Fifteen-year-old captain, return Jules. Foreign literature abbreviated. All works of the school curriculum in a summary Read summary fifteen-year-old captain Jules Verne
In the novel "The Fifteen-Year-Old Captain", a summary of which you are now reading, events begin to unfold from the moment the schooner "Pilgrim" sets sail from New Zealand in 1873. It is equipped with everything necessary for whaling.
The experienced captain Gul is in charge of everything, with him are five experienced and experienced sailors and a 15-year-old junior sailor named Dick Send. He is an orphan. On the ship is also cook Negoro and the wife of the owner of the ship, Mrs. Weldon, with a five-year-old boy, Jack. This company is complemented by her funny cousin, whom everyone around calls nothing but cousin Benedict, and, finally, the old nanny Nan.
Captain Gul's sailboat sails to America. The first trouble occurs a few days after the start of the journey. Jack notices the ship capsized on its side. He has a hole in his nose. The crew of the Pilgrim rescue five starving blacks and a dog named Dingo.
From the novel "The Fifteen-Year-Old Captain" (reading the summary faster than the whole work), we learn that their names are Tom, Bat, Austin, Hercules and Actaeon. They are all free citizens of the United States. They say that they were returning from New Zealand, where they worked under a contract, to America. Their ship "Waldeck" collided with another ship, after which the captains and all the crew members disappeared, leaving them alone. They continue their journey together with the heroes of the novel, after a while they look completely healthy and recovered.
whale fishing
In the novel "The Fifteen-Year-Old Captain", a summary of which helps to quickly recall the plot, the mysterious events do not stop there. Dingo dog is suspicious. Passengers on the Waldeck say their captain picked up the dog in Africa. He constantly growls ferociously, as soon as he meets the cook Negoro. He seems to recognize him, constantly expressing a willingness to lash out at the first opportunity. Negoro tries not to catch the dog's eye at all.
The only one who has an idea of how to control the ship is, in fact, cabin boy Dick Send. He becomes a fifteen-year-old captain. A summary of the chapters of this novel helps to better understand the author's intention.
Inexperienced Captain
Dick patiently teaches the negroes the sailor trade. He is a courageous and internally mature guy, but he still lacks knowledge of navigation, the ability to navigate the open ocean only with a compass and a device that measures the speed of a ship.
In addition, he does not know how to determine the location by the stars, which is immediately used by the insidious Negoro. Kok breaks one of the compasses and unnoticed by the others changes the readings on the second one. After that, he disables the lot. All this leads to the fact that the ship, instead of sailing to America, ends up near the coast of Angola. The ship is thrown aground.
Travelers in Africa
In the novel "The Fifteen-Year-Old Captain" (a summary allows you to get acquainted with the main points of the work), Negoro manages to slip away unnoticed from the ship. Only he alone knows for sure where they sailed.
Dick, who went in search of local residents, runs into American Harris. He is in collusion with the cook, so he assures our heroes that they actually sailed to Bolivia. Promising them shelter and a roof over their heads, he lures them into the depths of the mainland for about a hundred kilometers. Only after some time, Dick and Tom realize that somehow they still ended up in Africa, and not in South America. Harris, realizing that they have discovered him, immediately hides in the forest and goes to meet with Negoro.
Only at this point for the readers of Verne's "Fifteen-Year-Old Captain" (a brief summary will not replace the work itself) something begins to clear up. Harris is actually a slave trader, Negoro used to be involved in the underground business too. It all ended when the authorities of his native Portugal sentenced the cook to life imprisonment. He managed to escape after two weeks, and soon he was accepted to the Pilgrim. After that, he immediately began to look for the moment to be back in Africa.
The death of the captain and the inexperience of Dick Sand played into his hands. There is now a slave caravan nearby heading for Kazonde.
Betrayal
As soon as Harris goes missing, Dick realizes that they have been betrayed. He decides to go along the stream until he comes to a large river. Assuming such a plan, Harris and Negoro are waiting for them along the way, who expect to catch the travelers by surprise.
But until they meet the villains, the heroes of Jules Verne's Fifteen-Year-Old Captain, a summary of which we are now considering, will have to experience the forces of nature. Rain and thunderstorms hit them. The river overflows its banks, rising several feet above the ground.
Travelers try to wait out the elements in an empty termite mound with thick clay walls. But, having got out of there, they are immediately captured. Dick, Nan, and the Negroes are sent along with the caravan. Only the resourceful Hercules manages to escape. Mrs. Weldon, along with her relative, is taken away in an unknown direction.
The path in the caravan
By joining the caravan, Dick and his comrades will endure terrible hardships. They become witnesses of the brutal treatment of slaves. Old Nan, unable to endure suffering, dies.
In Kazonda, the slaves are distributed among the barracks. Harris informs Dick that Mrs. Weldon and her son have died. But it was again a hoax. Sand, not yet aware of this, in desperation snatches the dagger from him and kills the slave trader.
Slave Fair
One of the climaxes of Captain Fifteen (a summary for the reader's diary can be found in this article) is the slave fair. After it, Dick's execution should take place. Negoro had already agreed on this with influential people in Kazonda, who saw the scene of the murder of his American comrade and now reasonably fears for his own safety.
