Fifteen-year-old captain reduction. Foreign literature abbreviated
70s of the 19th century. The schooner "Pilgrim", designed to fight whales, leaves one of the New Zealand ports. On the ship, captained by Captain Ghoul, are five sophisticated crew members and young Dick Send, who serves on the ship as a junior sailor.
The boy is only 15 years old, he is an orphan, but he diligently masters the profession of a sailor, and the captain is usually pleased with him. This time, Mrs. Weldon, the wife of the owner of the schooner, her little son Jack, and a strange, eccentric relative of a woman named Benedict, are also following home with the Pilgrim. For all who stay on the schooner, food is prepared by a cook of Portuguese origin Negoro, a reserved and gloomy person, although he does an excellent job with his duties.
Shortly after sailing, the sailors notice a ship nearby, apparently wrecked. In the hold of this ship, the sailors discover five people with black skin, who have already reached the maximum degree of exhaustion, the oldest of which is Tom. It is this old man who tells the story of his comrades, they happened to work for hire in New Zealand for some time. Upon returning home to the American continent, their steamer experienced a collision with another ship, its entire crew disappeared, and only a dog with the nickname Dingo remained with the black Americans. Thus, new passengers appear on the Pilgrim, to whom everyone is very warm and friendly, but for some reason the dog always strives to bite Negoro, and the cook prefers not to run into her at all.
After a few days of peaceful and calm sailing, a real disaster happens. Captain Gul and all the sailors die while chasing the whale, Dick Send is forced to take full responsibility for those remaining on the schooner, although the guy still does not have all the knowledge and skills necessary for this. However, the dark-skinned comrades in misfortune are trying to help him in every possible way, and Dick firmly believes that he will be able to lead the ship to the right place.
However, the unprincipled cook Negoro, who makes his own plans, uses the young captain's inexperience in the most dishonorable way. He disables the compasses, and as a result, the Pilgrim lands not on the American, but on the African coast, although none of those who disembarked from the ship suspect this. Travelers meet with a certain Mr. Harris, who invites them to his brother's hacienda, where, according to him, they will definitely be provided with shelter and food, and later they will be helped to return home.
But in fact, Harris acts in collusion with the cunning Portuguese, being an equally hardened scoundrel. He deftly lures naive travelers more than a hundred miles deep into the "black" continent, but at this moment both Dick Send and old Tom are already irrefutably aware of the deception. Moreover, they are convinced that Harris is engaged in the slave trade, Negoro also earned his living in this dishonest trade for a long time, for which he was sentenced to life hard labor. However, the Portuguese still managed to escape and got a job on the Pilgrim schooner, intending to return to Africa sooner or later, which happened due to Dick's lack of professionalism.
The travelers' attempt to escape from the people who betrayed them is unsuccessful, they are immediately captured, and black Americans are attached to the slave caravan. Mrs. Weldon, her son and Uncle Benedict are separated from them, only the strongest and tallest guy from Tom's group named Hercules manages to escape.
When the caravan arrives at enough Big City, where the unfortunate slaves are put up for sale, Harris informs Send that members of the shipowner's family have died, although this is not true. Dick, in desperation, snatches a dagger from his enemy and immediately stabs him. Negoro asks the local king, who has almost lost his mind due to incessant drinking, to execute the young man, and he gives the appropriate permission without hesitation.
Meanwhile, the wife of the owner of the Pilgrim, her son and an elderly relative live in Kazonda as hostages, Negoro intends to get a solid ransom for them from her husband, Mrs. Weldon, but the woman does not agree to his arrival in Africa, absolutely not trusting her dishonest jailer. It is the absent-minded Benedict, chasing another exotic butterfly, who accidentally meets the dark-skinned Hercules, who has long been looking for a way to help his companions.
Having learned where Mrs. Weldon and her child are, Hercules, pretending to be a sorcerer, enters the trading post and makes it clear to the savages gathered around that he needs to take the white woman and her baby out of there. After escaping, they find themselves in a boat, where the boy and his mother are surprised to see Dick, whom they also thought was dead. However, Hercules managed to save him from execution at the very last moment, when the young man had already lost all hope.
After a while, the boat stops at the shore, and the dog Dingo hurriedly runs to a certain place. It turns out that it was here that the body of the traveler Vernon once remained, near which there is a note accusing Negoro, who was his guide, that it was he who robbed and killed the researcher. At this moment, the Portuguese himself appears, Dingo clings to the throat of the culprit in the death of his master. The villain kills the dog, but he himself dies.
Dick and his comrades, having eluded the aggressive local residents, get to the ship, which delivers them to California. After that, in the Weldon family, Sendu is treated like a son, the young man continues to diligently study the sailor's trade in order to take command of one of his adopted father's ships in the future. Four dark-skinned US citizens who remained in Africa, Mr. Weldon also eventually finds and redeems from captivity, then they come to their impatiently waiting friends.
Novel " Captain at fifteen» Verne was written in 1878. This is a story about the exciting adventures of a young sailor who took responsibility for the fate of the crew members of the whaling ship "Pilgrim".
main characters
Dick Sand- a fifteen-year-old sailor, a brave and determined young man.
Mrs Weldon- the wife of the owner of the ship, a brave, persistent woman.
Jack Mrs. Weldon's little son.
Benedict Mrs. Weldon's cousin, a passionate entomologist.
