Fish Tales Ocean City
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The following morning the sun shone brightly and Captain Smith ordered all hands into their working clothes and on deck by 7:00 a.m. A light breeze filled the sails, carrying them to the northeast at seven knots. The wind would have been a relief for the men had it not been coming straight down the length of the ship, making every man uncomfortable in his position on board.
As soon as each watch was relieved they would retire below decks to rest, only to be summoned back up again once the next watch began.
As the afternoon wore on, a small fishing boat came sailing out from the island’s coastline. It appeared to be an old wooden fishing schooner, its bottom rotting away, with a mast that looked like it was ready to fall over at any moment. Its sail fluttered wildly in the wind and waves.
As the fishing boat drew closer, Captain Smith could see two large barrels sitting atop one of its sides. Both barrels were painted bright yellow with white letters spelling out “WATER.”
“Ho there!” he shouted. He knew that the crewman aboard the boat must speak English; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to converse with him. But this man didn’t reply—instead, he pointed to the barrel marked “water,” which was now less than twenty feet from the edge of the deck.
Smith ordered his first mate to give the order for water, while he took a bucket and scooped some of the seawater into the bucket. Then, he dumped it overboard and ordered another bucket filled. This time, he poured the water onto the deck and ordered a third to be brought forth.
After several buckets had been thrown overboard, the crewman on the other side of the gunwale shouted, “More food, please!” His accent sounded foreign but still recognizable as American. At least he wasn’t speaking in French!
“I don’t think he can understand me if I just say ‘food,'” remarked Smith, who then turned toward one of his lieutenants. “Get some more buckets of seawater.”
Captain Smith went about the process of filling a couple more buckets until his lieutenant finally handed him a bucket and said, “Here you go, sir.”
Smith took a quick glance at the crewman who seemed quite anxious for water and yelled, “Bring me some water!”
“Water? What is your problem?” replied the sailor. He spoke very clearly, and it didn’t take long before the meaning of his words became clear.
Smith sighed. He thought this might happen. Maybe it was best to simply answer the question rather than waste time with an explanation. “You asked for water; you got it.”
The sailor shook his head vigorously and replied, “No! Bring me food, please! We are hungry and thirsty!”
“Well, what do you mean ‘thirsty?'” Smith inquired, thinking he might have misheard.
“We need water!” shouted the man.
The men in the wheelhouse and on the upper deck began to laugh. It was clear this wasn’t going well for the captain.
At last, a seaman from the lower deck called out, “He means we’re all dying of thirst!”
A few minutes later, one of Smith’s captains approached him and suggested, “Perhaps instead of saying ‘bring us food’ you should have just told him to bring some water.”
Another officer added, “Or perhaps he was asking how he could get more of our delicious rum!”
Captain Smith rolled his eyes. “I think we need to move along now.” He signaled to one of the crewmen to come alongside the fishing boat and hoisted them up, handing him a rope that dangled between the two vessels. “Tell him that you want him to come aboard and ask my first mate for permission. I’ll be right here to translate.”
When the fisherman pulled himself onto the ship, the men began laughing again. The entire crew laughed at this point, except for Captain Smith who was busy instructing the man in proper etiquette when dealing with officers of the sea.
Finally, the man stopped laughing and asked for something to drink. Smith motioned toward one of his bottles of rum. “Would you like some of this? It’s good rum.” The man nodded and Captain Smith handed him one of the bottles. After taking a sip, he smiled and gave it back.
“What about food?” asked Captain Smith.
“Food?” replied the man with a confused look on his face.
Captain Smith continued, “Do you know how to make fish sandwiches?”
“What are…fish…” The man began to shake his head violently. “No, no! No fish sandwich!” He quickly returned to his boat and started throwing buckets of water overboard as fast as he could.
Several hours passed without anything else happening except that the crew grew steadily more bored, and Smith became increasingly annoyed. Finally, his patience ran out. “This is ridiculous! All I’m trying to do is help these guys!” he exclaimed angrily.
