9 Chapter 8 The Death of Blackbeard

Chapter 8 The Death of Blackbeard Ships on the North Carolina coast reported seeing Blackbeard and his crew camped on Ocracoke Island. It would be tricky to reach the camp. The pirates had anchored their small ship, the Adventure, down a very narrow channel of water. The large Royal Navy ships could not sail near the island without hitting bottom. Captain Ellis Brand of HMS Pearl put Lieutenant Robert Maynard in charge of the

北卡罗莱纳海岸的船只报告说看到黑胡子和他的船员在奥克拉科克岛扎营。 要到达营地会很困难。 海盗们把他们的小船“冒险号”停泊在一条非常狭窄的水道里。 英国皇家海军的大型船只在靠近该岛时，免不了触礁。 英国皇家海军珍珠号的船长埃利斯·布兰德让罗伯特·梅纳德中尉负责

attack. (HMS stands for His Majesty's Ship. "His Majesty," in this case, refers to England's King George I.) Maynard hired two smaller ships, the Ranger and the Jane. They were lighter and would be able to navigate in the shallow water. Brand told Maynard and his crew that there was a hundred-pound reward for Blackbeard (about $20,000 today) as well as smaller amounts to be paid for other captured pirates. Earning that reward would be very dangerous, however. Maynard hired two local men as pilots. They knew the channels and sandbars very well. The pilots would help the sailors aboard the Ranger and the Jane make it to the small bay near Blackbeard's camp on Ocracoke.

攻击。(HMS代表陛下的船。 “陛下”在这里指的是英国国王乔治一世。)梅纳德租了两艘较小的船，游侠号和简号。 它们更轻，可以在浅水中航行。 布兰德告诉梅纳德和他的船员，悬赏100英镑捉拿黑胡子(相当于今天的大约1万英镑)，其他被抓获的海盗也会得到较少的赏金。 然而，获得这种奖励是非常危险的。 梅纳德雇了两个当地人当飞行员。 他们非常熟悉河道和沙洲。 飞行员将帮助“游侠”号和“简”号上的水手到达奥克拉科克岛上黑胡子营地附近的小海湾。

On the cloudy morning of November 22, 1718, the two ships sailed toward Blackbeard's anchored ship. Blackbeard and his men had been drinking until early that morning. He was probably still asleep. But when a lookout spotted the navy ships, Blackbeard and his men rallied to action. The Ranger and the Jane fast approached the Adventure. When they were only a few hundred yards from the pirates, Maynard's ships unfurled their flags—Union Jacks, the symbol of Great Britain. The pirates knew for sure that they were being hunted by the British Royal Navy.

1718年11月22日，一个多云的早晨，两艘船驶向黑胡子停泊的船。 那天凌晨，黑胡子和他的手下一直在喝酒。 他可能还在睡觉。 但是，当一名瞭望台发现了海军舰艇时，黑胡子和他的手下团结起来采取行动。 游侠号和简号迅速驶近冒险号。 当他们距离海盗只有几百码时，梅纳德的船只展开了他们的旗帜——英国的象征——英国国旗。 海盗们清楚地知道他们正在被英国皇家海军追捕。

Maynard called over the water for the pirates to surrender. He said later that Blackbeard yelled back and insulted his men. The dreaded pirate called Maynard and his men "cowardly puppies" and said he would "neither give nor take quarter." Quarter can mean one-fourth of something or it can mean mercy. Blackbeard used it to mean he would neither give any mercy to nor expect any mercy from his attackers. Blackbeard backed up his words by firing a broadside at the two navy ships. The cannons were loaded with iron balls, nails, and scrap iron. The red-hot pieces of metal tore into the navy ships. With one blast, more than twenty men out of only

梅纳德在海面上叫海盗们投降。 他后来说，黑胡子对他大喊大叫，侮辱他的手下。 这个可怕的海盗把梅纳德和他的手下称为“懦弱的小狗”，并说他“既不让步也不让步”。 Quarter可以表示某物的四分之一，也可以表示怜悯。 黑胡子用它来表示他既不会对攻击他的人仁慈，也不会指望他们仁慈。 为了证实他的话，黑胡子向两艘海军舰艇开了一枪。 大炮装载了铁球、铁钉和废铁。 烧红的金属碎片撕裂了海军舰艇。 一声巨响，二十多个人出来了

fifty-seven crew members were killed or wounded on the Jane and the Ranger. Maynard was on board the Jane. He saw that many of his men were injured or dead. His small ships had no cannons to fire back. They had left them behind so the ships would be light enough to reach Blackbeard. To save his men from another broadside, he sent many of them down into the hold, below the deck of the ship. Blackbeard steered his ship toward the Jane. He thought most of Maynard's men were dead, and that he could storm and capture the ship. As they got nearer, Blackbeard's men threw grenadoes that exploded on the deck of the Jane. (A grenado was a small explosive that could be thrown at a target, similar to a hand grenade.) When the sides of the two ships banged together, the pirates threw metal hooks over the Jane's rails. The ropes attached to the hooks tied the two ships together. Blackbeard led the way across onto the Jane. He was wearing his pistols

“简”号和“游侠”号上有57名船员伤亡。 梅纳德在“简”号上。 他看到他的许多人受伤或死亡。 他的小船没有大炮还击。 他们把他们留在后面，这样船就能轻到黑胡子。 为了把他的船员从另一个船舷上救下来，他把他们中的许多人送到甲板下面的船舱里。 黑胡子把船驶向“简”号。 他认为梅纳德的大部分人都死了，他可以发起猛攻，夺取那艘船。 当他们靠近时，黑胡子的人向简号的甲板投掷手榴弹，手榴弹爆炸了。 (格林纳多是一种可以扔向目标的小型爆炸物，类似于手榴弹。)当两艘船的船舷撞在一起时，海盗们把金属钩扔到“简”号的船舷上。 系在钩子上的绳子把两艘船绑在一起。 黑胡子带路上了简号。 他带着手枪