This courageous 16-year-old's trip to the 1939 New York World's Fair was a daring adventure.這位16歲的勇敢少年航行到1939年的紐約世界博覽會(huì)，堪稱是一次大膽的冒險(xiǎn)。

IN 1939， a friend and I hatched² a plan to sail from our hometown of Hadlyme， Connecticut to the World's Fair in New York. Its exciting theme was \"Building the World of Tomorrow.\"

At age 16， I'd been sailing my homemade 12-foot boat on the Connecticut River for 2 years and felt confident about the trip. My friend couldn't go at the last moment， so I went alone. With $10 in my pocket and a box of food packed by my mother， I set sail on a Sunday morning.

A good wind took me downriver³ and through the breakwater（防波堤） at the river's mouth（河口）. For the next 3 days， I sailed along the shore， sleeping and eating on board. The third evening a storm came up， so I headed for a nearby island. On the way， the New Rochelle Shore Patrol⁴ came alongside and picked me up. They were astonished at finding a 16-year-old so far from home.

The island was Huckleberry Island. main- tained by wealthy people who allowed no tres- passers （擅自進(jìn)入者）.The men of the patrol thought the lighthouse（燈塔） keeper might be able to put me up for the night， though， and he did. The keeper also gave me a letter of introduction to his daughter， who was married to the lighthouse keeper at the Stepping Stones Lighthouse further on down the sound(海峽). I reached it by late afternoon， and the friendly couple there invited me to have supper and spend the night.

I set out again the following noon， sailing down the East River and reaching the mouth of Flushing Bay close to midnight. Then the wind died， and it took me 3 hours to row across the bay. At the wharf （碼頭）， the harbormaster（港務(wù)長(zhǎng)） said it would cost $1 a foot to anchor⁵ a boat， but after hearing my story， he relented⁶ and let me tie up behind a barge（駁船）.

I spent 3 exciting days visiting the fair， managing to get by with an occasional（偶爾的） hot dog for food. The science exhibits at the General Motors pavilion（展出館） particularly fascinated me.

On the third day， the harbormaster informed me I'd have to leave， so I set sail for home. Not making much headway⁷ against an ill wind （風(fēng)向不好）， I found a sheltered⁸ place under some trees and went to sleep. It started to rain， and I ended up sleeping most of 2 days before it cleared enough to continue.

Since the wind was now favorable⁹， I made only a quick stop at Stepping Stones Lighthouse， where they gave me coffee and sandwiches(三明治) to take along. I sailed late into the night along the Long Island shore， and a strong wind carried me far from land. Then a thunderstorm（雷暴） came up. I held course for a lighthouse I could see on the Connecticut shore...at one point， the waves were 10 feet high! It probably wasn't long， but it seemed like forev- er——that was the only time I was ever truly scared on the water. By dawn¹⁰ the wind had slackened (減弱). The sun came up， and I sailed all day， subsisting（維持生活） on two cans of beans（豆莢）， which I opened with a screwdriver（螺絲刀）。

That evening， I was approaching the mouth of the Connecticut River. I was only 25 miles from home， but my trials weren't over--the ebbing tide（落潮） hindered¹¹ my progress. Finally， at 3 in the morning--after 13 days and 400 miles--I dropped anchor in Hadlyme Cove and ran the half mile home. It didn't take long for the lights to come on... and for bacon（臘肉） and eggs to appear on the table!

It also didn't take me long to fall asleep af- ter the last sleepless 36 hours. Mother told me the next day that a neighbor had predicted¹² she'd never see me again..， but Mother never lost faith in my abilities. The small discomforts（困苦） couldn't compare to all that I saw on that unforgettable trip.

注釋：

1．voyage n，航海，航行

2．hatch vt．策劃，圖謀

3．downriver adv．在下游，向河口

4．patrol n．巡邏兵，巡邏隊(duì)

5．a(chǎn)nchor vt．拋錨泊（船）

6．relent vi.變變寬容，發(fā)慈悲

7．headway n．（船等的）前進(jìn)，make~前進(jìn)

8．sheltered adj．被保護(hù)不受（暴風(fēng)雨等）侵襲的

9．favorable adj．有利的，適宜的

10．dawn n. 黎明，拂曉

11．hinder vt．陽礙，妨礙

12．predict vt．預(yù)言，預(yù)料

1939年，我和一個(gè)朋友一道擬訂了一項(xiàng)計(jì)劃，打算從家鄉(xiāng)康涅狄格州的哈德利姆出航，去紐約看世界博覽會(huì)。這次世博會(huì)激動(dòng)人心的主題是“創(chuàng)建未來的世界”。

