“泰坦尼克”號幸存者講述塵封真相

 

    美國《時代》周刊19日文章：她的故事永恒：“泰坦尼克”號幸存者出售自己的故事

　　這艘滿載夢想(以及夢魘)的巨型游輪通過一名幸存者的故事重獲新生。

    The ship of dreams (and nightmares)， has been brought back to life through one survivor's story. Laura Francatelli's account of escaping the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 has sold for 20,000 pounds ($31,000) at auction。

    勞拉-弗蘭卡泰利生前記述她在1912年從正在下沉的“泰坦尼克”號中死里逃生的故事在拍賣中被以2萬英鎊的價格售出。

    The story, which was published for the first time in early October, was bought by an Eastern European collector at auction. Francatelli's tale describes the urgency and fear that manifested on board the Titanic during her final hours, "There was an awful rumbling when she went. Then came the screams and cries. I do not know how long they lasted。”

     今年10月初首次公開發(fā)表的這一故事在拍賣會上被一名東歐收藏家購得。弗蘭卡泰利的故事描述了“泰坦尼克”號沉沒前的幾小時中船上的混亂與恐慌。故事中記載：“在‘泰坦尼克’號沉沒過程中，船體發(fā)出隆隆的響聲，隨后響起了尖叫和哭喊聲。我不知道這種聲音持續(xù)了多久。”

     Francatelli, who was 31 at the time, was traveling with baronet Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon and his wife Lady Lucy Christiana, as his secretary. She boarded one of the last lifeboats which contained just five passengers and seven crew members, whom on hearing the screams, refused to go back to search for more survivors。

     時年31歲的弗蘭卡泰利當(dāng)時是科斯莫-達夫-戈登準(zhǔn)男爵的秘書，正在陪同男爵及其夫人露西-克里斯蒂娜女士旅行。她是最后一批登上救生艇的，那艘艇上只有五名乘客和七名船員。那些船員盡管聽到了呼救聲，但拒絕回去尋找更多的幸存者。

    Francatelli recounts how Duff-Gordon, a prominent Scottish landowner and sportsman, gave the crew members five pounds ($7.87) each for saving their lives, a wage which some have described as "blood money." Her employers refused to go into a lifeboat at first because Duff-Gordon was not allowed on board, as they were designated for women and children only。

    弗蘭卡泰利講述了身為蘇格蘭大地主和運動健將的達夫-戈登是如何給每位船員塞了5英鎊，以報答他們救命之恩的。有人將這筆錢稱作“血腥錢”。她的老板夫婦起初拒絕登上救生艇，因為達夫-戈登被禁止上救生艇，救生艇是專門為女人和兒童安排的。

    But they were then offered places on a smaller rowing boat. She said they "were a long way off" when they saw the Titanic go right up at the back and plunge down. "We had hardly any talk. The men spoke about God and prayers and wives. We were all in the darkness," she wrote as the survivors held tight to each other for warmth and awaited rescue ship, the Carpathia。

    但后來他們被安排進了一艘小型劃艇中。她說，當(dāng)他們轉(zhuǎn)頭看見“泰坦尼克”號的船身垂直，并迅速沉入海中時，救生艇已經(jīng)“走出很遠了”。她寫道，當(dāng)幸存者緊緊抱在一起相互取暖、等待救援船的時候，“我們都沒怎么說話。男人們談著上帝啊、祈禱啊、妻子啊什么的。我們所有人都身處黑暗之中。”

    1,521 passengers were killed in 1912 when the grandest ship in history struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York。

     1912年，這艘史上最宏偉的大船在駛向紐約的處女航中就與冰山相撞沉沒，1521人遇難?！　　　　　　　　　　?/span>