The Titan

The Titan (writing simple)

In 1898 a struggling author named Morgan Robertson concocted a novel about a fabulous  Atlantic  liner， far  larger than any that had ever been built．Robertson loaded his ship with rich and complacent people and then wrecked it one cold April night on an iceberg． This somehow showed the futility of everything，and，in fact，the book was called Futility  when it appeared  that  year， published by the firm  of M．F．Mansfield．

Fourteen years later a British shipping company named the White Star Line built a steamer remarkably like the one in Robertson's novel．The new liner was 66，000 tons displacement；Robertson's was 70，000 tons．The real ship was882．5 feet long；the fictional one was 800 feet．Both vessels were triple screw and could make 24－25 knots．Both could carry about 3，000 people，and both had enough lifeboats for only a fraction of this  number．But then，this didn't seem to matter because both were labeled“unsinkable．”

On April 10，1912，the real ship left South Hampton on her maiden voyage to New York．Her cargo included a price－less copy of the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam and a list of passengers collectively worth＄ 250 million．On her way she too hit an iceberg and went down on a cold April night．

Robertson  called his ship the Titan；the White Star Line called its ship the Titanic．This is the story of her last night．

泰坦号

1898年，一个名叫摩尔根·罗伯特逊的勤奋作家，虚构了一部关于一艘寓言式的大西洋定期航船的小说，这艘寓言式的船比当时所建的任何一艘船都大得多。罗伯特逊让这艘船载上了富裕自满的人们，在一个寒冷的4月的夜晚撞上了一座冰山而沉没。这表现了任何事情都无益，而事实上，这部小说当年由M·F·曼斯菲尔德公司出版时，书名就叫《无益》。

14年之后，一家名叫白星航运公司的英国轮船公司，建造了一艘轮船，与罗伯特逊小说中的那艘船极为相似。这艘新船的排水量为66，000吨，而罗伯特逊的船为70，000吨。现实中的这艘船长882．5英尺，而那艘虚构的船长800英尺。两艘船都是三叶螺旋桨，能够每小时航行24～25海里。两艘船都能载大约3，000人，都有一些救生艇，仅够3，000这一人数中小部分人使用。不过，这似乎无关紧要，因为两艘船都号称“不沉”。

1912年4月10日，这艘现实中的船离开了南汉普顿，开始了驶往纽约的处女航。所载货物中包括一部价值连城的莪默·伽亚谟的《鲁拜集》的抄本，还有一份乘客名册，总价值为2.5亿美元。在航行途中，轮船撞上了一座冰山，在一个寒冷的4月的夜晚沉没。

罗伯特逊称他的船为“泰坦”，而白星航运公司也称它的轮船为“泰坦号”。这是该船最后一个夜晚的事。