7 The apple barrel 
　  
　　We sailed at the first light of day. I was more tired than ever before, but everything was so new and interest-ing I would not leave the deck.  
　　‘let's have a song!’cried one of the men. 
　　Long John began to sing that song I knew so well: 
　　Fifteen men on the dead man's chest— 
　　And the whole crew joined with him: 
　　Yo－ho－ho and a bottle of rum! 
　　Even at that exciting moment, I remembered the old Admi－ral Benbow ,and I seemed to hear the voice of old Bill, thr sea－man, singing with them. But soon the sails began to fill with wind, and the land and other ships moved past on each side. The Hispaniola had begun her voyage to Treasure Island. 
　　I am not going to describe the voyage in detail. The ship was indeed a good ship ,the crew were good seamen ,and the captain knew his business well. But Mr Arrow was even worse than the captain had feared. The men did as they pleased with him ,and after a day or two at sea, he began to drink too much. Where he got the drink was a mystery, and if we asked him, he would only laugh. Then one wild, dark night with a rough sea, he disappeared and was seen no more.  
　　‘Fallen overboard!’said the captain.‘Gentlemen, we'll do better without him.’ 
　　But we were without a first officer. Mr Trelawney had been to sea before and knew enough to be useful, and one of the men, Israel Hands, was a careful and experienced seaman who was able to help with almost anything. He was a great friend of Long John Silver. 
　　All the crew liked and even obeyed Silver, and he was always pleased to see me in the kitchen, which he kept as clean as a new pin. He kept his parrot in cage ,in the corner.  
　　‘ I call him Captain Flint,’he told me,‘after the famous pi－rate.’ 
　　And the parrot used to scream,‘Pieces of eight !Pieces of eight! Pieces of eight!’ 
　　The captain and Mr Trelawney still did not like each other, and the squire didn't try to hide it. The captain spoke few words, but agreed that the crew were better than he'd hoprd for ,and that the ship was a fine one. 
　　The crew seemed happy, which was not really surprising. No ship's company was ever so well looked after ,with plenty to eat and drink; and a barrel of apples open for any man to take one. 
　　And it was the apple barrel that saved our lives. 
　　It was the day before we expected to see Treasure Island. The sun had gone down ,all my work was done, and I thought I should like an apple. The barrel was nearly empty and I had to climb right inside to get my apple. As I sat there in the dark, the ship moving gently in the water, I almost fell asleep. 
　　Suddenly ,the barrel shook as a heavy man sat down and rested his shoulders against it. The man began to speak and it was Silver's voice. Before I had heard a dozen words, I was trembling with fear .I understood from those words that the lives of all honest men on the ship depended on me alone!  
　　‘Flint was captain ot me,’said Silver.‘In the same battle that I lost my leg, old Pew lost his sight .But I got two thou－sand when I sailed with Flint——and it's all safe in the bank at home.’ 
　　‘But what if you don't live to get home again?’asked an－other, doubtful voice. I recognized the voice of the youngest seaman aboard.  
　　‘Pirates live rough,’agreed Silver.‘They live dangerously and some get caught and die by the law .But they eat and drink the best, and when the voyage is done, it's hundreds of pounds instead of hundreds ofPence in their pockets. Once I'm back from this trip ,I'll live like a gentleman .But I began life like you—a clever young seaman without a penny in my pocket!’ 
　　‘I didn't like this job until this talk woth you, John,’said the young seaman,‘but I'm with you now.’ 
　　They shook hands so hard that the barrel shook as well, with me inside it.By this time, I understood that Silver had just turned an honest seaman into a pirate.Perhaps every man in the crew was now a pirate! 
　　Silver gave a quiet call and a third man came and sat down with them.‘Dick's with us,’said Silver.  
　　‘I knew Dick was all right,’ replied the voice of Israel Hands.‘But how long are we going to wait? I've had enoughof Captain Smollett.’ 
　　‘Until the last moment!’cried Silver.‘Captain Smollett's a first－class seaman, and the squire and doctor have the map. Let them find the treasure and bring it aboard—then we'll see. I'd rather have Captain Smollett sail us half-way home before I moved, but I know the rest of the men won't wait that long So I'll finish with the captain and the others at the island.’ 
　　‘But what do we do with them?’ asked Dick.  
　　‘They must die, said Silver.‘We don't want them coming home later, to tell what happened Now, Dick ,get me an apple .I'm thirsty.’ 
　　You can imagine my horror! I heard Dick begin to rise ,but Hands said,‘Oh, let's have some rum ,John.’ 
　　Silver sent Dick to fetch the rum, then Israel said something to the cook in a low voice, and I heard only a word or two .But they were important words:‘Not another man will join.’So there were still some honest men on board. 
　　I looked up and saw the moon had risen. At the same time ,the voice of one of the crew shouted:‘ Land!’ 
