When the brave Columbus saw the land, he thought it was the India which he had come to seek. So he called it India. Afterwards, when it was found that this was not the country known before as India, it was called the West Indies, and the other India the East Indies.

看到陆地的那一刻，勇敢的哥伦布以为这就是他一直在寻找的印度，所以他把当地成为印度。之后才发现，那不是所知的印度，而是西印度群岛，另一个印度是东印度群岛。

When the people of the island saw the ships of Columbus, they were very much surprised; for they had never heard of Europe, or of the people who lived there. After filling his ships with treasure got from the natives, Columbus sailed back to Spain.

当地人看到哥伦布的船队时，都非常惊讶；因为他们从未听说过欧洲或欧洲人。将船装满在当地得到的财富后，哥伦布开始返航西班牙。

When the other nations of Europe heard of the great discovery of a new world, they wished to share in its riches. Many nations, therefore, sent out ships and men to try to gain possession of part of it.

其它欧洲国家听说了这一伟大发现后，希望共享那里的财富。因此，许多国家纷纷派出船队试图占领新发现的土地。

The poor natives were not well treated by many of the people who took their beautiful islands from them. Their new masters used them so cruelly, that they were soon almost all destroyed. Negroes were then brought from Africa to the West India Islands, and there forced to work as slaves. In this way there were soon negro slaves in all the islands.

可怜的土著居民并未从夺取他们美丽岛屿的人那里获得善待。土著居民遭受到新主人的虐待，他们很快就几乎完全消亡。非洲黑人被带到西印度群岛，被强迫像奴隶一样劳动。不久后，所有的岛上都有了黑人奴隶。

After a long time, some of the islands came into the possession of England; but the English at that time were no better than other nations in regard to slavery. There were many in England who were engaged in the cruel slave trade.

很久以后，英国开始侵占一些岛屿；但是当时英国的奴隶制不能和其它国家相提并论。所以，当时许多英国人都忙着进行惨无人道的奴隶交易。

At last the people of England began to think it was wrong to keep slaves, and a law was made that in all the countries belonging to Britain every slave should be set free.

最后，英国人开始意识到养奴隶是错误的，并出台了一部法律，规定解放所有属于英国的岛屿上的黑奴。

There are still slaves in the islands which belong to Spain; but there is reason to hope that they will soon all be made free. Meantime, let us rejoice that not a slave now exists in the British dominions.

西班牙统治的岛屿依然存在黑奴；但是这些黑奴也有望很快得到解放。同时，我们应该庆幸在英国领土上现在没有奴隶。

The climate of the West India Islands is very warm, and most of the things grow there which are found in warm countries. The chief articles which we get from the West Indies are bananas, sugar, rum, tobacco, and cotton.

西印度群岛气候很温暖，那里生长着大部分温带国家都有的东西。主要有香蕉，糖，朗姆酒，烟草和棉花。

QUESTIONS

问题

Who was the discoverer of America? Who befriended him? When did he set sail? Did he mean to sail to America? Where did he mean to go? What did his sailors try to do? What did he call the land he reached? Why? How were the natives treated by the Europeans who went out? Where were people taken from, to work there as slaves? What are the chief articles brought from the West Indies?

谁发现了美洲？他得到谁的赞助？他什么时候起航？他原本是想到美洲的吗？他想去哪里？他的水手们试图干什么？他把到达的地方称作什么？为什么？到岛上的欧洲人是怎么对待土著居民的？那的奴隶从哪来？西印度群岛盛产什么？