Unit 11 The Pirates and the Captain on Chimei

Author: Cheng-Yun Wang(王正芸)Ruei-Hua-Shen(沈瑞華)  Translator: Nikki Wang(王月玲)

Ⅰ. On the Pirate Ship

On a pirate ship fully loaded with treasures, wine casks and captives, a group of pirates were immensely proud to see the treasures they had robbed. They laughed heartily with satisfaction, making fun of the captives at the same time. This made the terrified captives struggled with fear. Not watching their feet, some of them fell into the sea.

    The head of the pirates and his men were singing together loudly:

    “Hey, well! Hey, well! Hey, well! Hey, well! Cross the ocean, over the billows, One-Eyed Shark's king! Formed in groups, burn and kill, deceive and rob, One-Eyed Shark's king! The treasures of the world, I want to collect them all.”

    The head of the pirates said, “Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! I am One-Eyed King of the Sharks who is afraid of nothing.”

All the Pirates were toasting to each other with wine, the pirates King Squid, Sliced Fish, Seaweed Cake and Dried Squid began to boast about themselves, singing in wildness and arrogance:

“Formed in groups, burn and kill, deceive and rob, One-Eyed Shark's king! Brave and valiant! Brave and battlewise! No one is better than me! Hey, well! Hey, well! Hey, well! Hey, well! “

When they finished singing, everybody showed off the treasures they had robbed.

    “I have jewelries.”

   “I have pearls and agates.”

   “I have emeralds and diamonds.”

   “Ha! Ha! I have imperial robes and imperial crowns. '

    The pirates never stopped shouting trying to outdo each other; no one would give up striving to be the winner.

    Unexpectedly, everyone found that among the treasures, there was a big picture.

    “Wow! There are beauties here!” At this moment, everyone fell silent, gaping at the picture.

Soon, everybody tried to say something, and all of them wanted to examine the picture closely.

    The noise and excitement of the pirates were overwhelming, and everybody fought for it with flushed face; they looked awfully busy.

    “All shut up! What kind of precious picture is that? Give it to me!” Their chief threatened.

    The pirates handed to the chief respectfully and said, “King of the Sharks, please look over.”

    The chief snatched away the picture, examining it from different angles, but could not find out any clue.

    “Excuse me…my lord… you…you are holding it upside down.”

On hearing this, the chief stared at him and roared,

    “Mind your own business.”

    The chief turned the scroll around immediately. He pointed at the picture with his finger, and nodded his head as if he already had good plans in mind. Suddenly, he pointed to the front with his finger rising his eyebrows, and roared,

    “Eh! This is the direction, according to the picture, there are lots of treasures on this island, and …seven beauties. Now, head for the island! Get all the fine things for me, including the seven beauties. Don’t miss anything. Everybody, get ready! Go 80 degrees to the south! “

    Together the pirates answered,

    “Go 80 degrees to the south!”

 “Right full helm!” The chief shouted.

 “Right full helm!” The pirates shouted.

 “Set out!” The chief ordered.

    The pirates sang together the song of the pirates:

“Formed in groups, burn and kill, deceive and rob, One-Eyed Shark's king! Brave and valiant! Brave and battlewise! No one is better than me! Hey, well! Hey, well! Hey, well! Hey, well! “

Ⅱ. Chimei and Ah Lei
    In the village of Chimei, the houses were solemn and the environment was quiet and simple. It was full of the fragrance of flowers, bird song, chicken crows and insect chirps everywhere. Whether young or old, everyone felt comfortable living here. This was a pure, peace and happy society and it was as harmonious as Utopia.

There was a family with seven daughters in the village, and each of them was exceedingly graceful, fascinating and charming. They were the famous seven beauties on the island. Their names were Red Bean, Orange, Yolk, Green Tea, Blue Berry, Cherry and Laver. Just like the seven colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and purple, each had her attractiveness. Every beauty was not only outstanding in appearance and kind at heart, but also good at farming and housework. They often picked up snails, planted sweet potato, cooked peanuts, caught fish and shrimps together; they got up early for farming, did the washing in the afternoon and chatting; They were hardworking and happy.

The township Chimei was surrounded by the sea, and it had beautiful golden sandy beaches and scenes. The island was also rich in resources, and there were abundant assets in the surrounding sea. Most of young men supported their family by fishing. The beautiful and richly endowed resources of the island provide for the people's needs.

    There was a young fisherman named Ah Lei, he was unloading the fish from the boat with his partners and he was singing merrily:

    “Bright blue ocean, embrace the golden sandy beach; the sea wind is brushing the green cactus gently. The boat by the seashore is carrying my dream; I insist on my ideal and hope. Chimei! My homeland! You are still beautiful in my memory! Chimei! My homeland! You are the place where my life and growth originated.”