The owner of the slave caravan named Alvets promises fire water to the local king Muani-Lung in case of a successful execution. He willingly agrees, because for a long time he cannot do without alcohol. It turns out that this was a sophisticated execution for Muani-Lungu himself. Alvets gives him too strong a punch. When the leader begins to drink, he sets fire to the drink. The body of the tsar, thoroughly intoxicated, catches fire, and he decays to the very bones.
His wife Queen Muana arranges a magnificent funeral. During the ceremony, according to tradition, all the other wives of the king are killed so that they follow him to the afterlife. They are dumped into a pit and filled with water. In the same pit is Dick, who was previously tied to a pole.
Hostages from the Pilgrim
At the same time, Mrs. Weldon, together with her son and cousin, live in Kazonda near Alvets. They were held hostage, Negoro expects to receive a solid ransom from the owner of the ship.
At his insistence, Mrs. Weldon writes a letter to her husband, with whom Negoro goes to San Francisco. Meanwhile, the hostages live more or less freely. Cousin Benedict, who has always been fond of collecting insects, is somehow pursuing a particularly rare ground beetle. In this pursuit, he accidentally falls into a mole hole and is free. At first, without noticing this, he runs for another two miles through the forest in the hope of overtaking an insect. At the end of his journey, Benedict meets Hercules, who has been nearby all this time, hoping to somehow help his friends.
Downpour in the village
Rare and anomalous events often occur in The Fifteen-Year-Old Captain. Another - atypically heavy and prolonged rain that floods the fields and threatens to destroy the entire crop.
Queen Muan calls the sorcerers for help. Hercules catches one of these elders in the forest. Taking his clothes, he pretends to be a mute shaman driving away the clouds. He takes the queen by the hand and insistently leads her to the Alvets estate. With signs, he indicates that a white woman and a little boy must answer for all the troubles of her people. So he helps them free themselves from the village. Alvets tries to resist this, but retreats before the onslaught of savages.
Only after walking eight miles through the jungle and freeing himself from his escorts, Hercules reveals himself to Mrs. Weldon and her son. Here they also meet Dick, who was also saved by Hercules, as well as Benedict and the dog Dingo. In conclusion, only negroes remain, who have already been sold and stolen from the village.
Path to the ocean
The heroes of the "Fifteen-year-old Captain", a summary of which in a few minutes will remind you of the main ups and downs of the novel, are making another attempt to get to the ocean. On their boat, they go down the river.
Soon they meet a village of cannibals. But thanks to the fact that their boat was disguised as a floating island, they manage to swim past.
During the next stop, Dingo, having barely found himself on the shore, rushes forward, smelling someone's footprint. He leads them to a hut where human bones are scattered. There are two bloody letters on the wall - "S. V." The same letters are engraved on the dog's collar. There is also a note in the shack, from which the travelers learn that Samuel Vernon suffered at the hands of Negoro, who was his guide. The insidious villain mortally wounded him and robbed him.
At the same moment, Dingo breaks off and clings to the throat of Negoro, who has crept up. Before sailing to America, he decided to return to the scene of the crime in order to collect the money stolen from Vernon from the cache. Negoro wounds the dog with a knife, he dies, unable to avenge the owner. But Negoro still fails to get away from a fair punishment.
Encounter with the savages
But this is not all the tests for the characters of the novel "The Fifteen-Year-Old Captain". In the summary, it is necessary to mention the episode of the meeting with the cannibals.
Having dealt with Negoro, Dick decides to cross to the right bank, fearing the cook's comrades from the Pilgrim. But there he is attacked by cannibals whom they met a few days ago and were not aware that they were being pursued by land. They noticed a boat with people, but at the very last moment, when it was already far away.
A hail of arrows falls on Dick, the savages jump right into his boat. It is rapidly carried to the waterfall. All the savages perish, but only the 15-year-old captain is saved by hiding in a boat.
Finally, the travelers reach the ocean. They manage to board a ship and sail to California. Dick is accepted as a son into the Weldon family. At the age of 18, he completes courses and becomes a captain on one of Weldon's schooners.
Both Hercules and the Negroes, who manage to be ransomed from slavery and freed, remain a friend of the family. The novel ends with the date November 15, 1877. It was then that four Negroes, who had endured so many dangers, finally find themselves in the friendly arms of the Weldons.
Schooner "Pilgrim" hunts whales. But there are also passengers on the schooner: this is the wife of the owner of the Pilgrim with her five-year-old son Jack. They are sailing to America to see Mr. Weldon, her husband and father. Cousin Benedict is with them - he is only interested in entomology (the science of insects).
Travelers met an abandoned ship at sea, where there were living creatures: a Dingo dog and five blacks. The huge Negro Hercules became a good friend to everyone, especially to little Jack.
While hunting for a whale, a boat with a captain and crew perishes. Young Dick Sand takes over the ship. A smart guy would have done it, but Negoro's forensic cook messed up the compass. This cook is very suspicious. Here is the dog, he made friends with everyone, growls and barks at Negoro.
