11 A Whale of a Story

There has been, in history, a man who was swallowed by a whale and lived to tell the tale. The man's name was James Bartley. The records to prove his unusual experience are in the British Admiralty.

This story takes place at a time when whales were hunted for meat and oil. Bartley was making his first trip on the whaling ship Star of the East. Suddenly the look-out sighted a huge sperm whale. The whalers knew it was a huge whale by the size of the spray it blew into the air. They lowered their small boats. James Bartley was in the first longboat. The men rowed until they were close to the whale. A harpoon was thrown and found its mark. It sank into the whale's flesh. The maddened beast crashed into the boat, snapping its tail at the men and the wreckage of their boats. When the survivors were picked up, James Bartley was missing.

Shortly before, the whale was finally captured. The sailors tied the whale's carcass to the side of the ship. Because of the hot weather it was important that they cut up the whale right away. Otherwise, the meat would begin to rot and the oil would begin to spoil. When they got to the stomach, they felt something moving about wildly. They thought it would be a big fish still alive inside. But when they opened the stomach they found James Bartley. After this trip, Bartley settled in Gloucester, England, and never returned to sea.

历史上有一个人被鲸鱼吞下后还活了下来，并且讲述了这段经历。这个人叫詹姆斯·巴特利。证明他这段不同寻常经历的记录保存在英国海军部。

这个故事发生在鲸鱼因肉和油被猎杀的时代。巴特利正在捕鲸船“东方之星”上进行他的第一次航行。突然，瞭望员发现了一头巨大的抹香鲸。捕鲸者通过它喷到空中的水柱大小，就知道这是一头巨鲸。他们放下了小船。詹姆斯·巴特利在第一艘长船上。船员们划船直到靠近鲸鱼。一支鱼叉被投出并命中目标，刺入了鲸鱼的肉里。这头发疯的巨兽撞上了小船，用尾巴拍打着船员和他们的船只残骸。当幸存者被救起时，詹姆斯·巴特利失踪了。

不久之前，这头鲸鱼终于被捕获了。船员们把鲸鱼的尸体系在船边。由于天气炎热，他们必须马上把鲸鱼切开，否则肉会开始腐烂，油也会开始变质。当他们处理到鲸鱼的胃时，感觉到里面有什么东西在疯狂地移动。他们以为里面会是一条还活着的大鱼。但当他们打开胃时，发现了詹姆斯·巴特利。这次航行之后，巴特利在英国格洛斯特定居，再也没有回到海上。