拖船底海盗酷刑——人类历史上最严酷的惩罚：英语精读讲义

Back during the ancient world and the Middle Ages, the ship represented the pinnacle of the military. 習語

早在古代和中世纪，舰船就代表着军事力量的巅峰。

The ship was a sacred thing,

舰船是神圣的存在，

and as time went by, 短語搭配

随着时间推移，

it was those who ruled the waves that became the most powerful nations. 語法

掌控海洋的国家成了最强大的国家。

But during the Age of Discovery, 文化背景

但到了大航海时代，

when ships were discovering new worlds and crossing vast oceans,

船只探索新世界、横渡浩瀚海洋时，

life was tough for sailors.

水手的日子十分艰苦。

The Age of Discovery was also an era of mutiny.

大航海时代也是一个叛乱频发的年代。

When an aggrieved crew turned against their captain, 短語動詞

当心怀不满的船员反抗船长时，

all hell could break loose, 習語

局面可能彻底失控，

and there was nowhere to hide.

而且无处可躲。

That's why some particularly horrifying punishments were reserved for out-of-control sailors. 短語搭配

正因如此，一些格外骇人的刑罚专门用来对付失控的水手。

Welcome to keelhauling.

欢迎了解拖龙骨刑。

Our viewers have likely seen the movies that depict mutinies on ships

观众们大概都看过描绘船上叛乱的电影，

or sailors that no longer follow commands.

或见过水手不再服从命令的情节。

For their transgression,

对于他们的过错，

the punishment had to be quite severe,

惩罚必须相当严厉，

because when you're in the middle of the ocean,

因为当你身处茫茫大海中央时，

you just can't afford to let things slide. 習語

根本不能对任何问题听之任之。

On the other hand, 表達脈絡

但另一方面，

if a captain is too stern,

如果船长过于严苛，

this might create a conspiracy to take him out, 短語動詞

船员也可能密谋除掉他，

and that's what we call mutiny.

这就是我们所说的叛乱。

Maybe the most well-known of those was the mutiny on the Bounty. 文化背景

其中最著名的或许就是邦蒂号叛变。

A captain had to be hard, but fair,

船长必须强硬，但也要公正，

lest he lose the respect of his crew. 語法

否则就会失去船员的尊重。

The most common types of punishment then were not keelhauling,

当时最常见的惩罚并不是拖龙骨刑，

which could be said to be the most severe form.

后者可以说是最严酷的一种。

It was most likely that the offending sailor would receive some strokes of the cane,

犯错的水手更可能挨几下藤条，

or worse, the whip.

或者更糟，挨鞭子。

He might simply be tied to the mast and left to think about what he'd done.

他也可能只是被绑在桅杆上，独自反省自己的所作所为。

But let's say a sailor had been part of a mutiny,

但假设某个水手参与了叛乱，

and that mutiny had failed.

而叛乱失败了。

Or what if the villains of the seas, the pirates,

又或者，海上的恶徒——海盗

had wanted to come down hard on someone? 習語

想狠狠惩治某个人呢？

What was the worst thing they could do?

他们能使出的最狠手段是什么？

Well,

嗯，

they might be hanged,

他们可能会把人绞死，

but it was a particularly painful type of hanging,

但这种绞刑尤其痛苦，

because rather than being dropped, 語法

因为受刑者不是被突然坠下，

the person would be pulled up while his head was on the noose.

而是脖子套着绳圈，被慢慢拉上去。

He would be run up something called the yardarm, 講解

他会被吊上一个叫“帆桁”的地方，

which was part of the timber cross section of the mast

那是桅杆上横向木梁的一部分，

from where the sails are set.

船帆就从那里展开。

There was a case of hanging by the yardarm in 1860

1860年曾发生过一起帆桁绞刑，

that happened to the Royal Marine John Dalinger on the HMS Leven.

受刑者是HMS Leven号上的英国皇家海军陆战队员John Dalinger。

There was also cases where men were thrown overboard,

也有把人扔下船的案例，

but in one infamous instance of this happening,

但在一次臭名昭著的事件中，

the men hadn't committed a crime.

那些人并没有犯罪。

The crime was against them.

罪行是加诸他们身上的。

It's now known as the Zong Massacre, 文化背景

这起事件如今被称为“宗号大屠杀”，

and 130 slaves were thrown overboard a British ship.

一艘英国船上的130名奴隶被扔进海里。

And then there's the punishment you might have all heard of from reading books or watching movies about pirates,

还有一种刑罚，大家可能都从海盗题材的书籍或电影里听说过，

and that's the ghastly treatment that involved having a man to walk the plank and into the ocean. 習語

那就是逼人走跳板，直至坠入大海的可怕刑罚。

Despite this being the most recognizable punishment in the era of pirates, 語法

尽管这是海盗时代最广为人知的刑罚，

it's mostly a thing of fiction.

