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【簡譯】英國海盜查爾斯·范恩（Charles Vane）

2022-08-17 16:49 作者:神尾智代 0人讀過 | 我要投稿

Captain Charles Vane was an English pirate active in the Caribbean and off the east coast of North America between 1716 and 1720. The pirate, who infamously refused a pardon and instead fired his cannons at the ship of Governor Woodes Rogers in the Bahamas, was eventually captured, found guilty of piracy, and hanged in Jamaica in March 1721.

? ? ? ? ? 查爾斯·范恩船長是1716年至1720年間活躍在加勒比海和北美東海岸的英國海盜。這名臭名昭著的海盜地拒絕了赦免，反而在巴哈馬群島向總督伍德斯·羅杰斯的船只開炮，最終被抓獲，被判處海盜罪，于1721年3月在牙買加絞死。

Charles Vane was a relatively successful pirate, capturing merchant vessels and looting their cargoes from Hispaniola to New York. These attacks were noted for their cruel treatment of captured seamen. Less successful was his grip on his own crew. Vane’s second-in-command once sailed off with a captured ship and then his crew mutinied and replaced him with 'Calico Jack' Rackham. Vane was later shipwrecked on a desert island and when finally rescued he was handed over to the authorities who were keen to make an example of one of the most wanted men in the Caribbean.

? ? ? ? ? 查爾斯·范恩是一個比較成功的海盜，他從伊斯帕尼奧拉島到紐約攔截商船并掠奪其貨物。這些襲擊因其對被俘海員的殘酷待遇而備受關注。他對自己的船員的控制則不太成功。范恩的副手曾經帶著一艘被俘的船出海，然后船員們叛變了，用 "卡里科·杰克" 拉克姆取代了他。范恩后來在一個荒島上遇難，當他最終獲救時，他被移交給當局，當局很想把他變成加勒比海地區(qū)帝國詔安的典型例子。

早期的職業(yè) 生涯

Charles Vane first turned to piracy in 1716 when he joined the crew of the English pirate Henry Jennings who was then based in Jamaica and New Providence (now Nassau) in the Bahamas. Jennings and Vane also made retrieving silver from sunken Spanish galleons in the gulf of Florida something of a specialty, much to the annoyance of the Spanish Crown, which had sent its own salvage crews for that purpose.

? ? ? ? ? 查爾斯·范恩于1716年首次從事海盜活動，當時他加入了英國海盜亨利·詹寧斯的船隊，詹寧斯當時在巴哈馬的牙買加和新普羅維登斯（現(xiàn)在的拿騷）。詹寧斯和范恩還專門從佛羅里達灣沉沒的西班牙大帆船上撈取銀器，這讓西班牙王室非常惱火，因為他們已經派出了自己的打撈人員。

In May 1718, one crew member of a captured ship escaped to testify against Vane to Governor Bennett of Bermuda. Called Nathaniel Catling, the mariner had been aboard the Bermudan sloop Diamond when Vane’s pirate crew attacked it in the Bahamas. Catling reported that he and all of his fellow crew had been beaten up and the ship looted and then burned. Catling had been hanged by the pirates and hacked at with a cutlass but miraculously survived his ordeal.

? ? ? ? ? 1718年5月，一艘被范恩俘虜?shù)拇簧系囊幻瑔T逃跑了，他向百慕大的貝內特總督指證范恩。這名水手名叫納撒尼爾·卡特林，當范恩的海盜團在巴哈馬襲擊百慕大的 "鉆石 "號時，他在船上。卡特林報告說，他和他所有的船員都被毆打，船被搶劫，然后被燒毀。卡特林曾被海盜絞死，并被人用彎刀砍傷，但他奇跡般地活了下來。

Within a week, Catling’s tale was repeated with even worse additions by another seaman who had escaped the clutches of Vane and his crew. One Edward North, captain of another Bermudan sloop, this time the William and Martha, testified to Governor Bennett that he, too, had been attacked, beaten, and robbed. North also recorded that one of his crew had suffered the ignominy of being tied to the ship’s bowsprit and then tortured with burning matches to reveal the location of the ship’s valuables.

? ? ? ? ? 一周內，另一位逃脫了范恩及其船員魔掌的海員重復了卡特林的故事，并加入了更多的內容。另一艘百慕大帆船（這次是威廉和瑪莎號）的船長愛德華·諾斯向貝內特總督作證說，他也曾被襲擊、毆打和搶劫。諾斯還記錄說，他的一名船員遭受了被綁在船頭桅桿上的恥辱，然后用燃燒的火柴折磨他，讓他說出船上貴重物品的位置。

逃離新普羅維登斯島

In August 1718, Vane made his first independent pirate raid and captured a French merchant vessel. Meanwhile, the new governor of the Bahamas, Woodes Rogers (d. 1732), was just arriving at New Providence having been charged with the task of clearing out the notorious pirate den. Unlike his comrade Henry Jennings, Vane had no intention of accepting the pardon Rogers was offering all pirates as this would have meant giving up his recently acquired plunder. Vane was happy enough to keep on pirating and so he escaped New Providence in the fast sloop Ranger, audaciously sending his French capture as a fireship towards the governor’s vessel and firing a cannon shot as he passed for good measure. Vane’s escapade even became news in London, featuring in the press in December.

