美国学生世界地理教材 第212期:害怕黑暗(4)

 Thirty years passed and though he went back home several times he always returned to Africa and at last he disappeared. 三十年过去了，尽管利文斯通回了几次家，他总是又返回非洲。最终他消失了。

He was given up for lost, and his countrymen thought him dead. 人们认为他失踪了，对找到他不再抱有任何希望。

But some people in our country got the idea that he might still be alive, so they sent a newspaper reporter named Stanley to look for him. 他的同胞认为他死了。但是在美国有一些人猜想他可能还活着，于是就派了一位名叫斯坦利的记者去找他。

They thought a reporter could find him if anybody could. 他们认为如果有什么人能找到利文斯通的话，那么记者就能做到。

Stanley landed on the west coast of Africa and asked the black men by signs if any one had seen a white man. 斯坦利在非洲西海岸上岸，用手势问那里的黑人是否看见一个白人。

Most of the black men said "no"—thirty years was too long a time to remember—in fact, most that were alive then were dead. 大多数黑人都表示“没有”——三十年的时间确实太长了，当时的事没有人记得了——事实上，大多数那时候活着的人现到都不在人世了。

But some black men said they had heard their fathers say that a white man had once passed through that way, and they pointed¹ toward² the east. 但是一些黑人说，他们听他们的父辈说过，有一个白人曾经朝那个方向走去，说着还指向东方。

So Stanley kept on going east and still east. 于是，斯坦利继续往东走，一直往东走。

After a long, long while he came to a long, long lake that has a long, long name—Tanganyika. 经过了很长一段时间，他看到了一个长长的湖，这个湖有个长长的名字——坦噶尼喀湖。

When he reached this lake an old white man came to meet him. 当他到达湖边时，有位年老的白人过来迎接他，

Stanley said, "Dr. Livingstone, I presume³?" just as if he were greeting a stranger whom he had been sent to meet at the railroad⁴ station. 斯坦利说，“您就是利文斯通医生吧？”就像他被派去火车站迎接一位陌生人那样招呼对方。

Of course, it was Livingstone, and Stanley tried to get him to go back with him. 当然，他就是利文斯通。斯坦利试图说服利文斯通和自己一起回去。

But Livingstone said, "No, my work is here, teaching⁵ the black people about God and curing their bodily diseases⁶." 但是，利文斯通说，“不，我的工作在这儿。我要引导这里的黑人信仰上帝，并治愈他们身体上的疾病。”

I'll not go back until I'm dead. When I am dead, then I want to go home to be buried in England. 我死了才回去。等我死了，那时我希望回家，葬在英国。

So Stanley had to return without him. 于是，斯坦利只能自己一个人回去了。

Two years after that, with no one around him but black men, Livingstone died. 两年后，利文斯通去世了，身边只有一些黑人陪伴着。

He was on his knees at prayer when his black servant boy found him dead. 当时，他正跪着在祷告，他的黑人仆人发现他已经死了。

All the black men loved him, and knowing that he wanted to be buried in England, 两年后，利文斯通去世了，身边只有一些黑人陪伴着。当时，他正跪着在祷告，他的黑人仆人发现他已经死了。

they prepared his body by the sort of embalming⁷ they knew and bore it on their shoulders for eight hundred miles—it took two months—until they reached the coast. 他们以自己的方法，用香料对将利文斯通的身体做了防腐处理，用肩膀抬着他的遗体，走了800英里——花了两个月的时间——最终到了海边。

1 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

2 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

3 presume   

vt.姑且认定，假定，推测，认为是理所当然；vi.假设，越权行事

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• You had better presume no such thing.你最好不要这样设想。

4 railroad   

n.铁路；vi.由铁路运输

参考例句：

• The railroad connects two cities,namely,New York and Chicago.这条铁路连接两个城市，即纽约与芝加哥。
• My brother is working on the railroad.我兄弟在铁路系统工作。

5 teaching   

n.教学，执教，任教，讲授；(复数)教诲

参考例句：

• We all agree in adopting the new teaching method. 我们一致同意采取新的教学方法。
• He created a new system of teaching foreign languages.他创造了一种新的外语教学体系。

6 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

7 embalming   

v.保存（尸体）不腐( embalm的现在分词 )；使不被遗忘；使充满香气

参考例句：

• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming. 尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They were experts at preserving the bodies of the dead by embalming them with special lotions. 他们具有采用特种药物洗剂防止尸体腐烂的专门知识。 来自辞典例句