但它基本上只是虚构情节。

There have been some recorded instances,

确实有过一些书面记录，

such as a mutineer in the 18th century confessing that he had made his officers walk the plank while blindfolded,

比如一名18世纪的叛乱者供认，他曾蒙住军官的眼睛，逼他们走跳板，

but the details are sketchy on this, 用詞

但此事的细节含糊不清，

and many believe that it never happened.

许多人认为它根本没发生过。

There are some instances that sound true and were reported in the newspapers of the day, 用詞

也有些听来可信的案例，曾被当时的报纸报道，

but walking the plank was certainly a rare thing to happen.

但走跳板无疑极少发生。

So now we come to keelhauling, 表達脈絡

现在我们来说拖龙骨刑，

which definitely did happen,

这种刑罚确实存在过，

and you might argue was a worse punishment than any of the above.

而且你甚至可以说，它比上述任何刑罚都更残酷。

The keel of the ship is like the backbone of the ship. 習語

船的龙骨就像船的脊梁。

It's the bottom part.

它位于船体最底部。

When someone is hauled under the keel, 文化背景

当一个人被从龙骨下方拖过时，

this is called keelhauling.

这就叫拖龙骨刑。

That person might have been hauled with ropes from one side of the ship to the other,

受刑者可能被绳子从船的一侧拖到另一侧，

or even worse,

或者更糟，

dragged the entire length of the ship

沿整艘船的长度被拖行，

from what are called the bow and the stern. 用詞

从所谓的船头一直拖到船尾。

As you can imagine, 表達脈絡

不难想象，

this would be rather unpleasant,

这种滋味相当不好受，

to say the least. 習語

这还是轻描淡写的说法。

You might think,

你可能会想，

well, if the operation was short enough,

嗯，如果过程够短，

at least you could hold your breath and make it to the other side. 短語搭配

至少还能憋住气，坚持到船的另一侧。

You might then dry yourself off,

然后擦干身体，

issue some apologies,

道个歉，

and be back to work.

再回去干活。

That wasn't really the case, 表達脈絡

事情可没那么简单，

though,

事实上，

because being bashed up against the ship was a painful affair.

因为身体不断撞上船体，是件极其痛苦的事。

There was a good chance bones would be broken,

骨头很可能会被撞断，

or a head injury could mean the person was pulled up dead.

头部受伤甚至可能让人被拉上来时已经死了。

It was actually quite an extreme form of punishment,

这其实是一种极端残酷的刑罚，

because the ships are generally not smooth on the surface of the hull,

因为船壳表面通常并不光滑，

the part of the ship that floats in the water.

船壳就是船体浮在水中的部分。

These wooden ships' hulls were covered in barnacles,

这些木船的船壳上爬满了藤壶，

which are those ultra sharp crustaceans that stick to things.

那是一种附着在物体上、边缘极其锋利的甲壳动物。

We are sure some of you have experienced slipping on a rock and being cut by these razor sharp things.

相信有些人体验过在岩石上滑倒，被这些刀片般锋利的东西割伤。

Now imagine your body being hauled against them with pressure. 語法

现在想象一下，你的身体被用力拖着擦过它们。

The keelhauled man would be shredded all over his body,

受拖龙骨刑的人会全身被割得皮开肉绽，

and he might come out looking like a victim of Freddy Krueger. 講解

出水时可能看起来就像Freddy Krueger的受害者。

It was a fate worse than marooning, 講解

这比被流放荒岛还要惨，

which is when pirates just left people to die on a deserted island.

所谓流放荒岛，就是海盗把人丢在无人岛上等死。

Jokingly, some pirates called this making someone the governor of an island. 習語

有些海盗还开玩笑说，这是让某人去当“一岛之主”。

Back to keelhauling.

回到拖龙骨刑。

Sometimes weight was placed on the man,

有时，人身上还会加挂重物，

so the people pulling him had more control of the movement of his body.

这样拉绳的人就能更好地控制其身体的移动。

There was an upside and a downside to this. 短語搭配

这么做有好处，也有坏处。

He might have actually missed all those sharp barnacles if he went low enough, 語法

如果沉得够深，他或许真能避开那些锋利的藤壶，

but he might also have drowned.

但也可能因此溺水。

This punishment was rare,

这种刑罚很少见，

to say the least,

至少可以这么说，

but there have been depictions of it in paintings going back to ancient times and the Middle Ages. 短語動詞

但早在古代和中世纪的画作中，就已经出现了相关描绘。

There is this picture that was sketched sometime in the 15th or 16th century England.

英格兰有一幅画，大约绘于15或16世纪。

It was discussed in 1880 in British Parliament,

1880年，英国议会曾讨论过这幅画，

when one politician asked the secretary to Admiralty about an instance of keelhauling that had been reported in Italian newspapers.

当时一名议员向海军部大臣询问意大利报纸报道的一起拖龙骨刑事件。

It allegedly happened on the HMS Alexandra, 用詞

据称事件发生在HMS Alexandra号上，

but the Navy denied it had ever happened.

但海军否认此事曾经发生。

There is also a well-known painting that's called The Keelhauling of the Ship's Surgeon of Admiral Jan van Nyssen.