Tom, Bat, Hercules, Austin, Actaeon- Negroes rescued from a sunken ship.
Negoro- a slave trader hiding from the authorities, a vile and cruel person.
Other characters
Nan Jack's elderly nanny.
James Weldon- Wealthy shipowner
Captain Ghoul- captain of the whaling ship "Pilgrim".
Harris- slave trader, Negoro's accomplice.
Antonio Alvec- owner of a slave caravan.
Muani Lunga- the old king Kazonde.
Muana- the first wife of Muani-Lung, Queen Kazonde.
Summary
Part one
Chapter 1. Schooner-brig "Pilgrim"
In February 1973, the Pilgrim "was equipped in San Francisco to hunt whales in south seas". It belonged to the "wealthy Californian shipowner James Weldon", who entrusted the command of his schooner to Captain Gul. Under the command of the captain "there were five experienced sailors and one novice." In addition, he was forced to take on board passengers - Mrs. Weldon, her five-year-old son Jack and cousin Benedict, the old nanny Negro Nan.
Chapter 2. Dick Sand
All the sailors of the Pilgrim "knew each other for a long time" and got along well with each other, and only the Portuguese Negoro did not really like the captain, who "did not have time to make inquiries about the past of the new cook."
The youngest and most inexperienced sailor on the ship was a fifteen-year-old orphan boy, Dick Sand. But, despite his age, he was distinguished by intelligence and courage, and "already make decisions and bring to the end everything that he deliberately decided on."
Chapter 3
After a few days of sailing, the Pilgrim team noticed a “capsized vessel” with a hole in the bow. Captain Gul decided to explore it, and on board the sunken ship, the sailors found five blacks and a dog, dying of thirst.
Chapter 4 Rescued from the Waldeck
The unfortunate were transferred aboard the Pilgrim, where they received proper care. It turned out that the Negroes - old Tom, his son Bat, as well as Hercules, Austin and Actaeon - were not slaves, but free citizens of America. Their ship was pierced by some unknown ship and disappeared.
Chapter 5
Another creature rescued from a sinking ship was a large dog named Dingo, on the collar of which two letters "C" and "B" were engraved. "Dingo soon became the favorite of the entire crew", and only Negoro he fiercely hated for an unknown reason. Cook tried not to show himself to the dog, who, apparently, recognized him.
Chapter 6
Some time later, the sailor on duty noticed a whale on the horizon. It was "a very large minke whale specimen". The sailors began to lively discuss their future prey - "the whole team passionately wanted to hunt."
Chapter 7
Despite the great risk, the whalers could not miss the opportunity to catch a giant sea animal and "fill the ship's hold - the temptation was great." Together with five sailors, he plunged into the boat, leaving Dick Sand "his deputy for the duration of the hunt."
Chapter 8
Experienced whalers began to hunt minke whales. They managed to injure him with a harpoon, but the unexpectedly wounded whale "strongly hitting the water with its fins, rushed at people." The enraged whale crushed the boat with a powerful blow of the tail and “in death convulsions violently beat the water with its tail” - none of the whalers managed to survive.
Chapter 9. Captain Sand
"A ship that has lost its captain and sailors" could easily become a weak-willed toy of currents and winds. Of the entire team, only fifteen-year-old Dick Sand survived, and "this boy was now to replace the captain, the boatswain, the entire crew." The young man decided to take on the functions of a captain and teach the sailor's craft to the rescued blacks. They gladly agreed to help him.
Chapter 10
Everyone had one desire - to quickly get "to some other port on the American coast." Dick knew how to use a compass and a lot, but "the young captain did not yet know how to make astronomical observations" that influenced the location of the ship. Suddenly, "there was a misfortune with the compass, which was in the captain's cabin" - he fell off the hook and fell to the floor. One more compass remained working, but the insidious Negoro also spoiled it - so the Pilgrim lost its intended course.
Chapter 11
A week later, the sky was overcast with clouds, a strong wind rose - everything foreshadowed the beginning of a storm. "The ship kept well on the waves" and still confidently went forward. Thanks to the efforts of Negoro, the lot was disabled, and "Dick Sand lost the ability to determine the speed of the ship."
Chapter 12
On the same day, "a hurricane broke out - the most terrible form of a storm", and did not stop for a week. By Dick's calculations they should have reached the shores of America by now. He became more and more confident that the navigational instruments were deliberately damaged by someone. Suddenly, the outlines of land appeared overboard - it was an island.
Chapter 13 Earth!"
Dick was sure they had seen Easter Island, and steered the ship on what he thought was the right course. Soon everyone noticed the land, but there was "no human habitation, no port, no mouth of the river, where the ship could find a safe haven." At the sight of the shore, Dingo "howled long and plaintively."
Chapter 14
After seventy-four days of sailing, the Pilgrim was washed ashore and smashed against the reefs. Luckily, no one was hurt. Dick Sand couldn't figure out where they were. Meanwhile, Negoro quietly left the squad, hiding in the thicket of the forest. It soon became clear that he was the first to be on the wrecked ship and seized all of Mrs. Weldon's money.
Chapter 15. Harris
After some time, the heroes met an American named Harris. He assured the travelers that they were wrecked off the coast of Bolivia. Mr. Harris invited them to take a break from their troubles at his brother's hacienda, which involved crossing the rainforest.