He grabbed his hatchet and began chopping wood from one of the piles on deck. He had intended to use it to build a raft so that they could cross the lagoon, but he wasn’t going to let anyone stand in his way if he didn’t like the answers to his questions.
He was just beginning to chop away when he heard the sound of someone shouting behind him. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see a group of sailors rushing forward to grab him.
“Let me go!” he screamed as they wrestled him down to the ground. “Please! Let me go! Please! They are my prisoners!”
They tied his arms behind his back and then threw a rope around his neck in order to secure his ankles. Then they lifted him up and tossed him into the middle of the fishing boat where three armed pirates were waiting.
Two other pirates stood on either side of the fishing boat, blocking his escape. As they carried him to the center of the boat, he noticed the fishermen staring back with fear and amazement.
“Who are these people? Why are they here?” asked one of the pirates.
One of the pirates replied, “These are fishermen, Captain. We found them in the same boat as those men.”
The pirate captain asked, “And where are those men?”
“Dead,” replied another pirate.
“How did you kill them?” asked Captain Smith.
“Why don’t you tell us?” asked Captain Smith.
“We killed them with axes and swords!” shouted one of the pirates.
“That’s good,” said the captain. “Now, how many are there?”
“There were eight of them originally,” answered the first pirate, “but we killed four of them.”
“Very good, boys. You’ve done well.” He turned back to the man in front of him and said, “Are there any others that you may know about?”
“Yes! There are a lot more of them out there.”
“Out where?” asked the captain.
“Onshore!” he shouted. “They’ve got hundreds of them!”
The captain glanced over at one of the pirates standing nearby. “You know what that means, don’t you?” The pirate responded with a grin and a nod. “It means we must attack now before reinforcements arrive!” he said, turning back to Smith. “If you will just hand me your sword, I will cut off their heads so that we can take our time hunting them down.”
“Not a chance!” growled Smith. “I’m not giving you my sword until you tell me why all these men are attacking us.”
The captain frowned in frustration. This was not the reaction he’d hoped for. He tried again, saying, “I am Captain John Smith of the Royal Navy, and we are on a diplomatic mission to bring peace to the people of Tonga. If you would please give me my sword, I will personally show you how to fight like real warriors!”
The pirate captain seemed to think this over carefully for a moment and then turned back to Smith and replied, “Fine! I suppose you might be able to teach us something after all.” He took the sword from its sheath and handed it to Captain Smith. “Take your time teaching us, Captain. We won’t be in a hurry since we have all day to kill them.”
As soon as Smith received his sword, he ran up to one of the sailors standing guard and yelled, “Come! Come quickly! We’re being attacked by pirates!” A few of the men came running, weapons drawn. They saw the men on shore and immediately began screaming for their comrades to join them.
“Get ready to row!” yelled the captain to his men, pointing to the shoreline.
They hurriedly loaded the small fishing boats onto the large wooden ship as the pirates prepared themselves for battle. The first to get aboard was Captain Smith who ran up to one of his men and ordered, “Row us toward the beach. Don’t stop until you reach it.”
They quickly pushed off from the stern and began rowing. As soon as they reached the shore, the first pirates leaped out of their boat and began firing arrows at the villagers. Most of the arrows fell short, hitting the jungle or the sand. But two struck men directly, killing both of them instantly.
The captain watched his men fall as they frantically reloaded their bowstrings, only to watch the arrows fly wide yet again. One of the pirates finally shouted, “Fire! Fire at will!” At this point the entire crew fired into the village at once, destroying every building and killing everyone in sight.
When the last of the buildings had been burned to a crisp, they continued to fire at the men hiding in the bushes on the hillside until the entire village lay in ruin and ashes. Once they were finished, Captain Smith turned to one of the pirates and said, “Well? What do you think?” The pirate shrugged and responded, “Pretty good for a bunch of farmers.”
This left Captain Smith completely confused. How could anyone expect a group of peasants to defend against armed marauders? He looked back toward the beach to see if anyone else had survived, but it seemed that no one was there. He turned to one of his crewmen and asked, “What should we do with those bodies?”
