2 My First Voyage

CHAPTER 2 My First Voyage About a year later, my father sent me into the town of Hull to run some errands for him. Once there, I ran into John, an old school friend. His father was the captain of a ship sailing to London. "You are a lucky devil!" I said to him. "All I want to do is become a sailor. But my parents won't let me."

第二章我的第一次航行大约一年后，父亲派我到赫尔镇为他跑腿。 在那里，我遇到了约翰，我的老同学。 他父亲是一艘开往伦敦的船的船长。 “你真是个幸运的魔鬼！”我对他说。 “我唯一想做的就是成为一名水手。 但是我父母不让。”

"You're old enough to decide for yourself, Robinson. Why do you care what they think? I'll offer you a spot on my father's boat right now. Why don't you just come with us?" Yes! I thought. Here's my chance. "Okay, John! Thank you—I'd love to go!" My parents would be hurt, but I couldn't spend my life trying to make them happy. I was finally going to become a sailor! We left extremely early in the morning. The sun had barely risen before we set sail. The boat pitched this way and that way in the waves. I became quite seasick. On top of my upset stomach, I was scared to death. The waves rode high. They crashed upon the sides of the boat. Sometimes, they spilled over onto the deck. I lay on the hammock in my small cabin and felt miserable. I cried and cried. I felt guilty for leaving my mother and father the way I did. They were good, kind parents who

“你已经长大了，可以自己做决定了，罗宾逊。 你为什么在乎他们怎么想？ 我现在就给你在我父亲的船上留个位置。 你为什么不和我们一起去呢？”是的!我想。 我的机会来了。“好吧,约翰!谢谢你——我很愿意去！”我的父母会很伤心，但我不能把我的一生都花在取悦他们上。 我终于要成为一名水手了！我们一大早就离开了。 太阳刚升起，我们就起航了。 船在波浪中左右摇摆。 我晕船了。除了胃不舒服，我还被吓死了。 波涛汹涌。他们撞在船舷上。 有时，他们会洒到甲板上。 我躺在小木屋的吊床上，心里很难受。 我哭了又哭。我为自己那样离开父母而感到内疚。 他们是善良的父母

only wanted the best for me. I had betrayed them; this was my punishment. The storm grew worse. The waves rose higher. I expected every one to swallow us whole. Each time the ship pitched forward over another huge wave, I thought it would never rise again. "If I ever survive," I said to myself that night, "I swear I'll go home to my mother and father and be a good person. I'll be the best son!" By the next morning, the sea had calmed down. It looked as smooth as glass. My body no longer felt seasick. The sun welcomed me to a bright, enjoyable day. What a difference! I went up on deck for the first time since we left Hull. I saw John looking out over the horizon. He said, "You're feeling better! I can't believe you were that scared of a little capful of wind!" "A capful!" I snorted. "What a terrible storm!"

只想给我最好的。 我背叛了他们；这是对我的惩罚。 风暴愈演愈烈。海浪涨得更高了。 我以为每个人都会把我们整个吞下去。 每当船在另一个巨浪中向前倾斜时，我都以为它再也不会升起来了。 “如果我能活下来，”那天晚上我对自己说，“我发誓我要回家，回到父母身边，做一个好人。 我会是最好的儿子！”到了第二天早上，海面平静了下来。 它看起来像玻璃一样光滑。 我的身体不再晕船了。 太阳欢迎我来到一个明亮、愉快的一天。 多么不同啊！这是我们离开赫尔港后，我第一次登上甲板。 我看见约翰望着远处的地平线。 他说：“你感觉好多了！我真不敢相信，你竟然那么害怕一小瓶风！”“一个一帽子!”我哼了一声。 “多么可怕的风暴啊！”

John laughed, "That was nothing at all. Just wait until you're out on the open seas. Then you'll see what a storm is!" I laughed, too. "Well, I made it through anyway. Serious or not, it was my first storm at sea." "Come on, Robinson," he said cheerily, "Let's go get some punch!" What fun I had that night! I lost all my fears in a cup of punch and a rowdy good time. Last night's promise to go home was promptly forgotten. I no longer feared the sea would swallow me up whole. I didn't want to go home—it was a sailor's life for me!

约翰笑着说：“那根本不算什么。 等你到了公海再说吧。 然后你就会知道风暴是什么了！”我也笑了。 “好吧，我还是挺过来了。 不管严重与否，这是我在海上遇到的第一场风暴。” “走吧，罗宾逊，”他高兴地说，“我们去喝点潘趣酒吧！”那天晚上我玩得多开心啊！在一杯潘趣酒和一段喧闹的美好时光中，我失去了所有的恐惧。 昨晚答应回家的事很快就被忘记了。 我不再害怕大海会把我整个吞没。 我不想回家——对我来说，那是水手的生活！