ANNOUNCER: Now, the V.O.A. Special English program, American Stories.
Our
story today is called "Benito Cereno." It was written by Herman
Melville. We tell the story in three parts. Here is Shep ONeal with
part one of "Benito Cereno."
Captain Benito Cereno hurried
aboard his ship. It was ready to sail. A bright sun and a soft breeze
promised good weather ahead. The ships anchor was raised. And the San
Dominick -- old but still seaworthy - moved slowly out of the harbor of
Valparaiso, on the west coast of Chile. It was carrying valuable
products and slaves up the Pacific coast to Callao, another Spanish
colonial port near Lima, Peru.
The slaves, both male and female,
slept on deck. They were not chained, because their owner, Don
Alexandro, said they were peaceful.
The San Dominick moved
steadily forward under a clear sky. The weather showed no sign of
change. Day after day, the soft breeze kept the ship on course toward
Peru.
Slave traffic between Spains colonial ports in this year of
seventeen ninety-nine had been steady. But there were few outbreaks of
violence. What happened, therefore, on board the San Dominick could not
have been expected.
On the seventh day out, before daybreak, the
slaves rose up in rebellion. They swept through the ship with handspikes
and hatchets moving with the fury of desperate men. The attack was a
complete surprise. Few of the crew were awake. All hands, except the two
officers on the watch, lay in a deep untroubled sleep. The rebels
sprang upon the two officers and left them half dead. Then, one by one,
they killed eighteen of the sleeping crew. They threw some overboard,
alive. A few hid and escaped death. The rebels tied up seven others, but
left them alive to navigate the ship.
As the day began to break,
Captain Cereno came slowly, carefully up the steps toward the chief
rebel leader, Babo, and begged for mercy. He promised to follow Babos
commands if he would only put an end to the killings. But this had no
effect. Babo had three men brought up on deck and tied. Then, the three
Spaniards were thrown overboard. Babo did this to show his power and
authority -- that he was in command. Babo, however, promised not to
murder Captain Cereno. But everything he said carried a threat. He asked
the captain if in these seas there were any negro countries.
"None," Cereno answered.
"Then, take us to Senegal or the neighboring islands of Saint Nicholas."
Captain
Cereno was shaken. "That is impossible!" he said. "It would mean going
around Cape Horn. And this ship is in no condition for such a voyage.
And we do not have enough supplies, or sails or water."
"Take us
there, anyway," Babo answered sharply, showing little interest in such
details. "If you refuse, we will kill every white man on board."
Captain
Cereno knew he had no choice. He told the rebel leader that the most
serious problem in making such a long voyage was water. Babo said they
should sail to the island of Santa Maria near the southern end of Chile.
He knew that no one lived on the island. But water and supplies could
be found there.
He forced Captain Cereno to keep away from any
port. He threatened to kill him the moment he saw him start to move
toward any city, town or settlement on shore.
Cereno had to agree
to sail to the island of Santa Maria. He still hoped that he might meet
along the way, or at the island itself, a ship that could help him.
Perhaps -- who knows -- he might find a boat on the island and be able
to escape to the nearby coast of Arruco. Hope was all he had left. And
that was getting smaller each day.
Captain Cereno steered south for Santa Maria. The voyage would take weeks.
Eight
days after the ship turned south, Babo told Captain Cereno that he was
going to kill Don Alexandro, owner of the slaves on board. He said it
had to be done. Otherwise, he and the other slaves could never be sure
of their freedom. He refused to listen to the captains appeals, and
ordered two men to pull Don Alexandro up from below and kill him on
deck. It was done as ordered. Three other Spaniards were also brought up
and thrown overboard. Babo warned Cereno and the other Spaniards that
each one of them would go the same way if any of them gave the smallest
cause for suspicion.
Cereno decided to do everything possible to
save the lives of those remaining. He agreed to carry the rebels safely
to Senegal if they promised peace and no further bloodshed. And he
signed a document that gave the rebels ownership of the ship and its
cargo.
Later, as they sailed down the long coast of Chile, the
wind suddenly dropped. The ship drifted into a deep calm. For days, it
lay still in the water. The heat was fierce; the suffering intense.
There was little water. That made matters worse. Some of those on board
were driven mad. A few died. The pressure and tension made many violent.
And they killed a Spanish officer.
After a time, a breeze came up
and set the ship free again. And it continued south. The voyage seemed
endless. The ship sailed for weeks with little water on board. It moved
through days of good weather and periods of bad weather. There were
times when it sailed under heavy skies, and times when the wind dropped
and the ship lay be-calmed in lifeless air. The crew seemed half dead.
At
last, one evening in the month of August, the San Dominick reached the
lonely island of Santa Maria. It moved slowly toward one of the islands
bays to drop anchor. Not far off lay an American ship. And, the sight
of the ship caught the rebels by surprise.
The slaves became tense
and fearful. They wanted to sail away, quickly. But their leader, Babo,
opposed such a move. Where could they go. Their water and food were
low. He succeeded in bringing them under control and in quieting their
fears. He told them they had nothing to fear. And they believed him.
Then,
he ordered everyone to go to work, to clean the decks and put the ship
in proper and good condition, so that no visitor would suspect anything
was wrong.
Later, he spoke to Captain Cereno, warning him that he
would kill him if he did not do as he was told. He explained in detail
what Cereno was to do and say if any stranger came on board. He held a
dagger in his hand, saying it would always be ready for any emergency.
The
American vessel was a large tradeship and seal hunter, commanded by
Captain Amasa Delano. He had stopped at Santa Maria for water.
On
the American ship, shortly after sunrise, an officer woke Captain
Delano, and told him a strange sail was coming into the bay. The captain
quickly got up, dressed and went up on deck. Captain Delano raised his
spy glass and looked closely at the strange ship coming slowly in. He
was surprised that there was no flag. A ship usually showed its flag
when entering a harbor where another ship lay at anchor.
As the
ship got closer, Captain Delano saw it was damaged. Many of its sails
were ripped and torn. A mast was broken. And the deck was in disorder.
Clearly the ship was in trouble.
The American captain decided to
go to the strange vessel and offer help. He ordered his whale boat put
into the water, and had his men bring up some supplies and put them in
the boat. Then they set out toward the mystery ship.
As they
approached, Captain Delano was shocked at the poor condition of the
ship. He wondered what could have happened. . . And what he would find.
That will be our story next week.
ANNOUNCER: You have heard
part one of the American story "Benito Cereno." It was written by
Herman Melville. Your storyteller was Shep ONeal. Listen again next
week at this time when we continue the American story "Benito Cereno" in
V.O.A. Special English. Im Barbara Klein.