English Original
Some arguments are not easy to settle. For example, many people say Rebecca and Abigail Bates were real heroes of the War of 1812. Others think that’s just not so.
What did Rebecca and Abigail do? They saved their town from a British warship. At least that’s what Rebecca claimed in 1874, the year St. Nicholas, a children’s magazine, published the first of several versions she gave of her story.
The Bates family lived in Scituate, Massachusetts, a fishing and farming village about thirty miles south of Boston. In early June 1814, the British attacked the village. Two barges from a British warship entered the harbor and set fire to Scituate's fishing fleet. Ten ships were lost, and the militia was called in to defend the town.
For twenty-year-old Rebecca, the raid hit close to home. Her father, Simeon Bates, was keeper of the town’s lighthouse at Cedar Point on the north side of the harbor. Rebecca and her family lived next to the lighthouse in the small keeper’s cottage.
After the June attack, full-time lookouts were needed. The militia posted guards. Weeks passed. No new enemy ships were sighted, and the militia was told to go home. But for a while, guards continued to stand watch at the lighthouse. To pass the time, they taught the Bates children to play the fife and drum. Rebecca learned four tunes and thought her “Yankee Doodle” was especially good.
But more and more, the lighthouse was left unguarded. This was the case one late-summer day in 1814.
According to Rebecca, she, her mother, and sixteen-year-old Abigail were alone in the cottage. As Rebecca was about to boil water for the evening meal, she spotted a British warship from the kitchen window. Too large for the town’s shallow harbor, the warship had anchored just beyond the lighthouse.
Rebecca and Abigail ran to the lighthouse for a better look and watched as a barge, full of soldiers, headed toward the harbor. Then they saw a second barge follow the first. The memory of burning ships was still fresh in their minds.
But more than Scituate’s boats were in danger. Tied to the town wharf were two merchant vessels, each carrying a full cargo of flour. Food supplies were extremely scarce at this time, and the raiding parties were sure to seize the cargoes. Losing the flour would be devastating to the town.
Rebecca thought fast. The guards’ muskets, fife, and drum were still at the lighthouse. She and Abigail could use the muskets to shoot at the boats, but that would be risky. The soldiers might answer with cannon fire.
Then Rebecca had a bold idea. Calling to Abigail to follow, she dashed to the room where the firearms were stored. But instead of reaching for the muskets, she grabbed the fife and the drum. Rebecca handed the drum to Abigail and explained her plan.
The two young women ran down the wooded path that led to the edge of the water. Hiding behind tall cedar trees, Abigail and Rebecca played the instruments. Abigail beat out “Roll Call.” Rebecca joined in with “Yankee Doodle.” The sound of military music drifted across the bay. When Rebecca looked up, she saw that the soldiers had stopped rowing.
The girls continued playing. A moment later, a flag was raised on the warship—the signal for the barges to return. Once everyone was on board, the enemy vessel raised anchor and set sail for the open sea.
The British were fooled. They thought the town militia had been warned and was coming to stop them. Instead, they were chased away by two young women with a borrowed fife and drum.
Today, a plaque at Scituate Light honors the bravery of Rebecca and Abigail Bates—“The Army of Two.”
中文翻译
有些争论并不容易解决。例如，许多人说丽贝卡和阿比盖尔·贝茨是1812年战争中的真正英雄。另一些人则认为事实并非如此。
丽贝卡和阿比盖尔做了什么？她们从一艘英国战舰手中拯救了她们的小镇。至少这是丽贝卡在1874年声称的，那一年儿童杂志《圣尼古拉斯》刊登了她讲述的多个版本故事中的第一个。
贝茨一家住在马萨诸塞州的锡楚埃特，一个位于波士顿以南约三十英里的渔农村庄。1814年6月初，英军袭击了村庄。一艘英国战舰派出的两艘驳船进入港口，放火烧毁了锡楚埃特的渔船队。十艘船被毁，民兵被召集起来保卫城镇。
对于二十岁的丽贝卡来说，这次袭击就发生在自家附近。她的父亲西缅·贝茨是港口北侧雪松角镇上灯塔的管理员。丽贝卡和家人住在灯塔旁边的小管理员农舍里。
六月袭击发生后，需要全职的瞭望员。民兵派驻了守卫。几周过去了，没有发现新的敌舰，民兵被告知可以回家了。但有一段时间，守卫们继续在灯塔站岗。为了打发时间，他们教贝茨家的孩子们吹横笛和打鼓。丽贝卡学会了四首曲子，并认为自己的《扬基歌》吹得特别好。
但灯塔无人看守的情况越来越多。1814年夏末的一天就是如此。
据丽贝卡说，那天她、她的母亲和十六岁的阿比盖尔独自在农舍里。当丽贝卡正准备烧水做晚饭时，她从厨房窗户发现了一艘英国战舰。由于城镇的港口水浅，战舰太大无法进入，便停泊在灯塔外不远处。
丽贝卡和阿比盖尔跑到灯塔想看得更清楚些，她们看到一艘满载士兵的驳船从战舰上放下，朝港口驶来。接着，她们看到第二艘驳船紧随其后。船只燃烧的记忆在她们脑海中依然清晰。
但处于危险中的不止是锡楚埃特的船只。镇上的码头边还系着两艘商船，每艘都满载着面粉。当时食物供应极其短缺，袭击队肯定会抢夺这些货物。失去面粉对小镇将是毁灭性的打击。
丽贝卡迅速思考。守卫们的滑膛枪、横笛和鼓还在灯塔里。她和阿比盖尔可以用滑膛枪向船只射击，但那太冒险了。士兵们可能会用大炮还击。
接着，丽贝卡有了一个大胆的想法。她叫阿比盖尔跟上，冲向存放枪支的房间。但她没有去拿滑膛枪，而是抓起了横笛和鼓。丽贝卡把鼓递给阿比盖尔，解释了她的计划。
两位年轻女子沿着通往水边的林间小路跑去。她们躲在高大的雪松树后，开始演奏乐器。阿比盖尔敲出《点名号》，丽贝卡加入吹奏《扬基歌》。军乐声飘过海湾。当丽贝卡抬头看时，她发现士兵们停止了划桨。
女孩们继续演奏。片刻之后，战舰上升起了一面旗帜——这是让驳船返回的信号。所有人上船后，敌舰起锚，驶向开阔的海域。
英国人上当了。他们以为镇上的民兵已经得到警告，正赶来阻止他们。结果，他们被两个借用横笛和鼓的年轻女子赶跑了。
今天，锡楚埃特灯塔的一块牌匾纪念着丽贝卡和阿比盖尔·贝茨的勇敢——“二人军团”。