? ? ? ? ? 1718年8月，范恩進行了他第一次獨立的襲擊，俘獲了一艘法國商船。與此同時，巴哈馬的新總督伍德斯·羅杰斯（Woodes Rogers，卒于1732年）剛剛抵達新普羅維登斯，他的任務是清除當?shù)爻裘阎暮１I窩。與他的戰(zhàn)友亨利·詹寧斯不同的是，范恩無意接受羅杰斯對所有海盜的赦免，因為這意味著他必須放棄最近掠奪的貨物。范恩很高興繼續(xù)從事海盜活動，因此他乘坐快速單桅帆船 "游俠 "號逃離了新普羅維登斯，并大膽地將他捕獲的法國商船燒成一艘火船駛向總督的船只，在經過時向總督船只開了一炮以示警告。范恩的逃亡甚至成為倫敦的新聞，在12月的報紙上出現(xiàn)。

Within two days, Vane captured a bigger sloop and a few weeks later he stepped up again, this time to a slave ship brigantine captured off the Carolinas. The brigantine was renamed Ranger and boasted 12 cannons and a crew of around 80-90 men; the sloop was given to a second-in-command, Yeats. On his rampage of crime, Vane boldly flew two flags: the English flag and a black pirate flag, but this split loyalty was reflected in Vane’s own crew for Yeats soon decided to sail off on his own, slipping away from Vane in the night. Vane sailed in pursuit, caught up with Yeats, and fired a broadside at his sloop but then let him go, despite having a faster ship. The ultimate fate of Yeats is not noted in any historical records.

? ? ? ? ? 兩天之內，范恩俘獲了一艘更大的單桅帆船，幾周之后，他再次出現(xiàn)，這次是在卡羅萊納州附近俘獲的一艘奴隸船雙桅帆船。這艘雙桅船被重新命名為 "游俠 "號，擁有12門大炮和大約80-90名船員；單桅船被交給了副手葉茨。在猖獗的犯罪活動中，范恩大膽地懸掛著兩面旗幟：英國國旗和黑色的海盜旗，但這種分裂的忠誠反映在范恩自己的船員身上，因為葉茨很快決定自己出海，在夜里從范恩身邊溜走。范恩航行追趕，追上了葉茨，向他的單桅帆船開了一炮，但隨后就放他走了，他的船航速更快。葉茨的最終命運在任何歷史記錄中都沒有被注明。

北美東海岸

The authorities pursued Vane, but his crew and ship were too fast. As one naval officer noted: "our sloops gave over the chase, finding he outsailed them two foot for their one" (Konstam, The Pirate Ship, 7). By September 1718, another force, this time sent by Governor Spotswood of Virginia, was in hot pursuit of Vane. This fleet did not manage to capture Vane, but they did assist in the search for another notorious pirate, Stede Bonnet, who was captured and hanged shortly after.

? ? ? ? ? 當局追捕范恩，但他的船員的駕駛技術和船只航速太快了。正如一位海軍軍官所指出的。"我們的雙桅船放棄了追逐，因為他以一敵二"（Konstam, The Pirate Ship, 7）。到1718年9月，另一支部隊，這次是由弗吉尼亞州長斯波茨伍德派出的，正在緊追范恩。這支艦隊沒抓到范恩，但他們另有收獲，找到另一個臭名昭著的海盜斯泰德·邦尼特，后者被抓后不久就被絞死。

Captain Vane visited Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, in October 1718, spending some time at his pirate base on Ocracoke Island, North Carolina. The two pirate crews were said to have enjoyed a week-long party at what was the largest pirate gathering ever to occur in North American waters. Vain then sailed as far north as New York, plundering ships along the way, including two off Long Island. The pirate then turned back to the Caribbean, where he raided ships sailing through the Bahamas. Vane had by now built up quite a pirate fleet and haul of booty, but his return to the Caribbean would soon turn sour.

? ? ? ? ? 范恩船長在1718年10月訪問了愛德華·蒂奇，也就是眾所周知的黑胡子，在他位于北卡羅來納州奧克拉科島的海盜基地呆了一段時間。據說，這兩個海盜團隊在北美水域有史以來最大的海盜聚會上享受了一個星期的聚會。隨后，范恩向北航行至紐約，沿途掠奪船只，包括長島附近的兩艘船。然后，這艘海盜船轉而回到加勒比海，在那里襲擊駛過巴哈馬群島的船只。至此，范恩已經建立了一支相當大的海盜艦隊、搜刮了一大批戰(zhàn)利品，但他回到加勒比海后很快就變了味。

叛變、海難和被俘

Vane was known as a cruel pirate captain, dishing out punishments such as keelhauling, which involved tying a person with rope, throwing them overboard, and then dragging them either under the ship from one side to the other or along the entire length of the ship. More seriously for his captaincy, Vane faced accusations of not sharing out his plunder fairly. There might not have been all that much honour amongst thieves but one point on which pirates were sticklers for the rules was the distribution of booty.

