Only a few days left for Balladeer’s Blog to squeeze in some more seasonal posts this Halloween Month.
THE STORY OF THE HAUNTED SHIP (1825) – This tale was written by the German author Wilhelm Hauff, who died in 1827.
Our unnamed Arab narrator informs readers he has just turned 18 years of age. His father recently died from despair over the failure of certain investments he had made and the narrator signs on with a ship’s crew in Basra determined to build up his own fortune at sea.
Accompanying him was his father’s old servant, whom he had known since childhood. While heading toward India, the Captain sighted a vessel which he called the ship of death, and he and his panicked crew did their best to escape the death ship’s influence, as well as a fierce storm which came out of nowhere.
The horrific storm left the death ship unharmed but rent apart the craft on which our narrator and his servant sailed. The pair wound up as the only survivors, floating precariously on some wreckage from the sunken vessel with no food or drink.
The next morning and all through the day Narrator and Servant clung to the small piece of wreckage, rapidly losing hope of rescue. Another night passed and in the afternoon of the following day the duo spotted the death ship itself cutting through the ocean toward them. Continue reading
