When we think of pirates, we think of buried treasure and of a map that tells us where the treasure can be found, 当我们想到海盗，我们想到的是埋藏的宝藏，和一张告诉我们去哪里寻找的地图，

if only we can understand the map. Although we like to read pirate stories, 如果看得懂地图该多好，尽管我们喜欢读海盗的故事，

we probably should dislike very much to come upon pirates at night along a lonely ocean shore. 我们或许不太希望在夜晚，在无人的海岸线上碰上海盗。

But that is what happened to Tom Chist in his story, taken from Howard Pyle's famous Book of Pirates. 但这就是发生在汤姆·克里斯身上的故事，来自霍武德·派尔著名的《海盗传说》。

TOM TRAILS THE PIRATES TOM TRAILS THE PIRATES 汤姆跟踪海盗 汤姆跟踪海盗

There had been a thunderstorm that afternoon, and Tom had gone down the beach to bail out the boat in readiness for the morning's fishing. 那天下午雷雨交加，汤姆前往海滩将船里面的水抽出来，准备明天早上的打鱼。

It was full moonlight now, as he was returning, and the night sky was full of floating clouds. 如今月光皎洁，就在他往回走的时候，夜晚的天空布满了乌云。

Now and then there was a dull flash to the westward, and once a muttering growl of thunder, promising another storm to come. 西面会不时的出现隐隐约约的闪光，一旦出现了低沉的隆隆声，那就证明风暴即将来临。

All that day the pirate ship had been lying just off the shore back of the Capes, 海盗船一整天都在海岸不远处的岬角后面漂浮，

and now Tom Chist could see the sails glimmering in the moonlight, spread for drying after the storm. 汤姆·克里斯借着月光看到了闪烁的风帆，准备在风暴过后打开晾干。

He was walking up the shore homeward when he became aware that at some distance ahead of him 他沿着海岸向家走去，突然他意识到在远处，

there was a ship's boat drawn up on the little narrow beach, and a group of men clustered about it. 在他面前出现了一艘舰艇小船，小船在狭窄的小海滩停下，一群人簇拥在那里。

He hurried forward with a good deal of curiosity to see who had landed, 他被好奇心促使着跑上前看看是谁登陆了海岸，

but it was not until he had come close to them that he could distinguish who and what they were. 但直到他走近了才能看清他们是谁，是什么东西。

Then he knew that it must be a party who had come off the pirate ship. 他意识到一定是海盗船上举行了派对。

They had evidently just landed, and two men were lifting out a chest from the boat. 他们很明显只是在登陆，两名男性从船上搬下来一个大箱子。

One of them was a negro, naked to the waist, and the other was a white man in his shirt sleeves, 其中一个是黑人，腰部以上裸体，另外一名是白人，卷着衬衫袖，

wearing petticoat breeches, a hunting cap upon his head, a red bandanna handkerchief around his neck, 穿着裙腿裤，头戴猎狐帽，脖子上戴着大红色的围巾，

and gold earrings in his ears. He had a long plaited queue hanging down his back, and a great knife dangling from his side. 耳朵上是大金环，后背梳着辫子，一把大刀悬挂在腰间。