美国学生世界地理教材 第198期:一条巨大的海蛇怪(3)

 After the Japanese were beaten in the war they were not allowed to have a big army nor to build war machines like battle-ships, tanks, and guns. 日本人战败之后，被禁止拥有一支庞大的军队，也禁止建造诸如战舰、坦克和枪炮之类的战争武器。

One of the first things the Japanese copied was a baby carriage to carry grown-up¹ people. 日本人最早学到的东西之一就是成人坐的“婴儿车”。

In Japan they have very few horses, because horses eat too much. 日本没有什么马，因为马吃得太多了。

So an American sailor, living in Japan, made for his wife a large baby carriage that could be pulled by a man, for in Japan a man was cheaper than a horse. 于是，一位生活在日本的美国水手，给他的妻子做了一辆可以用人来拉的大婴儿车，因为在日本雇佣人比马便宜。

The Japanese called it a Jinrikisha, which means² a "man pull car," or a Pullman car. 日本人把这种车称为“人力车”，意思是“人拉的车”，或称为“人力客车”。

It seems strange that the parlor³ cars on our trains are also called Pullman cars. 奇怪的是，火车上的特等车厢也叫“普耳曼式客车”（源自美国设计者普耳曼之名）。

This "rickshaw," as it is called for short, seemed such a good idea that the Japanese made thousands of them, 这种“人力车”，日本人似乎觉得挺有创意，就制造了数千辆。

and they are now used instead of taxis or private cars, not only in Japan but in China and other countries of the East. 现在，不仅在日本，而且在中国，还有其他一些东方国家仍在使用这种人力车，以代替出租车或私家车。

The men who pull them are called coolies, and a coolie will dog-trot almost all day long, pulling a rickshaw behind him, without getting tired. 拉车的人被称为“苦力”。苦力几乎整天都在小跑，不知疲倦地拉着身后的人力车。

As you see a rickshaw going away from you down the street, the coolie is hidden all but his legs, 当你看着人力车沿着街道离你而去的时候，苦力被车身遮住，你只能看到他的两条腿，

so that it looks as if the rickshaw itself were trotting⁴ along with a pair of legs of its own. 于是，看起来好像是人力车自己长了两条腿在向前跑着。

In the cities many of the men wear clothes like ours, 在日本的城市里，许多人穿的衣服与我们穿的没有区别。

but most of the people, both men and women, still wear kimonos like those our mothers and sisters often wear in their own homes. 但是大多数人，不论是男人还是女人，仍然穿“和服”，一种像我们的妈妈和姐妹们在自己的房间里经常穿的那种衣服。

There are two important holidays for Japanese boys and girls. 日本有两个专门让孩子们过的重要节日。

The one for girls comes on the third day of the third month, that is March third. 一个是女孩子的节日，在第三月的第三天，也就是3月3日，

It is called Doll Day and the girls get out all their dolls, arrange⁵ them nicely, and play with them. 叫做“玩偶节”。女孩子们拿出自己所有的玩偶，整整齐齐摆放在一起，然后玩玩偶。

1 grown-up   

adj.成熟的，已经成人的；n.成人，大人

参考例句：

• She has a grown-up daughter who lives abroad.她有一个已经长大成人的女儿，在海外生活。
• The boy eats like a grown-up.那男孩的食量像个成人。

2 means   

n.方法，手段，折中点，物质财富

参考例句：

• That man used artful means to find out secrets.那人使用狡猾的手段获取机密。
• We must get it done by some means or other.我们总得想办法把它干完。

3 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

4 trotting   

小跑，急走( trot的现在分词 )； 匆匆忙忙地走

参考例句：

• The riders came trotting down the lane. 这骑手骑着马在小路上慢跑。
• Alan took the reins and the small horse started trotting. 艾伦抓住缰绳，小马开始慢跑起来。

5 arrange   

vt.安排，整理，计划，改编(乐曲)；vi.协商，计划

参考例句：

• He began to arrange the flowers in the vase.他开始把花瓶内的花摆好。
• We must arrange about that.这事我们得安排一下。