美国学生世界地理教材 第99期:低于海平面的国家(1)

 Chapter 30 The Land Below the Sea 低于海平面的国家

Bells and Battle-fields don’t seem to go together, but north of France is a land of Bells and Battle-fields, called Belgium. 钟和战场似乎并不匹配，但是在法国北面有一个与钟和战场有不解之缘的国家，叫做比利时。
The bells are in the towers of churches, of town halls, and of other buildings.  比利时教堂、市政厅和其他建筑物的塔楼上都有大钟。
The bells in Belgium strike the hour, but they do more than that—they play a tune 1 every hour or oftener.  大钟整点敲响，但大钟不仅仅报时——每小时（有时不到一小时）还鸣奏一段曲子。
And on Sundays and holidays a bell-ringer, seated at a keyboard as at an organ, plays all sorts of hymns 2 and tunes 3 on the bells,  到了星期天或者节假日，鸣钟人坐在一个键盘前，就像坐在一架风琴前那样，通过键盘，他在大钟上敲出各种乐曲，
so that every one in the town can enjoy the music without leaving his own home.  于是镇里每个人足不出户就能享受到美妙的音乐。
The music is broadcast without a radio.  音乐不是通过电台播出的。
Some of the bell sets have as many as fifty bells of different sizes and sounds 一组钟有时有多达五十个大小和声音都不同的钟
—little bells that make high notes, and big bells, as big as a man, that make deep, low notes.  ——小钟发高音，大钟——有的高如一人，则发深沉的低音。
The bells themselves don’t move; the bell clapper moves instead.  钟本身并不动；动的是钟锤。
The clappers are fastened by wire to keys like those of a piano or organ, and as the player touches the keys the clappers strike the side of the bell.  钟锤由金属线条定在类似钢琴或风琴上的键上，当演奏者弹奏键盘的时候，钟锤就会敲击钟壁。
When a bell concert is being given, all noises in the streets near-by are forbidden 当钟声音乐会举行时，附近街道禁止发出任何噪音
—no honking 4 of horns 5 nor loud shouting allowed—so that nothing will spoil 6 the music for those who are listening. ——禁止汽车鸣喇叭，也不准人们大声喧哗——这样那些倾听音乐的人就不会受到任何干扰了。
Bells and Battle-fields! Belgium has been the battle-field of Europe—not battles fought by the Belgians themselves, but by other countries of Europe.  钟和战场！比利时曾是欧洲的战场——不是比利时人自己打仗，而是其他欧洲国家打仗。
In the two World Wars Belgium was a chief battle-ground of the French and German soldiers,  两次世界大战期间，比利时是法军和德军交战的主战场，
and thousands of buildings were wrecked 7 and an immense 8 amount of damage done.  成千上万的建筑物毁于战火中，造成了重大的损害。
A little over a hundred years ago a great French General named Napoleon, who I told you was buried in Paris,  在一百多年前，有位伟大的叫拿破仑的法国将军，就是我在前面说过的那位埋葬在巴黎的士兵，
fought one of the greatest battles in history at a place in Belgium called Waterloo.  他在比利时一个叫滑铁卢的地方打了历史上最著名的战役之一。
Napoleon was beaten at Waterloo, and beaten so badly that we now use the word “Waterloo”to describe almost any big defeat,  拿破仑在滑铁卢被击败了，败得很惨，所以我们现在用“滑铁卢”这个词来描写几乎任何一次惨败，
whether it is a defeat of an army in battle or of a team in a game.  不管那是军队在战争中的失败还是球队在比赛中的失败。
We say “A tennis champion has his Waterloo” or “A football team has its Waterloo.”  我们说“一位网球冠军遭遇了他的滑铁卢”或者“一个足球队遭遇了它的滑铁卢”，都表示在比赛中惨败。
B. B. B. The capital of Belgium also begins with a “B.” It is Brussels.  这里有B.B.B。除了比利时（Belgium）的，比利时首都的英语名字也是以“B”开头的。它是布鲁塞尔（Brussels）。
Perhaps you have heard of Brussels lace 9, Brussels carpets, or Brussels sprouts 10. They all come from Brussels. 也许你听说过布鲁塞尔花边、布鲁塞尔地毯或布鲁塞尔汤菜。这些东西都产自布鲁塞尔。