As the priest Antonius Hambroek stood in the dim chamber of Fort Zeelandia, his eldest daughter clung to him, her voice trembling. “Father, don’t go. They’ll kill you, and what will become of Mother and my sisters?” Outside, the sounds of Koxinga’s relentless canon siege boomed through the fortress. The defenders were on the brink of collapse. Starvation gnawed at their resolve, and the air carried the acrid stench of spent gunpowder and rotting flesh. Dutch reinforcements from Batavia had failed to arrive, leaving the garrison isolated and hopeless.
Hambroek’s face was calm, though sorrow weighed heavily on his eyes. “If I stay, your mother and sisters may suffer horrors worse than death. And if I refuse to go, I may weaken the defenders’ spirit. My duty is clear.”
Tears streaked down her face through the dust and grime. “But we’re starving, Father. The fort cannot hold. Koxinga’s cruelty — he mutilates, castrates, and decapitates prisoners. He turns women into concubines. He enslaves children. He has delivered hundreds of tortured and decapitated Dutch corpses. It’s horrifying! What hope is there if we surrender?” He placed a hand on her shoulder, his voice firm yet gentle. “Our strength is in our faith. Whatever happens, you must endure. Promise me you’ll care for your sister.” She nodded reluctantly, despair and anger flickering in her eyes. “I promise. But how can you ask us to let you go. We know what they’ll do to you.” Hambroek took a deep breath. “Sometimes, sacrifice is the only path left. And when there is only path left, there is nothing left to do but accept it.”
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He stepped through the fortress gate and left the temporary haven of its crumbling walls behind, His daughter sank to her knees, clutching her hands in prayers of desperation. Hambroek could not bear to look back as he walked slowly back to Koxinga’s encampment. He failed to deliver Fort Zeelandia’s surrender. And for this he would die a horrible death. But this was the only path that could lead to the purchase of respect — hopefully enough to buy the lives of his captive wife and two young daughters.
當牧師安托紐思亨布魯克站在熱蘭遮城昏暗的房間內，他的長女緊緊抱著他，顫聲說道：「父親，不要去。他們會殺了你，母親和妹妹們怎麼辦？」城外，國姓爺持續且猛烈的砲火聲震耳欲聾，籠罩著整個堡壘。守軍已瀕臨崩潰。飢餓啃噬著他們的決心，空氣中瀰漫著煙硝和腐肉的嗆鼻氣味。來自巴達維亞的荷蘭援軍遲遲未到，使駐軍孤立無援，陷於絕境。
亨布魯克的臉色平靜，但悲傷沉重地壓在他的眼眸。「如果我留下來，妳的母親和妹妹們可能會遭受比死亡更可怕的痛苦。而如果我拒絕離開，可能會削弱守軍的士氣。我的職責很明確。」
淚水穿過灰塵和污垢，順著她的臉頰流下。「但是我們快餓死了，父親。城堡守不住了。國姓爺的殘酷—他肢解、閹割、斬首俘虜，他將婦女變成妾侍，他奴役兒童，他送來了數百具被折磨和斬首的荷蘭屍體。太可怕了！如果我們投降，還有什麼希望？」他把手放在她的肩膀上，聲音堅定而溫柔：「信念就是我們的力量。無論發生什麼事，妳都要堅持下去。答應我，妳會好好照顧妳的妹妹。」她不情願地點點頭，絕望和憤怒在她眼中閃爍。「我答應。但是你怎麼能讓我們放你走？我們知道他們會對你做什麼。」亨布魯克深吸了一口氣：「有時，犧牲是唯一的道路。而當無路可走時，就只能接受它了。」
他跨出了堡壘的大門，離開了崩塌牆壁後的短暫避風港。他的女兒跪倒在地，雙手合十，絕望地祈禱。亨布魯克不敢回頭看，他緩緩走向國姓爺的營地。他未能傳遞熱蘭遮城投降的消息。因此，他將面臨駭人的死亡。但這是唯一一條能夠換取尊重的道路—希望這足以換取他被囚禁的妻子和兩個年幼女兒的性命。
Epilogue 故事討論
Koxinga, also known as Cheng Cheng-kung, presented Hambroek with the impossible dilemma — between the devil and the deep blue sea. He chose the devil. And true to Koxinga’s word, Hambroek was executed upon his return. The official Dutch nationalist reasoning was that his refusal to betray his people sealed his fate. His beheading was a sacrifice remembered as an act of profound faith and nationalist courage. The reality is probably more personal though no less heroic: refusal to betray his captive wife and daughters.
Within the crumbling fortress, Hambroek’s eldest daughter clung to her promise to protect her sister. Yet the horrors she had feared soon unfolded. Six months after her father’s execution, starvation and desperation gripped the garrison until Feb. 1, 1662, when Governor Frederik Coyett, faced with no reinforcements and insurmountable losses, negotiated the fort’s surrender. This also marked the end of Dutch rule of Taiwan. But Coyett was at least able to secure the release of the fort’s soldiers and civilians to leave Taiwan and return to Batavia, or present day Jakarta. For them, it was the deep blue sea. The Dutch captives held by Koxinga were not so lucky. For them it was the devil. Although Hambroek’s eldest daughter boarded the ship for Batavia with the other survivors, it was without her mother and youngest sisters. They were not part of surrender agreement and faced enslavement and uncertain fates.
國姓爺，為鄭成功的尊稱。他向亨布魯克提出進退兩難的抉擇。而正如國姓爺所言，亨布魯克在返回營地後被處決了。荷蘭官方的民族主義解釋是，他拒絕背叛自己的同胞的行為決定了他的命運。他的斬首被視為一種深刻的信仰和民族主義勇氣的犧牲。然而，實際上的原因可能更為私人，但仍十分英勇：對被俘的妻女，他堅守著忠誠，不願背叛。
在搖搖欲墜的堡壘內，亨布魯克的大女兒緊緊守著保護妹妹的承諾。她所擔心的恐懼很快的展開了。在她父親被處決6個月後，飢餓和絕望籠罩了駐軍，直到1662年2月1日，面對遲遲未到的援兵和難以克服的損失，總督佛瑞德里克揆一被迫談判投降。這也標誌著荷蘭統治台灣的結束。但揆一至少能夠確保堡壘的士兵和平民獲釋，離開台灣返回巴達維亞，也就是今天的雅加達。儘管亨布魯克的大女兒和其他倖存者一起登上了前往巴達維亞的船隻，但她失去了母親和妹妹們。她們不在投降協議之內，面臨著奴役和不確定的命運。
Vocabulary 單字片語
1. sacrifice 犧牲
2. dilemma 兩難
3. faith 信念
4. resolve 決心
5. desperation 絕望
6. cruelty 殘酷
7. execution 處決
8. captivity 囚禁
9. enslave 奴役
10. betrayal 背叛
11. surrender 投降
Idioms 相關成語
1. between the devil and the deep blue sea
進退兩難 (jin tui li?ng nan)
2. seal one’s fate
決定……的命運 (jue ding. . . de ming yun)
Nigel P. Daly is a writer with a language learning newsletter called Chin-glish bilingual lab (https://ndaly.substack.com).
Cynthia Chen is a translator and writer specializing in blogs, scripts and articles.
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