　　There was the sound of many feet running across the deck. I quickly got out of the barrel and was in time to join Hunter and Dr Livesey and the rest, at the side of the ship. 
　　Away to the south-west,we saw two hills. Rising behind one of them was a third hill, even higher ,and with its top still hid-den in fog. Captain Smollett gave orders ,and the Hispaniola turned so that the ship would sail just clear of the island on the east.  
　　‘Has anyone seen that land before?’he said.  
　　‘I have, sir,’said Silver.‘I was cook on a ship that stopped here once. There's a safe place to anchor in the south, behind a little island called Skeleton Island. Those three hills we can see are on the big island. They're in a row running south-the biggest is called Spyglass.’ 
　　‘Thank you,’said Captain Smollett.‘Later on ,I'll ask you to give us some help.You may go now.’ 
　　Dr Livesey called me ,meaning to ask me to fetch his pipe ,but I spoke quickly.‘Doctor, get the captain and squire down to the cabin. I have some terrible news.’ 
　　He went across and spoke to the other two, then the three of them went below. Soon after ,a message came that I was want－ed in the cabin. 
　　I told them in as few words as possible what Sliver and the others had said, and they listened without speaking. It was a warm night and I saw the moon shining on the sea as I told my story.  
　　‘Captain, said the squire when I'd finished,‘ you were right,and I was wrong.’ 
　　‘But I've never known a crew planning to mutiny that did not show some sign of it before.’ said the captain.  
　　‘That's Silver,’said the doctor.‘He's a very clever man.’ 
　　‘He'd look very clever with a rope around his neck, sir!’replied the captain.‘But we must make a plan .We can't go back, or they would know at once. But we have some time be－fore the treasure is found, and there are some honest men a－mong the crew. Your men, squire?’ 
　　‘As honest as myself,’agreed Mr Trelawney.  
　　‘And ourselves, ’said the captain.‘That's seven, with young Hawkins here .Now, what other honest men are there?’ 
　　‘Probably the men Trelawney chose before he met Silver,’said the doctor.  
　　‘No,’said the squire.‘Hands was one of them.’ 
　　‘Well, gentlemen,’ said the captain.‘We must wait and watch carefully ,until we know our men.’  
　　　 
7 苹果桶 
　  
　　晨曦微露，我们就启航了。我比以前任何时候都累，可是航行对我来说又新鲜又有趣，我一直不愿离开甲板。 
　　“我们唱个歌吧！”一个人建议。 
　　于是高个约翰唱起了我熟悉的老调： 
　　　  
　　十五个人趴着死人箱—— 
