第65课 洋葱

　　Onions have a very strong smell, which many people dislike; but for all that they are a very good and wholesome food. The onion is a hardy plant, and is easily grown. Let us go to a seed-shop and buy an ounce of onion seeds. They are small and black, and are rather flat in shape. We shall dig and rake a nice seed-bed in our garden, and early in March we shall sow the onion seeds there.

　　洋葱的味道非常浓烈, 很多人都不喜欢；不过, 它们的确是一种非常有益和健康的食物。洋葱对气候的适应性很强, 因此特别容易生长。我们到种子商店去买上一盎司洋葱种子。这些黑色的小种子是扁平的形状。我们需要在花园中挖土、耙地, 培育一片苗床。到了三月初的时候就可以把洋葱种子播下去了。

　　We must rake the seeds into the ground so as to bury them about an inch deep, and then we must flatten the earth upon them by beating it with a spade. After the seeds have been in the earth for a fortnight or so, we shall see the young green shoots of the onions springing up like blades of grass.

　　我们必须用耙子来播种, 以确保把它们埋在地下一英寸左右的地方, 然后反复地拍打铁锹将这片土地压平。等到种子埋入地下两周左右, 我们就能看到绿色的洋葱嫩苗如草叶般破土而出。

　　But weeds will spring up with them, and these must be picked out. If the onions themselves have been planted closely together, they must be "thinned"—that is to say, some of them must be taken out, so that the others may have room to grow to their full size. In August or September the onions will be fully grown, and they must then be pulled up and stored in a dry room till they are wanted for cooking.

　　然而, 杂草也会随着这些嫩苗一起生长, 必须将杂草清理干净。如果洋葱种植得过于密集, 那么就需要对它们进行间苗, 也就是拔除一些洋葱幼苗, 这样才能够确保剩下的幼苗获得足够的生长空间。到了八九月, 洋葱就会完全成熟, 要从地里拔出来, 储存在干燥的地方, 等到烹饪时再来取用。

　　If we do not pull up the onions, but leave them in the ground, each plant will send up a long, hollow flower-stalk, at the top of which there will grow a bunch of small white flowers, looking like a bal.

　　如果我们没有拔出洋葱, 而是把它们留在地里, 那么每一株植物都会长出长长的空心花葶, 其顶部又会生出一簇球状的白色小花。

　　If we take an onion in our hand, we can see that in shape and in size. it is very much like an orange, and that the outside is covered with a thin brown skin.

　　把一颗洋葱拿在手中, 仔细观察就会发现, 它的形状、大小与橙子非常相似, 只是洋葱的外面包裹了一层薄薄的褐色外皮。