英國語文第四冊(雙語):采珠業(yè)(1)
LESSON 17 Pearl-fishing
第十七課 采珠業(yè)
In the New World, the sunlit waters on either side of the Isthmus of Panama were once rich in the precious shells in which pearls are found.
在新大陸巴拿馬地峽的兩岸太陽照耀的海水中，曾經生長著許多包裹著貴重珍珠的貝殼。
In such abundance did they yield their treasures to the Spanish conquerors,
如此豐富的資源被西班牙殖民者看中，
that in one year Seville imported six hundred and ninety-seven pounds weight of pearls, some of them of great beauty!
每一年塞維利亞都要進口重達697磅的珍珠，其中包含很多珍品。
But the hands of the gold-seekers, red with the blood of their fellow-men,
在雙手沾滿他們同伴鮮血的淘金者看來，
whose lovely lands, rich in the palm-tree, the plantain, and the maize, they cruelly laid waste,
這片長滿棕櫚樹、芭蕉樹和玉米的美麗土地，不過是供他們粗魯?shù)貋G棄垃圾的荒地，
were equally unsparing beneath the waters, and equally ruthless to the miserable race of pearl-fishers.
而在靜謐的水面下，采珍珠的殖民者也正做著與淘金者同樣的事情。
The poor Indians, insufficiently fed, and forced into the sea by their cruel masters, oftentimes never reappeared, having fallen a helpless prey to the hungry sharks.
那些可憐的營養(yǎng)不良的印第安人，被他們冷酷的主人驅入海里，他們時常就成為正餓著肚子的鯊魚的盤中餐，有去無回。
The pearl-banks themselves, unceasingly stripped of their shells, soon became exhausted. Land and water, cursed by the Spaniards' greed of gain, alike lay desolate.
采珠人會把貝殼刮干凈，這種做法很快就會讓產珍珠的貝殼越來越稀少。西班牙殖民者貪得無厭的行為，很快不僅耗盡了土地上的資源，同樣也耗盡了海底的資源。
But it is not so in the East. There, pearl-fisheries still flourish.
不過在遙遠的東方，事情還遠沒有結束。
At Babre in, in the Persian Gulf, renowned in times past, is the largest pearl-fishery in the world.
在那里，采珠業(yè)依然很發(fā)達。波斯灣的巴林曾經是世界著名的采珠港，現(xiàn)在則是世界最大的采珠場。
The annual amount of wealth which it produces is estimated at a quarter of a million sterling.
那里依靠采珍珠帶來的年收入大概有二十五萬英鎊。
