The Titanic story is a gripping1) tale of bravery and frailty2). One can easily feel that through the stories of people aboard it.
“泰坦尼克”号的故事扣人心弦，既展示了人性的勇敢，也暴露了人性的弱点。读读“泰坦尼克”号上那些人的故事，你很容易就能感受到。
Douglas Spedden 道格拉斯・斯佩登
little boy who held a white teddy bear 怀抱白色泰迪熊的小男孩
Douglas Spedden was just seven when his rich parents took him on his ill-fated first cruise3). He knew nothing of the disaster. The entire family escaped in lifeboat No. 3, but Douglas carried on sleeping clutching his white teddy bear Polar. He woke to a rising sun and towering icebergs. "Look at the beautiful North Pole," he cried, "with no Santa Claus on it!" Back home in New York, the family tried to put the disaster behind them. Fate was not kind to them. Tragically, young Douglas escaped one disaster only to be claimed by another. It was ironic that he was to die the victim of another wonder of the modern age, killed in a car accident in 1915.
But that was not the end of the story. A relative discovered a storybook his mother Daisy had written for Douglas in 1913 recounting the voyage through the eyes of a little boy"s toy. Since being published in 1994, Polar the Titanic Bear has sold 250,000 copies.
道格拉斯・斯佩登第一次远航就被自己富有的父母带上了这次不幸之旅，那时的他只有7岁。他对这次灾难一无所知。当他们一家人乘坐3号救生艇逃离危险时，小道格拉斯正紧紧地抱着自己的白色泰迪熊波拉尔沉睡着。醒来的时候，他看到了冉冉升起的太阳和高耸如塔的冰山。“看，多漂亮的北极，”他大声喊着，“上面没有圣诞老公公！”回到纽约的家之后，斯佩登一家试图忘却这场灾难。然而，命运对他们却并不仁慈。很不幸，小道格拉斯虽然在“泰坦尼克”号事件中幸免于难，却被另一场灾难夺去了生命。具有讽刺意味的是，他成了近代另一个奇迹发明(汽车)的牺牲品，在1915年丧生于一场车祸中。
然而，故事并没有到此结束。道格拉斯的母亲黛西曾在1913年为儿子写过一本故事书，从一个小男孩的玩具熊的视角回顾了“泰坦尼克”号之行。后来他们的一位亲戚发现了这本书。自1994年出版以来，这本《泰坦尼克号上的小熊波拉尔》已售出25万册。
Molly Brown 莫莉・布朗
rich woman who defied4) the seaman in charge to take over a lifeboat 奋起反抗管船的
船员并接管所在救生艇的富有女人
As the Titanic went down Molly Brown helped get fellow first-class passengers onto the lifeboats. She was loaded into lifeboat No. 6 with 24 women and two men. It had a capacity of 65. She argued fiercely with Quartermaster Robert Hichens, who refused to return to the ship for fear that survivors in the water would sink the boat. To fight the bitter cold, she taught the other women to row and shared her sable5) coat.
"Later on," she recalled later. "I saw a flare6) from an approaching ship which Hichens dismissed7) as a "shooting star". I threatened to throw him overboard and promptly told the other women to row towards our rescue boat, the Carpathia. On board the Carpathia, Hichens was greeted as a brave and heroic seaman. But as soon as he saw me he made a hasty8) retreat!"
After the disaster Molly spent her time raising funds for poor survivors and fighting for women"s rights. She died after a stroke9) in 1932, aged 65.
“泰坦尼克”号下沉时，莫莉・布朗帮助同在头等舱的乘客登上了救生艇。她被安置在6号救生艇，同行的还有24个女人和2个男人。这艘救生艇可容纳65名乘客，但舵手罗伯特・希琴斯却拒绝返回船上营救更多人，害怕幸存的落水者会使救生艇沉没。为此，莫莉・布朗与他发生了激烈的争执。为抵挡刺骨的寒冷，莫莉教其他女人划船，并拿出自己的貂皮大衣与大家共用。
“不久后，”莫莉后来回忆说，“我看到临近的一艘船发出闪光信号，但希琴斯认为那不过是流星，对此并不理会。我威胁他说要把他扔到海里去，并立即让其他女人把救生艇朝我们的救援船‘卡帕西亚’号划去。登上‘卡帕西亚’号以后，船上的人纷纷称赞希琴斯是勇敢的英雄船员，不过他一看到我就慌忙跑掉了！”
灾难过后，莫莉用自己的余生为贫困的幸存者募捐以及为妇女争取权利。1932年，她因中风辞世，享年65岁。
Captain E.J. Smith E.J.史密斯船长
the master who went down with his ship 随自己的船一同沉没的船长
Mystery still surrounds the fate of Capt E.J. Smith, the highly-experienced skipper10) of the Titanic. The traditional view is that the captain went down at the bridge11) of his ill-fated ship.
Other accounts have him in the water, urging his crewmen to greater efforts. Survivor Charlotte Collyer said later: "A member of the crew tried to pull the captain on board a lifeboat, but he shook his head, cast himself off12) and sank out of sight." His body was never recovered. Nothing had suggested that the man known as the "millionaire"s captain" had a reckless13) streak14). He was one of the most experienced and charming ship"s masters on the Atlantic run.
