Squire Trelawney

Squire John Trelawney is a supporting character from Robert Louis Stevenson's 1883 novel Treasure Island.

Stevenson describes him as "a tall man, over six feet high, and broad in proportion, and he had a bluff, rough-and-ready face, all roughened and reddened and lined in his long travels. His eyebrows were very black and moved readily, and this gave him a look of some temper, not bad, you would say, but quick and high."

The Squire is a bombastic and excitable landowner and friend to Dr. Livesey, another supporting character who has been sought out by the book's protagonist, Jim Hawkins, as a sanctuary from pirates who seek the treasure map that has fallen into Jim's possession. He is somewhat gullible, being persuaded by the cunning Long John Silver into hiring a crew of mutinous pirates, and argues with Captain Alexander Smollett about the latter's "unmanly, unsailorly, and downright un-English" doubts about the safety of the cruise. However, when Jim discovers the planned mutiny, Trelawney humbly admits his error and proves a determined and capable companion, and is grieved when his gamekeeper, Tom Redruth, dies from a gunshot wound.

Squire Trelawney immediately plans to commission a sailing vessel to hunt for the treasure, with the help of Dr. Livesey and Jim. He finances the entire expedition to the eponymous Treasure Island. Going to the Bristol docks, Trelawney buys the schooner Hispaniola, hires Captain Smollett to command her, and retains Long John Silver, a former sea cook and now the owner of the dock-side "Spy-Glass" tavern, to run the galley. When it comes to hiring a crew for the ship, he depends highly on the advice of Silver, who recruits a group of fellow pirates.

Livesey warns Trelawney to be silent about their objective, but he cannot keep a secret and everyone seems to get to know about the nature of the mission. Although the squire is financier of the expedition and appears to be the social better of all others aboard the ship, he is privately dismissed on several occasions due to his lack of discretion. Stevenson has Jim Hawkins observe that neither he nor the captain paid much regard to Mr. Trelawney's protestations. Trelawney is chastened by the revelation that the men Silver gathered are Flint's old crew, plotting to mutiny; he turns to Captain Smollett and says, "Now, Captain, you were right, and I was wrong. I own myself an ass, and I await your orders."

عندما تمرد الطاقم لسرقة الكنز، فاجأ تريلاوني وليفسي ورجالهما المخلصون القراصنة القلائل الذين لم ينزلوا إلى الشاطئ وتغلبوا عليهم. وصلوا إلى الشاطئ ودخلوا حصنًا مهجورًا. هُزم القراصنة، وقُسّم الكنز بين تريلاوني ورجاله المخلصين، وعادوا إلى إنجلترا، تاركين القراصنة الناجين عالقين على الجزيرة.

إنّ الفارس رجلٌ كثير الترحال، وهو أفضل رامي في الطاقم. كما أنه يُظهر صفات قيادية فعّالة، ويحافظ على هدوئه طوال المغامرة.

ربما سُمّي سكوير تريلاوني تيمناً بإدوارد تريلاوني ، حاكم جامايكا من عام 1738 إلى عام 1752.

تم تجسيد شخصية سكوير تريلاوني في الأفلام المقتبسة من قبل سيدني دين (1920)، ونيجل بروس (1934)، وميخائيل كليموف (1938)، ووالتر فيتزجيرالد (1950)، وألجيمانتاس ماسيوليس (1971)، ووالتر سليزاك (1972)، وثورلي والترز (1977)، وفلاديسلاف سترزيلتشيك (1982)، وبوريس فوزنيوك (1988، صوت)، وريتشارد جونسون (1990)، وفوزي بير في جزيرة الكنز من إنتاج الدمى (1996)، وكريستوفر بنجامين (1999)، ودين ن. أريفالو (2006)، وروبرت بينري جونز (2012).

ستيفنسون، روبرت لويس. جزيرة الكنز . كاملة وغير مختصرة. نيويورك: شركة إيرمونت للنشر، 1962.

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