Испанский моряк: История Педро Серрано и его острова

Spanish sailor

Pedro Luis Serrano, also referred to as Pedro de Serrano, was a 16th century Spanish sailor who was allegedly marooned for seven to eight years on a small desert island. Details of the story differ, but the most common version has him shipwrecked on a small island in the Caribbean off the coast of Nicaragua, sometime in the 1520s. Serrano survived by eating shrimp, cockles, and other animals he found washed up on the shore, and by collecting drinking water in sea turtle shells when it rained. When rainwater was unavailable, he also drank the blood of the turtles he had captured. The name Serrana Bank first appears on a Dutch map of 1545. Other versions place the events in the Pacific, off the coast of Peru, as late as the 1540s. There is some doubt about the historicity of the tale. The earliest known source is Garcilaso de la Vega's Comentarios Reales de los Incas (1609).

Serrano's story has been heavily adapted and retold since the 17th century. One such work is the comedic poem Etiquette, written in the 19th century by the librettist W. S. Gilbert, which heavily adapts Serrano's story as a satire of Victorian era social customs. In the poem, Serrano and his island companion are two English businessmen named "Peter Gray" and "Somers", who are stranded on a desert island when their ship, the Ballyshannon, is "foundered off the coast of Cariboo". Despite their situation, the two men refuse to speak to each other, not having been formally introduced. They decide without discussion to divide the island between them. However, they soon discover that Gray's portion of the island is rich in oysters, which Gray cannot eat, whilst Somers' portion is rich in turtles, which Somers cannot eat. Whilst the two men could easily switch sides, they refuse to discuss this with one another, as this would be socially improper. One day, Gray overhears Somers musing about his friend Robinson, with whom Somers reveals he has a mutual friendship, which finally allows the two men to speak. They eventually become very close friends. After many years on the island, Gray and Somers see a vessel in the near distance, and the two men decide to swim out to it. However, when they discover that the boat is in fact a convict ship, they immediately refuse rescue, being unwilling to associate themselves with the convicts. On returning to their desert island, the two men laugh together about their near miss encounter. A boat from the vessel rows past, and they are horrified to discover that none other than their mutual friend, Robinson, is pulling the oar. They learn that Robinson had been convicted for "misappropriating stock". Gray and Somers, completely embarrassed about their prior association with a criminal, revert to not speaking to one another. They divide the island once more, alone and unable to eat most of the food that washes ashore.