Chapter Three
The Ship of Doom
While Jonathan was in Transylvania, his fiancee Mina and her best friend, Lucy, were exchanging letters about Lucy’s recent engagement to an English gentleman named Arthur Holmwood.
Mina was happy for Lucy, but she was also getting a little worried about Jonathan. He had been gone for a very long time and had only sent short letters.1 To celebrate Lucy’s engagement and to relieve Mina’s worries for Jonathan, the two young women decided to vacation together at a small seaside town named Whitby. They rented a room in a guesthouse that overlooked the sea, a small church, and its adjacent graveyard.
1 He had been gone for a very long time and had only sent short letters.
Mina and Lucy became used to sitting on the tombstones in the graveyard because the view was fantastic.2 One day, as Mina was sitting alone, a sailor came by. He stopped to talk, but he kept looking at a strange ship far out to sea.
2 Mina and Lucy became used to sitting on the tombstones in the graveyard because the view was fantastic.
“That ship is sailing very strangely,” he said. “She’s a Russian ship, by the look of her. But she’s moving about in the oddest way. She changes direction with every puff of wind as if no one is steering her.3 We’ll hear more about her before this time tomorrow.”
3 She changes direction with every puff of wind as if no one is steering her.
Key Words
doom (n): định mệnh, số phận (bất hạnh)
fiancee (n): vị hôn thê
exchange (v): trao đổi
recent (adj): gần đây
engagement (n): việc đính hôn
celebrate (v): kỷ niệm, tổ chức lễ mừng
relieve (v): làm yên lòng
vacation (v): đi nghỉ
rent (v): thuê
guesthouse (n): nhà trọ
overlook (v): quan sát từ trên cao
adjacent (adj): kế bên
graveyard (n): nghĩa địa
tombstone (n): bia mộ
come by (v): đi ngang qua
look (v): nhìn
move about (= around) : loay hoay, lòng vòng
direction (n): hướng
puff (n): luồng gió
steer (v): cầm
The sailor’s prediction was right, for the next day after a terrible storm, Mina read the following article in the Whitby town newspaper:
August 8
One of the greatest and most sudden storms on record has just been experienced here, with results both strange and unique.4
4 One of the greatest and most sudden storms on record has just been experienced here, with results both strange and unique.
Shortly before ten o’clock, the stillness of the hot and humid air grew quite oppressive. A little after midnight, a strange sound came from over the sea. Without warning, the storm broke so quickly it seemed most unnatural.5
5 Without warning, the storm broke so quickly it seemed most unnatural.
The waves rose in growing fury, transforming the flat, calm waters into a roaring and devouring monster. The wind roared like thunder and blew with such force that even strong men had difficulty standing up. A sea mist came in, cold and clammy, that made many onlookers imagine that these were the ghosts of drowned sailors. At times this mist cleared, and lightning flashes revealed waves as high as small mountains. Small fishing boats were glimpsed as they made a mad dash into port. The new searchlight on the East Cliff, which was recently installed, was made to work. As each boat arrived safely, the crowd of onlookers let out a great cheer.
Then the searchlight caught a sight that made everyone gasp in fear. The foreign cargo ship spotted earlier before the storm was now much closer and in terrible danger of running aground on the reef.6
6 The foreign cargo ship spotted earlier before the storm was now much closer and in terrible danger of running aground on the reef.
Key Words
prediction (n): lời tiên tri
experience (v): xảy ra
stillness (n): sự yên lặng
humid (adj): ẩm
oppressive (adj): ngột ngạt, oi nồng (không khí)
flat (adj): phẳng lặng, yên tĩnh
roar (v): vang lên ầm ầm, gào thét
devour (v): tàn phá, hủy diệt
clammy (adj): lạnh và ẩm ướt
onlooker (n): người xem
drowned (adj): chết đuối
glimpse (v): thấp thoáng, ẩn hiện
make a dash : lao tới (dash: sự lao tới)
install (v): lắp đặt
let out: lộ vẻ
cheer (n): vui mừng
searchlight (n): đèn pha rọi
cargo (n): hàng hóa
spot (v): nhận ra
aground (adv): mắc cạn
reef (n): đá ngầm
Then came another mass of sea fog, greater than anyone could remember, which cut off all sight of the impending disaster.26 The rays of the searchlight were kept fixed in the direction of the reef, where the sound of the shock was expected.
