美国学生世界地理教材 第192期:白象(5)

 Singapore is almost on the Equator—it is almost half-way between the North and South Poles. 新加坡几乎位于赤道上，几乎就在南极和北极之间的中途。

Sailors call the Equator "The Line." 水手们称赤道为“中线”。

When you cross "The Line" for the first time you are supposed to be baptized by Father Neptune¹, the god of the sea. 当你第一次穿过“中线”的时候，水手们认为你应该接受海神尼普顿的洗礼。

So I was baptized when I crossed it and this was the way it was done. 当我坐船经过赤道的时候，也接受了洗礼。

As I stepped out on deck a sailor suddenly appeared on each side of me. 洗礼的经过是这样的：当我走上甲板时，我的两侧突然各出现一位水手，

One caught me by my arms and the other by my legs and, lifting me in the air, they threw me, 一位抓住我的胳膊，一位抓住我的腿，把我举到空中，

with all my clothes on, into a big pool of water that had been made out of canvas on the deck of the ship. 然后，将衣冠整齐的我就这么扔进甲板上的一个用帆布做的大水池里。

Then when I clambered out of the pool, sputtering² for my breath, they shoved me into the end of a long canvas pipe, through which I had to crawl. 当我刚从水池里爬出来，吐出口中的水，大口喘气的时候，他们又把我推进一个很长的帆布管道里，我只得爬过这条管道。

When I came out at the other end they gave me a whack³ on the back with a paddle. 当我从另一端出来时，他们用船桨在我的背部拍了一下，

Then I was taken before Father Neptune, a man seated on a throne  然后我就被带到海神尼普顿面前——一位男士坐在宝座上，

and dressed up in a bath-robe with a pasteboard crown set on the side of his head, a pitchfork in his hand. 穿着浴袍，头上斜戴着一顶硬纸板做的王冠，手执干草戟。

He handed me a diploma, as if I were graduating from college, 他递给我一张证书，好像我大学刚毕业一样，

saying that I had been duly baptized and initiated⁴ and was now "a regular fellow" in the society of those who had crossed "The Line." 并说我已正式受洗并被接纳，现在已是跨过“中线”的这一阶层中的“合格成员”。

Near the Malay Peninsula are the East Indies and the Spice Islands, which Columbus tried to reach. 靠近马来半岛有东印度群岛和香料群岛，就是哥伦布当年想到的地方。

Sumatra, which is shaped something like a fat cigar, is where the tobacco is grown for making the covers for cigars. 苏门答腊岛，形状像个胖雪茄，岛上种植烟草用来做雪茄的外包叶。

Java, another one of the East Indies, was once famous for its coffee. 爪哇岛，东印度群岛中的另一个岛屿，曾经以产咖啡而闻名。

I had looked forward to getting a good cup here, but I tried in a number of places and finally got a cup, but the coffee had come from Brazil! 我曾盼望在岛上喝上一杯上好的咖啡，但是我试了好几个地方终于喝了一杯，却发现这咖啡竟然是巴西产的。

In Java I saw bats as big as eagles and butterflies as big as your two hands. 在爪哇，我看见大如老鹰的蝙蝠和与你双手一样大的蝴蝶。

1 Neptune   

n.海王星

参考例句：

• Neptune is the furthest planet from the sun.海王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Neptune turned out to be a dynamic,stormy world.海王星原来是个有生气、多风暴的世界。

2 sputtering   

n.反应溅射法；飞溅；阴极真空喷镀；喷射v.唾沫飞溅( sputter的现在分词 )；发劈啪声；喷出；飞溅出

参考例句：

• A wick was sputtering feebly in a dish of oil. 瓦油灯上结了一个大灯花，使微弱的灯光变得更加阴暗。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• Jack ran up to the referee, sputtering protest. 贾克跑到裁判跟前，唾沫飞溅地提出抗议。 来自辞典例句

3 whack   

v.敲击，重打，瓜分；n.重击，重打，尝试，一份

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• He gave me a whack on the back to wake me up.他为把我弄醒，在我背上猛拍一下。

4 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。