第一冊第21篇：詹姆斯·瓦特和水壺

21 James Watt And The Teakettle 詹姆斯·瓦特和水壺

James Baldwin 詹姆斯.鮑德溫

A little Scotch boy was sitting in his grandmother’s kitchen. He was watching the red flames in the wide open fire- place and quietly wondering about the causes of things. In- deed, he was always wondering and always wanting to know.

"Grandma," he presently asked, "what makes the fire burn ?"

This was not the first time he had puzzled his grand- mother with questions that she could not answer. So she went on with her preparations for supper and paid no heed to his query.

Above the fire an old-fashioned teakettle was hanging. The water within it was beginning to bubble. A thin cloud of steam was rising from the spout. Soon the lid began to rattle and shake. The hot vapor puffed out at a furious rate(2). Yet when the lad peeped under the lid he could see nothing.

"Grandma, what is in the teakettle ?" he asked.

"Water, my child--nothing but water(3)."

"But I know there is something else. There is some- thing in there that lifts the lid and makes it rattle."

The grandmother laughed. "Oh, that is only steam," she said. "You can see it coming out of the spout and puffing up under the lid."

"But you said there was nothing but water in the kettle. How did the steam get under the lid ?"

"Why(4), my dear, it comes out of the hot water. The hot water makes it." The grandmother was beginning to feel puzzled.

The lad lifted the lid and peeped inside again. He could see nothing but the bubbling water. The steam was not visible until after it was fairly out of the kettle.

"How queer !" he said. "The steam must be very strong to lift the heavy iron lid. Grandma, how much water did you put into the kettle?"

"About a quart(5), Jamie(6)."

"Well, if the steam from so little water is so strong, why would not the steam from a great deal of water be a great deal stronger? Why couldn’t it be made to lift a much greater weight ? Why couldn’t it be made to turn wheels ?"

The grandmother made no reply. These questions of Jamie’s were more puzzling than profitable,(7) she thought. She went about(8) her work silently, and Jamie sat still in his place and studied the teakettle.

中文譯文：

一個蘇格蘭小男孩坐在祖母的廚房里。他望著大壁爐里逼紅的火焰，默默地思索著事物發(fā)生的緣由。確實，他總是產(chǎn)生疑惑，總是想要知道究竟。

奶奶，什么東西使爐火燃燒的?一會兒他問道。

奶奶被他提出的問題所難倒已經(jīng)不是第-次了。所以她繼續(xù)做她的晚餐，不理會他的疑問。

懸吊在爐子上的一只老式水壺里，水開始沸騰，壺嘴冒出淡淡的云霧般的蒸氣。不一會兒，壺蓋開始掀動，發(fā)出格格的響聲。接著，熱氣猛烈地噴將出來。可是，孩子仔細窺看壺蓋下面，卻什么也沒看見。

奶奶，壺里裝的是什么呀?他問道。

水呀，孩子，沒有別的東西。

但是我知道還有別的東西，里面有東西在把壺蓋頂起來，而且使壺蓋格格響。

奶奶笑了起來，說：啊那是蒸氣。你可以看見蒸氣從壺口冒出來，還在壺蓋底下噗吱噗吱著。

但你剛才說壺里只有水，沒有別的東西。那未壺蓋底下的蒸氣又是打哪兒來的呢?

噯，親愛的，它是從熱水里出來的。熱水產(chǎn)生蒸氣。奶奶開始感到說不清楚了。

孩子拎起壺蓋，再一次缶壺里窺探，只見壺里的水在噗噗地冒著氣泡，其他可什么也沒發(fā)現(xiàn)。蒸氣只有在完全離開水壺以后才看得見。

多么奇怪!他說。蒸氣要頂起這樣重的鐵蓋子，力量一定很不小。奶奶，你在壺里裝了多少水呢?

大約一夸脫，杰米。

噢，如果這么一點點水產(chǎn)生的蒸氣力量有那么大，那末大量的水產(chǎn)生的蒸氣力量不就大得多了嗎?為什么不可以使蒸氣頂起比這重得多的東西呢?為什么不可以使蒸氣轉(zhuǎn)動輪子呢?

奶奶沒有回答。她想：杰米的這些問題沒有什么用處，卻難以回答。她默默地繼續(xù)干她的活，而杰米仍一動不動地坐在老地方研究著這把水壺。

英文注釋：

(1)James Watt： 詹姆斯·瓦特(1736--1819)，蘇格蘭工程師，蒸汽機的發(fā)明者。

(2) at a furious rate： 猛烈地。

(3) nothing but water： 除了水以外什么也設有;只有水，

(4) why： 感嘆詞,"噯"(此處表示猶豫)。

(5) quart： 夸脫(英美容量單位，等于四分之-加侖或二品脫)。

(6) Jamie： 杰米，是James的愛稱。

(7) These questions…more puzzling than profitable： 這句的意思是：與其說杰米的問題有什么用處，倒不如說它們令人困惑。

(8)went about：從事;干。