听力文摘：蚕丝生产的秘密（在线收听）

Secrets Of Silk Production

蚕丝生产的秘密

Fifteen hundred years ago in China, silk production was a state secret.

在1500年前的中国，蚕丝的生产方法是国家机密。

The silk trade was so valuable that anyone who tried to take silkworm eggs or mulberry seeds out of China was put to death. Then in 552 AD, two monks smuggledsilkworm eggs to Constantinople, and silk production spread worldwide. Now that the secret’s out, we can safely talk about how silkworms and humans make luxurious silk cloth.

当时，丝绸贸易的利润是如此丰厚，不论谁试图从中国向外走私蚕卵或桑籽都将会被处死。直到公元552年，两个和尚偷偷把蚕卵携带到了君士坦丁堡，丝绸生产被传播到了全球。既然秘密已经被公开了，我们就可以安全地谈论蚕和人类如何制造丝绸了。

A silkworm actually isn't a worm at all. It's a type of caterpillar that once existed in the wild, but now only survives in domesticated form. Silkworms are fussy eaters, dining only on mulberry leaves. When a silkworm has had its fill, it spins a cocoon from a single strand of silk, two to three thousand feet long!

蚕事实上根本就不是蠕虫。它其实是一种鳞翅目幼虫，曾经生存于野外，但现在存活的只有人类家养的。蚕对事物很挑剔，它只吃桑树的叶子。当它吃够了，就会吐丝结茧，它的茧是由一根长达两三千英尺的丝结成的。

According to legend, a Chinese empress discovered how to harvest silk when a cocoon fell into her tea. She plucked it from the teacup by the loose end of the silk, then unraveled the whole cocoon. To harvest silk commercially, cocoons are first steamed to kill the pupae inside. This is because the silkworm would break the silk if it began to emerge as a moth. Next the cocoon is dunked in hot water, rather than tea, to dissolve the sticky coating that binds the silk. Then a machine unwinds the single strand that makes up each cocoon. Twisted together, these strands make the fine thread used to weave silk cloth.

据传说记载，有个蚕茧掉到了中国一位皇后的茶水中，这位皇后从而发现了获得蚕丝的方法。她拿着蚕丝散开的一头把蚕茧从茶杯中拿了出来，接着解开了整个蚕 茧。商业上获取蚕丝时，首先会把蚕茧蒸一下以杀死里面的蛹。这是因为当蚕蛹蜕化为蛾子破茧而出时会咬断蚕丝。接着，将蚕茧浸入热水中，而不是泡在茶水中， 以溶解把蚕丝互相粘在一起的粘性覆盖物。然后会有种机器把构成每个蚕茧的那根丝抽出来，这些丝缠在一起就制成了用于纺织丝绸的细丝线。