When-I-was-a-boy I thought the Capital was the most beautiful building in the World.Since then I have seen nearly all of the most beautiful buildings in the World, and I have changed my mind.I have even seen a building fit to be in Heaven.I used to make a copy of the Capital as nearly as I could in my sand-pile.I would fill a shoe-box with wet sand, then turn it carefully upside down so as to empty it out without breaking, and I made the dome on top in the same way with a tea-cup.
小时候，我以为国会大厦就是世界上最美的建筑。后来我见到了世界上几乎所有最美的建筑，我改变了想法。我甚至还见过一个适合放在天堂里的地方。小时候玩沙，我都要在沙堆里尽可能造一个国会大厦。我先用鞋盒装满潮湿的沙子，然后小心 翼翼地把它扣在地上，这样沙子倒出来不会散开，然后用茶杯以同样的方法在上面加个圆屋顶。
I thought all capitols of other countries must have domes, too.I didn't learn until later that not capitols but churches were the first buildings to have domes, and that many capitols have no domes.As a boy I used to climb to the top of the dome—for there was no elevator—to see the view of the city, and to look down on the inside at the floor far below where people walking seemed like ants crawling.
我原以为其他国家的国会大厦也一定有圆屋顶的。直到后来我才知道国会大厦不是最早有圆屋顶的建筑，最早的是教堂， 而且许多国会大厦并没有圆屋顶。小时候我常爬到圆屋顶上面去一因为当时还没有电梯一观看城市风景，并朝下看大厦里 地板上的人像蚂蚁爬行似的在走动。
On one side of the capital is a large room called the Senate, and on the other side is a still larger room called the House of Representatives.In both the Senate and the House of Representatives men sit at desks like boys in school.These men are the ones who make our laws, which are rules that everybody in the United States must obey.The men in the Senate are called Senators.The men in the House are called Representatives.When I say "men", I mean women too, for some of the Senators and Representatives are women.
国会大度的一侧有个大房间，叫参议院，另一侧有个更大的房间，叫做众议院。在参议院和众议院里，人们就像孩子上课 那样坐在桌子旁。正是这些人制定了美国的法律，法律就是所有美国人都要遵守的规则。参议院里的人叫做参议员，众议院里 的人叫做众议员。我说“人”的时候，当然也包括那些女参议员和女众议员。
Each State chooses two Senators to go to the capital in Washington.No matter whether the State is big like Texas or whether it is little like Rhode Island, it sends only two Senators.And each State also sends to the capital in Washington other men or women called Representatives, but the number of Representatives each State sends depends on the number of people in the State; New York has the most people, so it sends the most Representatives.
每个州选两名参议员到华盛顿的国会大厦。不管是像德克萨斯这样的大州，还是像罗德岛这样的小州，都只能选送两名参议员。每个州还选众议员到国会大厦，不过每州选送的众议员人数取决于这个州的总人口数；纽约人口最多，所以它选送的众议员也最多。