英国语文第三册 第3期:茶农

 　　LESSON 3 The tea-farmer 第三课 茶农

　　Once upon a time there was no tea at all in our country. 曾经有一段时间在我们国家-

　　In England, in the olden time, people used to drink ale, and a sweet kind of wine called mead¹. 英格兰没有茶, 在古时候, 人们用来喝啤酒, 和一种甜的葡萄酒称为米德。

　　Great tankards of ale stood on the breakfast table. Now we use tea and coffee. 在早餐桌上放的是酒杯。我们现在用的是茶和咖啡。

　　When tea was first brought to England, an old man and woman had some sent to them as a great treat. 茶第一次带到英国的时候, 一个老男人和女人有一些发送给他们作为礼物。

　　But when they got it, they did not know how it ought to be used. 但当他们得到它, 他们不知道应该如何使用。

　　At length they boiled the leaves, and strewed² them on a piece of bacon which they were going to have for dinner. 终于他们煮叶子, 晚上吃熏肉。

　　They ate the leaves, and threw the tea away! 他们吃树叶, 把茶扔掉!

　　In those days, a pound of tea cost so much money that only the rich could buy it. 在那些日子里, 一磅茶花费那么多钱, 只有富人能买它。

　　Now it is so cheap that even the poorest can enjoy it. 现在是如此便宜, 即使是最穷的可以享受它。

　　Tea is the leaf of a plant which grows plentifully³ in China, Japan, and other Eastern lands. 茶是一种植物的叶子生长丰富地在中国, 日本和其他东部土地。

　　The Chinese drink their tea without either milk or sugar. 中国人喝的茶没有牛奶或糖。

　　Whenever a visitor comes into a house, a servant always brings him a cup of tea. 当贵客临门，, 仆人总是带给他一杯茶。

　　Every cottager in China has his little tea-garden. 每一个佃农在中国有自己的茶园。

　　He sells what he does not use, and can thus buy food and clothing for his family. 他只卖不用, 因此可以为他的家人买食物和衣服。

　　When a man has a large piece of ground, and grows a great many tea-plants, he is called a tea farmer. 当一个男人有一大块地, 种了许多茶树, 他被称为地主。

　　When the tea-leaves are ready to be gathered, the farmer and his family are very busy. 茶叶可以卖的时候，农夫和他的家人很忙。

　　They pull off the leaves and throw them into baskets. When the baskets are full, they are carried into the house. 他们掀开叶子, 把他们扔进篮子。当篮子满了, 他们抬进屋里。

　　The leaves are dried in iron pans⁵ over a fire. 树叶在铁是干锅在火上。

　　While they are drying, men and women keep turning them about. 当它们干燥中时，, 男人和女人保持他们。

　　As soon as they begin to crack, they are taken out and spread upon a table. 一旦他们开始裂缝, 取出并递给下一桌。

　　Then the work-people roll them up in their hands, and press all the juice they can out of them. 然后工作人员手工把它们卷起来, 挤干所有的汁。

　　After being once more dried in the air, the leaves have to go into the pan⁴ again over the fire. 后一次在空气中干燥, 树叶已再次进入在火上锅中。

　　There they begin to curl⁶ and twist; and at last they look as we see them in this country. 他们开始旋转和捻;最后他们就做成我们在这个国家看到的那个成品.

　　The farmer then picks out the best leaves, and gets them ready for market. 然后农夫挑出最好的叶子, 准备拿到市场上去卖。

　　He may be seen marching off to the town, with his chest of tea slung⁷ over his shoulder, on a pole made of bamboo. 他可能去镇上走卖, 胸前的茶挂在他肩上, 用竹子制成的筒。

　　He goes to a tea merchant and offers the chest of tea for sale. 他去找一个茶商, 给他胸部的样品看。

　　The merchant looks at it, and if he thinks it good he buys it. 茶商看了, 如果他认为它好就买。

　　Then the farmer marches home again, with his money slung over his shoulder. 然后农夫走回家, 钱挂在他的肩膀上。

　　His money consists of a number of strings⁸ of brass⁹ coins, of so little value that a great many of them make but a small sum. 他的钱由一系列字符串的黄铜硬币, 很少的价值, 很多人都是由一个小数目做大的。

1 mead   

n.蜂蜜酒

参考例句：

• He gave me a cup of mead.他给我倒了杯蜂蜜酒。
• He drank some mead at supper.晚饭时他喝了一些蜂蜜酒。

2 strewed   

v.撒在…上( strew的过去式和过去分词 )；散落于；点缀；撒满

参考例句：

• Papers strewed the floor. 文件扔了一地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Autumn leaves strewed the lawn. 草地上撒满了秋叶。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 plentifully   

adv. 许多地，丰饶地

参考例句：

• The visitors were plentifully supplied with food and drink. 给来宾准备了丰富的食物和饮料。
• The oil flowed plentifully at first, but soon ran out. 起初石油大量涌出，但很快就枯竭了。

4 pan   

n.平底锅；v.严厉批评

参考例句：

• The water had all boiled away and the pan was burned.水煮干了，锅也烧坏了。
• The eggs were frying in the pan.鸡蛋正在锅里煎。

5 pans   

n.平底锅( pan的名词复数 )；（天平的）秤盘；马桶；盘状凹地（尤指盆地）

参考例句：

• Pots, pans, kettles and mops are kitchen utensils. 锅、盘、壶及拖把是厨房用具。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She clashed these pans down on the floor. 她将这些盘子哗啦一声摔在地上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

6 curl   

n.(一绺)鬈发；卷曲；vt.卷曲；vi.卷曲；缭绕

参考例句：

• She put her hair in rollers to make it curl.她用卷发夹子把头发弄鬈曲。
• Does her hair curl naturally?她的头发是天然鬈曲的吗？

7 slung   

抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往

参考例句：

• He slung the bag over his shoulder. 他把包一甩，挎在肩上。
• He stood up and slung his gun over his shoulder. 他站起来把枪往肩上一背。

8 strings   

n.弦

参考例句：

• He sat on the bed,idly plucking the strings of his guitar.他坐在床上，随意地拨着吉他的弦。
• She swept her fingers over the strings of the harp.她用手指划过竖琴的琴弦。

9 brass   

n.黄铜；黄铜器，铜管乐器

参考例句：

• Many of the workers play in the factory's brass band.许多工人都在工厂铜管乐队中演奏。
• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。