Chapter 16
Having collected food supplies and necessary things, a small detachment set off. This transition was of particular interest to Cousin Benedict, an entomologist who began to study the local insects with enthusiasm.
Chapter 17
Dick and his dark-skinned friends were surprised that during the trip they did not meet a single familiar tree or animal, but Mr. Harris managed to dispel their doubts. When Cousin Benedict cried out in pain at night, he found out that he had been bitten by a tsetse fly. The entomologist was very pleased with his discovery, as "no scientist has yet found tsetse in America."
Chapter 18
The detachment made its way through the forest for twelve days, covering more than a hundred miles in this time. Gradually, Dick began to discover the truth, "which every hour became more and more clear and indisputable" - they were in equatorial Africa, the country of "slave traders and slaves."
Part two
Chapter 1
The Pilgrim crashed off the coast of Angola. It was one of the most dangerous areas of Equatorial Africa, where savage cannibals still lived, local tribes were constantly at enmity, but the worst thing was that the slave trade was in full swing here.
Chapter 2. Harris and Negoro
Harris, who by then had left the unit, met with Negoro. From their conversation it became clear that these were old friends who traded in the slave trade. They agreed to wait for a slave caravan in order "to capture Dick Sand and his companions."
Chapter 3
Dick Sand realized that Negoro was the culprit of their troubles, and Harris was his accomplice. Only one thing remained incomprehensible - “what were these scoundrels up to?”. The young man planned to return to the coast as soon as possible and "and reach the nearest Portuguese trading post", where they would be safe. To do this, it was necessary to find a river, and go down to the ocean on a raft.
Chapter 4
On the way, a terrible thunderstorm and heavy rain overtook friends. They managed to hide from bad weather in an empty termite mound.
Chapter 5
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cousin Benedict gave his friends an informative lecture about the builders of this impressive structure - termites.
Chapter 6
At night, water began to arrive in the termite mound - “due to a downpour, the river overflowed its banks and spilled over the plain.” Dick compared their retreat to diving bell where the air is under high pressure. To save themselves, the friends cut through the top of the termite mound and got out to freedom.
Chapter 7
Noticing the camp of the natives not far away, the friends hurried to them. However, it was a slave caravan that drove slaves to "the main market for black goods." Once in the camp, "Dick Sand and his companions immediately turned into slaves." Mrs. Weldon, Jack and Cousin Benedict were immediately separated, Dick was disarmed and taken under guard, and the Negroes were attached to the caravan.
Chapter 8
The strong man Hercules miraculously managed to escape, and his shackled friends envied him - "he was free and could fight for his life." Dick was entirely occupied with thoughts of Mrs. Weldon and little Jack. Old Nan was among the exhausted slaves who were hacked to death with axes.
Chapter 9
In Kazonda - the largest slave market - only "half of the total number of captured slaves" reached. The slaves were divided into cramped barracks. The owner of the caravan, Antonio Alvets, was especially pleased with the young and strong Negroes from America - he could demand a high price for them. From Harris, Dick learned of the death of Mrs. Weldon and Jack. "In a fit of uncontrollable anger," the young man killed the traitor.
Chapter 10
Alvets wanted to immediately execute Dick, but Negoro asked him to be patient a little. On the day of the fair in Kazonda, Alvets brought all his slaves for sale. Tom, Batu, Actaeon and Austin were very lucky, and "they were sold into one hand."
Chapter 11
In the midst of the fair, "His Majesty Muani-Lunga, King Kazonde" appeared, more like a decrepit gorilla. He was accompanied by numerous wives and a retinue of flatterers. Alvets, knowing about the addiction of the local king to alcohol, invited him to drink a strong punch. When the old drunkard drank the flaming drink, "his thoroughly alcoholized Majesty ignited" and died on the spot.
Chapter 12
Muani-Lung's first wife "Queen Muan was to inherit the royal throne". She hastened to organize her husband's funeral and secure her position. A large pit was dug, where, according to the old tradition, the rest of the tsar's wives were thrown. According to Negoro's plan, the bound Dick was also to be thrown there, after which the pit was to be flooded with water.
Chapter 13
Harris lied that Mrs. Weldon, Jack, and Cousin Benedict were dead—they were in Casonda, safe and sound. Negoro placed them in the trading post of Alvets in the hope of getting a large ransom for them. He told Mrs. Weldon to write a letter to her husband, with whom he was going to go to San Francisco.
Chapter 14
Having accidentally overheard a conversation between Alvets and his guest, Mrs. Weldon learned that "perhaps help is approaching, which seems to be sent by Providence itself." famous traveler Dr. Livingston "will probably arrive in Kazonda in the next few days with his escort." However, these plans were not destined to come true - on the eve of his visit, the doctor died.
Chapter 15
Having received a letter from Mrs. Weldon, Negoro set off. Meanwhile, Benedict, who all this time freely hunted for insects, in pursuit of a rare ground beetle, found himself behind the walls of the fence of the trading post. Unbeknownst to himself, he covered a couple of miles in the hope of catching an insect.
Chapter 16
A period of prolonged rains began, threatening to flood all the fields. Queen Muana decided to seek help from Mgannge, a famous sorcerer from Northern Angola. It turned out to be a disguised Hercules, who made it clear to the queen that a white woman and her child were to blame for all the troubles. He took them away with him, and even Alvets could not prevent him from doing so.
