英国语文第三册 第61期:西印度群岛(下)

 When the brave Columbus saw the land, he thought it was the India which he had come to seek.  看到陆地的那一刻，勇敢的哥伦布以为这就是他一直在寻找的印度，

So he called it India. Afterwards, when it was found that this was not the country known before as India,  所以他把当地成为印度。之后才发现，那不是所知的印度，

it was called the West Indies, and the other India the East Indies. 而是西印度群岛，另一个印度是东印度群岛。

When the people of the island saw the ships of Columbus, they were very much surprised;  当地人看到哥伦布的船队时，都非常惊讶；

for they had never heard of Europe, or of the people who lived there.  因为他们从未听说过欧洲或欧洲人。

After filling his ships with treasure got from the natives, Columbus sailed back to Spain. 将船装满在当地得到的财富后，哥伦布开始返航西班牙。

When the other nations of Europe heard of the great discovery of a new world, they wished to share in its riches.  其它欧洲国家听说了这一伟大发现后，希望共享那里的财富。

Many nations, therefore, sent out ships and men to try to gain possession of part of it. 因此，许多国家纷纷派出船队试图占领新发现的土地。

The poor natives were not well treated by many of the people who took their beautiful islands from them.  可怜的土著居民并未从夺取他们美丽岛屿的人那里获得善待。

Their new masters used them so cruelly, that they were soon almost all destroyed.  土著居民遭受到新主人的虐待，他们很快就几乎完全消亡。

Negroes² were then brought from Africa to the West India Islands, and there forced to work as slaves.  非洲黑人被带到西印度群岛，被强迫像奴隶一样劳动。

In this way there were soon negro¹ slaves in all the islands. 不久后，所有的岛上都有了黑人奴隶。

After a long time, some of the islands came into the possession of England;  很久以后，英国开始侵占一些岛屿；

but the English at that time were no better than other nations in regard to slavery.  但是当时英国的奴隶制不能和其它国家相提并论。

There were many in England who were engaged in the cruel slave trade. 所以，当时许多英国人都忙着进行惨无人道的奴隶交易。

At last the people of England began to think it was wrong to keep slaves,  最后，英国人开始意识到养奴隶是错误的，

and a law was made that in all the countries belonging to Britain every slave should be set free. 并出台了一部法律，规定解放所有属于英国的岛屿上的黑奴。

There are still slaves in the islands which belong to Spain; but there is reason to hope that they will soon all be made free.  西班牙统治的岛屿依然存在黑奴；但是这些黑奴也有望很快得到解放。

Meantime³, let us rejoice⁴ that not a slave now exists in the British dominions⁵. 同时，我们应该庆幸在英国领土上现在没有奴隶。

The climate of the West India Islands is very warm, and most of the things grow there which are found in warm countries.  西印度群岛气候很温暖，那里生长着大部分温带国家都有的东西。

The chief articles which we get from the West Indies are bananas, sugar, rum, tobacco, and cotton. 主要有香蕉，糖，朗姆酒，烟草和棉花。

1 Negro   

n./adj.黑人；黑人的

参考例句：

• It's impolite to call the black people Negro.称呼黑人为Negro是不礼貌的。
• He was the first Negro ever to enroll there.他是学院招收的第一个黑人学生。

2 Negroes   

n.黑种人，黑人( Negro的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• White supremacists devise new Methods: To disenfranchise Negroes. 白人至上论者想出新的方法以剥夺黑人的公民权。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Abraham Lincoln called on his people to fight for freedom for all—Negroes and Whites. 亚伯拉罕·林肯号召他的人民为所有的人——黑人和白人的自由而战斗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 meantime   

n.其时，其间；adv.同时，当时

参考例句：

• I continued working,meantime,he went out shopping.我继续工作，这期间他出去买东西。
• In the meantime we pressed on with the airlift.与此同时，我们加紧进行空运。

4 rejoice   

vi.感到高兴，充满喜悦

参考例句：

• We rejoice at every victory won by your people.我们为贵国人民取得的每一个胜利都感到高兴。
• Let us rejoice together on this great occasion!在这样一个盛大的节日里，让我们共同欢庆吧！

5 dominions   

统治权( dominion的名词复数 )； 领土； 疆土； 版图

参考例句：

• The King sent messengers to every town, village and hamlet in his dominions. 国王派使者到国内每一个市镇，村落和山庄。
• European powers no longer rule over great overseas dominions. 欧洲列强不再统治大块海外领土了。