Finally we got to the shore. Travelers think they are in South America. Negoro says that he is familiar with this continent. Here they will get what city, they will contact Mr. Weldon, and he will save everyone. And strange things happen. The vegetation is not American, little Jack cannot see the promised hummingbird, Cousin Benedict is glad that he saw an African insect in America. Suddenly everyone saw giraffes - but there are no such animals on the American continent.
The company meets a noble-looking gentleman named Harris. He says they ended up in Bolivia. He invites everyone to his hacienda (estate), where everyone can relax and wait for news from Mrs. Weldon's husband. It was a trap. Harris and Negoro are in a conspiracy. And the continent is not America at all. This is Africa!
Harris and Negoro only care about money. They are thieves. Blacks are sold into slavery. Only Hercules managed to escape. Harris forces Mrs. Weldon to write a letter to her husband. He and Negoro lured a woman with a son to take a considerable ransom. A faithful wife is afraid that her husband will also be lured into a trap and demand something completely unbelievable.
A woman with a son and a cousin settled among Negro savages.
Cousin Benedict is allowed to roam without guards, as they consider her husband out of his mind.
The entomologist really only sees his own insects. Suddenly, a strong hand grabbed him and dragged him where he was. The disappearance of a cousin forced the protection of mother and son to be strengthened.
There was a big celebration in the African village. On such holidays, everyone is waiting for the arrival of the forest spirit - the sorcerer "Mganga". He usually appears all painted with strange colors, in a strange outfit. And here he is! It was a giant. He danced, jumped, shouted furiously, tossing spears, and chose two victims for himself: Mrs. Weldon and her son.
Nobody dared to resist him. He shouldered the victims and disappeared into the thicket. The woman lost consciousness. Jack beat the monster with his small fists.
It turned out that the one who stole Benedict and Mrs. Weldon with her son was not a sorcerer at all, but kind Hercules, grateful for his salvation at sea. The black giant also managed to save Wild Sand. A small group makes their way to the sea to board which ship. By chance they meet Negoro. Dick and Hercules do not have time to do anything: Dingo rushes at the insidious cook and gnaws his throat.
Unfortunately, before his death, the villain managed to plunge a dagger into the faithful dog, and the dog died. It turned out that when Negoro killed Dingo's first owner, Sam Vernon, for money.
Finally, everyone who escaped was lucky to get to America. Dick became Mrs. Weldon for her eldest son, Hercules for a true friend. And the blacks were sold into slavery, subsequently found and bought by Mr. Weldon.
A feast was held to celebrate the return of the travelers. The first toast was to Wild Sand, a fifteen-year-old captain!
Captain Fifteen was written by Verne in 1878. This is a story about the exciting adventures of a young sailor who took responsibility for the fate of the crew members of the whaling ship "Pilgrim".
main characters
Dick Sand- a fifteen-year-old sailor, a brave and determined young man.
Mrs Weldon- the wife of the owner of the ship, a brave, persistent woman.
Jack Mrs. Weldon's little son.
Benedict Mrs. Weldon's cousin, a passionate entomologist.
Tom, Bat, Hercules, Austin, Actaeon- Negroes rescued from a sunken ship.
Negoro- a slave trader hiding from the authorities, a vile and cruel person.
Other characters
Nan Jack's elderly nanny.
James Weldon- Wealthy shipowner
Captain Ghoul- captain of the whaling ship "Pilgrim".
Harris- slave trader, Negoro's accomplice.
Antonio Alvec- owner of a slave caravan.
Muani Lunga- the old king Kazonde.
Muana- the first wife of Muani-Lung, Queen Kazonde.
Part one
Chapter 1. Schooner-brig "Pilgrim"
In February 1973, the Pilgrim "was outfitted in San Francisco to hunt whales in the South Seas." It belonged to the "wealthy Californian shipowner James Weldon", who entrusted the command of his schooner to Captain Gul. Under the command of the captain "there were five experienced sailors and one novice." In addition, he was forced to take on board passengers - Mrs. Weldon, her five-year-old son Jack and cousin Benedict, the old nanny Negro Nan.
Chapter 2. Dick Sand
All the sailors of the Pilgrim "knew each other for a long time" and got along well with each other, and only the Portuguese Negoro did not really like the captain, who "did not have time to make inquiries about the new cook's past."
The youngest and most inexperienced sailor on the ship was a fifteen-year-old orphan boy, Dick Sand. But, despite his age, he was distinguished by intelligence and courage, and "already make decisions and bring to the end everything that he deliberately decided on."
Chapter 3
After a few days of sailing, the Pilgrim team noticed a “capsized ship” with a hole in the bow. Captain Gul decided to explore it, and on board the sunken ship, the sailors found five blacks and a dog, dying of thirst.
Chapter 4 Rescued from the Waldeck
The unfortunate were transferred aboard the Pilgrim, where they received proper care. It turned out that the Negroes - old Tom, his son Bat, as well as Hercules, Austin and Actaeon - were not slaves, but free citizens of America. Their ship was pierced by some unknown ship and disappeared.
