Never Forgotten: The Legacy of Captain James Cook

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Never Forgotten: The Legacy of Captain James Cook 撰文及考題設計 英國文化協會教學團隊 Joel Finnestad

I

1 f asked to name a famous explorer, or to think

him on the head then stabbed him to death.

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of a well-known captain, certainly “Captain

Cook” would pop into many people’s heads. Cap-

Cook’s murder was in no way a victory for the

tain James Cook, sometimes confused with Cap-

people of Hawaii. Many still considered him an

tain Hook, the antagonist of the popular Disney

important and respectable person. He was treated

movie, Peter Pan, was born in Yorkshire, England

to a proper funeral, which in Hawaii, meant disem-

in 1728, and was an explorer and cartographer in

boweling then cooking his body in order to remove

the British Royal Navy.

the skin and preserve the sacred bones.

His accomplish ments are mind blowing! He

His legacy reaches into modern times as well.

sailed around the world two times, and was the

First of all, many places are named after him, in-

first European to make contact and map out many

cluding the Polynesian Cook Islands, Cook County,

parts of the world, most notably Australia, New

Australia, Cook’s Harbour, Canada, Captain Cook

Zealand, and the Hawaiian Islands.

(the actual name of a town in Hawaii), and even a

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crater on the moon (Cook Crater)!

Captain Cook once wrote that he intended to go

The tagline f rom the famous science f iction

not only "farther than any man has been before me,

television show “Star Trek ” was taken directly

but as far as I think it is possible for a man to go.”

from one of Cook’s journals: “To boldly go where

He may, however, have gone too far when he tried

no man has gone before”. The name of the captain

to kidnap the King of Hawaii for ransom in 1779.

in the TV show, James T. Kirk, is clearly close to

Cook first arrived in Hawaii years before the

James Cook, and the name of their vessels (Cook’s

incident. Legend has it that since his ship and its

“Endeavour” and Kirk’s “Enter prise”), are also

movements resembled the Polynesian god Lono,

strikingly similar.

the locals thought he was an incarnation of the god

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ship and hold him for ransom. The villagers struck

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and worshipped him. When he returned to Keal-

While Cook is obviously a famous and celebrat-

akekua Bay on the big island of Hawaii, tensions

ed explorer, many have criticized him for the harm

arose over some thievery. Cook marched into the

his voyages brought to the people he encountered.

village and took the king, intending to return to his

Many of his crew were ill with diseases like small-

全球中央雜誌 2015.05


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pox and syphilis, and it spread to many locals, resulting in the death of (sometimes) over half of the population. Before 1778, there were over 250 thousand people living on Hawaii; in 1900, the population was estimated at only 37,500. Regardless, he is believed by many to represent strong ideals like hard work, determination, and the willingness to take risks. Despite the unfortunate events that took place there, a princess in Hawaii gave a tiny plot of land in Kealakekua Bay to the British Council who 庫克船長曾住過、位於澳洲墨 爾本的小屋。(歐新社)

erected a monument dedicated to the memory of this truly amazing explorer.

後人緬懷的偉大航海家: 庫克船長 中譯 陳怡君 (中央社編譯)

