金银岛

第十二部分   Israel Hands 伊斯莱尔·汉兹

Part One

    I lost no time and climbed up the rope on to the deck of the ship . The two men were there , red-cap on his back , Israel Hands against the side , his face white . There was dark blood around them on the deck , and I was sure each had killed the other in their drunken fight .

    Then Israel Hands turned with a low cry of pain . He looked across at me and whispered one word : ‘Rum ' .

    I went below to the cabin where there were empty bottles on the floor and tobacco smoke filled the air . I found a bottle with some rum left in it , and found some water and some bread and cheese for myself . I took the bottle back on deck , where Hands drank half the rum before taking the bottle from his mouth .

    ‘By thunder ! 'he said . ‘I wanted some of that . But where have you come from ?'

    ‘I've come to take control of this ship , Mr. Hands , 'I said , ‘so please remember I'm your captain .'

    He watched me pull down the Jolly Roger and throw it overboard , then he said , ‘I expect you'll want to go ashore now . Suppose we talk about it . ' There was some colour back in his cheeks but he looked very sick . ‘Who's going to sail the ship now ? You can't do it ; but if you give me food and drink and a handkerchief to tie up my wound , I'll tell you how to sail her .'

    ‘All right , 'I agreed . ‘We'll go into North Inlet and quietly put her on the beach there .'

    In three minutes I had the Hispaniola sailing easily before the wind , along the coast of Treasure Island . Then I went below and got a handkerchief and helped Hands tie up the great bleeding wound in his leg . He ate a little and drank more of the rum , then he began to look a little better .

    我不失时机地抓住缆绳，爬上大船的甲板。两个留守的海盗都在甲板上，戴红帽的仰面躺在甲板上，伊斯莱尔·汉兹靠在船舷上，脸色苍白。他们周围的甲板上有斑斑血迹，我断定他们酒醉之后自相残杀，结果同归于尽了。

    这时伊斯莱尔·汉兹翻了一下身，痛苦地呻吟了一声。他看了我一眼，吐出一句话：“朗姆酒。”

    我下到船舱里，地上全是空瓶，空气中充满了烟味。我发现只有一只瓶子里还有一点酒；我给自己找到一些面包干和干酪。我走上甲板把酒递给汉兹，他一口气就喝下去一半。

    “妈的！”他说。“我正需要这个。你是从哪儿来的？”

    “我是来接管这条船的，汉兹先生，”我说。“记住，现在我是你的船长。”

    他看着我降下了骷髅旗，扔到海里，他说：“我看你是想到岸上去。咱们来谈谈吧。”你的脸上露出一点血色，还是很虚弱。“现在谁来驾船呢？你肯定不行；但如果你给我点吃喝，帮我用一块手帕包扎伤口，我会告诉你如何驾船的。”

    “那好吧，”我说。“我要把船开向岛北的水湾，慢慢地登上那里的海滩。”

    不到三分钟我就轻而易举地驾着伊斯帕尼奥拉号沿着金银岛顺风而行了。然后我下去找到一条手帕，帮助汉兹包扎他腿上鲜血直流的伤口。他吃了一点东西，又喝了不少酒，看起来比刚才好多了。