Waltey
Vožnja kapitana Iresona
140 Skipper Ireson's Ride
Myths and Legends of Our Own Land · Charles M. SkinnerO besedilu
Vožnja kapitana Iresona
- 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
- 140 Skipper Ireson's Ride
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
Vožnja kapitana Iresona
Flood, Fluid ali Floyd Ireson (v nekaterih kronikah mu je ime Benjamin) je jeseni leta 1808 v silovitem viharju s škuno Betsy plul proti Marbleheadu. Pred rtom Cape Cod je naletel na škuno Active iz Beverlyja, ki je bila v stiski: razburkano morje jo je poškodovalo in zdaj je ležala na boku, prepuščena na milost in nemilost neurju. Kapitan ladje Active je zaklical Iresonu in ga prosil, naj jih vzame na krov, saj njegovo plovilo ne bo več dolgo zdržalo, toda po kratkem dogovarjanju je Betsy spet ubrala smer proti domu in izčrpano, obupano posadko potapljajoče se ladje prepustila lastni iznajdljivosti. Betsy še ni bila prav dolgo v pristanišču, ko se je razvedelo, da so v zalivu ljudje v smrtni nevarnosti, in dve posadki prostovoljcev sta se nemudoma odpravili na pomoč. A bilo je prepozno. Active je že ležala na morskem dnu. Kapitana in tri njegove može pa so vendarle rešili in čez nekaj dni je ves Marblehead govoril o njihovi hudi obtožbi zoper kapitana ladje Betsy.
Neke mesečne noči je Flooda Iresona prebudilo trkanje na vratih. Ko jih je odprl, ga je zgrabila skupina someščanov, ga molče odvlekla na samoten kraj, slekla, zvezala ter premazala s katranom in povaljala v perju. Ob svitu so ga vrgli v star ploščat čoln in ga v njem vlekli po cestah, dokler ni čolnu odpadlo dno, nato pa so ga naložili na voz in sprevod je nadaljeval pot vse do Salema. Tamkajšnji mestni odborniki so druščino obrnili nazaj in del poti proti domu je voz vlekla posmehljiva množica prodajalk rib. Iresona so izpustili šele, ko je bil že na skrajnem robu telesne vzdržljivosti. Ko so mu prerezali vezi, je mirno dejal: »Hvala za vožnjo, gospodje, a prišel bo dan, ko jo boste obžalovali.«
Nekateri bolj preudarni someščani so verjeli, da je kapitan nedolžen, in so krivdo za to, da so potapljajočo se ladjo prepustili usodi, pripisovali Iresonovi uporniški posadki. Spet drugi, tisti, ki zanikajo prav vse, verjamejo, da je vsa zgodba izmišljena. Ti ljudje še lastnim dedom nočejo verjeti. Po tej dogodivščini je Ireson postal mračen in brezobziren do sebe. Zdelo se je, da se mu niti ne zdi vredno poskušati oprati svojega imena. Včasih je bilo videti, kakor da skuša z nasilnim vedenjem in grenkimi besedami izzvati kakega vročekrvnega someščana, da bi ga ubil. Umrl je za posledicami hude podhladitve, potem ko ga je veter v ribiški jadrnici odnesel na odprto morje — po mnenju nekaterih po njegovi lastni volji.
Izvirnik
140 Skipper Ireson's Ride
Naslednje strani prikazujejo izvirno besedilo za primerjavo.
Flood, Fluid, or Floyd Ireson (in some chronicles his name is Benjamin) was making for Marblehead in a furious gale, in the autumn of 1808, in the schooner Betsy. Off Cape Cod he fell in with the schooner Active, of Beverly, in distress, for she had been disabled in the heavy sea and was on her beam ends, at the mercy of the tempest. The master of the Active hailed Ireson and asked to be taken off, for his vessel could not last much longer, but the Betsy, after a parley, laid her course again homeward, leaving the exhausted and despairing crew of the sinking vessel to shift as best they might. The Betsy had not been many hours in port before it was known that men were in peril in the bay, and two crews of volunteers set off instantly to the rescue. But it was too late. The Active was at the bottom of the sea. The captain and three of his men were saved, however, and their grave accusation against the Betsy's skipper was common talk in Marblehead ere many days.
On a moonlight night Flood Ireson was roused by knocking at his door. On opening it he was seized by a band of his townsmen, silently hustled to a deserted spot, stripped, bound, and coated with tar and feathers. At break of day he was pitched into an old dory and dragged along the roads until the bottom of the boat dropped out, when he was mounted in a cart and the procession continued until Salem was reached. The selectmen of that town turned back the company, and for a part of the way home the cart was drawn by a jeering crowd of fishwives. Ireson was released only when nature had been taxed to the limit of endurance. As his bonds were cut he said, quietly, “I thank you for my ride, gentlemen, but you will live to regret it.”
Some of the cooler heads among his fellows have believed the skipper innocent and throw the blame for the abandonment of the sinking vessel on Ireson's mutinous crew. There are others, the universal deniers, who believe that the whole thing is fiction. Those people refuse to believe in their own grandfathers. Ireson became moody and reckless after this adventure. He did not seem to think it worth the attempt to clear himself. At times he seemed trying, by his aggressive acts and bitter speeches, to tempt some hot-tempered townsman to kill him. He died after a severe freezing, having been blown to sea--as some think by his own will--in a smack.
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