27 Then came another mass of sea fog, greater than anyone could remember, which cut off all sight of the impending disaster.
The wind suddenly shifted to the northeast, and the sea fog was blasted away. Between the piers, leaping from wave to wave as it rushed at headlong speed, swept the strange schooner before this new wind with all her sails set. It gained the safety of the harbor as the searchlight followed her. This light revealed a sight that made every onlooker shudder in horror. Lashed to the wheel of the ship was a corpse, with a drooping head that swung horribly to and fro at each motion of the ship.27 No other person, dead or alive, could be seen on the deck at all. A great awe came over everyone as they realized this ship had found the safety of the harbor at the hands of a dead man. However, the ship could not slow down. It sped past the piers and hit the sandy beach just under the Whitby chapel with a terrific crash.
28 Lashed to the wheel of the ship was a corpse, with a drooping head that swung horribly to and fro at each motion of the ship.
In the next day’s paper, there appeared a follow-up article:
The coastguard has identified the mystery ship that ran aground during the storm as the Demeter, a Russian ship out of Varna. The corpse tied to the wheel was the captain, and his logbook was found nearby.
Key Words
impend (v): đang đe dọa
disaster (n): tai họa, thảm họa
fix (v): (giữ) cố định
shift (v): chuyển hướng
blast away (v): thổi tan đi
pier (n): cầu tàu, đê chắn sóng
rush (v): lao thẳng
headlong (adj): rất nhanh, kinh hoàng
sweep (v): quét qua
schooner (n): thuyền buồm dọc
lash (v): buộc
corpse (n): xác chết
droop (v): gục xuống
swing (v): lắc lư, chao đảo
deck (n): boong tàu
awe (n): sự kinh hoàng
chapel (n): nhà thờ nhỏ
terrific (adj): khủng khiếp
crash (n): sự đâm sầm
coastguard (n): người gác biển
identify (v): nhận ra
logbook (n): nhật ký hải trình
nearby (adv): không xa, gần đó
Understanding the Story
This work has historical and philosophical background in 18, 19th centuries. Let’s find it out.
Legends of Vampires
Bram Stoker created the world’s most famous vampire, but he was not the first person to think about vampires. Legends about vampires have appeared in many cultures for thousands of years.
In Indian folklore, there is a creature called Rakshasa that acts like a vampire. Rakshasas appear as humans with some animal features like claws or fangs. They not only drink their victim’s blood, but also eat the flesh! They could only be killed by fire, sunlight or a religious ceremony that would kill its spirit.
In Mexico, vampires were mostly female. They were called Tlahuelpuchi. They were born with the curse of being a vampire, but they did not know it until they reached puberty. These vampires had to drink the blood of a baby once a month, or they would die. Garlic, onions and metal were used to make these vampires go away.
During the Dark Ages in Europe, when a person died suddenly and mysteriously in his or her sleep, people began to say that vampires must have killed that person. In this way, vampires represented Death. In order to stop the deaths, villagers would dig up graves to look for the “vampire.” Bodies that were not decayed were thought to be the vampire responsible for the deaths in the village. To “kill” the vampire, villagers then cut off the body’s head, or removed the heart. These European legends influenced Bram Stoker in his creation of Count Dracula.
vampire (n): ma cà rồng
legend (n): truyền thuyết
folklore (n): chuyện kể dân gian
claw (n): vuốt
fang (n): răng nanh
victim (n): nạn nhân
flesh (n): thịt
suck (v): hút (máu)
curse (n): lời nguyền
puberty (n): tuổi dậy thì
garlic (n): củ tỏi
mysteriously (adv): bí ẩn
influence (v): ảnh hưởng, tác động