Chapter 5
Another creature rescued from a sinking ship was a large dog named Dingo, on the collar of which two letters "C" and "B" were engraved. "Dingo soon became the favorite of the entire crew", and only Negoro he fiercely hated for an unknown reason. Cook tried not to show himself to the dog, who, apparently, recognized him.
Chapter 6
Some time later, the sailor on duty noticed a whale on the horizon. It was "a very large minke whale specimen". The sailors began to lively discuss their future prey - "the whole team passionately wanted to hunt."
Chapter 7
Despite the great risk, the whalers could not miss the opportunity to catch a giant sea animal and "fill the ship's hold - the temptation was great." Together with five sailors, he boarded the boat, leaving Dick Sand "his deputy for the duration of the hunt."
Chapter 8
Experienced whalers began to hunt minke whales. They managed to injure him with a harpoon, but the unexpectedly wounded whale “strike the water with its fins with force and rushed at the people.” The enraged whale crushed the boat with a powerful blow of the tail and “in its death throes, furiously beat the water with its tail” - none of the whalers managed to survive.
Chapter 9. Captain Sand
"A ship that has lost its captain and sailors" could easily become a weak-willed toy of currents and winds. Of the entire crew, only fifteen-year-old Dick Sand survived, and "this boy was now to replace the captain, the boatswain, the entire crew." The young man decided to take on the functions of a captain and teach the sailor's craft to the rescued blacks. They gladly agreed to help him.
Chapter 10
Everyone had one desire - to quickly get to "some other port on the American coast." Dick knew how to use a compass and a lot, but "the young captain did not yet know how to make astronomical observations", which influenced the location of the ship. Suddenly, "there was a misfortune with the compass, which was in the captain's cabin" - he fell off the hook and fell to the floor. One more compass remained working, but the insidious Negoro also spoiled it - so the Pilgrim lost its intended course.
Chapter 11
A week later, the sky was overcast with clouds, a strong wind rose - everything foreshadowed the beginning of a storm. "The ship kept well on the waves" and still confidently went forward. Thanks to the efforts of Negoro, the lot was disabled, and "Dick Sand lost the ability to determine the speed of the ship."
Chapter 12
On the same day, "a hurricane broke out - the most terrible form of a storm", and did not stop for a week. By Dick's calculations they should have reached the shores of America by now. He became more and more confident that the navigational instruments were deliberately damaged by someone. Suddenly, the outlines of land appeared overboard - it was an island.
Chapter 13 Earth!"
Dick was sure they had seen Easter Island, and steered the ship on what he thought was the right course. Soon everyone noticed the land, however, there was "no human habitation, no port, no mouth of the river, where the ship could find a safe haven." At the sight of the shore, Dingo "howled long and plaintively."
Chapter 14
After seventy-four days of sailing, the Pilgrim was washed ashore and smashed against the reefs. Luckily, no one was hurt. Dick Sand couldn't figure out where they were. Meanwhile, Negoro quietly left the squad, hiding in the thicket of the forest. It soon became clear that he was the first to be on the wrecked ship and seized all of Mrs. Weldon's money.
Chapter 15. Harris
After some time, the heroes met an American named Harris. He assured the travelers that they were wrecked off the coast of Bolivia. Mr. Harris invited them to take a break from their troubles at his brother's hacienda, which involved crossing the rainforest.
Chapter 16
Having collected food supplies and necessary things, a small detachment set off. This transition was of particular interest to Cousin Benedict, an entomologist who began to study the local insects with enthusiasm.
Chapter 17
Dick and his dark-skinned friends were surprised that during the trip they did not meet a single familiar tree or animal, but Mr. Harris managed to dispel their doubts. When Cousin Benedict cried out in pain at night, he found out that he had been bitten by a tsetse fly. The entomologist was very pleased with his discovery, as "no scientist has yet found tsetse in America".
Chapter 18
The detachment made its way through the forest for twelve days, covering more than a hundred miles in this time. Gradually, Dick began to discover the truth, "which every hour became more and more clear and indisputable" - they were in equatorial Africa, the country of "slave traders and slaves".
Part two
Chapter 1
The Pilgrim crashed off the coast of Angola. It was one of the most dangerous areas of Equatorial Africa, where cannibal savages still lived, local tribes were constantly at enmity, but the worst thing was that the slave trade was in full swing here.
Chapter 2. Harris and Negoro
Harris, who by then had left the unit, met with Negoro. From their conversation it became clear that these were old friends who traded in the slave trade. They agreed to wait for a slave caravan in order "to capture Dick Sand and his companions".
Chapter 3
Dick Sand realized that Negoro was the culprit of their troubles, and Harris was his accomplice. Only one thing remained incomprehensible - “what were these scoundrels up to? ". The young man planned to return to the coast as soon as possible and "and reach the nearest Portuguese trading post", where they would be safe. To do this, it was necessary to find a river, and go down to the ocean on a raft.
Chapter 4
On the way, a terrible thunderstorm and heavy rain overtook friends. They managed to hide from bad weather in an empty termite mound.
