想象一下你是在浩瀚的太平洋上遇到了海难的水手。你有三种选择来拯救自己和难友——但是每个选择都可能有可怕的后果。你如何抉择？通过讲述捕鲸船ESSEX号的故事，小说家卡伦·汤普森·沃克给我们展示了恐惧如何推动我们的想象，如何迫使我们想象将来的可能性以及如何应对他们。
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Karen Thompson Walker
Fiction writer Karen Thompson Walker explores the connection between fear and the imagination.
【全文听写】
【HINTS】
whaleship
Essex
Pacific
Nathaniel Philbrick
Earth
Marquesas Islands
Hawaii
Well, let's return to the year 1819 for a moment, to the situation facing the crew of the whaleship Essex. Let's take a look at the fears that their imaginations were generating as they drifted in the middle of the Pacific. 24 hours had now passed since the capsizing of the ship. The time had come for the men to make a plan, but they had very few options. In his fascinating account of the disaster, Nathaniel Philbrick wrote that these men were just about as far from land as it was possible to be anywhere on Earth. The men knew that the nearest islands they could reach were the Marquesas Islands, 1,200 miles away. But they'd heard some frightening rumors. They'd been told that these islands, and several others nearby, were populated by cannibals. So the men pictured coming ashore only to be murdered and eaten for dinner. Another possible destination was Hawaii, but given the season, the captain was afraid they'd be struck by severe storms. Now the last option was the longest, and the most difficult: to sail 1,500 miles due south in hopes of reaching a certain band of winds that could eventually push them toward the coast of South America. But they knew that the sheer length of this journey would stretch their supplies of food and water. To be eaten by cannibals, to be battered by storms, to starve to death before reaching land. These were the fears that danced in the imaginations of these poor men, and as it turned out, the fear they chose to listen to would govern whether they lived or died.让我们暂时回到1819年，回到Essex号捕鲸船的水手们面临的处境。让我们看看他们在太平洋上漂流时他们的想象力带来的恐惧。此时离捕鲸船倾覆已经过去了24小时。到这些人必须制定计划的时候了，但他们没有太多的选择。纳撒尼尔·菲尔布里克（Nathaniel Philbrick）在其令人着迷的灾难叙述中写到：这些人大概可以说是在地球上的一个离任何陆地都最远的地方。这些人知道他们所能到达的最近的岛屿是1200英里以外的马克萨斯群岛（Marquesas Islands）。但他们听过一些骇人听闻的传言。他们听说这些岛屿以及附近的一些岛屿都居住着食人族。因而这些人想象着上岸只会被杀掉，成为盘中餐。另一个可能的目的地是夏威夷，但考虑到当时的季节，船长担心他们会被猛烈的风暴袭击。现在，最后的一个选项是最远也是最困难的：向南航行1500英里，希望能够进入一个季风带，最终能够被风吹到南美洲的海岸。但他们也知道这样的航行距离将会使他们的食物和水的供应紧缺。被食人族吃掉，被风暴袭击，或是在登陆前饿死。这些就是活跃于这些可怜的人的想象中的恐惧。而事实证明，他们选择听从的恐惧将会决定他们的生死。
——翻译 by 十平 （水平有限，仅供参考） | 
发表于 2016-8-2 13:18:15