双语阅读：泰坦尼克号背后的10个秘密

　　In the early hours of April 15, 1912, in the North Atlantic Ocean, 2,225 men, women and children found themselves in a nightmare beyond their imaginations. Some 107 hours after Titanic’s first transatlantic crossing began, an iceberg terminated the voyage about 400 miles southeast of Nova Scotia. About 160 minutes later, the world’s wonder ship disappeared into the depths, with the loss of 1,513 lives — two-thirds of all on board.

　　1912年4月15日，北大西洋一艘邮轮上的2225名乘客遇上了惊天噩梦。这艘世界最大的皇家邮轮泰坦尼克号处女航才107小时，就撞上了新斯科舍东南方四百米处的冰山，所有乘客必须撤离。160分钟后，这艘巨轮沉没海底，带走了1513 条人命——船上2/3的乘客遇难了。

　　Titanic’s brief life has engendered hundreds of books and songs, more than a dozen films, countless television documentaries, an opera, a Broadway musical, nearly a dozen Titanic organizations on at least three continents, official investigations and courtroom battles, and safety regulations that make sea travel among the safest transportation modes.

　　泰坦尼克号的短暂一生缔造了无数小说、歌曲、影视、纪录片、歌剧、百老汇音乐剧，还有遍布三大洲的各种机构、官方调查及法律纠纷。它的罹难也孕育了新的海上安全法规。

　　Yet there’s always something to learn about Titanic, her passengers and crew. Here are 10 things you may not know about the world’s most famous ocean liner.

　　不过，无论是泰坦尼克号本身，还是它的船员和乘客，总有不曾解开的谜团。以下就为你揭开这艘世界巨轮不为人知的10个事实：

　　1. An American ship

　　一艘美国邮轮

　　Though Titanic flew the British ensign, Americans actually owned Titanic. In 1902, financier John Pierpont Morgan had purchased Britain’s Oceanic Steam Navigation Company, better known as the White Star Line, making it the premier company in his huge combine, the International Mercantile Marine Company.

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　　虽然泰坦尼克号上飘扬着英国国旗，但它却是美国人的邮轮。1902年，金融家约翰·皮尔庞特·摩根收购了英国海运公司(即白星公司)，合建成了首家IMM国际海运公司。

　　2. No champagne

　　没有香槟命名仪式

　　The classic 1958 Titanic film, "A Night To Remember," begins with a woman breaking a bottle of champagne on Titanic’s bow as she names the vessel. No such event took place when Titanic was launched at the Belfast shipyards of Harland and Wolff, Ltd. on May 31, 1911. The White Star Line did not believe in the practice and none of its vessels were christened.

　　在1958年以泰坦尼克号为主题的影片《铭记的夜晚》中，一位女士在船头开了瓶香槟酒，并为这艘邮轮取名为“泰坦尼克号”。现实中，泰坦尼克号是1911年5月31日在贝尔法斯特的哈兰德和沃尔夫船厂建成的。白星公司否认了影片中的场景，表示旗下没有一艘船舰举行过这样的命名仪式。

　　3. Neither unique nor revolutionary

　　并非独一无二、史无前例

　　While many believe there never was another ship like Titanic, there actually were two others. The White Star Line had envisioned a weekly transatlantic service, requiring three vessels. The resulting "Olympic class" consisted of three nearly identical sister ships: Olympic, entering service in October 1910; Titanic, April 1912; and Gigantic, later renamed Britannic, planned for 1915.

　　很多人都误以为泰坦尼克号是当时世界上最大最豪华的邮轮，其实不然。当时，白星公司计划建造三艘大西洋航线邮轮。这三艘奥林匹克级的姊妹舰就是：1910年10月起航的“奥林匹克号”，1912年4月起航的 “泰坦尼克号”，以及1915年的“巨人号”(即“不列颠尼克号”)。

　　Nor was Titanic "revolutionary." Nearly every aspect of her design was a repeat of Olympic, which, in turn, incorporated features tested by earlier White Star ships. Titanic was unique in just one way: During her brief life, she was the world’s largest vessel, exceeding Olympic by about 1,000 tons.

　　泰坦尼克号也绝非“史无前例”。它的整体设计几乎完全模仿了奥林匹克号，并沿袭了白星公司以往船舰的风格。泰坦尼克号唯一与众不同的是：在那个年代，它是世界最大邮轮，比奥林匹克号还要重1000吨。

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　　4. Never a contender

　　并非无与伦比

　　A persistent Titanic myth is that she was "out to break the transatlantic record." In September 1909, the Cunard Line’s Mauretania completed a round trip averaging more than 26 knots, a record that stood for 20 years. Titanic briefly attained a maximum speed of nearly 23 knots, traveling from Cherbourg to Queenstown.

　　人们一直以为，泰坦尼克号会“打破大西洋航行传奇记录”。其实1909年9月，卡纳德公司的毛利塔尼亚号时速早已达到26海里，20年来无出其右。而泰坦尼克号从法国瑟堡到昆士敦最大时速也不过23海里。

　　5. Not a treasure ship

　　并非藏宝无数

　　Despite a passenger list including titans of industry, wealthy families and even a movie actress, Titanic was not filled with priceless jewels. Philadelphia’s Eleanor Widener dropped her celebrated pearl necklace, insured for $100,000, into her pocketbook before boarding her lifeboat. First-class women retrieved their checked jewelry from the purser’s office as evacuation began. A "priceless" jeweled copy of "The Rubaiyat," the Omar Khayyam book of poems, had sold at a London auction for a mere $2,000 — less than half its asking price.