Chapter 5
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cousin Benedict gave his friends an informative lecture about the builders of this impressive structure - termites.
Chapter 6
At night, water began to arrive in the termite mound - “due to a downpour, the river overflowed its banks and spilled over the plain.” Dick compared their shelter to a diving bell in which the air is under great pressure. To save themselves, the friends cut through the top of the termite mound and got out to freedom.
Chapter 7
Noticing the camp of the natives not far away, the friends hurried to them. However, it was a slave caravan that drove slaves to "the main market for black goods." Once in the camp, "Dick Sand and his companions immediately turned into slaves." Mrs. Weldon, Jack and Cousin Benedict were immediately separated, Dick was disarmed and taken under guard, and the Negroes were attached to the caravan.
Chapter 8
The strong man Hercules miraculously managed to escape, and his shackled friends envied him - "he was free and could fight for his life." Dick was entirely occupied with thoughts of Mrs. Weldon and little Jack. Old Nan was among the exhausted slaves who were hacked to death with axes.
Chapter 9
In Kazonda - the largest slave market - only "half of the total number of captured slaves" reached. The slaves were divided into cramped barracks. The owner of the caravan, Antonio Alvets, was especially pleased with the young and strong Negroes from America - he could demand a high price for them. From Harris, Dick learned of the death of Mrs. Weldon and Jack. "In a fit of uncontrollable anger," the young man killed the traitor.
Chapter 10
Alvets wanted to immediately execute Dick, but Negoro asked him to be patient a little. On the day of the fair in Kazonda, Alvets brought all his slaves for sale. Tom, Batu, Actaeon and Austin were very lucky, and "they were sold into one hand."
Chapter 11
In the midst of the fair, "His Majesty Muani-Lunga, King Kazonde", who looked more like a decrepit gorilla, appeared. He was accompanied by numerous wives and a retinue of flatterers. Alvets, knowing about the addiction of the local king to alcohol, invited him to drink a strong punch. When the old drunkard drank the flaming drink, "his thoroughly alcoholized majesty ignited" and died on the spot.
Chapter 12
Muani-Lung's first wife "Queen Muan should have inherited the royal throne." She hastened to organize her husband's funeral and secure her position. A large pit was dug, where, according to the old tradition, the rest of the tsar's wives were thrown. According to Negoro's plan, the bound Dick was also to be thrown there, after which the pit was to be flooded with water.
Chapter 13
Harris lied that Mrs. Weldon, Jack, and Cousin Benedict were dead—they were in Casonda, safe and sound. Negoro placed them in the trading post of Alvets in the hope of getting a large ransom for them. He told Mrs. Weldon to write a letter to her husband, with whom he was going to go to San Francisco.
Chapter 14
Accidentally overhearing a conversation between Alvets and his guest, Mrs. Weldon learned that "perhaps help is approaching, which seems to be sent by Providence itself." The well-known traveler Dr. Livingston "will probably arrive in Kazonda with his escort in the next few days." However, these plans were not destined to come true - on the eve of his visit, the doctor died.
Chapter 15
Having received a letter from Mrs. Weldon, Negoro set off. Meanwhile, Benedict, who all this time freely hunted for insects, in pursuit of a rare ground beetle, found himself behind the walls of the fence of the trading post. Unbeknownst to himself, he covered a couple of miles in the hope of catching an insect.
Chapter 16
A period of prolonged rains began, threatening to flood all the fields. Queen Muana decided to seek help from Mgannge, a famous sorcerer from Northern Angola. It turned out to be a disguised Hercules, who made it clear to the queen that a white woman and her child were to blame for all the troubles. He took them away with him, and even Alvets could not prevent him from doing so.
Chapter 17
Hercules brought his "trophies" to the boat where Dick Sand, Benedict and Dingo, who had been saved by him, were located. All that was missing was Tom, Bath, Austin and Actaeon, who were driven from the village towards the Great Lakes. Having disguised the boat as a floating island, the friends began to descend "down the river to the ocean coast."
Chapter 18
During their rafting, travelers from time to time went ashore to hunt. The area seemed uninhabited, but one day they sailed past the village, and it was only by a miracle that the savages did not notice them. The friends were forced to land on the shore as the river rushed down "a swift, majestic waterfall".
Chapter 19 AT."
As soon as he was on the shore, Dingo rushed forward, taking someone's trail. The clever dog led the travelers to a miserable shack containing human bones. Nearby, “two large half-erased red letters” were visible on the tree - S. V. Dick found out that the deceased was the traveler Samuel Vernon, who fell victim to the insidious guide Negoro.
Suddenly, "a terrible scream came from outside" - it was Dingo who attacked Negoro, who, before sailing, returned to the scene of his crime to take Vernon's money from the cache. Negoro mortally wounded the dog, but he "clenched his jaw with the last of his strength" and gnawed the throat of his old enemy.
Chapter 20
A real gift of fate for travelers was a meeting with a trade caravan that belonged to Portuguese merchants. In complete safety, they reached the port, where they boarded a steamer and arrived safely in America. Dick Sand became Weldon's adopted son, and Hercules became a great friend of the family. The young man "graduated with honors from hydrographic courses" and was preparing to become a captain. The general joy was overshadowed only by thoughts of the bitter fate of black friends. However, thanks to the connections of Mr. Weldon, all four Negroes were returned to their homeland.