? ? ? ? ? 范恩是著名的殘酷的海盜船長，他實施的懲罰包括：用繩子綁住一個人，把他扔到海里，然后把他從船底拖到另一邊，或者沿著船的整個長度拖。更為嚴重的是，由于其船長身份，維恩不公平地分享其掠奪物。盜賊之間可能沒有那么多的榮譽，但有一點，海盜們對規(guī)則的執(zhí)著是戰(zhàn)利品的公平分配。

On a charge of cowardice based on their leader’s reluctance to attack a well-armed French frigate in the Windward Passage between Cuba and Hispaniola, Vane was relieved of his captaincy in November 1718 by his crew. The mutineers then promoted John Rackham to the role of leader. Otherwise known as 'Calico Jack', Rackham had been Vane’s quartermaster and second-in-command, captaining the captured English vessel Kingston. It may have been that the quarrel was not about cowardice but really because Rackham did not want to share the Kingston’s cargo of liquor. Now independent, Rackham famously acquired the women pirates Anne Bonny and Mary Read for his crew, but he was not any more successful than his predecessor; all three were captured by the Jamaican authorities in 1720.

? ? ? ? ? ?由于范恩不愿意在古巴和伊斯帕尼奧拉之間的向風海峽攻擊一艘裝備精良的法國護衛(wèi)艦，他被他的部分船員指控為懦夫，范恩于1718年11月被其船員解除了船長職務。嘩變者隨后將約翰·拉克姆選舉為領導者。拉克姆被稱為 "卡里科·杰克"，他曾是范恩的軍需官和副手，擔任被俘的英國船只金斯敦號的船長。這場爭吵可能不是因為懦弱，而是因為拉克姆不想分享金斯敦號上的酒。現(xiàn)在，拉克姆獨立了，他的船員中出現(xiàn)了著名的女海盜安妮·邦尼和瑪麗·雷德，但他并不比前任更成功：這三人都在1720年被牙買加當局抓獲。

Meanwhile, Vane had been sent off in a small brigantine with a handful of men to sail it, but things went from bad to worse when a hurricane broke up the ship in the Bay of Honduras and deposited Vane and one other survivor on Baracho Island. The pair were kept alive thanks to some passing turtle fishermen. Fortunately for Vane, a ship stopped by the usually uninhabited island and spotted the marooned pirates. Unfortunately, the captain of the passing ship was Holford, a captain of a ship Vane had previously tried to take over, and when he identified Vane, he simply sailed on. Vane was rescued by another ship, but then he met Holford again, and it was not a case of third time lucky. Holford put Vane in chains and handed him over to the authorities in Port Royal, Jamaica. There Vane was tried for piracy by a Vice-Admiralty court and found guilty in March 1720. After a year in prison, Vane was finally hanged in March 1721. Like Captain Kidd almost 20 years before, Vane’s corpse was hung to slowly rot in a cage on the islet of Gun Cay as a stark and public warning to others of the perils of piracy.

? ? ? ? ? 與此同時，范恩被派到一艘小型雙桅船中，與少數(shù)人一起航行，但事情變得更糟，一場颶風在洪都拉斯灣將船擊碎，范恩和另外一名幸存者被安置在巴拉喬島。由于一些路過的海龜漁民的幫助，這兩人得以保住性命。幸運的是，一艘船在這個通常無人居住的島嶼上停泊，船員發(fā)現(xiàn)了被放逐的海盜們。不幸的是，這艘路過的船的船長是霍福德，他是范恩以前試圖接管的一艘船的船長，當他認出范恩時，他就直接開走了。范恩被另一艘船救起，但隨后他又遇到了霍爾福德?；魻柛５陆o范恩戴上了鐐銬，并把他交給了牙買加皇家港的當局。在那里，范恩被一個海軍副司令部法庭以海盜罪審判，并在1720年3月被判有罪。在監(jiān)獄里呆了一年后，范恩終于在1721年3月被絞死。與近20年前的基德船長一樣，范恩的尸體被吊在槍島的籠子里慢慢腐爛，作為對其他人的海盜行為進行嚴正公開地警告。

In the celebrated pirate who’s who, A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates, compiled in the 1720s by Captain Charles Johnson or possibly Daniel Defoe, Vane has his own chapter. The author describes Vane as being cowardly at his execution and, although suffering agonies, being wholly unrepentant of his life of piracy.

? ? ? ? ? 在查爾斯·約翰遜船長（也可能是丹尼爾·笛福）于1720年代編撰的著名的海盜名人錄《最臭名昭著的海盜的搶劫和謀殺通史》中范恩有自己的一章。作者描述說，范恩在被處決時很懦弱，雖然飽受痛苦，但對自己的海盜生涯完全不悔改。