英国语文第三册 第3期:茶农

 　　LESSON 3 The tea-farmer 第三课 茶农

　　Once upon a time there was no tea at all in our country. 曾经有一段时间在我们国家-
　　In England, in the olden time, people used to drink ale, and a sweet kind of wine called mead 1. 英格兰没有茶, 在古时候, 人们用来喝啤酒, 和一种甜的葡萄酒称为米德。
　　Great tankards of ale stood on the breakfast table. Now we use tea and coffee. 在早餐桌上放的是酒杯。我们现在用的是茶和咖啡。
　　When tea was first brought to England, an old man and woman had some sent to them as a great treat. 茶第一次带到英国的时候, 一个老男人和女人有一些发送给他们作为礼物。
　　But when they got it, they did not know how it ought to be used. 但当他们得到它, 他们不知道应该如何使用。
　　At length they boiled the leaves, and strewed 2 them on a piece of bacon which they were going to have for dinner. 终于他们煮叶子, 晚上吃熏肉。
　　They ate the leaves, and threw the tea away! 他们吃树叶, 把茶扔掉!
　　In those days, a pound of tea cost so much money that only the rich could buy it. 在那些日子里, 一磅茶花费那么多钱, 只有富人能买它。
　　Now it is so cheap that even the poorest can enjoy it. 现在是如此便宜, 即使是最穷的可以享受它。
　　Tea is the leaf of a plant which grows plentifully 3 in China, Japan, and other Eastern lands. 茶是一种植物的叶子生长丰富地在中国, 日本和其他东部土地。
　　The Chinese drink their tea without either milk or sugar. 中国人喝的茶没有牛奶或糖。
　　Whenever a visitor comes into a house, a servant always brings him a cup of tea. 当贵客临门，, 仆人总是带给他一杯茶。
　　Every cottager in China has his little tea-garden. 每一个佃农在中国有自己的茶园。
　　He sells what he does not use, and can thus buy food and clothing for his family. 他只卖不用, 因此可以为他的家人买食物和衣服。
　　When a man has a large piece of ground, and grows a great many tea-plants, he is called a tea farmer. 当一个男人有一大块地, 种了许多茶树, 他被称为地主。
　　When the tea-leaves are ready to be gathered, the farmer and his family are very busy. 茶叶可以卖的时候，农夫和他的家人很忙。
　　They pull off the leaves and throw them into baskets. When the baskets are full, they are carried into the house. 他们掀开叶子, 把他们扔进篮子。当篮子满了, 他们抬进屋里。
　　The leaves are dried in iron pans 5 over a fire. 树叶在铁是干锅在火上。
　　While they are drying, men and women keep turning them about. 当它们干燥中时，, 男人和女人保持他们。
　　As soon as they begin to crack, they are taken out and spread upon a table. 一旦他们开始裂缝, 取出并递给下一桌。
　　Then the work-people roll them up in their hands, and press all the juice they can out of them. 然后工作人员手工把它们卷起来, 挤干所有的汁。
　　After being once more dried in the air, the leaves have to go into the pan 4 again over the fire. 后一次在空气中干燥, 树叶已再次进入在火上锅中。
　　There they begin to curl 6 and twist; and at last they look as we see them in this country. 他们开始旋转和捻;最后他们就做成我们在这个国家看到的那个成品.
　　The farmer then picks out the best leaves, and gets them ready for market. 然后农夫挑出最好的叶子, 准备拿到市场上去卖。
　　He may be seen marching off to the town, with his chest of tea slung 7 over his shoulder, on a pole made of bamboo. 他可能去镇上走卖, 胸前的茶挂在他肩上, 用竹子制成的筒。
　　He goes to a tea merchant and offers the chest of tea for sale. 他去找一个茶商, 给他胸部的样品看。
　　The merchant looks at it, and if he thinks it good he buys it. 茶商看了, 如果他认为它好就买。
　　Then the farmer marches home again, with his money slung over his shoulder. 然后农夫走回家, 钱挂在他的肩膀上。
　　His money consists of a number of strings 8 of brass 9 coins, of so little value that a great many of them make but a small sum. 他的钱由一系列字符串的黄铜硬币, 很少的价值, 很多人都是由一个小数目做大的。