英国语文第三册 第60期:西印度群岛(上)

 Lesson 52 The west India islands 第五十二课 西印度群岛

More than three hundred years ago, there stood near a small town on the coast of Spain an ancient convent.  三百多年前，在西班牙海岸小镇附近有一座古老的修道院。

It still stands there, on a height above the sea, surrounded by a forest of pine trees. 它现在依然高高屹立于海平面之上，处于松树林之中。

A stranger, travelling on foot, with a little boy, one day stopped at the gate of the convent,  一天，修道院门口来了一个陌生的徒步旅行者，带着一个小男孩。

and asked the porter¹ to give him a little bread and water for his child. 它请求守门人给他孩子一小片面包和一点水。

Poor and friendless though he was, when he stood at the convent gate, he afterwards became one of the most famous of men.  当时站在修道院门前的他虽然可怜，无依无靠，但是日后他却变成了一个家喻户晓的人。

That stranger was the great Christopher Columbus; and the little boy was his son Diego. 他就是伟大的克里斯多弗·哥伦布；他带着的小男孩就是他的儿子迪亚哥。

Seven years afterwards, he was befriended by Isabella, Queen of Spain;  七年后，哥伦布得到西班牙女王伊丽莎白的赞助，

and, on the 3rd of August 1492, Columbus set sail from Spain with three small ships,  于1492年8月3日率领由三只小船组成的船队从西班牙起航，

on the great voyage² which ended in the discovery of America. He wanted to find out a new way to India. 这次航行的结果是发现了美洲大陆。他本想找一条新通道去往印度。

He believed that the world was round, though few people knew it at that time.  虽然在当时很少人信服，但他认为地球是圆的。

Columbus was not aware that there was such a country as America.  哥伦布并未意识到还有一个叫美国的国家。

He thought that if he sailed on and on, always keeping to the west he would at last come to India. 他认为，只要不断向西航行，最终会到达印度。

Look at the Map of the World, and you will see that, if there had been no such country as America, he would have been right.  看看世界地图，如果当时没有美国，他的想法就是对的。

At that time, no one in Europe knew anything about America. So Columbus sailed into what was then an unknown sea.  那时，所有的欧洲人都对美洲一无所知，所以哥伦布驶入了一片未知海域，

Many thought that he would never come back. On and on he went with his ships, not knowing where he was going! 很多人认为他再也回不来。他和他的船队不停前进，他们并不知道要去向何处！

For a long time there was no sign of land—nothing but the wide waters all around him.  过了很久，还是没有看到陆地——在他周围全是水域。

Day after day, and night after night passed by. The men who were with him became alarmed, and tried to compel³ him to return.  这种情况日复一日，夜复一夜地持续，他的船员们开始惊慌，并试图强迫他返航。

But he held bravely on his course, and would not turn back. At last the great Atlantic Ocean was crossed,  但是，哥伦布毫不畏惧，依旧坚持路线，不愿返航。最后他们跨越了大西洋，

and the ships came in sight of one of the West India Islands. 到达了西印度群岛。

1 porter   

n.搬运工人；守门人，门房

参考例句：

• The hotel porter will help you.旅馆的门童可以帮你的忙。
• The porter and I looked at each other and smiled.我和脚夫微笑着你看着我，我看着你。

2 voyage   

n.航行，航海，航程，旅行，航空；vi./vt.航海，航行；渡过，飞过

参考例句：

• Life is compared to a voyage.人生好比航海。
• The December weather favoured our voyage.12月的天气使我们的航行顺利。

3 compel   

vt.迫使，强迫，使不得不

参考例句：

• Nothing can compel me to do such a thing.没有什么可以强迫我做这件事。
• You cannot compel good work from unwilling students.你不能迫使不肯学习的学生取得好成绩。