Lesson 41 How Sugar Is Made
第41课 糖是怎么生产的
After the negroes have cut up the stems of the sugar-cane into short lengths, they carry these to a building where there are a number of heavy iron rollers, which are turned by a steam-engine. The cane-stems are crushed between these rollers, and all the sweet juice is squeezed out of them, and runs into large pans placed under the rollers.
黑人工人把甘蔗茎切成小段之后, 就把这些小段运到一个车间里。这个车间里有很多沉重的铁滚筒, 是让蒸汽机转动的。滚筒把甘蔗段碾碎, 所有的甜汁都从里面挤了出来, 流到滚筒下面的大型平底锅里。
This juice is next boiled in large copper kettles, and some lime is mixed with it. The lime joins with the sour acidsthat are in the juice, and forms a green scum, which is taken off.
然后, 用大型的铜壶把甘蔗汁煮一遍, 往甘蔗汁里加上一些石灰。石灰跟甘蔗汁里的酸性成分化合, 变成一种绿色的浮渣。这层浮渣要去掉。
A clear yellow syrup then remains, and this is boiled until most of the water in it is driven off as steam. A thick brown liquid is now left, which is a mixture of sugar and molasses or treacle.
剩下的就是一种清澈的黄色糖浆, 再把这些糖浆煮一遍, 最后大多数水分都变成蒸汽飞走了, 留下一种粘稠的棕色液体, 是糖和“糖蜜”的混合物。
This liquid is put into barrels, the bottoms of which are full of holes. The treacle drains away through these holes, and a dark brown sticky powder is left, which is called raw sugar. This raw sugar is put into big barrels called hogsheads, and is sent to Great Britain in ships.
再把这种液体放在大桶里。大桶底部满是小洞, 糖蜜就从这些小洞流走, 余下的是一种暗灰色的、有粘性的粉末, 叫做“粗糖”, 这种粗糖盛进糖桶里, 然后就用船运往大不列颠了。
You would not like to eat the dirty-looking raw sugar as it comes to this country. To make this raw sugar pure and clean, it must be refined; and this refining is chiefly done in the large towns called Bristol, Liverpool, London, and Glasgow.
这种粗糖刚运来的时候, 看上去脏兮兮的, 你肯定不喜欢吃。要把这种粗糖变得又纯又干净, 非要精加工不可。这种精加工大部分是在大城市进行的, 比如布里斯托尔、利物浦、伦敦、格拉斯哥。