Chapter 17
Hercules brought his "trophies" to the boat where Dick Sand, Benedict and Dingo, who had been saved by him, were located. All that was missing was Tom, Bath, Austin and Actaeon, who were driven from the village towards the Great Lakes. Having disguised the boat as a floating island, the friends began to descend "along the river to the ocean coast."
Chapter 18
During their rafting, travelers from time to time went ashore to hunt. The area seemed uninhabited, but one day they sailed past the village, and it was only by a miracle that the savages did not notice them. Friends were forced to land on the shore as the river rushed down "a swift, majestic waterfall."
Chapter 19 AT."
As soon as he was on the shore, Dingo rushed forward, taking someone's trail. The clever dog led the travelers to a miserable shack containing human bones. Nearby, “two large half-erased red letters” were visible on the tree - S. V. Dick found out that the deceased was the traveler Samuel Vernon, who fell victim to the insidious guide Negoro.
Suddenly, "a terrible cry came from outside" - it was Dingo who attacked Negoro, who, before sailing, returned to the scene of his crime to take Vernon's money from the cache. Negoro mortally wounded the dog, but he "clenched his jaw with the last of his strength" and gnawed the throat of his old enemy.
Chapter 20
A real gift of fate for travelers was a meeting with a trade caravan that belonged to Portuguese merchants. In complete safety, they reached the port, where they boarded a steamer and arrived safely in America. Dick Sand became Weldon's adopted son, and Hercules became a great friend of the family. The young man “graduated with honors from hydrographic courses” and was preparing to become a captain. The general joy was overshadowed only by thoughts of the bitter fate of black friends. However, thanks to the connections of Mr. Weldon, all four Negroes were returned to their homeland.
Jules Verne
"Captain at fifteen"
On January 29, 1873, the schooner brig Pilgrim, equipped for whaling, sets sail from the port of Oakland, New Zealand. On board are the brave and experienced Captain Gul, five experienced sailors, a fifteen-year-old junior sailor - the orphan Dick Send, the ship's cook Negoro, as well as the wife of the owner of the Pilgrim, James Weldon, Mrs. Weldon with her five-year-old son Jack, her eccentric relative, whom everyone calls " cousin Benedict," and the old Negro nurse Nan. The sailboat is on its way to San Francisco with a stop at Valparaiso. After a few days of sailing, little Jack notices the Waldeck ship capsized on its side in the ocean with a hole in the bow. In it, the sailors discover five emaciated blacks and a dog named Dingo. It turns out that the Negroes: Tom, a sixty-year-old man, his son Bat, Austin, Actaeon and Hercules are free citizens of the United States. Having completed work on a plantation contract in New Zealand, they returned to America. After the Waldeck collided with another ship, all the crew members and the captain disappeared and they were left alone. They are transferred aboard the Pilgrim, and after a few days of careful care, they are fully restored to their strength. Dingo, according to them, the captain of the Waldeck picked up off the coast of Africa. At the sight of Negoro, the dog, for some unknown reason, begins to growl ferociously and expresses its readiness to pounce on him. Negoro prefers not to show himself to the dog, which, apparently, recognized him.
A few days later, Captain Gul and five sailors who dared to set off on a boat to catch a whale, which they saw a few miles from the ship, die. Dick Send, who remained on the ship, takes over as captain. Negroes are trying under his leadership to learn the sailor's craft. With all his courage and inner maturity, Dick does not have all the navigational knowledge and knows how to navigate the ocean only by a compass and a lot that measures the speed of movement. He does not know how to find a location by the stars, which is what Negoro uses. He breaks one compass and imperceptibly changes the indications of the second one. Then disables the lot. His intrigues contribute to the fact that instead of America, the ship arrives on the shores of Angola and is thrown ashore. All travelers are safe. Negoro quietly leaves them and leaves in an unknown direction. After some time, Dick Sand, who went in search of some settlement, meets the American Harris, who, being in collusion with Negoro, his old acquaintance, and assuring that the travelers are on the shores of Bolivia, lures them a hundred miles into the rainforest, promising shelter and leaving on the hacienda of his brother. Over time, Dick Send and Tom realize that they are somehow not in South America, but in Africa. Harris, having guessed about their insight, hides in the forest, leaving the travelers alone, and goes to a pre-arranged meeting with Negoro. From their conversation, it becomes clear to the reader that Harris is engaged in the slave trade, Negoro was also familiar with this trade for a long time, until the authorities of Portugal, where he comes from, sentenced him to life imprisonment for such activities. After staying on it for two weeks, Negoro escaped, got a job as a cook on the Pilgrim and began to wait for the right opportunity to get back to Africa. Dick's inexperience played into his hands, and his plan was carried out much sooner than he dared hope. Not far from the place where he meets Harris, there is a caravan of slaves, which goes to Kazonda to the fair, led by one of their acquaintances. The caravan is encamped ten miles from the whereabouts of the travelers, on the banks of the Kwanza River. Knowing Dick Send, Negoro and Harris correctly assume that he will decide to take his people to the river and go down to the ocean on a raft. That's where they intend to capture them. Having discovered the disappearance of Harris, Dick understands that a betrayal has occurred, and decides to walk along the bank of the stream to more major river. On the way, they are overtaken by a thunderstorm and a fierce downpour, from which the river overflows its banks and rises several pounds above ground level. Before the rain, travelers climb into an empty termite mound, twelve feet high. In a huge anthill with thick clay walls they are waiting for the storm. However, having got out of there, they are immediately captured. Blacks, Nan and Dick are attached to the caravan, Hercules manages to escape. Mrs. Weldon with her son and cousin Benedict are taken away in an unspecified direction. During the journey, Dick and his friends have to endure all the hardships of the transition with a caravan of slaves and witness the brutal treatment of guards and overseers with slaves. Unable to withstand this transition, old Nan perishes along the way.
