Waltey
Stražarka na Belem otoku
094 The Watcher on White Island
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. SkinnerO besedilu
Stražarka na Belem otoku
- Vir
- Myths and Legends of Our Own Land
- Avtor
- Charles M. Skinner
- Jezik branja
- Slovenščina
- Jezik izvirnika
- English
- Čas branja
- 3 min branja
- Obseg
- 2 strani
- Naslov izvirnika
- 094 The Watcher on White Island
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
Stražarka na Belem otoku
Otočje Shoals, majhna skupina skalnatih otokov, ki jih bičajo vetrovi in valovi in jih je ob jasnih dneh mogoče videti z obale New Hampshira, je bilo prizorišče nesreč in zločinov. Na otoku Boone Island, kjer je pred sto petdesetimi leti potonila galeja Nottingham, so preživeli postali ljudožerci, da bi ušli smrti od lakote, otok Haley's Island pa naseljujejo duhovi španskih brodolomcev, ki kličejo ladje in prosijo, naj jih odpeljejo nazaj v domovino. Gusar Teach, imenovan tudi Črnobradec, se je na teh otokih pogosto ustavljal, da bi skril svoj zaklad, eden njegovih namestnikov pa je nekaj časa živel na otoku White Island z lepo mladenko, ki jo je ugrabil iz njenega doma na Škotskem in ki ga je kljub njegovemu surovemu življenju vzljubila. Ko se je nekoč sprehajal z njo po tem skalnatem otoku ter pozabil na svoj posel in zločine, s katerimi se je omadeževal, je k njemu pritekel eden njegovih mož in mu sporočil, da se otokom približuje jadrnica. Gusarsko ladjo so hitro pripravili na boj, toda preden se je namestnik vkrcal, je v mislih na morebitni beg ali ujetništvo svojo ljubico prisilil, da je prisegla, da bo varovala zakopani zaklad, pa čeprav do sodnega dne.
Ladja, ki ji je hitel naproti, je mirno plula dalje, dokler ni bila gusarska ladja povsem v dosegu njenih topov; tedaj so se vzdolž bokov neznanke sunkoma odprle topovske line, skoznje so potisnili topove in silovita bočna salva je raztreščila deske roparske galeje. Črnobradcu ni prekrižala poti trgovska ladja, temveč vojna. Približala se je gusarski ladji in jo zagrabila s kavlji, toda ko so mornarji že stali ob bočnih verigah, pripravljeni, da skočijo na krov in dokončno premagajo razbojnike, je z gusarske ladje bruhnila gmota plamenov. Obe plovili je razneslo in njune razbitine pognalo po zraku, bobnenje pa se je razleglo milje daleč po morju. Črnobradčev namestnik je raje zanetil smodnišnico, kakor da bi se pustil ujeti, in obe ladji skupaj pognal v pogubo. Nekaj mož iz obeh posadk je na deskah priplavalo do otokov, razbolelih od opeklin in podplutb, vendar nihče ni preživel zimskega mraza in lakote. Gusarjeva ljubica je bila med prvimi, ki so umrli; vendar, zvesta svoji obljubi, še vedno straži in ponoči jo je mogoče medlo uzreti na skalnatem rtu, kako zre proti vzhodu: njena visoka postava je zavita v plašč, zlati lasje ji razpuščeni padajo po ramenih, njen bledi obraz pa je negiben kakor marmor.
Izvirnik
094 The Watcher on White Island
Naslednje strani prikazujejo izvirno besedilo za primerjavo.
The isles of Shoals, a little archipelago of wind and wave-swept rocks that may be seen on clear days from the New Hampshire coast, have been the scene of some mishaps and some crimes. On Boone Island, where the Nottingham galley went down one hundred and fifty years ago, the survivors turned cannibals to escape starvation, while Haley's Island is peopled by shipwrecked Spanish ghosts that hail vessels and beg for passage back to their country. The pirate Teach, or Blackbeard, used to put in at these islands to hide his treasure, and one of his lieutenants spent some time on White Island with a beautiful girl whom he had abducted from her home in Scotland and who, in spite of his rough life, had learned to love him. It was while walking with her on this rock, forgetful of his trade and the crimes he had been stained with, that one of his men ran up to report a sail that was standing toward the islands. The pirate ship was quickly prepared for action, but before embarking, mindful of possible flight or captivity, the lieutenant made his mistress swear that she would guard the buried treasure if it should be till doomsday.
The ship he was hurrying to meet came smoothly on until the pirate craft was well in range, when ports flew open along the stranger's sides, guns were run out, and a heavy broadside splintered through the planks of the robber galley. It was a man-of-war, not a merchantman, that had run Blackbeard down. The war-ship closed and grappled with the corsair, but while the sailors were standing at the chains ready to leap aboard and complete the subjugation of the outlaws a mass of flame burst from the pirate ship, both vessels were hurled in fragments through the air, and a roar went for miles along the sea. Blackbeard's lieutenant had fired the magazine rather than submit to capture, and had blown the two ships into a common ruin. A few of both crews floated to the islands on planks, sore from burns and bruises, but none survived the cold and hunger of the winter. The pirate's mistress was among the first to die; still, true to her promise, she keeps her watch, and at night is dimly seen on a rocky point gazing toward the east, her tall figure enveloped in a cloak, her golden hair unbound upon her shoulders, her pale face still as marble.
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