Did you ever trade a top for some marbles or an apple for an orange? 你曾经用陀螺交换购买一些弹珠，或者用一个苹果交换购买一个橙子吗？

Long before there was any Washington or any United States there used to be trader Indians living on the shores of the river that flows by Washington. 华盛顿或者美国诞生以前，就有一条河流经现在的华盛顿，

These Indians paddled their canoes up and down the river and traded with other Indians,  河边住着很多印第安商人。这些印第安人划着独木舟，在河上来来往往，与其他印第安人做交易，

swapping things they had for things they wanted beads for furs, bows for arrows, corn for potatoes. 用己有的东西去换需要的东西一珠子换毛皮，弓换箭，玉米换土豆。

In the Indian language the name for Traders was Potomac,so we call the river after these trader Indians, the Potomac River. 在印第安语中商人被叫做波托马克，于是我们现在就以这些印第安商人的名字把这个河流称为波托马克河。

The Potomac separates two States with girls' names: Maryland and Virgina. 波托马克河分隔开两个有女孩子 名字的州，马里兰州和弗吉尼亚州。

They are named after two queens. 它们是以两位女王的名字命名的。

The Potomac Indians paddled their canoes down the river till they came to a much broader piece of water. 波托马克的印第安人划着独木舟顺流而下，直至来到一片更开阔的水域。

This piece of water was so big it seemed to them like the ocean, and they called itthe Mother of Waters, which in their own language was Chesapeake.  这片水域很大，他们觉得就像海一样宽广，于是他们管它叫河之母，用他们的语言说就是切萨皮克。

You can see it on the map. 这个地方地图上可以找得到。

Chesapeake Bay is not the ocean, but it is the biggest bay in the United States. 切萨皮克湾不是海洋，但却是美国最大的海湾。

Did you ever eat snails or terrapin or frogs, legs? Some people like them. 你吃过蜗牛、水龟或青蛙腿吗？有些人喜欢吃。

The Indians found oysters growing in the Chesapeake Bay. 印第安人发现了生长在切萨皮克湾的牡蛎。

At first no one thought of eating oysters—they didn't look good to eat. 最初没人想到吃牡蛎,因为 那东西看起来不像是能吃的样子。

But one day an Indian who was very hungry broke an oyster-shell open and ate the oyster inside. 但是有一天一个印第安人饥饿难耐，就敲开了一只牡蛎壳，吃了里面的肉。

It tasted good and it didn't hurt him, so others began to eat oysters, and now almost every one likes oysters, either raw or cooked. 他觉得味道鲜美，也没有感到什么不舒服，于是其他人也开始吃牡蛎，现在几乎人人都喜欢吃牡蛎，无论是生吃还是烧熟了吃。

Oysters grow in other parts of the World too, 世界上其他地方也有牡蛎，

but many people say that those in the Chesapeake Bay are the largest and best,  不过很多人说切萨皮克湾的牡蛎最大也最好吃，

but they are not supposed to be good unless they are eaten during the eight months that  have an R in their names. 不过只有在有R字的八个月份里才好吃。

They are good in MaRch but not in June. 三月的牡蛎就很好吃，而六月的就不好吃。