The caravan arrives at Kazonda, where the slaves are distributed among the barracks. Dick Send accidentally meets Harris and, after Harris, deceiving him, reports the death of Mrs. Weldon and her son, in desperation snatches a dagger from his belt and kills him. The slave fair is to take place the next day. Negoro, who saw from afar the scene of the death of his friend, asks permission from Alvets, the owner of the caravan of slaves and a person very influential in Kazonda, and also from Muani-Lung, the local king, permission to execute Dick after the fair. Alvets promises Muani-Lung, unable to do without alcohol for a long time, a drop of fiery water for every drop of blood white man. He prepares a strong punch, sets it on fire, and when Muani-Lung drinks it, his thoroughly alcoholized body suddenly catches fire and the king rots to the very bones. His first wife, Queen Muan, arranges a funeral, during which, according to tradition, numerous other wives of the king are killed, thrown into a pit and flooded. In the same pit there is also Dick tied to a post. He must die.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Weldon and her son and cousin Benedict also live in Kazonda outside the fence of the trading post of Alvets. Negoro holds them hostage there and wants a ransom of one hundred thousand dollars from Mr. Weldon. He forces Mrs. Weldon to write a letter to her husband, which should contribute to the implementation of his plan, and, leaving the hostages in the care of Alvets, departs for San Francisco. One day, Cousin Benedict, an avid insect collector, is chasing a particularly rare ground beetle. Pursuing it, he imperceptibly for himself through a mole-hole, passing under the walls of the fence, breaks free and runs two miles through the forest in the hope of still grabbing the insect. There he meets Hercules, who has been next to the caravan all this time in the hope of helping his friends in some way.
At this time, a long downpour, unusual for this time of year, begins in the village, which floods all nearby fields and threatens to leave the inhabitants without a crop. Queen Muan invites sorcerers to the village so that they drive away the clouds. Hercules, having caught one of these sorcerers in the forest and dressed in his outfit, pretends to be a mute sorcerer and comes to the village, grabs the astonished queen by the hand and leads her to the Alvets trading post. There he shows with signs that a white woman and her are to blame for the troubles of her people. child. He grabs them and takes them out of the village. Alvets tries to detain him, but succumbs to the onslaught of savages and is forced to release the hostages. After walking eight miles and finally freeing himself from the last curious villagers, Hercules lowers Mrs. Weldon and Jack into the boat, where they discover with amazement that the sorcerer and Hercules are the same person, they see Dick Send, saved by Hercules from death, cousin Benedict and Dingo. Only Tom, Bat, Actaeon and Austin are missing, who were sold into slavery and stolen from the village even earlier. Now travelers finally have the opportunity to go down to the ocean on a boat disguised as a floating island. From time to time Dick comes ashore to hunt. After a few days of travel, the boat sails past the village of cannibals, located on the right bank. The fact that it is not an island that floats along the river, but a boat with people, the savages discover after it is already far ahead. Unnoticed by travelers, savages along the shore pursue the boat in the hope of prey. A few days later, the boat stops at the left bank, so as not to be drawn into the waterfall. Dingo, barely jumping ashore, rushes forward, as if smelling someone's footprint. Travelers stumble upon a small shack in which already whitened human bones are scattered. Nearby on a tree, two letters “S. AT.". These are the same letters that are engraved on the Dingo's collar. Nearby is a note in which its author, the traveler Samuel Vernon, accuses his guide Negoro of mortally wounding him in December 1871 and robbing him. Suddenly, Dingo takes off, and a scream is heard nearby. It was Dingo who grabbed the throat of Negoro, who, before boarding the steamer to America, returned to the scene of his crime in order to get from the hiding place the money he had stolen from Vernon. Dingo, whom Negoro stabs with a knife before dying, dies. But Negoro himself cannot escape retribution. Fearing on the left bank of Negoro's satellites, Dick is sent for reconnaissance to the right bank. There, arrows fly at him, and ten savages from the village of cannibals jump into his boat. Dick shoots through the oar, and the boat is carried to the waterfall. The savages die in it, but Dick, hiding in a boat, manages to escape. Soon the travelers reach the ocean, and then without incident on August 25 they arrive in California. Dick Send becomes a son in the Weldon family, by the age of eighteen he completes hydrographic courses and is preparing to become a captain on one of James Weldon's ships. Hercules becomes a great family friend. Mr. Weldon ransoms Tom, Bat, Actaeon, and Austin from slavery, and on November 15, 1877, four Negroes, freed from so many dangers, find themselves in the friendly embrace of the Weldons.
