23.“诺曼底号”遇难记

Lesson Twenty-three

Normandy’s Death Record

1.On the night of March 17, 1870, Captain Harvey took the routine route from Southampton to Gagosian Island.

2.On the sea, the night was dark and a heavy fog filled the sea.

3.The Captain stood on the bridge and steered his Normandy carefully.

4.The passengers all fell asleep.

5.Normandy was a big ship, and may be one of the most beautiful mail ships in the English Channel.

6.It has a loading capacity of 600 tons and a hull length of 220 feet and a width of 25 feet.

7.Sailors say it’s “young” because it’s only seven years old and was made in 1863.

8.The fog was getting thicker and thicker.The ship sailed out of the Southampton River to the vast sea, estimated to be 15 nautical miles from the Ejui Mountains.

9.The ship was moving slowly.It was about four o’clock in the morning.

10.It was dark all around, and the tip of the mast was barely discernible.

11.There is nothing to be afraid of sailing at night for a British ship like this.

12.All of a sudden, a black spot appeared in the fog of the deep night.It was like a ghost and a mountain peak.

13.One can only see that a somber bow rising forward, breaking through the darkness, drove quickly through the waves.

14.That’s the Mary, a big ship with propellers.

15.It sailed from Odessa with 500 tons of wheat on board.It was very fast and had a very heavy load.It came straight towards the Normandy.

16.There was no way to avoid the ship as it is about to collide.

17.For a moment, the illusion of many ships seemed to rise in the fog.Before people can see them clearly, they were going to die and became food for fishes.

18.Mary, at full speed, struck the side of the Normandy and cut a big hole in her hull.

19.As a result of the crash, the Mary was injured herself and finally stopped.

20.There were 28 crew members, one stewardess and 31 passengers on board the Normandy, 12 of whom were women.

21.The shock was terrible.

22.In an instant, men, women, children, all of them rushed to the deck.

23.People were running half naked, screaming and crying.They were in a state of panic.

24.The sea water was rushing in, surging and unstoppable.

25.The engine stove gasped for breath when it was choked by the waves.

26.There was no leak-proof wall to seal the cabin, nor enough life buoys.

27.Captain Harvey, standing on the podium, yelled, “All be quiet and listen to me!

28.Lower the lifeboat.

29.Women go first, other passengers follow, and crews bring up the rear.

30.Sixty people must be rescued.”

31.In fact, there were sixty-one people, but he forgot himself.

32.The crew quickly untied the ropes of the lifeboat.

33.Everyone swarmed up, and the momentum of pushing and shoving nearly overturned the boat.

34.The Chief Officer Oakler and the three second officers tried hard to maintain order, but the whole crowd was in a state of madness because of the sudden change.

35.A few seconds ago, everyone was still sleeping soundly.Suddenly, and immediately, they were going to die.How could this not make people lose their minds!

36.At this moment, the Captain’s majestic voice overcame all the shouting and noise, and in the dark people heard this short and powerful conversation, “Where’s machinist Locke?”

37.“I’m here, Captain.”

38.“How’s the stove?”

39.“It’s flooded.”

40.“The fire?”

41.“It’s gone, Sir.”

42.“How about the machine?”

43.“Stopped.”

44.The Captain called out, “Chief Officer Oakler!”

45.The Chief Officer replied, “Yes, Sir!”

46.The Captain asked, “How many minutes are there?”

47.“Twenty minutes.”

48.“That’s enough,” said the Captain, “Let everyone in the boat.

49.Chief Officer Oakler, is your pistol there?”

50.“Yes, Captain.”

51.“If a man dares to be in front of a woman, you’ll shoot him.”

52.Everyone was silent for a moment.

53.No one disobeyed his will, and people felt that a great soul appeared above them.

54.The Mary also put down the lifeboat and came to rescue the people who were in danger because of the disaster it caused.

55.The rescue work was carried out in an orderly manner, with few disputes or fights.

56.This is always the case.Where there is despicable egoism, there will be solemn and stirring sacrifice.

57.Harvey stood tall in his Captain’s post, commanding, dominating and leading everyone.

58.He took everything and everyone into consideration.Facing the panic stricken people, he was calm as if he was giving orders not to people but to disasters.Even the shipwrecked ship seemed to follow his orders.

59.After a while, he called out, “Get Clement out of here!”

60.Clement was a trainee sailor, but a child.

61.The ship sank slowly in the deep sea.

62.People tried their best to speed up and paddle back and forth between Normandy and Mary.

63.“Hurry up!” cried the captain again.

64.Twenty minutes later, the ship sank.

65.The bow went down first, and in a moment, the sea water submerged the stern.

66.Captain Harvey, standing on the bridge, without a sign or a word, he sank into the abyss with the ship like a cast iron, motionless.

67.Through the gloomy mist, people watched the black statue slowly sink into the sea.

68.This is the end of Captain Harvey’s life.

69.In the English Channel, no seaman can be compared with him.

70.All his life, he asked himself to be loyal to his duty and fulfill his way of life.

71.In the face of death, he once again used the feat of becoming a hero.