泰坦尼克号“最后的午餐”菜单拍出8.8万美元

 　　The Titanic's last lunch menu, saved by a first-class passenger who climbed aboard a lifeboat whose crew was said to have been bribed¹ to row away instead of rescue more people, sold at auction² for $88,000 on Wednesday.

　　泰坦尼克号“最后的午餐”菜单上周三以8.8万美元的价格被拍卖。这份菜单是一位登上救生艇的头等舱乘客保留下来的，据说该救生艇的船员收受贿赂，被要求驶离沉船，而不再救更多人。

　　The online New York auctioneer Lion Heart Autographs offered the menu and two other previously³ unknown artifacts from Lifeboat 1.

　　纽约网上拍卖商“狮心真迹”展出了这份菜单及另外两件来自救生艇一号的此前未公开的藏品。

　　Abraham Lincoln Salomon was among a handful of first-class passengers who boarded the lifeboat, dubbed⁴ the Money Boat or Millionaire's Boat by the press because of unfounded rumors⁵ one of them bribed seven crew members to quickly row the boat away from the sinking ocean liner.

　　亚伯拉罕?林肯?所罗门是登上救生艇的少数头等舱乘客之一。这一救生艇被媒体称为“金钱舟”或“富翁艇”，因为流言称船上某人买通了七位船员，让他们赶快把船驶离沉船海域。

　　最后的午餐

　　The menu, which lists corned beef, dumplings and other savory⁶ items, is signed on the back in pencil by another first-class passenger, Isaac Gerald Frauenthal, who escaped on another lifeboat. It's believed the two men lunched together that fateful day in 1912.

　　这份写有咸牛肉、饺子和其它美味食品的菜单，背面有另一位头等舱乘客艾萨克?格拉尔德?富兰恩德尔的铅笔签名，他登上了另一艘救生艇。人们认为，这两位先生曾在1912年那个灾难性的日子共进午餐。

　　Salomon also took away a printed ticket from the Titanic's opulent Turkish baths, which recorded a person's weight when seated in a specially⁷ designed upholstered lounge chair. The ticket bears the names of three of the five other first-class passengers with him on Lifeboat 1. One of four weighing chair tickets known to exist, it sold for $11,000.

　　所罗门还从泰坦尼克号众多的土耳其浴盆里，拿走了一张盖了印的票。当人坐在特殊设计的，装有软垫的躺椅上，土耳其浴盆可记录他的体重。那张票上有和他同在救生艇一号上的三位头等舱乘客的名字。当时救生艇上除了所罗门，一共还有五名头等舱乘客。四张称重椅票中，有一张被确认存在，并拍出1.1万美元。

　　A letter written by Mabel Francatelli to Salomon on New York's Plaza⁸ Hotel stationery⁹ six months after the disaster fetched $7,500. Francatelli had climbed into Lifeboat 1 with her employer, aristocratic fashion designer Lucy Duff-Gordon and her Scottish husband, Lord Cosmo Duff-Gordon, who was rumored¹⁰ to have bribed the crew to row them to safety in the boat, which had a capacity of 40.

　　那场灾难发生六个月后，梅布尔?弗兰卡特利于纽约广场酒店通讯室写给所罗门的一封信，被拍出7500美元。弗兰卡特利跟随她的雇主、贵族时尚设计师露西?达夫-戈登及她的苏格兰籍丈夫，斯莫达夫-戈登勋爵，登上救生艇一号。传言达夫-戈登曾贿赂船员，让船员开着可容40人的救生艇，送他们到安全的地方。

　　The Duff-Gordons, the only passengers to testify about the disaster, were cleared by the British Wreck¹¹ Commissioner's inquiry¹², which determined¹⁴ that they did not deter¹³ the crew from attempting to rescue other people but that others might have been saved if the boat had turned around.

　　达夫-戈登夫妇是唯一需要为那场灾难出庭作证的乘客，后来经过英国船难委员会的审讯，被宣告无罪。委员会裁定，在救生艇回头可以救援更多人的情况下，达夫-戈登夫妇并没有阻止船员尝试施救。

　　"We do hope you have now quite recovered from the terrible experience," Francatelli wrote to Salomon. "I am afraid our nerves are still bad, as we had such trouble & anxiety added to our already awful experience by the very unjust inquiry when we arrived in London."

　　“我非常希望你现在能从那段可怕的经历中恢复过来。”富兰恩德尔在给所罗门的信中写道：“恐怕我们的精神状态依然很差，由于我们在到达伦敦时所受的不公正调查，在我们可怕的经历外，又增加了麻烦和焦虑。”

　　Lion Heart Autographs said the seller was the son of a man who was given the items by a descendent¹⁵ of one of the survivors¹⁶ of the lifeboat. It did not identify the buyers.

　　“狮心真迹”称，一位先生从当年救生艇上一位幸存者处得到此物，而卖家是这位先生的儿子。不过该拍卖商没有透露拍得菜单的买家。

　　Vocabulary

　　liner: 班轮

　　corned beef: 咸牛肉

　　upholstered: 装上软垫的

1 bribed   

v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• They bribed him with costly presents. 他们用贵重的礼物贿赂他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He bribed himself onto the committee. 他暗通关节，钻营投机挤进了委员会。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 auction   

n.拍卖；拍卖会；vt.拍卖

参考例句：

• They've put the contents of their house up for auction.他们把房子里的东西全都拿去拍卖了。
• They bought a new minibus with the proceeds from the auction.他们用拍卖得来的钱买了一辆新面包车。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 savory   

adj.风味极佳的，可口的，味香的

参考例句：

• She placed a huge dish before him of savory steaming meat.她将一大盘热气腾腾、美味可口的肉放在他面前。
• He doesn't have a very savory reputation.他的名誉不太好。

7 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

8 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

9 stationery   

n.文具；(配套的)信笺信封

参考例句：

• She works in the stationery department of a big store.她在一家大商店的文具部工作。
• There was something very comfortable in having plenty of stationery.文具一多，心里自会觉得踏实。

10 rumored   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.传闻( rumor的过去式和过去分词 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• It is rumored that he cheats on his wife. 据传他对他老婆不忠。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It was rumored that the white officer had been a Swede. 传说那个白人军官是个瑞典人。 来自辞典例句

11 wreck   

n.失事，遇难；沉船；vt.(船等)失事，遇难

参考例句：

• Weather may have been a factor in the wreck.天气可能是造成这次失事的原因之一。
• No one can wreck the friendship between us.没有人能够破坏我们之间的友谊。

12 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

13 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

14 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

15 descendent   

adj. 下降的, 降落的, 世袭的 n. 后代，子孙 =descendant

参考例句：

• With no direct descendent, who will succeed to the title? 没有直系后裔，谁来继承爵位呢？
• He is a descendent of Queen Victoria. 他是维多利亚女王的后代。

16 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者