还有一幅名画，名为《Jan van Nyssen海军上将舰上外科医生受拖龙骨刑》。

The event happened on a stationary ship in front of many spectators,

事件发生在一艘停泊的船上，许多观众在场观看，

but it seems the punishment was never supposed to kill the offender, 語法

但这种惩罚似乎本来就不是为了处死犯错者，

but only act as a warning to others who thought about not towing the line, 講解

而只是警告其他不愿“按线行事”的人，

pun intended.

这里有意玩了个文字游戏。

That expression is a reference from the Navy.

这个说法源自海军。

Historians have written that keelhauling did happen in the Dutch Navy.

历史学家曾写道，荷兰海军确实使用过拖龙骨刑。

They described as we have,

他们的描述与我们所说的一样，

saying that the man was lowered on pulleys and ropes into the water, 短語搭配

受刑者会被滑轮和绳索放入水中，

and weights were attached to him.

身上还会绑上重物。

He was then pulled back up the other side of the ship.

随后，他会从船的另一侧被拉上来。

Although it's also written that he might have been given some time to get his breath back, 短語搭配

还有记载说，受刑者或许会得到一点时间缓口气，

and then it started again.

然后刑罚再次开始。

This was apparently much more severe in the winter

显然，这种刑罚在冬天严酷得多，

when the water was freezing cold,

因为海水冰冷刺骨，

and severe injury could happen due to the man hitting his head.

而且受刑者可能因撞到头部而严重受伤。

It wasn't supposed to be a death sentence,

这种刑罚本来并不以处死为目的，

though.

不过话虽如此。

In the case of this keelhauling,

在这次拖龙骨刑中，

it was under the command of a 17th century Dutch admiral named Jan van Nyssen. 短語搭配

下令者是一位名叫Jan van Nyssen的17世纪荷兰海军上将。

We just can't find any resource

我们实在找不到任何资料，

that tells us what the guilty surgeon had done to deserve this wicked treatment.

说明那名有罪的外科医生究竟做了什么，才遭受如此残酷的对待。

Keelhauling is described in a book called A Relation of Two Several Voyages made into the East Indies,

《A Relation of Two Several Voyages made into the East Indies》一书记载了拖龙骨刑，

that was published in 1700.

该书出版于1700年。

Again,

再说一次，

it's the Dutch that did

这事是荷兰人干

it. Here's an excerpt from that book.

的。以下是书中的一段摘录。

He that strikes an officer or master of the ship 語法

任何殴打军官或船长之人，

is without hopes of pardon 用詞

都休想得到宽恕，

to be thrown into the sea,

必须被扔进海里，

fastened by a rope,

身上系着一根绳子，

with which he is thrown in on one side of the ship,

靠这根绳子从船的一侧被投入水中，

and drawn up again on the other. 短語動詞

再从另一侧拉上来。

And so three times together he is drawn round the keel of the ship.

如此连续三次，绕过船的龙骨。

In the doing of which,

在执行过程中，

if they should chance not to allow rope enough to let him sink below the keel, 語法

如果绳子碰巧放得不够长，没能让他沉到龙骨下方，

the malefactor might have his brains knocked out. 用詞

罪犯的脑袋可能会被撞得稀烂。

It sounds like the lower the man sank, 語法

听起来，那个人沉得越深，

the better his chances were of keeping his head intact and not being sliced by barnacles.

保住脑袋、避免被藤壶割伤的机会就越大。

There are other cases of keelhauling that were described in the journal of Dutch admiral named Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp.

荷兰海军上将Maarten Harpertszoon Tromp的日志中还记载了其他拖龙骨刑案例。

In 1639,

1639年，

he described something similar to the above.

他描述了与上述情况相似的事件。

In the 18th century,

到了18世纪，

a piece of writing by an Englishman said,

一名英格兰人的文章写道：

"The English don't do it,

“英格兰人不用这种刑罚，

but the French do.

但法国人会用。

One instance is described when a French sailor went around the ship five times."

据记载，有一名法国水手曾被拖着绕船五圈。”

It was published in November of 1869,

文章发表于1869年11月，

in a publication called Onward Magazine.

刊登在《Onward Magazine》上。

The person who witnessed this and wrote about it

目睹此事并写下记录的人

said the sailor had injuries of the most serious nature, 用詞

说，那名水手必然会遭受极其严重的伤害，

or death itself,

甚至死亡，

certain of being the result.

结果必然二者之一。

Ah, matey. 用詞

啊，伙计。

Now that you've gotten through this video,

既然你已经看完了这段视频，

let's stick together and watch another.

那就继续和我们一起看下一段吧。

We've picked two for you,

我们为你挑了两个，

so choose this one over here

可以选择这边这个，

or this video here.

或者这里这段视频。

Pick now,

现在就选，

or you might end up keelhauling yourself. 短語動詞

否则你说不定得给自己来一次拖龙骨刑。

Just kidding. 語氣意圖

开玩笑的。

Or are we?

还是说，我们没开玩笑？