    At this moment, the seven sisters came in company to the seashore to pick up snails. As they walked, they saw a familiar figure nearby.

    “Why! Who is that? “

  “Eh? Let me see.”

  “Ah Lei! It’s Ah Lei!”

   “Hey! Ah Lei! You are back.”
The seven sisters marched towards Ah Lei quickly.

  “Hey! Ah Lei! Long time no see! How come you are still so dark and thin? The elder sister Green Tea looked at Ah Lei closely.

  “Yes! Yes! No wonder you are called Ah Lei So-ba-ba (skinny).”

Another elder sister Blue Berry continued answering.

    The seven sisters and Ah Lei had not seen each other for a long time, so they were happy to chat.

  The elder sister Cherry said, “Wow! Ah Lei! It has been so long since you sailed out last time. Look at the boat full of fish and shrimps, it looked like you really have had a great harvest.”

    Ah Lei was in high spirits, and he shared eagerly with the seven sisters his sailing experience for this time. When he finished, he gave a lot of fish he had caught to the seven sisters.

    All the sisters held the seafood that Ah Lei gave to them, and they decided to make them into dried fish and squids so that they could use them for side dishes in the future. Everybody cooperated to finish the work. When they were working busily in and out of the house, they joked with each other happily and they even completely ignored that a group of greedy pirates were looking at them with covetousl eyes.

    “Wow! Finally we have finished. I felt really sorry to take so many fish from Ah Lei. Since we cannot eat them all up, we had better make them into dried fish, so that we can save them for some other days.”

    “True! Tidy up! It is time for us to wash the clothes by the well!”

Suddenly a group of pirates hiding behind the wall jumped down to surround the seven sisters.

    “Oops… pirates! Help! Help! The seven sisters were frightened by the sudden appearance of the pirates and, in a panic, they cried for help.

    The chief stared at the cringing and trembling seven sisters and said,

    “Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha! All of you are gorgeous beauties. Come! Take them and I want them all to be my wives!”

As the pirates approached, the seven sisters, picked up the wash-board and other washing utilities to resist, but the ferocious and evil pirates even forced them to the well. The big elder sister Red Bean said,

    “You scum! We’d rather jump into the well to kill ourselves rather than let you get us.”

    When she finished her sentence, with a sudden big stride, she jumped into the well. On seeing this, all the other sisters followed.

The pirates were astonished by the seven sisters’ movements. They did not expect the sisters would rather die than surrender. Ah Lei and the villagers had heard the sisters’ calls for help, and with bats as weapons in their hands they hurried to the well.

When Ah Lei saw that the seven sisters had committed suicide by jumping into the well, his face was flushed with anger and he roared to the pirates,

    “How hateful you are, pirates! You always robbed others. Now even the seven sisters are killed by you, you scum… “

All the villagers, men and women, old and young, arose together to fight bravely against the pirates. Everybody was in a great rage and feared nothing at all. Consequently the pirates could not defeat the villagers, and they could tell the situation was not in their favor; therefore, they knelt down to beg for mercy. They looked so different from the evil men they had been just now.

    After the confrontation, the pirates retreated. Ah Lei and the villagers comforted each other,

    “Thanks for our unity! It made us expel the pirates.”

    “Agree! Agree! Otherwise, the harvest of this year in the village would have been lost to them!”

    Ah Lei asked if everybody was safe and sound, and then he said sadly,

    “The seven sisters chose to die instead of giving in to the pirates. This well was the place they gathered together every day. Let them just rest in peace here.”

    Everybody felt very sad. Meanwhile in order to protect everybody from the invasion of outsiders, the villagers suggested that each of them take turns serving as guards to ensure the villagers’ safety and properties.

    “Let’s just invite Ah Lei to be our village head.” Uncle Hsieh said.

    “It is good! It is good!” Everybody hailed, applauded and praised.

    The villagers cooperated heartily to rebuild their hometown. They also took care of the well where the seven sisters jumped in.

    Time flew by, several years later seven beautiful trees grew from the well with flowers blossoming all over the tree. The trees looked like the seven beauties were smiling in the breeze to thank the villagers for what they had done.

    The sacrifices of seven sisters made the people feel sad, but it was also a warning to the villagers to unite, cooperate and help each other.

    Therefore, in order to commemorate them, the villagers cooperated to build a monument for the seven beauties by the ancient well. It has become a spot for travelers to visit. The story of the seven beauties has also become a legend for everybody to retell over and over again.