LESSON 1 Scenes in the tropics

第一课 热带地区的景象

I．THE FOREST

I.森林

In hot countries the woods are not like our woods.

热带地区的森林不像我们这的森林。

They are great dark forests, where the trees grow so closely together, and are so tall, that if you looked up you could hardly see the sky.

它们很隐秘，那里的树长得很靠近，很高大，如果你抬头看几乎看不到天空。

Then there are a great many climbing plants, that twist themselves round and round the trunks and branches of the trees.

有很多攀缘植物，一圈一圈的缠绕着树干和树枝。它们被称为植物电缆，因为看起来很像绳子。

They are called vegetable cables, because they are so much like ropes. They reach from one tree to another, and almost fill up the spaces between.

它们从一颗树上缠绕到另一棵树上，几乎把两棵树间的空隙占满了。

Thewhite man has to carve out his way with his hatchet, or else burn a passage for himself through the dense mass.

这些白人不得不用短斧开创出一条路，或者用火在这些密集的杂草中烧出一条通道。

Dangers of every kind lurk in the forest. The quick subtle Indian dare not venture there without his poisoned arrows, nor the white man without the thunder and lightning of his gun.

森林中潜伏着种种危险。身手敏捷的印第安人没带毒箭就不敢去那里冒险，白人没带电闪雷鸣的枪支也不敢去那里。

The venomous snake may lie coiled among the bushes, or traces of the savage jaguar may be seen upon the path.

毒蛇可能会蜷缩在灌木丛中，小路上可能会看到凶猛的美洲豹的踪迹。

Birds, beasts, and insects live there, for the most part, undisturbed.

鸟、野兽、昆虫都居住在那儿，它们中的大多数从未被打扰。

It is their home; and on every side they are at work, hunting their prey, or escaping from danger.

那里是它们的家，它们总是在劳作、捕食，或者逃离危险。

For though man seldom wages war upon them, these wild creatures of the forest are engaged in constant warfare with each other;

尽管人类很少主动向它们发起战争，这些森林中的生物互相之间会不断地战斗，

and the weak are always using some contrivance to protect themselves from the strong.

弱的一方总是使用一些小工具来保护自己。

There are a great many curious things to be seen in these South American forests.

在南美的森林里有很多奇怪的事情。