Today we publish a text and some exercises on the tremendous injustice suffered by a young sailor, hero of the novella Billy Budd. We also publish a translation of the text to the Spanish in case anyone needs some help understanding it. Advanced level.
Hoy publicamos un texto con ejercicios sobre la tremenda injusticia que sufrió un joven marinero, héroe de la novela corta Billy Budd. También publicamos la traducción al español del texto por si alguien necesita algo de ayuda. Nivel avanzado.
When Law and Justice Aren’t Synonyms
Law and Justice are not always the same
thing. Billy Budd is a novella by Herman Melville. It was published
posthumously and instantly became a classic. One of the points it makes is that
those who apply a law sometimes commit an injustice.
Billy Budd was a young man who began life as an orphan and who found work as a sailor in a merchant ship called The Rights of Man. He was famous for his extraordinarily good looks and for his pleasant ways, being a very nice person and a born peacemaker. In brief, he was beautiful without and within. The only defect Billy seemed to have was a slight stutter that worsened when he was nervous or upset. Unfortunately, Billy was impressed by the British Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and forced to leave his ship and transferred to The Bellipotent, a warship. There he soon learned that life on a battleship was far more brutal than life on a merchant ship.
Unfortunately for him, Billy became the object of the intense persecution of the perverse Master at Arms John Claggart. Billy, who was very innocent, could not understand why this man hated him and did all he could to stay out of trouble. Claggart, however, was dead set on darkening Billy’s soul. Unable to tangle Billy in his web in another way, Claggart falsely accused him of being the ringleader of a supposed incipient mutiny. The ship’s captain, Edward Vere, called both men to his quarters to find out what exactly was happening. During the confrontation with Claggart, Billy began to stutter and could not defend himself verbally. He was so aghast at the accusation and felt so helpless, that he lashed out at Claggart. This man fell to the ground and to Billy’s horror, died.
On the ship, Billy was tried for
murder. A jury of high-ranking officers could not come to a verdict. The
captain felt forced to make them reach one, and it had to be unfavourable for
Billy. Though he believed Billy was innocent, Captain Vere cited the Mutiny
Act and said the law demanded Billy be
condemned, for he had killed a superior. The law had to be applied. Billy was sentenced to be
hanged. He accepted this injustice serenely, and his last words were “God bless
Captain Vere.” Though practically everyone believed Billy was innocent,
fascinated by Billy’s words, the whole
crew repeated them, and blessed the captain, thus exonerating him from his possible responsibility in Billy's death. Shortly after Billy’s death,
Captain Vere’s ship saw some action. During battle with a French warship called
The
Atheist, Captain Vere was fatally wounded. His last words were “Billy
Budd.”
Texto en español: Utilízalo sólo si no te enteras bien al
leer el texto en inglés.
Cuando Justicia Y Ley No Son Sinónimos
La ley y la
justicia no son siempre lo mismo. Billy
Budd es una novela corta escrita por Herman Melville. Se publicó póstumamente
y se convirtió en un clásico de inmediato. Una de las cosas que nos demuestra
es que quienes aplican la ley a veces cometen injusticias por hacerlo.
Billy Budd era un joven que había crecido siendo huérfano y que encontró trabajo como marinero en un barco mercante llamado Los Derechos del Hombre. Billy era famoso por ser excepcionalmente bien parecido, muy agradable, y un conciliador nato. En breve, era hermoso por dentro y por fuera. El único defecto que parecía tener era un leve tartamudeo que se agravaba mucho cuando estaba nervioso o agitado. Desgraciadamente, Billy fue reclutado a la fuerza por la marina real británica y fue trasladado a una nave de guerra de nombre La Potente en la Guerra para luchar en las Guerras Napoleónicas. Allí pronto aprendió que la vida en la marina de guerra era mucho más brutal que la vida en la marina mercante.
Desafortunadamente para él, Billy pronto se convirtió en el blanco del odio y la persecución del maestro de armas Juan Claggart. Billy, que era muy inocente, no podía entender porque este hombre le odiaba, e hizo todo lo posible para evitar conflictos. Pero Claggart parecía empeñado en ensombrecer el alma de Billy. Incapaz de lograr que cayese en una de sus trampas, Claggart acusó falsamente a Billy de ser el cabecilla de un supuesto incipiente motín. El capitán del barco, Eduardo Vere, citó a ambos hombres en su dependencia para intentar esclarecer el asunto. Durante el careo con Claggart, Billy comenzó a tartamudear y viendo que no podía defenderse verbalmente, le propinó un golpe a Claggart. Este cayó al suelo, y para horror de Billy, murió ahí.
