2 A Remarkable Boy

CHAPTER 2 A Remarkable Boy Alexander's brother, James, was apprenticed to a carpenter on St. Croix. That meant he would live with the carpenter and eventually learn to be one himself. He and Alexander never saw each other again. Alexander was taken in by Thomas Stevens, a merchant who lived on the island. Thomas had five children of his own and one, Edward, was a year older than Alexander. Alexander and Edward, called Ned, became the best of friends.

亚历山大的弟弟詹姆斯曾在圣乔治街的一个木匠那里当学徒。 克罗伊。这意味着他将和木匠住在一起，并最终学会自己成为一个木匠。 他和亚历山大再也没有见过面。 亚历山大被住在岛上的商人托马斯·史蒂文斯收留了。 托马斯有五个孩子，其中一个叫爱德华，比亚历山大大一岁。 亚历山大和名叫内德的爱德华成了最好的朋友。

Although he was only thirteen, Alexander was given a job as a clerk in a mercantile house, a business that traded and shipped goods all over the world. Alexander was determined to learn everything he could about the business. He was very good at math and had no trouble keeping track of all the money and products that came in and went out. He was so good at his job that when one of the owners went to New York for five months, he left Alexander in charge of the

虽然亚历山大只有13岁，但他得到了一份在一家商行当职员的工作，这是一家在世界各地进行贸易和运输货物的公司。 亚历山大决心尽他所能了解有关公司的一切情况。 他的数学很好，对所有的钱和产品的进进出出都了如指掌。 他非常擅长他的工作，当一个老板去纽约待了五个月后，他让亚历山大负责

entire business. Alexander was only fourteen years old. Although he was doing well at his job, Alexander didn't want to work there forever. He dreamed of leaving the West Indies and becoming famous, maybe joining an army and becoming a war hero. He longed to follow Ned Stevens to New York, where his friend was going to school to become a doctor, but Alexander didn't have the money to travel. In 1770, St. Croix's first newspaper, the Royal Danish American Gazette, was published. Alexander was excited to write for it. In 1771, when he was sixteen, he published two love poems in the paper. More poems followed. Another part-time writer at the paper was a minister named Hugh Knox. He and Alexander became friends. On August 31, 1772, a terrible hurricane hit the island of St. Croix. Roaring winds knocked down trees, and a tidal wave over fifteen feet high pounded the shores. The Gazette described it as "the most dreadful hurricane known in the memory of man." The

整个业务。亚历山大只有十四岁。 虽然他的工作做得很好，但亚历山大不想永远在那里工作。 他梦想着离开西印度群岛成名，也许参军，成为一名战争英雄。 他渴望跟随内德·史蒂文斯（Ned Stevens）去纽约，因为他的朋友打算在那里上学，成为一名医生，但亚历山大没有足够的钱去旅行。 1770年，圣克罗伊岛的第一份报纸《丹麦裔美国人皇家公报》出版。 亚历山大很兴奋能为它写作。 1771年，16岁的他在报纸上发表了两首情诗。 更多的诗歌紧随其后。该报的另一位兼职作家是一位名叫休·诺克斯的牧师。 他和亚历山大成了朋友。 1772年8月31日，一场可怕的飓风袭击了圣。 克罗伊。咆哮的大风吹倒了树木，超过15英尺高的潮汐冲击着海岸。 《公报》将其描述为“人类记忆中最可怕的飓风”。 的

hurricane was so big, it caused destruction on the neighboring islands of St. Kitts and Nevis as well.

飓风是如此之大，它给邻近的圣。 还有基茨岛和尼维斯岛。

A few days later, at a Sunday service, Hugh Knox preached a sermon about the hurricane. Alexander was inspired to write his own version of the story in a letter to his father. James Hamilton was probably living on an island just outside the range of the hurricane. Alexander wrote a dramatic letter describing all the horrors of the storm. Before sending the letter, he showed it to his friend Hugh. The minister was impressed. Hugh thought it was so good that Alexander should publish it in the paper. The Gazette printed Alexander's letter on October 3, 1772, with an introduction by Hugh Knox explaining that its author was still just a teenager.

几天后，在一个星期天的礼拜仪式上，休·诺克斯讲了一篇关于飓风的布道。 亚历山大受到启发，在给父亲的信中写下了他自己的故事版本。 詹姆斯·汉密尔顿可能就住在飓风影响范围之外的一个岛上。 亚历山大写了一封充满戏剧性的信，描述了这场风暴的所有恐怖。 在寄信之前，他给他的朋友休看了看。 部长对此印象深刻。 休认为这篇文章很好，亚历山大应该把它发表在报纸上。 1772年10月3日，《公报》刊登了亚历山大的信，并附有休·诺克斯的介绍，解释说信的作者还只是一个十几岁的孩子。

In part, the letter read: "The roaring of the sea and wind, fiery meteors flying about in the air, the prodigious glare of almost perpetual lightning, the crash of the fallen houses, and the ear-piercing shrieks of the distressed, were sufficient to strike astonishment into Angels."

信中有一部分是这样写的：“大海和风的咆哮，炽热的流星在空中飞舞，几乎是永恒的闪电的惊人光芒，倒塌的房屋的轰鸣，以及痛苦的人刺耳的尖叫，足以让天使们大吃一惊。”