英国语文第三册 第76期:雷利爵士的两种植物（在线收听）

LESSON 65 Raleigh's Two Plants

第六十五课 雷利爵士的两种植物

In the reign of Queen Elizabeth, two plants were brought to England, for the first time, by Sir Walter Raleigh,

在伊丽莎白女王统治时期，有两种植物第一次出现在了英国，这两种植物是沃尔特·雷利爵士带到英国的，

both of which are now very much used -- the tobacco-plant and the potato.

现在都很常用--分别是烟草和马铃薯。

Sir Walter had sailed across the seas to America, in search of new lands; and he brought back both these plants with him.

当时沃尔特爵士为了寻找新大陆而漂洋过海来到美洲，然后他就把这两种植物带了回去。

When he was in America, he had seen the Indians smoke, and before long he acquired the habit himself.

当他在美洲的时候，他看到印第安人在抽烟，不久之后他自己也养成了这种习惯。

He became extremely fond of smoking, and frequently indulged in the practice.

他变得非常喜欢吸烟，而且经常沉溺于此。

When he returned to England, he was sitting by the fire one day, and began to smoke.

回到英国之后，有一天他坐在火旁开始抽烟。

In the middle of his smoking, the door opened, and in came his man-servant.

他正抽着烟，这时门开了，他的仆人走了进来。

Now, this man had never in his life seen any one smoke, and did not know that there was such a plant as tobacco.

这个仆人这辈子从来没有见过任何人抽烟，也不知道有烟草这种植物。

So, when he saw the smoke coming from his master's mouth, he thought that he was on fire!

所以，当他看到浓烟从他的主人的嘴里冒出来时，他以为他的主人着火了！

He cried out in alarm, and ran to fetch a bucket of water to put the fire out;

他惊恐地叫了起来，跑去拿一桶水来把火扑灭了；

and Sir Walter was deluged before he had time to explain what he was really doing.

沃尔特爵士甚至还没来得及解释他到底在做什么，就被泼了一头的水。

But very soon the old servant got used to seeing people with smoke coming out of their mouths;

但很快，这位老仆人就习惯了看到嘴里的烟的人；

and all the young nobles of the court began to smoke because Sir Walter did so.

宫廷里的所有年轻贵族都开始抽烟，因为沃尔特爵士这样做了。

At first, people did not like the potato at all: nobody would eat it.

起初，人们一点儿也不喜欢马铃薯：根本没人会吃它。

Yet Sir Walter told them how useful it would be.

但是沃尔特爵士告诉他们，马铃薯的用处很大。

The potato, he said, could be made to grow in England.

他说，马铃薯可以在英国种植。

He told them that, when the corn-harvest failed -- which it often used to do -- people need not starve if they had plenty of potatoes.

他告诉他们，过去常常发生玉米歉收的情况，如果人们有足够的马铃薯，那就不会挨饿了。

Queen Elizabeth, who was a very clever woman, listened to what Sir Walter said, and had potatoes served up at her own table.

伊丽莎白女王是一个非常聪明的女人，她听了沃尔特爵士的话，让人把马铃薯端到了自己的桌子上。

There the grand people who dined with her majesty were obliged to eat them.

这样一来，那些与女王陛下共进晚餐的显赫人物，就不得不吃马铃薯了。

But they spread a report that the potato was poisonous,

但是他们散布了一份报告，说马铃薯是有毒的，

because it belongs to the same order as the deadly nightshade and many other poisonous plants.

因为它和致命的茄属植物和许多其他有毒植物属于同一目的。

So, in spite of all that the Queen could do, no one would eat potatoes, and they were left for the pigs.

所以，不管女王做什么，还是没有人吃马铃薯，这些马铃薯只能喂给了猪。

The people did not find out their mistake till many years afterwards.

人们直到许多年后才发现了自己的错误。

The poor potato was despised and forgotten till the reign of the French king Louis XVI.,

可怜的马铃薯一直被轻视和遗忘，一直到法国国王路易十六统治的时期。

when there lived a Frenchman who had made a study of growing plants for food.

那时有一个对种植粮食作物进行了研究的法国人。

He felt sure that he could make the potato a great blessing to the country; and he began at once to try.

他确信自己能使马铃薯成为这个国家的一大福利；于是他立刻开始了尝试。

After a great deal of trouble he succeeded. People laughed at him at first, and would not take any notice of what he said.

经过一番折腾，他成功了。起初，人们都嘲笑他，根本不理会他说的话。

But he went on growing the potato till he brought it to perfection.

但他继续埋头种马铃薯，直到让马铃薯做得完美无缺。

Even then no one would have eaten it, if its part had not been taken by the king.

即使在那个时候，如果不是国王要了一部分，也依然没有人会吃马铃薯。

He had large pieces of ground planted with potatoes, and went about with the flower of the potato in his button-hole.

随后国王让人在大片土地上种上马铃薯，并在走路时把马铃薯花插在钮扣孔里。

No one dared to laugh at the king; and when he said that potatoes were to be eaten, people began to find out how good and wholesome they were.

没有人敢嘲笑国王；当国王宣布马铃薯可以吃的时候，人们才开始发现马铃薯是多么有益健康。

By degrees the potato was more and more liked; and now there is hardly any vegetable that is more highly esteemed.

渐渐地，人们越来越喜欢马铃薯了；现在几乎没有什么蔬菜比它更受大家喜爱了。