【翻譯聽寫】練習之十六 - 原文 + 注釋 (James Watt and the Tea Kettle)

James Watt and the Tea Kettle
　　
　　A little Scotch boy was sitting in his grandmother's kit- chen. He was watching the red flames in the wide open fire- place and quietly wondering about the causes of things. In- deed, he was always wondering and always wanting to know. 
　　"Grandma," he presently asked, "what makes the fire burn ?"
　　This was not the first time he had puzzled his grand- mother with questions that she could not answer. So she went on with her preparations for supper and paid no heed to his query.
　　Above the fire an old-fashioned teakettle was hanging. The water within it was beginning to bubble. A thin cloud of steam was rising from the spout. Soon the lid began to rattle and shake. The hot vapor puffed out at a furious rate(2). Yet when the lad peeped under the lid he could see nothing.
　　"Grandma, what is in the teakettle ?" he asked.
　　"Water, my child--nothing but water(3)."
　　"But I know there is something else. There is some- thing in there that lifts the lid and makes it rattle."
　　The grandmother laughed. "Oh, that is only steam," she said. "You can see it coming out of the spout and puffing up under the lid."
　　"But you said there was nothing but water in the kettle. How did the steam get under the lid ?"
　　"Why(4), my dear, it comes out of the hot water. The hot water makes it." The grandmother was beginning to feel puzzled.
　　The lad lifted the lid and peeped inside again. He could see nothing but the bubbling water. The steam was not visible until after it was fairly out of the kettle.
　　"How queer !" he said. "The steam must be very strong to lift the heavy iron lid. Grandma, how much water did you put into the kettle?"
　　"About a quart(5), Jamie(6)."
　　"Well, if the steam from so little water is so strong, why would not the steam from a great deal of water be a great deal stronger? Why couldn't it be made to lift a much greater weight ? Why couldn't it be made to turn wheels ?"
　　The grandmother made no reply. These questions of Jamie's were more puzzling than profitable,(7) she thought. She went about(8) her work silently, and Jamie sat still in his place and studied the teakettle.

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　From Thirty More Famous Stories Retold
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　by James Baldwin

注釋:

(1) James Watt： 詹姆斯·瓦特(1736--1819)，蘇格蘭工程師，蒸汽機的發明者。
(2) at a furious rate： 猛烈地。
(3) nothing but water： 除了水以外什麽也設有；隻有水，
(4) why： 感歎詞,"噯"(此處表示猶豫)。
(5) quart： 誇脫(英美容量單位，等於四分之-加侖或二品脫)。
(6) Jamie： 傑米，是James的愛稱。
(7) These questions…more puzzling than profitable： 這句的意思是：與其說傑米的問題有什麽用處，倒不如說它們令人困惑。
(8) went about：從事;幹。

漢譯：


詹姆斯·瓦特和水壺

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　詹姆斯．鮑德溫

　　一個蘇格蘭小男孩坐在祖母的廚房裏。他望著大壁爐裏逼紅的火焰，默默地思索著事物發生的緣由。確實，他總是產生疑惑，總是想要知道究竟。
　　"奶奶，什麽東西使爐火燃燒的?"一會兒他問道。
　　奶奶被他提出的問題所難倒已經不是第-次了。所以她繼續做她的晚餐，不理會他的疑問。
　　懸吊在爐子上的一隻老式水壺裏，水開始沸騰，壺嘴冒出淡淡的雲霧般的蒸氣。不一會兒，壺蓋開始掀動，發出格格的響聲。接著，熱氣猛烈地噴將出來。可是，孩子仔細窺看壺蓋下麵，卻什麽也沒看見。
　　"奶奶，壺裏裝的是什麽呀？"他問道。
　　"水呀，孩子，沒有別的東西。"
　　"但是我知道還有別的東西，裏麵有東西在把壺蓋頂起來，而且使壺蓋格格響。"
　　奶奶笑了起來，說："啊那是蒸氣。你可以看見蒸氣從壺口冒出來，還在壺蓋底下噗吱噗吱著。"
　　"但你剛才說壺裏隻有水，沒有別的東西。那未壺蓋底下的蒸氣又是打哪兒來的呢？"
　　"噯，親愛的，它是從熱水裏出來的。熱水產生蒸氣。"奶奶開始感到說不清楚了。
　　孩子拎起壺蓋，再一次缶壺裏窺探，隻見壺裏的水在噗噗地冒著氣泡，其他可什麽也沒發現。蒸氣隻有在完全離開水壺以後才看得見。
　　"多麽奇怪！"他說。"蒸氣要頂起這樣重的鐵蓋子，力量一定很不小。奶奶，你在壺裏裝了多少水呢？"
　　"大約一誇脫，傑米。"
　　"噢，如果這麽一點點水產生的蒸氣力量有那麽大，那末大量的水產生的蒸氣力量不就大得多了嗎？為什麽不可以使蒸氣頂起比這重得多的東西呢？為什麽不可以使蒸氣轉動輪子呢？"
　　奶奶沒有回答。她想：傑米的這些問題沒有什麽用處，卻難以回答。她默默地繼續幹她的活，而傑米仍一動不動地坐在老地方研究著這把水壺。

 

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【翻譯聽寫】練習之十六 -- 詹姆斯·瓦特和水壺