Billy fue juzgado por asesinato en el mismo barco. Un jurado de
oficiales de alto rango no pudo llegar a un veredicto. El capitán se sintió en
la obligación de forzarles a condenar a Billy porque según la legislación sobre
motines, aquel que matase a un superior tenía que ser ahorcado. Había que cumplir la ley, y Billy fue condenado a muerte. Billy aceptó esta injusticia con serenidad y
sus últimas palabras fueron “Dios bendiga al Capitán Vere.” Aunque casi todo el
mundo le creía inocente, fascinados por el perdón otorgado por Billy, toda la tripulación,
presente en el ahorcamiento, repitió sus últimas palabras, bendiciendo al
capitán y de esta manera exonerando a esta autoridad de su posible culpa. Poco después de la muerte de Billy, La Potente en la Guerra vio
acción. Durante un enfrentamiento con una nave francesa llamada La Atea, el Capitán Vere fue herido de
muerte. Sus últimas palabras fueron “Billy Budd.”
Exercises:
I – Match these word with their meanings:
____1. novella a.
dar un golpe
____2. stutter b.
motín
____3. impress
c. liar
____4. tangle
d. sorprendido y aterrado
____5. web e. cabecilla
____6. ringleader f. reclutar
por la fuerza
____7. mutiny
g. red
____8. quarters
h. tartamudear
____9. lash out
i. short novel or long short story
____10. aghast j.
dependencias, habitaciones
II- True or false. Explain all your
answers.
____1. Billy Budd was the son of a
British sailor.
____2. There was nothing exceptional about
Billy.
____3. The merchant ship Billy worked in was called “The Independent.”
____4. Billy stuttered badly when he was
emotionally disturbed.
____5. Claggart was an evil being who wanted to hurt
Billy.
____6. Life in the navy was much tougher
than life on a merchant ship.
____7. Claggart accused Billy of trying
to murder him.
____8. When questioned by Captain Vere,
Billy found he could not defend himself verbally.
____9. Billy had the clear intention of
killing Claggart.
____10. The jury sympathized with Billy,
and did not want to condemn him to death for murder.
____11. The law said that anyone who
killed a superior had to be beheaded.
____12. Captain Vere felt sorry for
Billy, but forced the jury to condemn him.
____13. Billy went to his death screaming
curses.
____14. Captain Vere died during a battle
with a Dutch ship.
____15. The name of the enemy's warship was
The Deist.
III – Writing: Try to write a composition that answers all these questions.
1. Do you think the names of the three
ships mentioned in this novella have a special meaning? Why?
2. Why do you think Claggart wanted to
destroy Billy?
3. Would Billy have been sentenced to
death if he had been able to defend himself verbally?
4. Was Captain Vere doing the right thing
when he forced the jury to condemn Billy? What would you have done in his
place?
5. Did Billy forgive Captain Vere for
having sacrificed him to uphold the law? Did the crew also forgive the captain
for this injustice thanks to Billy’s words? Why would this be important?
IV – Fill in the blanks to complete this
information about the author of Billy Budd. Use these words: cardiovascular, classic, Dutch, experience, famous, marry, poet, prosperous, posthumous, successful.
Herman Melville was born in New York in
1819. Of __________ and Scottish ancestry, he was the grandson of two heroes of
the American Revolutionary War. His father was a kind and pleasant man who
was a ____________ merchant but who
spent more than he should have and the
family suffered financial problems when he died. Herman took to sea as a common
sailor, and this __________ led to his writing many books about the sea. His
first books, Typee and Omoo were __________, and he made enough
money to be able to __________ and raise his own family. Melville’s most
__________ novel is Moby Dick, which is, as everyone probably knows, about the
world’s most famous fictional whale. Though he is best known for his novels and
short stories, Melville not only wrote prose, he was also a __________. Melville died in 1891 of __________ disease, leaving behind an
unpublished volume of poetry and the posthumous novella Billy Budd, which also
became a great __________.
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