到16歲時(shí)，我已經(jīng)乘坐家里制作的12英尺長(zhǎng)的船在康涅狄格河航行過兩年，對(duì)這次出航我感到信心十足。我的朋友臨到要出發(fā)時(shí)不能去了，我就獨(dú)自一個(gè)人出航。口袋里裝了10美元，帶著一箱媽媽為我裝好的食品，我在星期天早上出發(fā)了。

一路順風(fēng)把我?guī)У搅撕拥南掠?，使我順利地通過了河口的防波堤。在以后的3天里，我沿著河岸行駛，吃睡不離船。第3天傍晚，一場(chǎng)大風(fēng)暴降臨，我便趕緊向附近的一個(gè)島嶼駛?cè)?。半路上遇見了新羅謝爾沿岸巡邏隊(duì)；他們朝我靠攏，暫時(shí)收留了我。他們看到一個(gè)16歲的孩子來到一個(gè)離家這么遠(yuǎn)的地方感到十分驚奇。

島嶼的名字叫作赫克爾貝里，它屬于一家有錢人的，不許外人擅自進(jìn)人。巡邏隊(duì)里的人認(rèn)為燈塔看守人有可能會(huì)安排我過夜；他確實(shí)留我過夜了。那位看守人還寫了信把我介紹給他女兒。他女兒嫁給了海峽下游更遠(yuǎn)的踏腳石燈塔看守人。我到達(dá)那兒時(shí)已近傍晚時(shí)分，那一對(duì)夫婦友好地招待我吃了晚飯，又留我住了一夜。

第二天中午我又上路了，駛?cè)肓藮|河下游，抵達(dá)弗拉興海灣的入口處已近午夜。后來風(fēng)停了，我花了3個(gè)小時(shí)才越過海灣。在停泊處，港務(wù)長(zhǎng)說拋錨泊船每英尺要付一美元。但是當(dāng)他聽我講述情況之后寬容了我，允許我把船系在駁船后面。

我用了3天的時(shí)間，興奮地觀看了世界博覽會(huì)。那段時(shí)間我只能偶爾吃上一只熱狗勉強(qiáng)度日。在通用汽車公司的展覽館里展出的科學(xué)展品特別使我入迷。

第三天，港務(wù)長(zhǎng)通知我要我離開，所以我就揚(yáng)帆回家。由于風(fēng)向不好，使我前進(jìn)速度遲緩，我便在岸邊一些樹下找到一個(gè)隱蔽處，躺下睡覺了。天開始下起雨來，到頭來我把兩天中的大多數(shù)時(shí)間都用來睡覺了，直到天氣好轉(zhuǎn)才繼續(xù)航行。

鑒于風(fēng)向轉(zhuǎn)好，我只在“踏腳石燈塔”短暫停留，他們送給我在路上吃的咖啡和三明治。我沿著長(zhǎng)島岸邊航行，一直到深夜，有一股強(qiáng)勁的風(fēng)把我?guī)У搅穗x陸地很遠(yuǎn)的地方。之后是一場(chǎng)大雷雨。我從康涅狄格河岸可以見到燈塔，借以把握好航向……洶涌的波濤一度達(dá)到了10英尺高。處在這種狀態(tài)下的時(shí)間很可能并不長(zhǎng)久，但是對(duì)我來說卻似乎是沒完沒了——那是我在水上航行中以前從未有過的恐懼時(shí)刻。破曉時(shí)，風(fēng)力減弱了，太陽也出來了，我航行了一整天。我用螺絲刀打開了兩個(gè)豆莢罐頭來裹腹。

那天傍晚，我已靠近康涅狄格河河口，離家只有25英里了。但是航行對(duì)我的考驗(yàn)并沒有結(jié)束——退潮妨礙繼續(xù)前進(jìn)。最后，在凌晨3點(diǎn)鐘，經(jīng)過了13天和400英里的航程之后，我在哈德利姆河灣拋錨停泊，跑步半英里回到了家里。過不了多久就點(diǎn)燈了，臘肉和雞蛋也都擺到餐桌上了!

當(dāng)晚臥床之后，沒過多久我就入睡了，因?yàn)槲乙呀?jīng)持續(xù)36小時(shí)沒有睡過覺了。第二天媽媽告訴我說有一個(gè)鄰居預(yù)計(jì)她將再也見不到我了……但是媽媽對(duì)我的能力從未失去過信心。雖然在航行中有過一些小小的困苦，但是它們與我在那次難忘的旅行中所見所聞相比，確實(shí)算不了什么。