Conclusion
With his work, Jules Verne sought to show that any person, regardless of class and the thickness of the wallet, is able to achieve great heights through work, courage and kindness.
After reading the brief retelling of "The Fifteen-Year-Old Captain," we recommend that you read the novel in its entirety.
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Retelling rating
Average rating: 4.7. Total ratings received: 271.
One of the most outstanding novels of the great French writer Jules Verne was first published in 1878. The adventure novel was filmed several times: in 1945 (USSR), in 1974 (co-production of Spain and France) and in 1986 (USSR, the film was called "Pilgrim's Captain").
The schooner-brig "Pilgrim", designed for whaling, sets sail from the port of Auckland. The schooner is led by an experienced captain Gul, who has several sailors under his command. The youngest of them is 15 years old. The team consists of cook Negoro. In addition, on board is Mrs. Weldon, the wife of the owner of the ship with her five-year-old son Jack, Nan's nanny and cousin Benedict, a relative of the Weldons. The schooner heads to San Francisco.
A few days later, Mrs. Weldon's son notices an overturned ship in the ocean. As it turned out, this ship is called "Waldeck". It could not continue on its way due to a hole in the nose. The passengers of the Pilgrim found five Negroes on the Waldeck. All of them were free citizens of America, but lived for some time in New Zealand, where they worked on a plantation under contract. On the way to America, the Waldeck collided with another ship. All of a sudden, all the crew members were gone. Five friends were doomed to starvation.
The crew of the Pilgrim takes the passengers of the Waldeck aboard. A few days later, dark-skinned Hercules, Austin, Tom, Actaeon and Bat managed to recover. In addition to five blacks, a dog named Dingo was found on the Waldeck. The only surviving passengers of the lost ship claim that their captain found the animal off the coast of the African continent. For some unknown reason, Dingo, from the very first minutes of his stay on the Pilgrim, begins to show aggression towards Negoro's cook. On the dog's collar, you can see 2 letters: "C" and "B".
Adventure begins...
A few more days passed. The sailors of the "Pilgrim" and Captain Gul change to a boat and go to catch a whale, which was seen not far from the ship. The leadership of the Pilgrim is entrusted to the youngest sailor of the team - Dick Sand. A ghoul and five sailors die in a fight with a whale. Dick is forced to take over as captain for the remainder of the voyage. Despite the fact that the young captain is quite bold and courageous, he lacks some navigational knowledge. Dick doesn't know how to navigate by the stars. Sand can find out the location of the schooner only by lot and compass.
Negoro took advantage of the young captain's inexperience. He broke one compass and disabled the lot. Then the insidious cook changed the readings on the second compass. As a result, the Pilgrim arrived at the shores of Angola, where the ship washed ashore. All passengers survived. Negoro, taking advantage of the general turmoil, leaves the travelers. Dick goes in search of some settlement and meets the American Harris. A new acquaintance assures Dick that the travelers are in Bolivia. Harris invites travelers to his brother's hacienda, where the passengers of the Pilgrim can find shelter. In fact, the American lures travelers deep into the rainforest.
On the way to the hacienda, Tom and Dick guessed that they were on the African continent. When Harris notices that his deceit has been exposed, he immediately hides in the woods. The reader then observes the meeting between the American and Negoro. From the conversation of old friends, it becomes clear that the ship's cook is a secret agent of the slave traders. Its main task is to deliver a living commodity to the one who sells it. Negoro has been engaged in his craft for more than a year. The authorities of Portugal, where the cook was from, sentenced the secret agent to life imprisonment. However, Negoro did not stay in hard labor for long. He managed to escape and get a job on the Pilgrim. The secret agent dreamed of returning to Africa. Circumstances worked out in the best way for Negoro.
After numerous adventures and escape from slavery, almost all the heroes find themselves together again. Only Nan's nanny couldn't survive. The secret of the mysterious letters "C" and "B", which turned out to be initials, is also revealed. The owner of the Dingo was named Samuel Vernon. Cook Negoro contributed to his death.
Having again met with the killer of his master, Dingo throws himself on his neck and tries to gnaw through his throat. The secret agent managed to kill the dog, but he himself also could not escape retribution and died. The travelers were able to safely reach California. The Weldons redeem Austin, Tom, Actaeon, and Bath, who have fallen into slavery, and take Dick into their family. The young man receives the necessary education and becomes the captain of one of the ships of his adoptive father.
Dick Sand was orphaned early. The protagonist of the novel was found on the street by a passerby, in whose honor the boy was subsequently named. Dick's surname was given in memory of the place where he was discovered.
Little Dick was developed beyond his years and already at the age of four he learned to count, write and read. At the age of eight, the boy went to work as a cabin boy. On the ship, he managed to prove himself well. The owner of the ship, Weldon, decided to send Dick to school. Then the young man became a sailor on the Pilgrim.
