙扶著才能行走。大家眾口一詞，說他已航行得夠遠了，不要再繼續向前航行了。但他卻置若罔聞。
在雪梨休息了幾周之後，他不顧朋友們的多方勸阻，再次揚帆出航。這後半段航程更為艱險，在此期間，他繞過了險情四伏的合恩角。
1月29日他駛離澳大利亞。第二天夜晚——這是他所經歷過的最黑暗的一個夜晚——海面上波濤洶湧，小船幾乎被風浪掀翻。食物、衣服、還有碎玻璃，全都混雜在一起了。幸好小船遭到的損壞還不算太嚴重。奇切斯特鎮靜地鑽進被窩，睡著了。等他醒來時，大海又恢復了平靜。然而，他仍禁不住想到，要是果真有什麼意外，他能借無線電聯繫上的人，最近的也要在885英裡以外的島上，除非附近哪兒有條輪船。
奇切斯特成功地繞過合恩角以後，便通過無線電給倫敦發去如下電文："我覺得好像剛從噩夢中醒來。就是野馬也休想再把我拖回到合恩角和那兇險莫測的南大洋去了。"
1967年5月28日，星期天，晚上將近9點，他回到了英國。有二十五萬人等在那兒歡迎他。伊莉莎白女王二世手持寶劍敕封他為爵士。將近400年前，伊莉莎白一世也曾手持同一把寶劍，把爵位賜予完成首次環球航行的弗朗西斯·德雷克爵士。從英國出發，再回到英國，整個航程長達28 500英裡。奇切斯特一共花了九個月的時間，其中實際航行時間為226天。他終於完成了他想完成的偉業。
和許多別的冒險家一樣，奇切斯特產生過恐懼而又戰勝了恐懼。在這一過程中，他無疑對自身有了一些了解。此外，在當今這個人類如此依賴機器的時代，他賦予了全世界的人們以新的自豪感。
本文由王樹振老師編輯整理，圖片來自網絡
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