-
Before
he
sailed
round
the
world
single-handed,
Francis
Chichester
had
already
surprised
his
friends several times.
He had tried to fly round the world but failed.
That was in 1931.
The
years
passed.
He
gave
up
flying
and
began
sailing.
He
enjoyed
it
greatly.
Chichester
was
already 58 years old
when he won the first solo transatlantic sailing
race. His old dream of going
round the
world came back, but this time he would sail. His
friends and doctors did not think he
could do it, as he had lung cancer. But
Chichester was determined to carry out his plan.
In August,
1963, at the age of nearly
sixty-five, an age when many men retire, he began
the greatest voyage
of his life. Soon,
he was away in this new 16-metre boat, Gipsy Moth.
Chichester
followed the route of the great nineteenth century
clipper ships. But the clippers had
had
plenty of crew. Chicheater did it all by himself,
even after the main steering device had been
damaged by gales. Chichester covered
14, 100 miles before stopping in Sydney,
Australia. This
was more than twice the
distance anyone had previously sailed alone.
He arrived
in Australia
on 12 December,
just
107
days
out
from
England.
He
received
a
warm
welcome from the
Australians and from his family who had flown
there to meet him. On shore,
Chichester
could not walk without help. Everybody said the
same thing: he had done enough; he
must
not go any further. But he did not listen.
After
resting
in
Sydney
for
a
few
weeks,
Chichester
set
off
once
more
in
spite
of
his
friends'
attempts
to
dissuade
him.
The
second
half
of
his
voyage
was
by
far
the
more
dangerous
part,
during which he sailed
round the treacherous Cape Horn.
On 29 January he left
Australia. The mext night, the blackest he had
ever known, the sea became
so
rough
that
the
boat
almost
turned
over.
Food,
clothes,
and
broken
glass
were
all
mixed
ately, the damage to the boat was not
too serious. Chichester calmly got into bed
and went to he woke up, the sea had
become calm again. Still, he could not help
thinking that if anything should
happen, the nearest person he could contact by
radio, unless there
was a ship nearby,
would be on and island 885 miles away.
After
succeeding
in
sailing
round
Cape
Horn,
Chichester
sent
the
followiing
radio
message
to
London:
Cape Horn and that
sinister Southern Ocean again.
Just
before
9
o'clock
on
Sunday
evening
28
May,
1967,
he
received
back
in
England,
where
a
quarter of a million people were
waiting to welcome him. Queeh Elizabeth II
knigthed him with
the very sword that
Queen Elizabeth I had sailed round the world for
the first time. The whole
voyage
from
England
and
back
had
covered
28,
500
miles.
It
had
taken
him
nine
months
,
of
which the
sailing time was 226 days. He had done what he
wanted to accomplish.
Like many other adventurers, Chichester
had experienced fear and conquered it. In doing
so, he
had
undoubtedly
learnt
something
about
himself.
Moreover,
in
the
modern
age
when
human
beings depend so much
on machines, he had given men throughout the world
new pride.
参考译文：
弗朗西斯
·
奇切斯特在六十五岁时开始了只身环球航行。本文记述的就是这一冒险故事。
弗朗西斯
?
奇切斯特在独自驾船作环球航行之前，已有好几次让他的朋友们感到吃惊了。他
曾试图作环球飞行，但没有成功。那是
1931
年。
好多年过去了。
他放弃了飞行，
开始航海。他领略到航海的巨大
乐趣。
奇切斯特在首届横渡
大西洋单人航海赛中夺魁时，
已经五十八岁。
他周游世界的宿愿重又被唤起，
不过这一次他
是要驾船环游。
由于他患有肺癌，
朋友们和医生们都
认为他不该去，
但奇切斯特决意实施自己的计划。
1966
年
8
月，
在他快满
六十五岁的时候
—
许多人在这个年龄已经退休
< br>—
他开始了一生中最了不起
的一次航海。不久，他就驾着
那艘
16
米长的新船吉普赛
·
莫思号启程出海了。
奇切斯特沿着十九世纪大型三桅帆船的航线航行。
不过，
三桅帆船拥有众多船员，
而奇切斯
特却是独个儿扬帆破浪，即使在主要转舵装置被大风刮坏之后仍是这样。
奇切斯特一直航行了
14,100
英里，到了澳大利亚的悉尼港才停船靠岸。这段航程比以往单<
/p>
人驾舟航海的最远航程还多一倍多。
他于
12
月
12
日抵达澳大利亚，
这一天正是他离开英国
的一百零七天。
他受到澳
大利亚人和乘飞机专程前去迎接他的家人们的热烈欢迎。
奇切斯特
上岸后，得由人搀扶着才能行走。大家众口一词，
说他已航行得够远了，不要再继续向
前航
行了。但他却置若罔闻。
在悉尼休息了几周之后，
他不顾朋友
们的多方劝阻，
再次扬帆出航。
这后半段航程更为艰险，
在此期间，他绕过了险情四伏的合恩角。
1
月
29<
/p>
日他驶离澳大利亚。第二天夜晚
—
这是他
所经历过的最黑暗的一个夜晚
—
海面上波
涛汹涌，小船几乎被风浪掀翻。
食物、衣服还有碎玻璃全都混杂在一起了。
幸好小船遭到的
损坏还不算太严重。奇切斯特镇静地钻进被窝，睡着了。<
/p>
等他醒来
时，大海又恢复了平静。然而，他仍禁不住想到，要是果真有什么意外，他能借无
线电联
系上的人最近的也要在
885
英里外的岛上，除非附近哪儿有条
轮船。
奇切斯特成功地绕过合恩角以后，便通过无线电给伦敦发去如下电文：
“
我觉得好像刚从恶
梦中醒来。就是野马也休想再把我拖回到合恩角和那凶险莫测
的南大洋去了。
NEW WORDS
single-handed
a & ad. (done) by one person alone
单独的（地）
adventure
n.
冒险（活动）
solo
a. single-handed
单独的
transatlantic
a. crossing the Atlantic Ocean
横度大西洋
lung
n. part of the body with which one
breathes
肺
cancer
n.
癌
determined
a. with one's mind firmly made up
下定了决心的
determine
v.
determination
n.
retire
vi. stop
working at one's job(because of age)
退休
voyage
n. sea journey
航海；航行
route
n. way from one place to another
路线
clipper
n.
快速帆船
crew
n. group of people who work
together on a ship or aeroplane
全体船员；全体乘务员
steer
vt. make (esp. a boat or road vehicle)
go in a particular direction
为
...
撑舵
device
n. a piece of
equipment
设备；装置
steering device
n.
操舵装置
damage
vt. cause harm or injury to
损坏
ad. harm, injury
损坏
gale
n. very strong wind
大风
cover
vt. travel (a certain
distance)
行过（一段距离）
previously
ad. before
以前
previous
a.
attempt