During the journey described in the novel, Dick Sand was also able to show his best side. A difficult childhood and the endurance gifted by nature hardened the young captain. Dick had to take the place of the deceased Ghoul and make his own decisions. The ability not to get lost in an unfamiliar environment allowed Sand not only to survive, but to receive the most coveted reward - a family that he never had.
Philosophy of the author
Readers of different ages in the same novel may be interested in completely different things. Teenagers aged 12-16 are only interested in adventure. A fifteen-year-old boy, their age, finds himself face to face with severe trials, from which he emerges victorious.
Features of Jules Verne's style
More mature readers will be able to see the worldview of its author in the novel. Jules Verne puts events in the first place in his works. That is why the philosophy of the writer often goes unnoticed and fades into the background.
In fact, adventure is only the background against which the development of interpersonal relationships takes place. Everyday life is not capable of revealing the character of people living by inertia. Once in an unusual and dangerous environment, a person will definitely show his true face.
Denying racism and slavery, Jules Verne is in solidarity with another great writer of the 19th century, Mark Twain. It is no coincidence that among the positive characters you can see Hercules. The main villain is a native of Portugal. It is also not accidental that the people of the white race fall into slavery. The author invites whites to be in the place of blacks and feel everything that black slaves have to go through. Vern sees no difference between the two skin colors. The superiority of one color over another is nothing more than a stereotype. If the oppression of blacks seems logical to a white American, then the enslavement of whites seems no less logical to the indigenous inhabitants of the African continent.
On January 29, 1873, the schooner brig Pilgrim, equipped for whaling, sets sail from the port of Oakland, New Zealand. On board are the brave and experienced Captain Gul, five experienced sailors, a fifteen-year-old junior sailor - orphan Dick Send, the ship's cook Negoro, as well as the wife of the owner of the Pilgrim, James Weldon, Mrs. Weldon with her five-year-old son Jack, her eccentric relative, whom everyone calls " cousin Benedict," and the old Negro nurse Nan. The sailboat is on its way to San Francisco with a stop at Valparaiso. After a few days of sailing, little Jack notices the Waldeck ship capsized on its side in the ocean with a hole in the bow. In it, the sailors discover five emaciated blacks and a dog named Dingo. It turns out that the Negroes: Tom, a sixty-year-old man, his son Bat, Austin, Actaeon and Hercules are free citizens of the United States. Having completed work on a plantation contract in New Zealand, they returned to America. After the Waldeck collided with another ship, all the crew members and the captain disappeared and they were left alone. They are transferred aboard the Pilgrim, and after a few days of careful care, they are fully restored to their strength. Dingo, according to them, the captain of the Waldeck picked up off the coast of Africa. At the sight of Negoro, the dog, for some unknown reason, begins to growl ferociously and expresses its readiness to pounce on him. Negoro prefers not to show himself to the dog, which, apparently, recognized him.
A few days later, Captain Gul and five sailors who dared to set off on a boat to catch a whale, which they saw a few miles from the ship, die. Dick Send, who remained on the ship, takes over as captain. Negroes are trying under his leadership to learn the sailor's craft. With all his courage and inner maturity, Dick does not have all the navigational knowledge and knows how to navigate the ocean only by a compass and a lot that measures the speed of movement. He does not know how to find a location by the stars, which is what Negoro uses. He breaks one compass and imperceptibly changes the indications of the second one. Then disables the lot. His intrigues contribute to the fact that instead of America, the ship arrives on the shores of Angola and is thrown ashore. All travelers are safe. Negoro quietly leaves them and leaves in an unknown direction. After some time, Dick Sand, who went in search of some settlement, meets the American Harris, who, being in collusion with Negoro, his old acquaintance, and assuring that the travelers are on the shores of Bolivia, lures them a hundred miles into the rainforest, promising shelter and leaving on the hacienda of his brother. Over time, Dick Send and Tom realize that they somehow ended up not in South America, but in Africa. Harris, having guessed about their insight, hides in the forest, leaving the travelers alone, and goes to a pre-arranged meeting with Negoro. From their conversation, it becomes clear to the reader that Harris is engaged in the slave trade, Negoro was also familiar with this trade for a long time, until the authorities of Portugal, where he comes from, sentenced him to life imprisonment for such activities. After staying on it for two weeks, Negoro escaped, got a job as a cook on the Pilgrim and began to wait for the right opportunity to get back to Africa. Dick's inexperience played into his hands, and his plan was carried out much sooner than he dared hope. Not far from the place where he meets Harris, there is a caravan of slaves, which goes to Kazonda to the fair, led by one of their acquaintances. The caravan is encamped ten miles from the whereabouts of the travelers, on the banks of the Kwanza River. Knowing Dick Send, Negoro and Harris correctly assume that he will decide to take his people to the river and go down to the ocean on a raft. That's where they intend to capture them. Having discovered the disappearance of Harris, Dick realizes that a betrayal has taken place, and decides to walk along the bank of the stream to a larger river. On the way, they are overtaken by a thunderstorm and a fierce downpour, from which the river overflows its banks and rises several pounds above ground level. Before the rain, travelers climb into an empty termite mound, twelve feet high. In a huge anthill with thick clay walls, they wait out a thunderstorm. However, having got out of there, they are immediately captured. Blacks, Nan and Dick are attached to the caravan, Hercules manages to escape. Mrs. Weldon with her son and cousin Benedict are taken away in an unspecified direction. During the journey, Dick and his friends have to endure all the hardships of the transition with a caravan of slaves and witness the brutal treatment of guards and overseers with slaves. Unable to withstand this transition, old Nan perishes along the way.
