Victory for Victoria? 環球航行紀念日
by Jeremy Beacock
On September 6, 1522, a lone sailing ship with a crew of 18 arrived in the Spanish port of Seville. It was the last remaining ship of Ferdinand Magellan's expedition to find a new way to the Spice Islands, but it was also the first ship ever to circumnavigate the globe.
The expedition had set off with 265 men in five ships three years before, and initially, the journey went well. The fleet reached South America in December 1519 and sailed south, resting for a year in modern-day Argentina. However, before reaching the Pacific Ocean, two ships were lost. The expedition crossed the Pacific in four months, and in March 1521, the three remaining ships reached the Philippines. There, Magellan made a fatal error when he got involved in a tribal feud between two local kings. The ensuing battle cost Magellan his life.
The remaining sailors had to abandon the Concepcion and continued to sail the Victoria and the Trinidad westward. In November 1521, they reached the Spice Islands, the goal of the expedition. The crew of the Trinidad decided to return via their original route, but Juan Sebastián Elcano, the captain of the Victoria, continued west with his cargo of spices.
The last part of the journey, however, was terribly difficult because the Victoria lost 20 crew members to starvation, and Elcano had to leave behind 13 more men while fleeing the Portuguese. Nine months after leaving the Spice Islands and three years after leaving Spain, the Victoria barely made it back to Seville and into the history books.
精解字詞片語
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1. remaining a. 剩下的例: Jacob hopes to get perfect scores on the remaining exams. （雅各希望能在接下來的幾科考試中得滿分。）
2. expedition n. 遠征（隊），探險（隊） go on an expedition 去探險，去遠征
例: Those explorers went on an expedition in the Sahara. （那些探險家遠赴撒哈拉沙漠探險。）
3. set off (for...) 出發／啟程（前往……） = set out (for...) 例: Teresa will set out for India next Wednesday. （泰瑞莎下週三將出發前往印度。）
4. initially adv. 最初，起初例: I hated the idea initially, but after you explained it more clearly, I was sold. （起初我討厭這個構想，但當你解釋清楚後便說服了我。）
5. error n. 錯誤 make an error 犯錯例: We all make errors. In other words, no one is perfect. （我們都會犯錯。換言之，天下無完人。）
6. get/be involved in... 涉及／捲入…… 例: Lucy got involved in the disagreement between her boyfriend and her mother. （露西捲入她男友與她母親間的爭執。）
7. cost sb one's life 賠上某人的性命例: The fight in the pub got out of control and cost two people their lives. （酒吧的那場打鬥到了失控的地步，造成兩人死亡。）
8. leave behind.../leave...behind 拋下……；留下…… 例: A lot of trash has been left behind on this mountain by irresponsible hikers. （不負責任的登山客在這座山上留下許多垃圾。）
9. flee vt. 逃離三態為：flee, fled , fled。例: The security camera caught the robbers fleeing the scene. （保全監視器錄到搶犯逃離現場。） 10. barely adv. 勉強地例: Tommy barely made enough money to keep his family fed. （湯米所賺的錢僅勉強可養家糊口。）
單字小舖
1. victory n. 勝利；成功
2. lone a. 孤單的
3. crew n. 船上或飛機上全體工作人員（集合名詞） a crew of 18 18 名船員
= 18 crew members
4. circumnavigate vt. 環航（世界）
5. fleetn. 艦隊
6. modern-day a. 現今的，今日的
7. fatal a. 致命的
8. tribal a. 部落的
9. feud n.（兩世族間的）宿怨，世仇
10. ensuing a. 接著發生的（只用於名詞前）
11. westward adv. 向西地
12. route n. 航線；路線
13. cargo n.（船、飛機、車輛裝載的）貨物
14. starvation n. 飢餓
die of starvation 死於飢餓
中文翻譯
西元 1522 年 9 月 6 日，一艘帆船獨自搭載著 18 名船員抵達西班牙的塞維爾港。這是斐迪南•麥哲倫的遠征隊為了尋找香料群島的新航線，碩果僅存的最後一艘船，同時也是史上第一艘完成航行地球一周的船隻。 3 年前遠征隊啟航，有 5 艘船艦搭載著 265 人，這趟旅程剛開始時一帆風順。艦隊於 1519 年 12 月抵達南美洲，並繼續向南航行，在現今的阿根廷停留了一年。但他們在抵達太平洋前就已經損失了兩艘船。遠征隊在 4 個月內橫渡太平洋，剩下的 3 艘船於 1521 年 3 月抵達菲律賓群島。麥哲倫在這裡犯了一個致命的錯誤，他涉入當地兩位酋長間的部落紛爭。接下來的戰爭讓麥哲倫付出生命的代價。 剩下的水手不得不放棄『康塞普西翁號』，駕駛『維多利亞號』和『特尼達號』繼續向西航行。1521 年 11 月，他們航抵這趟遠征的目的地――香料群島。特尼達號的船員決定照來時的航線回去，但維多利亞號的船長璜•塞巴斯丁•埃爾卡諾則載著香料繼續向西航行。 然而，這趟航程的最後階段十分艱苦，因為維多利亞號上有 20 名船員餓死，而埃爾卡諾為了逃離葡萄牙的攻擊，必須拋下 13 名船員。離開香料群島 9 個月，也就是離開西班牙 3 年後，維多利亞號終於勉強回到塞維爾，並且名流青史。
引用自:長春藤英語 http://www.ivy.com.tw/
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