A cheerful, rosy sunrise to enjoy. The ship is sailing headlong into trouble. A maiden voyage for the cabin boy under the pirate flag, where bones are doubled. With sails rustling, the brig sails across the high seas, going windward, the topmast is swinging. And the cabin boy’s soul sways and trembles from bliss, like the hemp-woven ropes of the rigging. The skipper spoke, concealing his emotion beneath his tattered robes, and sounded stern: "Be gentleman when you have chased your fortune, and with no luck there are no gentlemen!" At will, the brig crossed many parallels, and met whomever fate would have her wrestle, destroying many ribs of caravels, when it came to the boarding of a vessel. Once there was a great plunder racked up in a raid, and the pirates were screaming like seagulls. Turning pale in a flash, the ship’s boy grabbed his blade, for his share didn’t seem to be equal. There stood a girl, not hiding and not sobbing, and so the boy recalled Skip’s words again: "For we are gentlemen when we have fortune, and with no luck there are no gentlemen!" He noted that the captain’s was all mute, not trying to hold back the bloody scuffle. And so he failed to notice his deep wounds, and struck right back, and always looked unruffled. Only it seemed to her that the boy in dire need, and she would never think of another: threw herself overboard, and the water soon hid her small body that was golden in color. And baffling every pirate with his action, The boy discharged a pistol at his chest. He was the last true gentleman of fortune. The end of fortune - no more gentlemen!
© Kirill Tolmachev. Translation, 2024