“Just throw them in the ocean,” answered the first pirate. “Let the sharks eat them.”
Captain Smith nodded and ordered his men to toss the corpses into the water. When they returned, he pointed to an empty spot near the stern of the ship and said, “Throw me my sword!”
The pirates brought him his sword and he said, “Take this rope. Tie the end around your waist and tie the other end to the bow. I’m going to swim over to the shore and see if I can find any survivors.”
He pulled off his shirt and put it back on over his head before jumping overboard. When he reached the island shore, he jumped ashore and ran through the ruins, looking for any signs of life. After a few moments, he noticed the men who had fled from the fishing boats earlier were still hidden behind the rocks along the shoreline.
He ran up to them and shouted, “Where are you headed?”
One of the men looked up at him fearfully and said, “We’ve come to escape! Can you help us?”
Captain Smith thought about it for a moment and then shook his head. “No,” he said quietly and continued to search for survivors elsewhere.
As he searched, several villagers emerged from the jungle and made their way toward him, carrying their belongings in makeshift blankets or bags. “Where are you going?” he asked.
“Home!” said one villager. Another added, “But where will we go now?”
Captain Smith paused to consider their question, and then sighed and turned away from them, saying, “You should have killed yourselves when you had the chance.”
***
After leaving Tonga and returning home, John Smith was met with a storm of questions regarding what happened on his latest voyage. The King of England himself wanted to know exactly what had taken place. “I want to hear everything you saw and learned,” said King Edward. “If anything, I would say you’re more valuable than ever.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty,” said Captain Smith, bowing politely. His wife was also present, and they all stood in front of the king as he spoke, making sure to face him directly so he wouldn’t miss a thing.
The king began to speak: “Your mission was most successful, Captain. You managed to complete all of your tasks while keeping everyone safe and sound.”
“Yes sir,” responded the captain.
The king then went on to say, “I am not surprised that you succeeded; after all, you have always been one of our greatest captains. I would like to reward you in some way for your success and bravery, though. Do you have any idea how you might like to be rewarded?”
“Well,” said Captain Smith, smiling, “I’d be honored to have you knight me for my service to England.”
“Oh! Well, that’s very kind of you, John, but perhaps we could work something else out.”
“Sir,” responded Captain Smith.
“Yes, John?”
“My crew is eager for more adventure; I think we all feel like we’ve seen enough of the sea, and would enjoy being free of it for a time.”
“Hmm…well maybe you should just take a trip with your family back to America.”
Captain Smith smiled. “That sounds wonderful to me. We can leave tomorrow morning at dawn, if that suits you fine, Your Majesty.”
“Very well. In order for you to get back to America faster than if you had sailed there by yourself, I will provide a ship for you. That way, you will have no need to sail, but you will still be able to reach your destination in less time.”
The king gave a brief chuckle, which startled Captain Smith since he had never heard the monarch laugh before.
“Is there a problem here?” he asked.
“N-no. No sir, there is nothing wrong,” stammered Captain Smith.
“It’s just that…I have never heard a king chuckle before,” said the captain.
The king paused momentarily and then responded, “I am glad to hear it. I don’t suppose anyone has told you that your name sounds like ‘John of the Island?’ Is this true?”
“Sir…” began the captain.
“Yes, John?” pressed the king again.
Before the captain could respond, the queen intervened. “I believe your name is John of the Island,” she said, smiling kindly at her husband.
“And what is your name?” asked the king.
“Um…” she started to reply hesitantly.
“I believe your name is Elizabeth of England.”
“What?” said Captain Smith, confused.
“Your Majesty,” interrupted his wife. “Why does my husband’s name sound like John of the Island?”
The king chuckled at her question and then turned to look directly at Captain Smith. “Have you ever considered a career in diplomacy?” he asked.
Captain Smith looked up from his feet and stared into the eyes of the monarch. “No Your Majesty.”
“Well then,” said the king, “perhaps we will see you again soon.”
The End