　　所有船员都跟着他唱起来： 
　　唷呵呵，快来尝一杯朗姆酒！ 
　　　  
　　即使在这么激动的时刻，我还能记起本葆将军酒店，我好像听见老船长比尔也在和他们一起唱。不一会儿，帆就鼓满了风，陆地和其他的船在两旁迅速地向后退去。伊斯帕尼奥拉号向金银岛的航行开始了。 
　　我不想详尽地描述这次航行。船是条好船，船员也不错，船长也熟稔他的行当。但是埃罗却比船长所担心的更坏。他我行我素，过了一两天以后便开始酗酒。他从哪儿弄来的酒始终是个谜，我们问他时，他只是笑。在一个月黑风高的夜里，他终于失踪了，再也没人见过他。 
　　“他准是掉到海里了！”船长说。“没有他我们会做得更好。” 
　　但我们毕竟少了一名大副。屈利劳尼先生曾当过水手，他的海上知识足够用的。伊斯莱尔·汉兹，船上的一名水手，谨慎且经验丰富，是个几乎任何事都可以托付给他的人。他和高个约翰·西尔弗是至交。 
　　所有的船员都喜欢西尔弗，甚至很听他的话，他总是很高兴我在厨房里，他总是把厨房收拾得干干净净。在一个角落里，他在一个笼子里养着一只鹦鹉。 
　　“我管它叫弗林特船长，”他说，“以那个出名的海盗来命名。” 
　　那只鹦鹉常常叫道：“八个里亚尔！八个里亚尔！八个里亚尔！” 
　　船长和屈利劳尼先生还是互不喜欢，乡绅也毫不掩饰这一点。船长很少说话，但他认为船员比他希望的还好，船也是条好船。 
　　船员们似乎都很高兴。这也不足为怪，因为没有一艘船有这样的待遇。船员们有足够的吃喝，还有一桶苹果，任何人都可以吃。 
　　而正是这苹果桶救了我们的命。 
　　那天是我们预计到达金银岛的前一天。太阳已经落山，我也忙完了手中的活计，我准备吃个苹果。苹果桶快空了，我只好钻进去拿苹果。我在黑暗中坐着，船在水上轻轻颠晃，我都快睡着了。 
　　忽然，苹果桶剧烈地晃了一下，一个人坐下来，倚在苹果桶上。那个人开始讲话，我听出是西尔弗的声音。只听他说几句话，我就吓得直发抖。那些话使我知道船上所有好人的生命都系于我一身。 
　　“那时弗林特是船长，不是我，”西尔弗说。“在那一仗中我失去了这条腿，老皮尤瞎了眼。我和弗林特出海时得到2000英镑——现在存在家乡的银行里。” 
　　“如果你不能活着回去怎么办？”另一个人怀疑地问。我听出那是船上一个最年轻的船员。 
　　“海盗们都很粗暴，”西尔弗说。“海盗们时刻生活在危险之中，其中有些人被抓住后送上绞架。但海盗们吃得好喝得好，一趟出海归来，就会有几百英镑装入腰包，而不是几百便士。我这次旅行回来后，就像个绅士一样生活。我开始时也和你一样——身无分文。” 
　　“在此谈话之前我并不喜欢这个工作约翰，”年轻人说。“但现在我和你一起干了。” 
　　他们俩热烈握手，苹果桶剧烈地晃起来，当时我就在里面。这时我意识到西尔弗已经把一个正直的人变成了海盗。也许船上每个人都是海盗！ 
　　西尔弗轻轻叫了一声，又一个人过来坐在他旁边。“迪克也是我们的人，”西尔弗说。 
　　“我知道迪克是我们的人，”伊斯莱尔·汉兹说。“还要等多久我们才能下手？我已经无法忍受斯摩列特船长了。” 
　　“要等到最后一刻！”西尔弗喊道。“斯摩列特船长是个一流的水手，而乡绅和大夫那儿有藏宝图。让他们去找到宝藏并运上船——我们再作决定。依我看我们应该让斯摩列特船长送我们半程再干掉他，但我知道其余的人肯定等不了这么久。那么我们就在岛上干掉那些人。” 
　　“我们对他们怎么办呢？”迪克问。 
　　“他们必须得死，”西尔弗说。“我们不能让他们有朝一日回去把真相讲出来。迪克，给我拿个苹果来，我口渴得很。” 
　　你可以想像我有多恐惧！我听见迪克已经站起来，可是汉兹说：“噢，约翰，咱们喝点朗姆酒吧。” 
　　西尔弗让迪克去取酒，伊斯莱尔和厨子低语了几句，我只听见几个字，但很重要：“有个人不肯参加我们的行列。”看来还有和我们站在一起的人。 
　　我抬头看去，月亮已经升起来了。正在这时有个人喊道：“陆地！” 
　　甲板上顿时响起了脚步声。我也乘机跳出苹果桶，正好遇上亨特和李甫西大夫等人，便和他们一起冲上船边。 
　　我们朝西南方向望去，可以看见两座小山。其中一座小山后面还有一座高一点的小山，山的顶部还笼罩在雾中。斯摩列特船长下了命令，伊斯帕尼奥拉号掉头从东面靠近小岛。 
　　“有人见过这小岛吗？”他问。 
　　“我见过，先生，”西尔弗说。“我曾在一艘船上做厨子，那船在这儿停过。岛南面有个安全的地方可以下锚，就在那个叫骷髅岛的小岛后面。我们能看见的三座小山在大岛上，它们向南排成一列，那最大的山叫望远镜山。 
　　“谢谢你，”斯摩列特船长说。“以后我还要请你帮忙。你现在可以走了。” 
　　李甫西大夫叫我去给他拿烟斗来，我急促地说：“叫船长和乡绅都到下面船舱去，我有可怕的消息告诉你们。” 
　　他去找那两个人了，然后他们三个人一起下去。不久，有人传话来让我到船舱去。 
　　我尽可能简短地给他们讲了西尔弗和其他人都说了些什么，大家默默地听着。那是一个暖和的夜晚，月光洒满了海面。 
　　“船长，”我讲完后乡绅说，“你是对的，我错了。” 
　　“我还从没遇到过海员酝酿暴乱而不露声色的，”船长说。 
　　“这就是西尔弗，”大夫说。“他是个精明人。” 
　　“他精明得快上绞架啦，先生！”船长答道。“但我们必须想个对策。我们不能返航，那样他们马上就知道了。我们在找到宝藏之前还有时间，船员中还有几个正直的人。你的人如何，乡绅？ 
　　“和我一样可靠，”乡绅说。 
　　“加上我们这些人，”船长说，“一共七个人，包括霍金斯在内。还有其他可靠的人吗？” 
　　“屈利劳尼先生在遇到西尔弗之前选的人也许可靠，”大夫说。 
　　“不，”乡绅说，“汉兹就是他们的人。” 
　　“好吧，先生们，”船长说，“我们必须坐观事态发展，等待摸清敌我之间的情况后再说。” 
　　　    


 