E.J.史密斯是掌管“泰坦尼克”号的那位经验十分丰富的船长，他的命运至今仍旧是个谜。传统观点认为，他从这艘不幸邮轮的舰桥上跳进了海里。
其他的版本则是这样描述的：史密斯落水后仍旧在催促船员们尽更大的努力营救乘客。一位名为夏洛特・科利尔的幸存者后来回忆说：“一名船员试图把船长拉上救生艇，但他却摇了摇头，放弃了自己的生命，最终淹没在大海里。”人们始终没有找到他的尸体。没有任何资料显示这位被称为“百万富翁们的船长”(编者注：史密斯在乘客中有极高的声望，英国上流社会的许多乘客只搭乘他指挥的船)是个性格鲁莽的人。他是大西洋航线上经验最丰富、最具魅力的船长之一。
Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon 科斯莫・达夫・戈登爵士
he turned into a recluse15) 爵士变成隐士
Sir Cosmo was roundly16) condemned for his alleged conduct in the lifeboat, where he was said to have bribed17) crewmen not to turn back for other survivors in case they upturned the boat in their scramble18) to get aboard.
Sir Cosmo, who became a recluse until his death in 1931, vehemently19) denied the allegations. He said later: "I entered the lifeboat. It was just being filled and there were only women in it. My wife would not go without me. I asked an officer if we could get in the boat and he said, "With pleasure". When the boat was lowered, I realized the Titanic was doomed. I was certain there were no women left on board. At the time, I didn"t think we could save anybody. It is true that I promised presents to the men on the boat as they commented on their loss of kit20). As a result, I promised them 5 pounds towards replacing it."
科斯莫爵士因自己在救生艇上的所作所为遭到了人们的严厉谴责。据说，这位爵士向救生艇上的船员行贿，不让船员回去营救其他乘客，以免那些人争相登船而掀翻救生艇。
科斯莫爵士坚决否认了这些指控。灾难过后，他开始隐居，直至1931年辞世。他在难后曾说：“我登上了救生艇。当时救生艇就要坐满了，里面只有妇女(编者注：‘泰坦尼克’号在救援时让妇女和儿童优先)。我妻子不愿意抛下我自己走，我便问一位军官我们是否可以一起上去，他说‘没问题’。救生艇被放到海里后，我意识到‘泰坦尼克’号完了。我确信船上没有妇女了。在那种时候，我觉得我们没有能力营救任何人。当救生艇上的船员抱怨说他们失去了所有物品时，我确实答应送礼物给他们。因此，我答应给他们每人五英镑代替礼物。”
J. Bruce Ismay J・布鲁斯・伊斯梅
died a broken man 绝望而死
Like Sir Cosmo, Ismay was vilified21) by a grieving world. Chairman and managing director of the White Star Line, he was not only blamed for the sinking of the Titanic by ordering Captain Smith to go faster but condemned for leaping into a half-full lifeboat while Smith and shipbuilder Thomas Andrews went down with the doomed ship. Ismay denied all charges, but the incident left him a broken man.
He recalled later: "I was woken at 11:40pm by a noise which sounded like the Titanic had lost a propeller blade. I made my way up to the bridge only to be informed by Captain Smith that we had struck ice. For the next hour and a half I helped put women and children into the lifeboats. At 1:40am I got into what I believed to be the last boat. I believed I"d done all I could to get women and children into the boats. There were no women and children left on deck."
和科斯莫爵士一样，伊斯梅也受到了沉浸在悲痛中的人们的贬损。作为白星航运公司的董事长兼总经理，他不仅因命令史密斯船长加速前进导致“泰坦尼克”号沉没而受到责备，还因史密斯及造船工程师托马斯・安德鲁斯最终都随这艘注定毁灭的邮轮一起沉没，而他却跳进还有一半座位空着的救生艇中逃生而遭到谴责。伊斯梅否认了所有指控，但这件事却让他从此一蹶不振。
他后来回忆说：“晚上11:40的时候，我被一阵噪声吵醒，听起来像是‘泰坦尼克’号掉了一片螺旋桨叶。我径直来到舰桥，却从史密斯船长那里获知我们的船撞到了冰山。在接下来的一个半小时里，我协助安排妇女和儿童登上救生艇。凌晨1:40，我登上了我所认为的最后一艘救生艇。我觉得自己已经尽全力帮助妇女和儿童登艇了。当时甲板上已经没有妇女和儿童了。”
1. gripping [ˈ�rɪpɪŋ] adj. 吸引人的
2. frailty [ˈfreɪlti] n. (品德或性格上的)弱点
3. cruise [kruːz] n. 航行
4. defy [dɪˈfaɪ] vt. (公然)违抗，反抗
5. sable [ˈseɪbl] n. 紫貂皮；貂皮
6. flare [fleə(r)] n. 闪光信号，照明弹
7. dismiss [dɪsˈmɪs] vt. (从头脑中)去除；不再考虑
8. hasty [ˈheɪsti] adj. 急速的；匆忙的
9. stroke [strəʊk] n. 中风
10. skipper [ˈskɪpə(r)] n. (小商船等的)船长
11. bridge [brɪdʒ] n. (舰船的)桥楼；驾驶台；舰桥
12. cast off: 抛弃，丢弃
13. reckless [ˈrekləs] adj. 不顾后果的，鲁莽的
14. streak [striːk] n. (行为、气质等的)个性特征(或倾向)
15. recluse [rɪˈkluːs] n. 隐士；遁世者
16. roundly [ˈraʊndli] adv. 严厉地；尖刻地
17. bribe [braɪb] vt. 向……行贿
18. scramble [ˈskræmbl] n. (乱糟糟的)争夺，抢夺
19. vehemently [ˈviːəməntli] adv. 强烈地；激烈地
20. kit [kɪt] n. (适应特定需要的)成套用品
21. vilify [ˈvɪlɪfaɪ] vt. 贬低，毁损