For two long years I lived the life of a slave1. I worked in escape,but it was never possible. I thought about it day and night. My master3 liked to go fishing in a little boat,and he al-ways took me with him. A man called Moely,and a young boy also went with us.
One day my master said to us,‘Some of my friends want to go fishing tomorrow. Get the boat ready. ’
So we put a lot of food and drink on the boat,and the next morning,we waited for my master and his friends. But when my master arrived,he was alone.
‘My friends don't want to go fishing today,’he said to me. ‘But you go with Moely and the boy,and catch some fish for our supper tonight. ’
‘Yes,master,’I answered quietly,but inside I was excited. ‘Perhaps now I can escape,’I said to myself.
My master went back to his friends and we took the boat out to sea. For a time we fished quietly,and then I moved carefully behind Moely and knocked him into the water. ‘Swim!’I cried. ‘Swim to the shore4!’
My master liked to shoot seabirds and so there were guns on the boat. Quickly,I took one of these guns. Moely was swim-ming after the boat and I shouted to him:
Go back to the shore!You can swim there—it's not too far. I won't hurt you,but if you come near the boat,I'll shoot you through the head!’So Moely turned,and swam back to the shore as quickly as he could.
Then I said to the boy,‘Xury,if you help me,I'll be a good friend to you. If you don't help me,I'll push you into the sea too. ’
But Xury was happy to help me. ‘I'll go all over the world with you,’he cried.
I wanted to sail5 to the Canary Islands,but I was afraid to go too far from the shore. It was only a small boat. And so we sailed6 on south for some days. We had very little water,and it was dangerous country here,with many wild animals. We were afraid,but we often had to go on shore to get more water. Once I used7 a gun to shoot a wild animal. I don't know what animal it was,but it made a good meal.
For about ten or twelve days we sailed on south,down the coast8 of Africa. Then one day we saw some people on the shore—strange,wild people,who did not look friendly. By now we had very little food,and We really needed help. we were afraid,but we had to go on shore.
At first,they were afraid of us,too. Perhaps white people never visited this coast. We did not speak their language,of course,so we used our hands and faces to show that we were hungry. They came with food for us,but then they moved away quickly. We carried the food to our boat,and they watched us. I tried to thank them,but I had nothing to give them.
Just then two big wild cats came down to the shore from the mountains. I think they were leopards9. The people were afraid of these wild cats,and the women cried out. Quickly,I took a gun,and shot10 one of the animals. The second wild cat ran back up into the mountains.
Guns were new to these African11 people,and they were afraid of the loud noise and the smoke. But they were happy about the dead wild cat. I gave them the meat of the dead animal,and they gave us more food and water.
We now had a lot of food and water,and we sailed on. Eleven days later we came near the Cape2 Verde Islands. We could see them,but we couldn't get near because there was no wind. We waited.
Suddenly Xury called to me,‘Look,a ship!’
He was right!We called and shouted and sailed our little boat as fast as we could. But the ship did not see us. Then I re-membered the guns which made a lot of smoke. A few minutes later the ship saw us and turned.
When we were on the ship,the Portuguese12 captain listened to my story. He was going to Brazil and agreed to help me,but he wanted nothing for his help. ‘No,’he said,when I tried to pay him. ‘Perhaps,one day,someone will help me when I need it. ’
But he gave me money for my boat,and for Xury,too. At first,I did not want to sell Xury as a slave,after all our danger-ous adventures13 together. But Xury was happy to go to the cap-tain,and the captain was a good man. ‘In ten years’time,’he said,‘Xury can go free. ’
When we arrived in Brazil three weeks later,I said goodbye to the captain and Xury,left the ship,and went to begin a new life.
1 slave [sleɪv] 第4级 | |
n.奴隶,附件,卑鄙的人;vi.拼命工作 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 cape [keɪp] 第7级 | |
n.海角,岬;披肩,短披风 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 master [ˈmɑ:stə(r)] 第3级 | |
n.(男)主人,雇主;能手,名家,大师;[M-]硕士;v.精通,掌握 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 shore [ʃɔ:(r)] 第3级 | |
n.海岸,海滨,斜撑柱;vt.支撑,支持 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 sail [seɪl] 第3级 | |
n.帆,乘船航行;vt.乘船航行,浮游,启航;vi.驾船航行 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 sailed [seild] 第3级 | |
v.驾驶( sail的过去式和过去分词 );起航;坐船旅行;掠 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 used [ju:st] 第3级 | |
adj.用旧了的,旧的;习惯于…;过去惯/经常;v. 用;习惯(use的过去式) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 coast [kəʊst] 第3级 | |
n.海岸,海滨,滑坡;vt.沿海岸而行;vi.下滑 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
9 leopards [ˈlepədz] 第8级 | |
n.豹( leopard的名词复数 );本性难移 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
10 shot [ʃɒt] 第4级 | |
n.炮弹,射击,射手;v.射击,发出,发芽;vbl.射击,发出,发芽 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
11 African [ˈæfrɪkən] 第3级 | |
adj.非洲的 n.非洲人,非洲居民 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
12 Portuguese [ˌpɔ:tʃuˈgi:z] 第7级 | |
n.葡萄牙人;葡萄牙语;adj.葡萄牙的;葡萄牙人的;葡萄牙语的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
13 adventures [ədˈventʃəz] 第3级 | |
冒险活动( adventure的名词复数 ); 冒险经历; 奇遇 | |
参考例句: |
|
|