Waltey
Smrtna luč Jacka Welcha
084 Jack Welch's Death Light
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. SkinnerO besedilu
Smrtna luč Jacka Welcha
- Vir
- Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
- Avtor
- Charles M. Skinner
- Jezik branja
- Slovenščina
- Jezik izvirnika
- English
- Čas branja
- 2 min branja
- Obseg
- 2 strani
- Naslov izvirnika
- 084 Jack Welch's Death Light
O izvirniku
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
Obsežna zgodovinska zbirka ameriških legend, ki jih je Skinner zbral in avtorsko rekonstruiral. Bralni jezik je Slovenščina, izvirnik pa prihaja iz vira Myths and Legends of Our Own Land v jeziku English.
Besedilo
Smrtna luč Jacka Welcha
Pond Cove v Mainu straši luč, ki se vsako poletje na neki večer dvigne miljo od obale, zaplava do neke točke na kopnem, nato pa z brnenjem in slepečim sijem šine k stari hiši, kjer izgine. Prvič se je prikazala prav takrat, ko je izginil ribič Jack Welch. Nekega večera so ga še videli pri delu na čolnu, zjutraj pa ga ni bilo več in odtlej se ni nikoli več prikazal v živi podobi.
Ob deseti obletnici tega dogodka so trije ribiči hiteli po zalivu proti domu, v upanju, da ga dosežejo še pred mrakom, saj so se bali tiste srhljive luči. Toda privalila se je megla in bilo je že pozno, ko so prispeli do pomola. Medtem ko so privezovali čoln, se je v megli kakor odprl prehod in po tej poti je z odprtega morja pridrvela krogla bledega plamena, urna kakor meteor. Eden od mož se je pepelnatega obraza in drhtečih udov sključil na dnu čolna in ni pogledal luči, čeprav mu je švignila nad glavo, zaplesala med vrvjem ter se po širokem loku odpravila proti obali in obstala na njegovi hiši. Naslednji dan ga je prišel iskat eden od tovarišev, toda Toma Wrighta ni bilo več; kakor je povedala njegova žena, je odšel še pred svitom. Tako kot izginotje Jacka Welcha je tudi njegov odhod ostal nepojasnjen in sčasoma so ga imeli za mrtvega.
Minilo je dvajset let, ko je Wrightovo domnevno vdovo pretreslo pismo, napisano s šibko, tresočo se roko in podpisano z moževim imenom. Napisal ga je na smrtni postelji v nekem daljnem kraju, v njem pa je bilo priznanje. Pred njuno poroko se je za njeno roko potegoval tudi Jack Welch in med obema snubcema je bil njej ljubši prav on. Da bi se znebil tekmeca in na njegovem mestu užival srečo, se mu je Wright prikradel med delom, ga ubil, odpeljal njegovo truplo na morje in ga vrgel čez krov. Odtlej ga je mrtvec preganjal in veselil se je, da se mu bliža konec dni. A čeprav Toma Wrighta ni več, se luč njegove žrtve vsako leto dvigne iz morja nad krajem, kjer je potonilo truplo, odplava do prizorišča umora na obali, nato pa šine k hiši, kjer je morilec živel in dolga leta hlinil zadovoljstvo zakonskega življenja.
Izvirnik
084 Jack Welch's Death Light
Naslednje strani prikazujejo izvirno besedilo za primerjavo.
Pond Cove, Maine, is haunted by a light that on a certain evening, every summer, rises a mile out at sea, drifts to a spot on shore, then whirls with a buzz and a glare to an old house, where it vanishes. Its first appearance was simultaneous with the departure of Jack Welch, a fisherman. He was seen one evening at work on his boat, but in the morning he was gone, nor has he since shown himself in the flesh.
On the tenth anniversary of this event three fishermen were hurrying up the bay, hoping to reach home before dark, for they dreaded that uncanny light, but a fog came in and it was late before they reached the wharf. As they were tying their boat a channel seemed to open through the mist, and along that path from the deep came a ball of pallid flame with the rush of a meteor. There was one of the men who cowered at the bottom of the boat with ashen face and shaking limbs, and did not watch the light, even though it shot above his head, played through the rigging, and after a wide sweep went shoreward and settled on his house. Next day one of his comrades called for him, but Tom Wright was gone, gone, his wife said, before the day broke. Like Jack Welch's disappearance, this departure was unexplained, and in time he was given up for dead.
Twenty years had passed, when Wright's presumptive widow was startled by the receipt of a letter in a weak, trembling hand, signed with her husband's name. It was written on his death-bed, in a distant place, and held a confession. Before their marriage, Jack Welch had been a suitor for her hand, and had been the favored of the two. To remove his rival and prosper in his place, Wright stole upon the other at his work, killed him, took his body to sea, and threw it overboard. Since that time the dead man had pursued him, and he was glad that the end of his days was come. But, though Tom Wright is no more, his victim's light comes yearly from the sea, above the spot where his body sank, floats to the scene of the murder on the shore, then flits to the house where the assassin lived and for years simulated the content that comes of wedded life.
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