提到知名探險家或船長,許多人的腦海中肯定

身,因此對他百般景仰。當他回到夏威夷最大島嶼基

立刻浮現「庫克船長」的名號。有時候有些人

亞拉凱庫亞灣,因為某些偷竊事件使得船員和當地

可能會把庫克船長和迪士尼電影《彼得潘》中反派人

居民的衝突升高,庫克強行進入村莊挾持酋長、回到

物虎克船長搞混。1728年在英國約克郡出生的庫克

自己船上打算威脅贖金,但村民持亂棍攻擊他的頭

船長,是位探險家與英國皇家海軍製圖師。

部,最後將他刺死。

庫克船長的成就讓後人歎為觀止,他不僅環 繞

庫克遭到殺害絕非夏威夷人的勝利,但許多人仍

地球兩圈,還成為踏上並 繪製出世上許多地方的

視他是重要與值得尊敬的人物。庫克雖為島民殺害,

第一位歐洲人,最知名的是澳洲、紐西蘭與夏威夷

但葬禮備極哀榮,依夏威夷的傳統將他屍身內臟悉

島嶼。

數移除,然後再烘烤屍身以便去除皮膚,好將這副神

庫克船長曾經寫道,他不只打算「比前人走得更

聖的骨頭保存下來供奉。

遠,而是要盡人所能走到最遠 」。但是他可能做得

當代也隨處可見庫克船長的遺澤。首先,許多地

太超過了,曾在1779年企圖為了贖金而綁架夏威夷

方紛紛以他為名,像是玻里尼西亞的庫克群島、澳

酋長。

洲的庫克縣、加拿大的庫克港、夏威夷的庫克船長

庫克船長在這個事件發生數年前,就已抵達夏威 夷。傳說由於庫克船長的船隻與移動神似波里尼西 亞的羅諾神(Lono),當地人認為他是羅諾神的化

(夏威夷的一座城鎮名)、甚至還有月球上的「庫克 撞擊坑 」。 此外,著名科幻電視影集《星際爭霸戰》開場前

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言就是直接取自庫克日記中「勇踏前人未至之境」,

以上人口身亡。1778年以前,夏威夷人口超過25萬,

除了劇中人物寇克艦長和庫克船長的名字相當接近

但到了1900年估計僅剩3萬7,500人。儘管有些爭議,

外,寇克艦長的「企業號」與庫克的「奮進號」在英

許多人仍認為庫克船長是努力、決心以及冒險犯難

文的船艦名上也有異曲同工之意。

等強大理想的代表人物。

雖然庫克是個頗富盛名的探險家,但也招致許多

儘管庫克船長在當地罹難,夏威夷公主特別准許

人批評他的航行為當地居民帶來傷害。由於許多船

英國議會在在基亞拉凱庫亞灣一地豎立紀念碑,來

員患有天花與梅毒,因此造成當地許多人感染,半數

紀念這位了不起的探險家。

Key Words p o p i n t o m a ny p e o p l e' s h e a d s – 突然想到 If something“pops into your head”, you think of it suddenly, without any effort antagonist – 對手 in a movie, a person who opposes or prevents another from achieving a goal

ransom – 贖金 money demanded for the return of somebody who has been kidnapped legend has it – 傳說 a popular story handed down from earlier times incarnation – (神靈等的)化身 a god in a bodily form

cartographer – 製圖師 a person who makes maps

disembowel – 除去……的內臟 to remove the internal organs from a body

mind blowing – 難以置信的 amazing; incredible; hard to believe

tagline – 宣傳標語 in entertainment, it's a small amount of text which describes or summarizes the main idea or theme

gone too far – 太超過 to “go too far” means to do more than is acceptable

雅思考試模擬試題 IELTS questions

雅思考試粉絲團: www.facebook.com/ielts.testcentre

TRUE, FALSE, or NOT GIVEN 1.Captain Cook only sailed around Hawaii, Australia, and New Zealand. 2.Cook was killed because he was trying to take over the island of Hawaii and demand that everyone consider him the new king. 3.Even though he was killed there, many people in Hawaii liked Cook. 4.Some episodes of the TV program, Star Trek, are based on stories about Cook. 5.Cook was ill with smallpox, and this resulted in many deaths. Choose the paragraph (numbered 1-4) which contains the following information: 1. 1.A description of a cultural ritual performed for the deceased. 2.An argument for why Captain Cook is not always admired for his good deeds and contributions to world exploration. 3.An example of how some local people mistakingly gave Captain Cook qualities that are associated with religious beliefs. 4.Several examples of the ways Cook continues to influence current life. 5.Statistics suggesting that Cook’s explorations, while impressive, were not always without consequences.

1.F

2.F

3.T

4.NG

5. F

1.3

2. 4

3. 2

4. 3

5. 4 全球中央雜誌 2015.05

Answers

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