Lesson 27

The 'Vasa'

“瓦萨”号

What happened to the 'Vasa' almost immediately after she was launched?

From the seventeenth-century empire of Sweden, the story of a galleon thatsank at the start of her maiden voyage in 1628 must be one of the strangesttales of the sea. For nearly three and a half centuries she lay at the bottom ofStockholm harbour until her discovery in 1956. This was the Vasa, royal flagshipof the great imperial fleet.

King Gustavus Adolphus, 'The Northern Hurricane', then at the height of hismilitary success in the Thirty Years' War, had dictated her measurements andarmament. Triple gun-decks mounted sixty-four bronze cannon. She was intended toplay a leading role in the growing might of Sweden. As she was prepared for hermaiden voyage on August 10th, 1628, Stockholm was in a ferment. From theSkeppsbron and surrounding islands the people watched this thing of beauty beginto spread her sails and catch the wind. They had laboured for three years toproduce this floating work of art; she was more richly carved and ornamentedthan any previous ship. The high stern castle was a riot of carved gods, demons,knights, kings, warriors, mermaids, cherubs; and zoomorphic animal shapes ablazewith red and gold and blue, symbols of courage, power, and cruelty, wereportrayed to stir the imaginations of the superstitious sailors of the day.

Then the cannons of the anchored warships thundered a salute to which theVasa fired in reply. As she emerged from her drifting cloud of gun smoke withthe water churned to foam beneath her bow, her flags flying, pennants waving,sails fillng in the breeze, and the red and gold of her superstructure ablazewith colour, she presented a more majestic spectacle than Stockholmers had everseen before. All gun-ports were open and the muzzles peeped wickedly from them.As the wind freshened there came a sudden squall and the ship made a strangemovement, listing to port. The Ordnance Officer ordered all the port cannon tobe heaved to starboard to counteract the list, but the steepening angle of thedecks increased. Then the sound of rumbling thunder reached the watchers on theshore, as cargo, ballast, ammunition and 400 people went sliding and crashingdown to the port side of the steeply listing ship. The lower gun-ports were nowbelow water and the inrush sealed the ship's fate. In that first glorious hour,the mighty Vasa, which was intended to rule the Baltic, sank with all flagsflying-in the harbour of her birth.

ROY SAUNGERS The Raising of the 'Vasa' from The Listener

New words and expressions 生词与短语

galleon

n. 大型帆船

Stockholm

n. 斯德哥尔摩

flagship

n. 旗舰

imperial

adj. 帝国的

hurricane

n. 飓风

armament

n. 军械

triple

adj. 三层的

mount

v. 架有

bronze

n. 青铜

cannon

n. 加农炮

本文参考译文

1628年，一艘大帆船在处女航时就沉没了，这个从7世纪瑞典帝国流传至今的故事无疑是航海史上最离奇的事件之一。这艘大船在斯德哥尔摩港口的海底躺了将近3个半世纪之后，直到1956年才被发现。这就是“瓦萨”号，帝国大舰队的皇家旗舰。

当时号称“北方飓风”的国王古斯夫斯.阿道尔弗正处在“三十年战争”的军事鼎盛阶段，他亲自规定了这艘船的规模和武器配备。3层的火炮甲板上装着64门青铜加农炮，目的就是要在不断增长的瑞典势力中起主导作用。新概念3

1628年8月10日，“瓦萨”号准备首航时，斯德哥尔摩一片欢腾。人们从斯开波斯布朗和周围的岛屿前来观看这艘美丽的战船扬帆起航，乘风前进。瑞典人辛辛苦苦干了3年才建成这件水上艺术品，它比以往任何船只雕刻得都更加精美，装饰得都更加华丽。高耸的船楼上雕刻了令人眼花缭乱的神仙、妖魔、骑士、国王、武士、美人鱼和小天使，还有用红色、金黄色、蓝色绘制的光彩夺目的兽形图案，象征着勇敢、力量和残暴，以激起当时崇尚迷信的水手们的想像。

这时，停泊在港口的其他战船向“瓦萨”号鸣炮致礼，“瓦萨”号也鸣炮回礼。当“瓦萨”号从弥漫的礼炮烟云中出现时，船头下浪花四溅，舰旗迎风招展，三角旗随风飘动，微风鼓起风帆，金碧辉煌的船楼闪耀着灿烂的色彩。“瓦萨”号展现的壮观景象是斯德哥尔摩人从未见过的。船上的炮眼开着，炮口虎视眈眈地向外窥视着。

当风力增强时，突然刮来一阵大风，“瓦萨”号奇怪地摇晃了一下，便向左舷倾斜。炮长命令把左舷上所有大炮搬到右舷上来以抵消船的倾斜，但甲板的倾斜度仍在增加。当物品、压舱物、弹药和400个人轰地一声滑向陡斜的左舷时，岸上的观众听到了雷鸣般的轰响。下层炮眼已淹没在水里，涌进船舱的水给“瓦萨”号带来了难以逃脱的厄运。就这样，想要统治波罗的海的大型战舰“瓦萨”号，在它壮丽的起航时刻，带着全身飘扬的彩旗，沉没在了它诞生的港口。