　　虽然泰坦尼克号的乘客不乏工业巨亨、富家子弟、乃至电影明星，但船上并没剩下多少无价之宝。费城的埃莉诺·威德纳已为一条珍珠项链投保了10万美金;船一失事，头等舱女士们就从事务办公室取回了自己的珠宝。唯一“价值连城”的是奥马·海亚姆的《鲁拜集》，伦敦拍卖会上却只卖了2000美元——连竞拍价一半都不到。

　　Cargo also was ordinary. The ship’s stowage plan shows the specie room contained only "opium parcels." The rest was typical commercial shipments ranging from shoes to William Carter’s 35-horsepower Renault sports car, oak beams and an early airplane engine.

　　船上的货物也很普通。从储物单上看，仓库有些鸦片，其余便是一般商品了：鞋子、威廉·卡特的35马力雷诺跑车、橡木梁，还有老式飞机引擎。

　　6. No 300-foot gash

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　　裂缝没有300英尺大

　　If the iceberg’s damage had been continuous over a 300-foot length, as depicted in many 1912 publications, the ship would have sunk in minutes. At the British inquiry into the disaster, naval architect Edward Wilding calculated that the damaged area totaled 12 square feet, extending intermittently along the starboard side.

　　如果冰山撞下的豁口真有当时报道的那么大(300英尺)，泰坦尼克号几分钟就玩完了。在英方调查下，造船工程师爱德华·威丁计算出豁口总共12平方英尺，零星分布在船舷边上。

　　7. Locked below?

　　三等舱乘客被锁在下面?

　　Every Titanic movie depicts third-class passengers trapped behind floor-to-ceiling gates. Careful examination of available plans of Olympic and Titanic reveals no such gates in passenger areas. U.S. immigration regulations required segregation of third class from first and second. On Titanic, waist-high gates separated classes. Stewards nearby prevented gate-jumping. Eventually, they left to help in the evacuation, leaving gates unguarded, explaining a surge of third-class passengers onto the boat deck after most lifeboats had left. One author plotted more than 20 paths from third-class areas to the boat deck.

　　几乎每部泰坦尼克号电影都展现了三等舱乘客被锁困在下面的场景。后来，人们仔细检查了奥林匹克号和泰坦尼克号构造，发现乘客区根本没有这种隔离门。泰坦尼克号上只有齐腰高的隔离门，边上有乘务员防止乘客随便穿越。但大撤离时，门边上没人看守。救生艇腾出来后，大批三等舱乘客都涌到了甲板上。有作家甚至计算过，从三等舱到甲板，至少有20条通道吧。

　　8. One wrong turn

　　愚蠢的“左满舵”命令

　　As Titanic’s grand staircase ascended to the boat deck, it divided into left and right halves. First-class male passengers who chose the left side were doomed; Second Officer Charles Lightoller strictly enforced the "women and children first" rule on the port side, allowing just one male passenger into a boat to help with rowing. Those who turned to the right at the top of the staircase had a chance to survive; First Officer William Murdoch enforced a policy of "women and children first, but men when there were no women."

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　　泰坦尼克号一直延伸到甲板的大楼梯将船分成了左右两部分。失事后，头等舱男乘客只能呆在左舷等死;二副查尔斯·耐特罗严肃表示“妇孺优先”，只留一名男乘客上救生艇摇船。而那些爬上右舷楼梯顶的乘客尚有一线生机;可是，大副威廉·默多克强硬表示：“妇孺优先，所有妇女全都上救生艇后，才有男人的份。”

　　9. More boats?

　　多一点救生艇?

　　Despite certifying Titanic’s capacity as 3,547 passengers and crew, the British government determined the ship needed lifeboat space for 960.

　　虽然泰坦尼克号能容纳3547名乘客及船员，但英国政府规定的救生艇数量是960个。

　　Titanic actually carried boats for 1,178, exceeding requirements. Even if more boats had been installed, there would not have been time to launch them; Titanic’s last two boats floated off as the ship sank. Of the available 1,178 seats, 465 were sent away empty.

　　其实，泰坦尼克号还超出限额，配备了1178艘救生艇。但就算救生艇再多，当时也没有足够时间全部用上。船沉后，还有两只救生艇就那样漂走了。1178只救生艇，有465只放下后完全没用上。

　　10. Titanic’s present and future

　　泰坦尼克号的现状和未来

　　Titanic lies 12,500 feet below the surface in a lightless, hostile environment. Strong undersea currents press strongly against the ship’s sides, damaging already-weakened areas. Perhaps within a generation, the ship’s upper portions largely will have disappeared. Eventually, only the inch-thick steel hull will remain.

　　现在，泰坦尼克号正躺在12500英尺下的海底，周围一片黑暗、凶险无常。剧烈的海底洋流冲击着船身，腐蚀着已然破败的残骸。或许几十年后，大部分现有残骸都会消失殆尽，最后只剩下一点钢片了吧。

　　More than 6,000 objects have been retrieved from Titanic’s debris field; no artifacts come from the ship’s interior. As decks collapse, what’s left of Titanic’s interior splendor will be sealed off forever.

　　人们从泰坦尼克号残骸里找回了6000多件物品，但船内的装饰却荡然无存。船体坍塌的刹那，它舱内的辉煌就已经被永远封存了。