The ship of dreams (and nightmares)， has been brought back to life through one survivor's story. Laura Francatelli's account of escaping the sinking of the Titanic in 1912 has sold for 20,000 pounds ($31,000) at auction。

　　The story, which was published for the first time in early October, was bought by an Eastern European collector at auction. Francatelli's tale describes the urgency and fear that manifested on board the Titanic during her final hours, "There was an awful rumbling when she went. Then came the screams and cries. I do not know how long they lasted。”

　　Francatelli, who was 31 at the time, was traveling with baronet Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon and his wife Lady Lucy Christiana, as his secretary. She boarded one of the last lifeboats which contained just five passengers and seven crew members, whom on hearing the screams, refused to go back to search for more survivors。

　　Francatelli recounts how Duff-Gordon, a prominent Scottish landowner and sportsman, gave the crew members five pounds ($7.87) each for saving their lives, a wage which some have described as "blood money." Her employers refused to go into a lifeboat at first because Duff-Gordon was not allowed on board, as they were designated for women and children only。

　　But they were then offered places on a smaller rowing boat. She said they "were a long way off" when they saw the Titanic go right up at the back and plunge down. "We had hardly any talk. The men spoke about God and prayers and wives. We were all in the darkness," she wrote as the survivors held tight to each other for warmth and awaited rescue ship, the Carpathia。

　　1,521 passengers were killed in 1912 when the grandest ship in history struck an iceberg on her maiden voyage to New York。

　　美国《时代》周刊19日文章：她的故事永恒：“泰坦尼克”号幸存者出售自己的故事

　　这艘满载梦想(以及梦魇)的巨型游轮通过一名幸存者的故事重获新生。

　　劳拉-弗兰卡泰利生前记述她在1912年从正在下沉的“泰坦尼克”号中死里逃生的故事在拍卖中被以2万英镑的价格售出。

　　今年10月初首次公开发表的这一故事在拍卖会上被一名东欧收藏家购得。弗兰卡泰利的故事描述了“泰坦尼克”号沉没前的几小时中船上的混乱与恐慌。故事中记载：“在‘泰坦尼克’号沉没过程中，船体发出隆隆的响声，随后响起了尖叫和哭喊声。我不知道这种声音持续了多久。”

　　时年31岁的弗兰卡泰利当时是科斯莫-达夫-戈登准男爵的秘书，正在陪同男爵及其夫人露西-克里斯蒂娜女士旅行。她是最后一批登上救生艇的，那艘艇上只有五名乘客和七名船员。那些船员尽管听到了呼救声，但拒绝回去寻找更多的幸存者。

　　弗兰卡泰利讲述了身为苏格兰大地主和运动健将的达夫-戈登是如何给每位船员塞了5英镑，以报答他们救命之恩的。有人将这笔钱称作“血腥钱”。她的老板夫妇起初拒绝登上救生艇，因为达夫-戈登被禁止上救生艇，救生艇是专门为女人和儿童安排的。

　　但后来他们被安排进了一艘小型划艇中。她说，当他们转头看见“泰坦尼克”号的船身垂直，并迅速沉入海中时，救生艇已经“走出很远了”。她写道，当幸存者紧紧抱在一起相互取暖、等待救援船的时候，“我们都没怎么说话。男人们谈着上帝啊、祈祷啊、妻子啊什么的。我们所有人都身处黑暗之中。”

　　1912年，这艘史上最宏伟的大船在驶向纽约的处女航中就与冰山相撞沉没，1521人遇难。