Lesson 52 The west India islands

第五十二课 西印度群岛

More than three hundred years ago, there stood near a small town on the coast of Spain an ancient convent. It still stands there, on a height above the sea, surrounded by a forest of pine trees.

三百多年前，在西班牙海岸小镇附近有一座古老的修道院。它现在依然高高屹立于海平面之上，处于松树林之中。

A stranger, travelling on foot, with a little boy, one day stopped at the gate of the convent, and asked the porter to give him a little bread and water for his child.

一天，修道院门口来了一个陌生的徒步旅行者，带着一个小男孩。它请求守门人给他孩子一小片面包和一点水。

Poor and friendless though he was, when he stood at the convent gate, he afterwards became one of the most famous of men. That stranger was the great Christopher Columbus; and the little boy was his son Diego.

当时站在修道院门前的他虽然可怜，无依无靠，但是日后他却变成了一个家喻户晓的人。他就是伟大的克里斯多弗·哥伦布；他带着的小男孩就是他的儿子迪亚哥。

Seven years afterwards, he was befriended by Isabella, Queen of Spain; and, on the 3rd of August 1492, Columbus set sail from Spain with three small ships, on the great voyage which ended in the discovery of America.

七年后，哥伦布得到西班牙女王伊丽莎白的赞助，于1492年8月3日率领由三只小船组成的船队从西班牙起航，这次航行的结果是发现了美洲大陆。

He wanted to find out a new way to India. He believed that the world was round, though few people knew it at that time. Columbus was not aware that there was such a country as America. He thought that if he sailed on and on, always keeping to the west he would at last come to India.

他本想找一条新通道去往印度。虽然在当时很少人信服，但他认为地球是圆的。哥伦布并未意识到还有一个叫美国的国家。他认为，只要不断向西航行，最终会到达印度。

Look at the Map of the World, and you will see that, if there had been no such country as America, he would have been right. At that time, no one in Europe knew anything about America. So Columbus sailed into what was then an unknown sea. Many thought that he would never come back. On and on he went with his ships, not knowing where he was going!

看看世界地图，如果当时没有美国，他的想法就是对的。那时，所有的欧洲人都对美洲一无所知，所以哥伦布驶入了一片未知海域，很多人认为他再也回不来。他和他的船队不停前进，他们并不知道要去向何处！

For a long time there was no sign of land— nothing but the wide waters all around him. Day after day, and night after night passed by. The men who were with him became alarmed, and tried to compel him to return. But he held bravely on his course, and would not turn back. At last the great Atlantic Ocean was crossed, and the ships came in sight of one of the West India Islands.

过了很久，还是没有看到陆地——在他周围全是水域。这种情况日复一日，夜复一夜地持续，他的船员们开始惊慌，并试图强迫他返航。但是，哥伦布毫不畏惧，依旧坚持路线，不愿返航。最后他们跨越了大西洋，到达了西印度群岛。