美国学生世界地理教材 第78期:白银之国和棉条之国(4)

 The Valley of Paradise 1 is in Chile—only it isn’t what you would think Paradise would be.  智利有个“天堂之谷”——只是它不是你想象中的那个天堂。

It is the chief seaport 2 of Chile, and it is not very lovely and not very healthful. In Spanish it is called Valparaiso. 它是智利主要的海港，风景不漂亮，气候也不令人舒适。这个地方在西班牙语中叫“瓦尔帕莱索”。
The capital of Chile is up in the mountains where it is cool and healthy. It is called Santiago, which means St. James. 智利的首都在高山之上，气候凉爽宜人，叫做圣地亚哥，意思是“圣雅各”。
Columbus tried to go around the World, but didn’t. The first man whose ship went around the World was named Magellan.  哥伦布试图环游世界，却没有成功。第一个乘船环游世界的人叫麦哲伦。
Magellan sailed across from the other side of the ocean, as Columbus had done, but he went on until he bumped 3 into America.  像哥伦布一样，麦哲伦从大洋对岸穿越过来，但他一直往前航行，直到碰见美洲。
Then he went along down South America, trying to find a way to get through to the Pacific Ocean.  然后他沿南美洲往南走，想找到一条通往太平洋的水道。
He sailed up the Amazon, thinking he might get through there, but he couldn’t.  他沿亚马逊河向上航行，以为从那里可以穿过去，但是穿不过去。
Then he sailed up La Plata, thinking he might get through there, but he couldn’t.  后来他又沿拉普拉塔河向上航行，以为可以从那里穿过去，但是又失败了。
Then when he had nearly reached the tip of South America he at last found a way through to the Pacific.  在他几乎到达南美洲最南端的时候，他终于找到了一个通往太平洋的水道。
This way through was quite crooked 4, but we call it a strait and we have named it after him—the Strait of Magellan. 这个通道弯弯曲曲，但是现在叫做海峡，人们以麦哲伦的名字给它命名——麦哲伦海峡。 
He saw many fires on the land at his left, whether they were from volcanoes now no longer burning, or made by the Indians, no one knows.  经过海峡时，他看到左边陆地上有很多大火，没人知道那是现在已不再喷发的火山在当时喷出的火还是印第安人点的火。
At any rate, he named it Fireland, which in Spanish is Tierra del Fuego.  不管是什么样，他把它命名为“火之地”，在西班牙语中就是“火地岛”。
The Indians he saw on the right, which is now the southern part of Argentina,  在他的右边，也就是现在的阿根廷南部，
had such big feet he called them the big-feet people, which is “Patagonians.”  他看到那里的印第安人脚非常大，于是把他们叫做“大脚人”，在西班牙语中就是“巴塔哥尼亚人”。
For hundreds of years other ships followed this same way through that Magellan had taken,  几百年来，其他船只一直沿着麦哲伦走过的这条路线航行，
for though some went entirely 5 around the outmost island at the tip of South America 因为尽管有些船绕过南美洲南端最外面的小岛航行
—the tip called Cape 6 Horn—it was so stormy that way and so rough and dangerous that most ships used the strait.  ——南美洲南端叫合恩角——那里多暴风雨，路途艰险，大多数船还是从麦哲伦海峡走。
On this strait a little town grew up—a sort of filling station—just to supply ships with provisions 7 they needed to keep on with their voyage,  在这个海峡边兴起了一个小镇——近似于汽车加油站——给过往的船只提供继续航行所需的食物等必需品，
for there were no other places anywhere near, and it was a long voyage down South America on the Atlantic side and up again on the Pacific side.  因为附近再没有任何其他地方可以这么做了，从南美洲大西洋一侧绕到南美洲太平洋一侧是一段漫长的航程。
This little town was called Sandy Point, which in Spanish was Punta Arenas 8. 这个小镇叫“沙点”，在西班牙语中是“彭塔阿雷纳斯”。 
It is the farthest south city in the whole World.  它是世界上最南边的城市。
As most ships now go through the Panama Canal, Punta Arenas does less business as a filling station, but a new business is taking the place of filling.  由于现在大部分轮船从巴拿马运河通过，彭塔阿雷纳斯作为“加油站”的生意就冷清了许多，但是当地兴起了一个新的生意，正在取代原来“加油站”的生意。
They raise sheep on Tierra del Fuego, and the wool is brought to Punta Arenas to be shipped to other parts of the World. 人们在火地岛养羊，羊毛运到彭塔阿雷纳斯，再从那里运到世界各地。