美国学生世界地理教材 第66期:海盗的海洋(3)

 Another two days’ sailing south and I was on another island called Nassau, the capital of a group of islands called the Bahamas. 乘船往南又航行两天我就到了另一个叫做拿骚的岛屿，它是巴哈马群岛的首都。 

In Nassau sponges² are gathered from the bottom of the sea and sent back to U. S. for US to USe.  当地人从海底采收海绵，然后运到美国供我们使用。

Would you believe that the sponges you use were once alive? They were once like jelly³ with the sponge¹ inside.  你能相信你使用的海绵曾经是活的吗？它们曾经就像是被果冻包裹着。

Men dive down into the sea and tear the live sponges off the rocks where they grow.  人们潜到海底从岩石上扯下生长在上面的海绵。

Then they wash off the jelly-like part and what is left is the sponge. 然后他们把果冻样的那一部分洗掉，剩下的就是海绵了。

Another one of the Bahama Islands is the little island on which Columbus first landed—the most famous little island  巴哈马群岛还有一个小岛，是哥伦布最初登陆的小岛——世界上最著名的小岛。 

A monument marks the spot where he stepped out of his little boat after his long voyage across the ocean, kneeled⁴ down in the sand,  这里有一个纪念碑标示出了哥伦布下船的地点，哥伦布经过漫长的海上航行之后终于看到这个小岛，下船后他跪在沙滩上，

and thanked God for directing him safely to the New World.  感谢上帝指引他安全抵达了新大陆。

He called the island after his Saviour⁵, “Holy Saviour,” which in Spanish is San Salvador. 他以救世主的名字把小岛命名为“神圣的救世主”，西班牙语中就是“圣萨尔瓦多”。

There are three large islands of the West Indies—tit-tat-to, three in a row.  西印度群岛有三个大岛——像画“连城”游戏一样，三个岛连成一排。

There is also another island a little smaller, and many, many very small islands besides in the Caribbean Sea. 加勒比海还有一个小一点的岛和很多很多非常小的岛屿。

The largest island of all the West Indies—the first one of the tit-tat-to, three in a row islands—is Cuba. 西印度群岛最大的岛——画“连城”游戏中三个一排的第一个岛——是古巴岛。 

Columbus found the Indians in Cuba carrying burning torches in their mouths.  哥伦布发现古巴岛上的印第安人嘴里叼着燃烧的小火把。

They breathed in the smoke and blew it out again in a most strange and amazing fashion, as if they were dragons. 他们以一种极为奇怪而又惊人的方式把烟吸进去然后又呼出来，好像是喷烟吐火的龙一样。 

It seemed an extraordinary thing for people to do—to breathe in smoke of a burning weed, for that was what it was;  人把野草燃烧冒出的烟吸进去，似乎在做一件离奇的事，因为那真就是野草；

yet they seemed to enjoy it. 然而他们看起来却是很享受的样子。 

No one across the water had ever seen such a sight before—people breathing fire.  从大洋对岸来的人以前从来没有见过这种奇观——人吸火。

But now people all over the World copy the red Indians of Cuba.The weed was called tobacco.  但是现在全世界都有人在仿效古巴红皮肤的印第安人。 这种野草叫做烟草。

Tobacco is now grown in many parts of the World, but the finest tobacco  for cigars still grows in Cuba,  现在世界上很多地方都种植烟草，但是全世界做雪茄用的最优质的烟草还是产自古巴，

and Havana, the capital of Cuba, ships “Havana” cigars everywhere. 古巴的首都哈瓦那把“哈瓦那”牌雪茄运送到世界各地。

People from Spain went to live in Cuba and Cuba belonged to Spain until not so many years ago, but now Cuba belongs to itself. 来自西班牙的人直到几年前才在古巴定居下来。古巴属于西班牙，但是现在古巴是一个独立的国家。

1 sponge   

n.海绵，海绵状的东西；v.用海绵擦拭，吸收掉， 抹掉

参考例句：

• The child is screwing water out of a sponge.小孩正把海绵中的水挤出来。
• You should try to sponge out the memory of the accident.你该努力抹除那次事故的记忆。

2 sponges   

n.海绵( sponge的名词复数 )；海绵动物

参考例句：

• Sponges absorb water. 海绵吸水。 来自辞典例句
• Ice bags and alcohol sponges help to reduce fever, especially in children. 用冰袋和洒精擦浴有助于降体温，尤其是对儿童。 来自辞典例句

3 jelly   

n.冻，果子冻，胶状物

参考例句：

• We had toast and jelly at breakfast.我们早餐吃的是烤面包和果冻。
• The medicine was a clear jelly.这种药是透明的胶状物。

4 kneeled   

v.跪( kneel的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He kneeled against the bow and, for a moment, slipped the line over his back again. 他靠着船头跪下，暂时又把钓索挎在背上。 来自英汉文学 - 老人与海
• She went to the coffin, very soft, and kneeled down and looked in. 她轻轻地来到棺材前面，跪下去往里看了一看。 来自辞典例句

5 saviour   

n.拯救者，救星

参考例句：

• I saw myself as the saviour of my country.我幻想自己为国家的救星。
• The people clearly saw her as their saviour.人们显然把她看成了救星。