On January 29, 1873, the schooner Pilgrim set sail from New Zealand's Oceanand under the leadership of Captain Gul. His team includes 5 experienced sailors, 1 junior sailor Dick Send, cook Negoro. The owner's wife, Mrs. Weldon, and 5-year-old son Jack, his cousin Benedict and nanny Nan were on the ship, who were sailing to San Francisco. A few days later they see a wrecked ship and rescue 5 blacks and a Dingo dog. African Americans turn out to be free US citizens who were returning to their homeland after working in New Zealand, but they were rammed by another ship. Dingo, seeing Negoro, began to react aggressively to him. Rescued said that the dog was found off the coast of Africa.
Noticing a whale not far from the ship, Captain Gul and the sailors swim to catch and die. The functions of the ship's captain are taken over by 15-year-old Dick Send. Negroes learn sailor business. But the young man is poorly versed in navigation, having only the skills of orienting by compass and lot. Kok Negoro does everything to make the ship go astray. The ship is washed ashore in Angola. But the young captain does not know how to understand the starry sky and does not know where they are. Meanwhile, the cook disappears in an unknown direction. Exploring the territory, Dick meets Harris, who convinces him that the travelers have ended up in Bolivia, and invites him to his brother's house. But the young man did not know that the new acquaintance is a friend of Negoro and a slave trader and lures them far into the forest. After some time, Dick and Tom guessed about their presence in Africa, but by that time Harris had already abandoned them in the tropics, heading to meet Negoro.
It turns out that the cook in the past also trafficked in people and for this he was sent to life hard labor by the Portuguese authorities, but two weeks later he escaped from custody and was looking for an opportunity to return to Africa. Their mutual acquaintance, a slave trader not far from the meeting point, led a caravan of people to the fair in Kazonda and was supposed to stop at the Kwanza River. The attackers hoped that Dick and his people would float down the river and be captured. At this time, the 15-year-old captain is moving along the stream to go to a deep channel, but a thunderstorm catches the travelers. To protect themselves from the overflowing river, they hide in a huge anthill, and after a thunderstorm they are captured. One of the blacks, Hercules, manages to escape, and the fate of the wife and son of the owner of the ship remains unknown. Enslaved people are in difficult conditions, they overcome many difficulties along the way, the nanny Nan cannot stand it and dies.
In Kazonda, Harris informs Dick about the death of Mrs. Weldon and Jack, for which the 15-year-old youth kills the villain. Seeing the death of his friend, Negoro asks for Dick's execution from local influential people. But Hercules saves the young man from death. Meanwhile, the ship's owner's family is being held hostage by Negoro, who hopes to ransom them. Cousin Benedict accidentally finds a way out of captivity and meets the escaped Hercules, who disguises himself as a sorcerer and convinces Queen Muanu to give him a white woman and child, because they bring disaster to the tribe. They disguise the boat as an island and float down the river. On the way, Dingo's dog shows them the place of his master's death and kills Negoro, who came to collect the stolen money. The travelers manage to get to California, where Mr. Weldon adopted Dick and made him the captain of one of his ships.
On January 29, 1873, the schooner brig Pilgrim, equipped for whaling, sets sail from the port of Oakland, New Zealand. On board are the brave and experienced Captain Gul, five experienced sailors, a fifteen-year-old junior sailor - an orphan Dick Send, a ship's cook Negoro, as well as the wife of the owner of the Pilgrim, James Weldon, Mrs. Weldon with her five-year-old son Jack, her eccentric relative, whom everyone calls " cousin Benedict," and the old Negro nurse Nan. The sailboat is on its way to San Francisco with a stop at Valparaiso. After a few days of sailing, little Jack notices the Waldeck ship capsized on its side in the ocean with a hole in the bow. In it, the sailors discover five emaciated blacks and a dog named Dingo. It turns out that the Negroes: Tom, a sixty-year-old man, his son Bat, Austin, Actaeon and Hercules are free citizens of the United States. Having completed work on a plantation contract in New Zealand, they returned to America. After the Waldeck collided with another ship, all the crew members and the captain disappeared and they were left alone. They are transferred aboard the Pilgrim, and after a few days of careful care, they are fully restored to their strength. Dingo, according to them, the captain of the Waldeck picked up off the coast of Africa. At the sight of Negoro, the dog, for some unknown reason, begins to growl ferociously and expresses its readiness to pounce on him. Negoro prefers not to show himself to the dog, which, apparently, recognized him.
