VOA慢速英語(yǔ):《貝尼托·塞萊諾》第一章，赫爾曼·麥爾維爾著

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Our story today is called "Benito Cereno." It was writtenby Herman Melville. We tell the story in three parts. Here is Shep O'Neal with part one of "Benito Cereno."

Captain Benito Cereno hurried aboard his ship. It wasready to sail. A bright sun and a soft breeze promisedgood weather ahead. The ship's anchor was raised. And the San Dominick -- old but still seaworthy - movedslowly out of the harbor of Valparaiso, on the westcoast of Chile. It was carrying valuable products andslaves up the Pacific coast to Callao, another Spanishcolonial port near Lima, Peru.

The slaves, both male and female, slept on deck. Theywere not chained, because their owner, Don Alexandro,said they were peaceful.

The San Dominick moved steadily forward under aclear sky. The weather showed no sign of change. Dayafter day, the soft breeze kept the ship on coursetoward Peru.

Slave traffic between Spain's colonial ports in this yearof seventeen ninety-nine had been steady. But therewere few outbreaks of violence. What happened,therefore, on board the San Dominick could not havebeen expected.

On the seventh day out, before daybreak, the slavesrose up in rebellion. They swept through the ship withhandspikes and hatchets moving with the fury ofdesperate men. The attack was a complete surprise.Few of the crew were awake. All hands, except the twoofficers on the watch, lay in a deep untroubled sleep. The rebels sprang upon the two officers and left themhalf dead. Then, one by one, they killed eighteen of thesleeping crew. They threw some overboard, alive. Afew hid and escaped death. The rebels tied up seven others, but left themalive to navigate the ship.

Benito Cereno by Herman Melville, Part One

As the day began to break, Captain Cereno came slowly, carefully up thesteps toward the chief rebel leader, Babo, and begged for mercy. Hepromised to follow Babo's commands if he would only put an end to thekillings. But this had no effect. Babo had three men brought up on deck andtied. Then, the three Spaniards were thrown overboard. Babo did this to showhis power and authority -- that he was in command. Babo, however,promised not to murder Captain Cereno. But everything he said carried athreat. He asked the captain if in these seas there were any Negro countries.*

"None," Cereno answered.

"Then, take us to Senegal or the neighboring islands of Saint Nicholas."

Captain Cereno was shaken. "That is impossible!" he said. "It would meangoing around Cape Horn. And this ship is in no condition for such a voyage. And we do not have enough supplies, or sails or water."

"Take us there, anyway," Babo answered sharply, showing little interest insuch details. "If you refuse, we will kill every white man on board."

Captain Cereno knew he had no choice. He told the rebel leader that the mostserious problem in making such a long voyage was water. Babo said theyshould sail to the island of Santa Maria near the southern end of Chile. Heknew that no one lived on the island. But water and supplies could be foundthere.

He forced Captain Cereno to keep away from any port. He threatened to killhim the moment he saw him start to move toward any city, town or settlementon shore.

Cereno had to agree to sail to the island of Santa Maria. He still hoped that hemight meet along the way, or at the island itself, a ship that could help him.Perhaps -- who knows -- he might find a boat on the island and be able toescape to the nearby coast of Arruco. Hope was all he had left. And that wasgetting smaller each day.

Captain Cereno steered south for Santa Maria. The voyage would takeweeks.

Eight days after the ship turned south, Babo told Captain Cereno that he wasgoing to kill Don Alexandro, owner of the slaves on board. He said it had to bedone. Otherwise, he and the other slaves could never be sure of theirfreedom. He refused to listen to the captain's appeals, and ordered two men topull Don Alexandro up from below and kill him on deck. It was done asordered. Three other Spaniards were also brought up and thrown overboard.Babo warned Cereno and the other Spaniards that each one of them would go the same way if any of them gave the smallest cause for suspicion.

Cereno decided to do everything possible to save the lives of thoseremaining. He agreed to carry the rebels safely to Senegal if they promisedpeace and no further bloodshed. And he signed a document that gave therebels ownership of the ship and its cargo.

Later, as they sailed down the long coast of Chile, the wind suddenly dropped. The ship drifted into a deep calm. For days, it lay still in the water. The heatwas fierce; the suffering intense. There was little water. That made mattersworse. Some of those on board were driven mad. A few died. The pressureand tension made many violent. And they killed a Spanish officer.

After a time, a breeze came up and set the ship free again. And it continuedsouth. The voyage seemed endless. The ship sailed for weeks with little wateron board. It moved through days of good weather and periods of bad weather.There were times when it sailed under heavy skies, and times when the winddropped and the ship lay be-calmed in lifeless air. The crew seemed halfdead.

At last, one evening in the month of August, the San Dominick reached thelonely island of Santa Maria. It moved slowly toward one of the island's baysto drop anchor. Not far off lay an American ship. And, the sight of the shipcaught the rebels by surprise.

The slaves became tense and fearful. They wanted to sail away, quickly. Buttheir leader, Babo, opposed such a move. Where could they go? Their waterand food were low. He succeeded in bringing them under control and inquieting their fears. He told them they had nothing to fear. And they believedhim.

Then, he ordered everyone to go to work, to clean the decks and put the shipin proper and good condition, so that no visitor would suspect anything waswrong.

Later, he spoke to Captain Cereno, warning him that he would kill him if he didnot do as he was told. He explained in detail what Cereno was to do and say ifany stranger came on board. He held a dagger in his hand, saying it wouldalways be ready for any emergency.

The American vessel was a large tradeship and seal hunter, commanded byCaptain Amasa Delano. He had stopped at Santa Maria for water.

On the American ship, shortly after sunrise, an officer woke Captain Delano, and told him a strange sail was coming into the bay. The captain quickly gotup, dressed and went up on deck. Captain Delano raised his spy glass andlooked closely at the strange ship coming slowly in. He was surprised thatthere was no flag. A ship usually showed its flag when entering a harborwhere another ship lay at anchor.

As the ship got closer, Captain Delano saw it was damaged. Many of its sailswere ripped and torn. A mast was broken. And the deck was in disorder.Clearly the ship was in trouble.

The American captain decided to go to the strange vessel and offer help. Heordered his whale boat put into the water, and had his men bring up somesupplies and put them in the boat. Then they set out toward the mystery ship.

As they approached, Captain Delano was shocked at the poor condition of theship. He wondered what could have happened. . . And what he would find. That will be our story next week.

You have heard part one of the American story "Benito Cereno." It waswritten by Herman Melville. Your storyteller was Shep O'Neal. Listen againnext week at this time when we continue the American story "Benito Cereno"

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Words in This Story

suspicion - n. a feeling that something bad is likely or true

handspike - n. a wooden rod with an iron tip, used as a lever on board shipand by artillery soldiers.?

hatchet - n. a small ax that has a short handle?

authority - n. the power to give orders or make decisions

intense - adj. ?very great in degree; very strong

disorder - n. a confused or messy state; a lack of order or organization

*Negro countries refers to nations that would be ruled by people of Africanheritage. Senegal is one of the countries in Africa from which enslaved people were taken to the Americas.