The caravan arrives at Kazonda, where the slaves are distributed among the barracks. Dick Send accidentally meets Harris and, after Harris, deceiving him, reports the death of Mrs. Weldon and her son, in desperation snatches a dagger from his belt and kills him. The slave fair is to take place the next day. Negoro, who saw from afar the scene of the death of his friend, asks permission from Alvets, the owner of the caravan of slaves and a very influential person in Kazonda, as well as from Muani-Lung, the local king, permission to execute Dick after the fair. Alvets promises Muani-Lung, unable to do without alcohol for a long time, a drop of fiery water for every drop of white man's blood. He prepares a strong punch, sets it on fire, and when Muani-Lung drinks it, his thoroughly alcoholized body suddenly catches fire and the king rots to the very bones. His first wife, Queen Muan, arranges a funeral, during which, according to tradition, numerous other wives of the king are killed, thrown into a pit and flooded. In the same pit there is also Dick tied to a post. He must die.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Weldon and her son and cousin Benedict also live in Kazonda outside the fence of the trading post of Alvets. Negoro holds them hostage there and wants a ransom of one hundred thousand dollars from Mr. Weldon. He forces Mrs. Weldon to write a letter to her husband, which should contribute to the implementation of his plan, and, leaving the hostages in the care of Alvets, departs for San Francisco. One day, Cousin Benedict, an avid insect collector, is chasing a particularly rare ground beetle. Pursuing it, he imperceptibly for himself through a mole-hole, passing under the walls of the fence, breaks free and runs two miles through the forest in the hope of still grabbing the insect. There he meets Hercules, who has been next to the caravan all this time in the hope of helping his friends in some way.
At this time, a long downpour, unusual for this time of year, begins in the village, which floods all nearby fields and threatens to leave the inhabitants without a crop. Queen Muan invites sorcerers to the village so that they drive away the clouds. Hercules, having caught one of these sorcerers in the forest and disguised himself in his outfit, pretends to be a mute sorcerer and comes to the village, grabs the astonished queen by the hand and leads her to the trading post of Alvets. There he shows with signs that the white woman and her are to blame for the troubles of her people. child. He grabs them and takes them out of the village. Alvets tries to detain him, but succumbs to the onslaught of savages and is forced to release the hostages. After walking eight miles and finally freeing himself from the last curious villagers, Hercules lowers Mrs. Weldon and Jack into the boat, where they are amazed to find that the sorcerer and Hercules are the same person, they see Dick Send, saved by Hercules from death, cousin Benedict and Dingo. Only Tom, Bat, Actaeon and Austin are missing, who were sold into slavery and stolen from the village even earlier. Now travelers finally have the opportunity to go down to the ocean on a boat disguised as a floating island. From time to time Dick comes ashore to hunt. After a few days of travel, the boat sails past the village of cannibals, located on the right bank. The fact that it is not an island that floats along the river, but a boat with people, the savages discover after it is already far ahead. Unnoticed by travelers, savages along the shore pursue the boat in the hope of prey. A few days later, the boat stops at the left bank, so as not to be drawn into the waterfall. Dingo, barely jumping ashore, rushes forward, as if smelling someone's footprint. Travelers stumble upon a small shack in which already whitened human bones are scattered. Nearby on a tree, two letters “S. AT.". These are the same letters that are engraved on the Dingo's collar. Nearby is a note in which its author, the traveler Samuel Vernon, accuses his guide Negoro of mortally wounding him in December 1871 and robbing him. Suddenly, Dingo takes off, and a scream is heard nearby. It was the Dingo who grabbed the throat of Negoro, who, before boarding the steamer to America, returned to the scene of his crime in order to get the money he had stolen from Vernon from the cache. Dingo, whom Negoro stabs with a knife before dying, dies. But Negoro himself cannot escape retribution. Fearing on the left bank of Negoro's satellites, Dick is sent for reconnaissance to the right bank. There, arrows fly at him, and ten savages from the village of cannibals jump into his boat. Dick shoots through the oar, and the boat is carried to the waterfall. The savages die in it, but Dick, hiding in a boat, manages to escape. Soon the travelers reach the ocean, and then without incident on August 25 they arrive in California. Dick Send becomes a son in the Weldon family, by the age of eighteen he completes hydrographic courses and is preparing to become a captain on one of James Weldon's ships. Hercules becomes a great family friend. Mr. Weldon ransoms Tom, Bat, Actaeon, and Austin from slavery, and on November 15, 1877, four Negroes, freed from so many dangers, find themselves in the friendly embrace of the Weldons.