A few days later, Captain Gul and five sailors who dared to set off on a boat to catch a whale, which they saw a few miles from the ship, die. Dick Send, who remained on the ship, takes over as captain. Negroes are trying under his leadership to learn the sailor's craft. With all his courage and inner maturity, Dick does not have all the navigational knowledge and knows how to navigate the ocean only by a compass and a lot that measures the speed of movement. He does not know how to find a location by the stars, which is what Negoro uses. He breaks one compass and imperceptibly changes the indications of the second one. Then disables the lot. His intrigues contribute to the fact that instead of America, the ship arrives on the shores of Angola and is thrown ashore. All travelers are safe. Negoro quietly leaves them and leaves in an unknown direction. After some time, Dick Sand, who went in search of some settlement, meets the American Harris, who, being in collusion with Negoro, his old acquaintance, and assuring that the travelers are on the shores of Bolivia, lures them a hundred miles into the rainforest, promising shelter and leaving on the hacienda of his brother. Over time, Dick Send and Tom realize that they somehow ended up not in South America, but in Africa. Harris, having guessed about their insight, hides in the forest, leaving the travelers alone, and goes to a pre-arranged meeting with Negoro. From their conversation, it becomes clear to the reader that Harris is engaged in the slave trade, Negoro was also familiar with this trade for a long time, until the authorities of Portugal, where he comes from, sentenced him to life imprisonment for such activities. After staying on it for two weeks, Negoro escaped, got a job as a cook on the Pilgrim and began to wait for the right opportunity to get back to Africa. Dick's inexperience played into his hands, and his plan was carried out much sooner than he dared hope. Not far from the place where he meets Harris, there is a caravan of slaves, which goes to Kazonda to the fair, led by one of their acquaintances. The caravan is encamped ten miles from the whereabouts of the travelers, on the banks of the Kwanza River. Knowing Dick Send, Negoro and Harris correctly assume that he will decide to take his people to the river and go down to the ocean on a raft. That's where they intend to capture them. Having discovered the disappearance of Harris, Dick realizes that a betrayal has taken place, and decides to walk along the bank of the stream to a larger river. On the way, they are overtaken by a thunderstorm and a fierce downpour, from which the river overflows its banks and rises several pounds above ground level. Before the rain, travelers climb into an empty termite mound, twelve feet high. In a huge anthill with thick clay walls, they wait out a thunderstorm. However, having got out of there, they are immediately captured. Blacks, Nan and Dick are attached to the caravan, Hercules manages to escape. Mrs. Weldon with her son and cousin Benedict are taken away in an unspecified direction. During the journey, Dick and his friends have to endure all the hardships of the transition with a caravan of slaves and witness the brutal treatment of guards and overseers with slaves. Unable to withstand this transition, old Nan perishes along the way.
The caravan arrives at Kazonda, where the slaves are distributed among the barracks. Dick Send accidentally meets Harris and, after Harris, deceiving him, reports the death of Mrs. Weldon and her son, in desperation snatches a dagger from his belt and kills him. The slave fair is to take place the next day. Negoro, who saw from afar the scene of the death of his friend, asks permission from Alvets, the owner of the caravan of slaves and a person very influential in Kazonda, and also from Muani-Lung, the local king, permission to execute Dick after the fair. Alvets promises Muani-Lung, unable to do without alcohol for a long time, a drop of fiery water for every drop of white man's blood. He prepares a strong punch, sets it on fire, and when Muani-Lung drinks it, his thoroughly alcoholized body suddenly catches fire and the king rots to the very bones. His first wife, Queen Muan, arranges a funeral, during which, according to tradition, numerous other wives of the king are killed, thrown into a pit and flooded. In the same pit there is also Dick tied to a post. He must die.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Weldon and her son and cousin Benedict also live in Kazonda outside the fence of the trading post of Alvets. Negoro holds them hostage there and wants a ransom of one hundred thousand dollars from Mr. Weldon. He forces Mrs. Weldon to write a letter to her husband, which should contribute to the implementation of his plan, and, leaving the hostages in the care of Alvets, departs for San Francisco. One day, Cousin Benedict, an avid insect collector, is chasing a particularly rare ground beetle. Pursuing it, he imperceptibly for himself through a mole-hole, passing under the walls of the fence, breaks free and runs two miles through the forest in the hope of still grabbing the insect. There he meets Hercules, who has been next to the caravan all this time in the hope of helping his friends in some way.
At this time, a long downpour, unusual for this time of year, begins in the village, which floods all nearby fields and threatens to leave the inhabitants without a crop. Queen Muan invites sorcerers to the village so that they drive away the clouds. Hercules, having caught one of these sorcerers in the forest and dressed in his outfit, pretends to be a mute sorcerer and comes to the village, grabs the astonished queen by the hand and leads her to the Alvets trading post. There he shows with signs that a white woman and her are to blame for the troubles of her people. child. He grabs them and takes them out of the village. Alvets tries to detain him, but succumbs to the onslaught of savages and is forced to release the hostages. After walking eight miles and finally freeing himself from the last curious villagers, Hercules lowers Mrs. Weldon and Jack into the boat, where they are amazed to find that the sorcerer and Hercules are the same person, they see Dick Send, saved by Hercules from death, cousin Benedict and Dingo. Only Tom, Bat, Actaeon and Austin are missing, who were sold into slavery and stolen from the village even earlier. Now travelers finally have the opportunity to go down to the ocean on a boat disguised as a floating island. From time to time Dick comes ashore to hunt. After a few days of travel, the boat sails past the village of cannibals, located on the right bank. The fact that it is not an island that floats along the river, but a boat with people, the savages discover after it is already far ahead. Unnoticed by travelers, savages along the shore pursue the boat in the hope of prey. A few days later, the boat stops at the left bank, so as not to be drawn into the waterfall. Dingo, barely jumping ashore, rushes forward, as if smelling someone's footprint. Travelers stumble upon a small shack in which already whitened human bones are scattered. Nearby on a tree, two letters “S. AT.". These are the same letters that are engraved on the Dingo's collar. Nearby is a note in which its author, the traveler Samuel Vernon, accuses his guide Negoro of mortally wounding him in December 1871 and robbing him. Suddenly, Dingo takes off, and a scream is heard nearby. It was Dingo who grabbed the throat of Negoro, who, before boarding the steamer to America, returned to the scene of his crime in order to get from the hiding place the money he had stolen from Vernon. Dingo, whom Negoro stabs with a knife before dying, dies. But Negoro himself cannot escape retribution. Fearing on the left bank of Negoro's satellites, Dick is sent for reconnaissance to the right bank. There, arrows fly at him, and ten savages from the village of cannibals jump into his boat. Dick shoots through the oar, and the boat is carried to the waterfall. The savages die in it, but Dick, hiding in a boat, manages to escape. Soon the travelers reach the ocean, and then without incident on August 25 they arrive in California. Dick Send becomes a son in the Weldon family, by the age of eighteen he completes hydrographic courses and is preparing to become a captain on one of James Weldon's ships. Hercules becomes a great family friend. Mr. Weldon ransoms Tom, Bat, Actaeon, and Austin from slavery, and on November 15, 1877, four Negroes, freed from so many dangers, find themselves in the friendly embrace of the Weldons.
