Beautiful sailor

Author: (American) Melville, translated by Hao Min
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-05-01
Features: "The Beautiful Sailor" is not long in length, equivalent to a typical Chinese middle in China, and its content is not complex. The story in the novel takes place in 1997. A young man named Billy Budd is forcibly conscripted to serve as a sailor on the British warship "Indomitable." He is handsome and innocent, gets along well with the captain, Will, and the sailors, but he is envied by the ship's weapon instructor, Claggart, who falsely accuses him of treason. During the confrontation with Claggart, Billy Budd, out of excessive anger and due to his stuttering problem under stress, ends up striking Claggart. To everyone's surprise, this punch leads to Claggart's death. In the makeshift military court, the case sparks debate. The captain, being the only "crime" witness, is also one of the judges. He knows that Billy did not intentionally kill Claggart, but at that time, it was wartime, especially with the recent mutiny in the British Navy, which makes the captain's crucial opinion lean against the young defendant. After long deliberation, an unjust "sword of justice" falls upon Billy Budd—he is sentenced to hanging and buried at sea immediately after his death.
Billy Budd, the beautiful sailor, was forcibly conscripted to the British ship "Indomitable" and envied by the weapon instructor, who falsely accused him of treason. Billy Budd accidentally killed the weapon instructor, and the captain knows that Billy is innocent, but during wartime, especially with the recent mutiny in the British Navy, his fate could not be changed.