Lesson25 “卡蒂萨克”号帆船

The Cutty Sark

              

 

人们在格林威治仍可看到19世纪最有名的帆船之一“卡蒂萨克”号。

 

People can see one of the most famous   sailing vessels in 19 century, the Cutty Sark in Greenwich.

 

 

 

 

 

它停在陆地上，每年接待成千上万的参观者。

It anchored on the land, and accepted   thousands of visitors every year.

 

 

它给人们留下深刻的印象，使人们回忆起历史上的巨型帆船。

It leaves people deep impression, making   people recalled on the giant sailboats in the history.

 

 

在蒸汽船取代帆船之前,“卡蒂萨克”号之类的帆船被用来从中国运回茶叶，从澳大利亚运回羊毛。

 

 

 

Before the steamboat replace the sailboat, sailboats like Cutty Sark have been used to transport tea form China, and transport wool from Australia.

 

 

 

“卡蒂萨克”号是帆船制造史上建造的最快的一艘帆船。

Cutty Sark is the fastest sailboat which   had built in the sailboat history.

 

 

唯一可以与之一比高低的是“塞姆皮雷”号帆船。

The only one which can compared with it   is the sailboat Thermopylae.

 

 

两船于1872年6月18日同时从上海启航驶往英国，途中展开了一场激烈的比赛。

 

 

 

These two boat sailed from Shanghai to England in 18th June, 1872, and started a intensive competition during the way.

 

 

 

这场比赛持续了整整4个月，是这类比赛中的最后一次，

This competition lasted for whole 4   months, which was the last time of this series of competition.

它标志着帆船伟大传统的结束与一个新纪元的开始。

It indicated the great tradition of   sailboat’s ending and the beginning of a new period.

 

 

比赛开始后，“赛姆皮雷”号率先抵达爪哇岛，

After the start of the competition, Thermopylae   reached Java island firstly.

 

 

但在印度洋上，“卡萨萨克”号驶到了前面。

 

But on the Indian Ocean, Cutty Sark   sailed fore.

 

看来，它首先返抵英国是确信无疑的了，

It seems that it’s undoubted that it   would arrive England first,

 

 

但它却在比赛中连遭厄运。

 

but it continually encountered misforturn   in the competition.

 

8月份“卡蒂萨克”号遭到一场特大风暴的袭击，失去了一只舵。

 

Cutty Sark was attacked by a giant storm   in August, and lost one of its rudders.

 

船身左右摇晃，无法操纵。

The vessel’s body waving left and right,   which is cannot control.

 

 

船员用备用的木板在船上赶制了一只应急用的舵，并克服重重困难将舵安装就位。

 

 

 

Sailors used the wood board making a emergency rudder on the boat in a hurry, and installed it on, overcoming many problems.

 

 

 

这样一来，大大降低了船的航速。

Thus lower the boat’s speed seriously.

 

 

因为船不能开得太快，否则就有危险，应急舵也会被刮走。

 

 

 

Because the vessel couldn’t be driving in a high speed, or it will be dangerous, the emergency rudder will also blow.

 

 

 

因为这个缘故，“卡蒂萨克”号落到了后面。

For this reason, Cutty Sark was fallen   behind.

 

 

跨越赤道后，船长将船停靠在一个港口，在那儿换了一只舵。

After crossing the equator, the caption   anchored in a harbour, and changed a rudder there.

 

 

但此时，“赛姆皮雷”号早已在500多英里之外了。

But Thermopylae was 500 miles away at   this time.

 

 

尽管换装新舵时分秒必争，

Though they changed the new rudder   against the clock,

 

 

但“卡蒂萨克”号已经不可能取胜了，

but Cutty Sark was already had no chance   to win.

 

 

它抵达英国时比“塞姆皮雷”号晚了1个星期。

It arrived one week later than Thermopylae.

 

 

但考虑到路上的多次耽搁，这个成绩也已很不容易了。

But taking the several delays on the way,   this performance is not easy.

 

 

毫无疑问，如果中途没有失去舵， “卡帝萨克”号肯定能在比赛中轻易夺冠。

It’s undoubted that Cutty Sark may win   the goal with no difficulty if it haven’t lost the rudder halfway.