Year: 1878 Genre: novel
Main characters: junior sailor Dick, slave trader and cook, Mrs. Weldon and dog Dingo
While hunting for whales, the captain and sailors of the schooner Pilgrim died. The ship was led by 15-year-old captain Dick Send. On board was the criminal Negoro, who took advantage of the inexperience of the young sailor and led everyone to a dead end. Instead of America, travelers ended up in Africa, where almost everyone ended up in a caravan of slaves. The brave black Hercules saves his friends, but his family has already been sold up to this point. Mr. Weldor ransoms those close to Hercules from slavery. Dick adopts. He is completing a sailing course and is ready to become a professional captain.
The work teaches that all people are absolutely equal regardless of race, skin color, social status and religion.
Read the summary of Jules Verne Fifteen Year Old Captain
The plot of the work takes place in 1873. Schooner "Pilgrim" goes to America. On the ship are the brave captain Gul, sailors, 15-year-old sailor Dick Send, the wife of the owner of the schooner with a young son and cousin, the cook Negoro and the elderly nanny Nun. Some time later, a five-year-old boy discovers an overturned ship, inside of which there were five black people. Then it turned out that the ship was shipwrecked, and this family miraculously managed to survive. Among them was an elderly man and his four sons, as well as the dog Dingo, who from the very beginning took a dislike to coca. Negoro tried not to be near the dog, which recognized him.
After a couple of days, the captain and the sailors decided to continue hunting for whales. They are dying. Now the schooner is in charge of the junior sailor Dick, who could only navigate by a compass. This is in the hands of Negoro. He deliberately breaks all compasses and leads all travelers to a dead end. Instead of America, the ship sails to the shores of Africa. Negoro finds himself in his native land and immediately disappears. Dick Send and his travelers are met by the American Harris, who cooperates with Negoro. He claims that the ship's passengers are in Bolivia and escorts them deep into the forest. Soon Dick and old Tom realize that this is not America, but Africa.
Gerris guesses that the travelers realized something was wrong and hides. He appeared at the appointed meeting place with Negoro. From their conversation, it becomes clear that the American is engaged in the slave trade and Negoro collaborated with him before, until he was detained and sentenced to hard labor. After a couple of weeks, he escaped and got on the Pilgrim ship, got a job as a cook. In Africa, he killed one person, the owner of Dingo, which is why the dog reacted to Negoro in such a way. He, in turn, took advantage of the inexperience of the fifteen-year-old captain, brought the schooner to his native shores. Near the meeting point of Negaro and Gerris is a caravan of slaves being led to the fair.
The slave traders hope that Dick will lead his travelers to the river, where they will trap them. Blacks and Dick are captured, only Hercules was lucky, he managed to escape. Mrs. Weldon, her son and cousin are taken the other way. The criminals have other plans for them. Negaro wants a huge ransom for them from Weldon. Dick and his friends are going through a lot of pain during the passage of the caravan. Old Nun can't stand it and dies.
Dick meets Geriss. He hates him for betraying them. Taking the opportunity, the young man grabs a knife and kills his enemy. Negaro witnesses the death of his comrade and wants to deal with Dick. He negotiates with old acquaintances Alvets, who leads the caravan of slaves and Muani-Lung, so that they order the execution of Dick Senda.
A slightly strange cousin of Mrs. Weldon wants to catch a rare insect and does not even notice how he finds himself outside the territory in which he is kept with his sister and nephew. He is met by Hercules. A brave black youth dresses up as a sorcerer. Queen Muan invites sorcerers to influence the weather, as recent times there are constant showers that adversely affect the crop. The chief sorcerer reports that the woman with the boy is to blame. Takes Mrs. Weldon and Jackson and moves away. After that, the woman discovers that it is their savior Hercules. He saves Dick, but does not have time to rescue his brothers and father, who have already been sold into slavery.
The fugitives disguise the boat and sail for several days. After some time, travelers stop at the shore, as there is a waterfall ahead. On this island are the remains of Samuel Verny, the owner of Dingo. This man was robbed and killed by Negaro, who returned to the place again to collect the stolen money. The dog grabbed his throat and was killed with a knife. But Negaro didn't get away with it that easily.
The passengers of the boat escaped. Dick was adopted by the Weldons, by the time he comes of age, he is taking sailing courses and is ready to serve as a captain. Black friends were bought out by mistel Weldon.
A picture or drawing of a fifteen year old captain
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