美国语文第四册 第7期:海水为什么是咸的(4)

 　　At length, a great foreign merchant came, and when he had seen the mill, inquired whether it would grind salt. 终于有一天，一位外国富商来到这里。当他看到磨粉机时，询问它是否能够用来出盐。

　　Being told that it would, he wanted to buy it; 得到肯定答复后，他想要买下它。

　　for he traded in salt, and thought that if he owned it he could supply all his customers without taking long and dangerous voyages. 因为他从事的是盐业贸易，想着如果拥有了这台机器，他不用冒着危险远渡涉水就能为顾客供应食盐了。

　　The man would not sell it, of course. He was so rich now that he did not want to use it for himself; 磨粉机的所有者当然不会卖掉它。他现在家境富裕，根本不想为了自己的利益去使用它了

　　but every Christmas he ground out food and clothes and coal for the poor, and nice presents for the little children. 而是在每年圣诞节时用它为穷人们磨出衣服和煤火，为小孩子们磨出漂亮的礼物。

　　So he rejected all the offers of the rich merchant. The merchant, however, determined¹ to have it; 因此，他拒绝了富商的一切出价。但富商一心想得到磨粉机

　　he bribed² one of the man's servants to let him go into the castle at night, and he stole the mill and sailed away with it in triumph. 于是他贿赂了富人身边的一名侍从，在夜间放他进入了城堡。他真的偷到了磨粉机，带着胜利的喜悦乘船离去。

　　He had scarcely got out to sea, before he determined to set the mill to work. 他坐的船刚到海上，他就打算开始让磨粉机工作了。

　　"Now, mill, grind salt," said he; "grind salt with all your might!— salt, salt, and nothing but salt!" “磨粉机，现在出盐，”他说，“开足马力出盐喽！——盐、盐、除了盐还是盐！”

　　The mill began to grind and the sailors to fill the sacks; 磨粉机开始不停地出盐，水手们则把盐都装进了麻袋；

　　but these were soon full, and in spite of all that could be done, it began to fill the ship. 这些袋子不一会儿就全装满了，尽管所有能做的都做了，但盐还是把整艘船全装满了。

　　The dishonest merchant was now very much frightened. What was to be done? 这个不诚实的富商现在开始感觉非常害怕了。还能做些什么呢？

　　The mill would not stop grinding; and at last the ship was overloaded³, and down it went, making a great whirlpool where it sank. 磨粉机不停地出盐，最后船变得极度超重，整个翻了过去，船沉没时掀起了巨大的旋涡。

　　The ship soon went to pieces; but the mill stands on the bottom of the sea, and keeps grinding out salt, salt, nothing but salt! 不一会儿，船身四分五裂，但磨粉机留在了深深的海底，还在不停地出着盐。盐、盐、除了盐还是盐，

　　That is the reason, say the peasants of Denmark and Norway, why the sea is salt. 丹麦和挪威的农民常说，海水为什么是咸的，这就是原因所在。

1 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

2 bribed   

v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂

参考例句：

• They bribed him with costly presents. 他们用贵重的礼物贿赂他。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He bribed himself onto the committee. 他暗通关节，钻营投机挤进了委员会。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

3 overloaded   

a.超载的，超负荷的

参考例句：

• He's overloaded with responsibilities. 他担负的责任过多。
• She has overloaded her schedule with work, study, and family responsibilities. 她的日程表上排满了工作、学习、家务等，使自己负担过重。